# Psiphon review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Free, open-source circumvention VPN with an ad-free paid tier Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Psiphon is a censorship-circumvention VPN from Psiphon Inc. of Toronto, first released as open-source software in 2006. It tries several connection methods and obfuscation techniques until one works on the network you are on, and needs no account. The free version is ad-supported with reduced features, and Psiphon Plus removes the ads and unlocks every feature. - **Category:** VPNs - **Made by:** Psiphon Inc. (since 2006) - **Website:** https://psiphon.ca - **Runs on:** Android, iOS, Windows - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you're on a Mac, as the native app is still in development. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Psiphon has a free plan, and paid plans start at $2.88 per month and up for Psiphon Plus; the billing term is not stated. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Psiphon Basic is free with no account: ad-supported, with reduced features. The vendor says it is free and without limits where payment restrictions make subscribing difficult. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Psiphon Basic | $0 | Free, ad-supported and with reduced features; no account needed. | | Psiphon Plus | $2.88 per month and up; billing term not stated on the page | The full network with no ads and every feature, no account needed. The page says only "from $2.88 USD per month". | Read from https://psiphon.ca/en/index.html on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Psiphon before buying. ## Key features - **Automatic connection methods:** The app tries several protocols and obfuscation techniques in turn, with no protocol to pick, so it can keep working where VPN traffic is blocked. - **No account needed:** You install the app and connect without giving an email address. - **Large server network:** The vendor says its network spans more than 50,000 servers in 33 countries. - **Conduit:** Volunteers can share spare connection capacity from their own devices to help others connect; the vendor lists a Conduit station as an unlimited access route, on Android only for now. - **Open source and audits:** Clients and core tunnelling code are open source, and the vendor publishes independent security reviews, naming Cure53. ## Good for - People on networks that block or throttle VPNs - Anyone who wants a free VPN with no sign-up - Phone users who want ad-free use for a low monthly price ## Worth knowing - The free version shows ads and has reduced features; the page does not list which features Plus adds. - The Plus price is shown only as "from $2.88 USD per month", with no billing term or plan table. - There is no native Mac app yet (listed as in development), and the Windows app is labeled a legacy client with some newer features missing. - On iOS, Psiphon Browser tunnels only traffic loaded inside the browser, not other apps. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Psiphon is a free, open-source VPN for networks that block VPNs, and it needs no account. The free version has ads and reduced features, there's no Mac app yet, and the page never says what Plus adds beyond removing ads. - **Value for money: B.** Plus is shown as 'from $2.88 a month', which is inside the cheaper quarter ($3.99), but no billing term is given and there's no plan table. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Psiphon Basic is free with no account. It shows ads and has reduced features, and the vendor says it is free without limits where paying is hard. - **Features: C.** It tries several protocols on its own, has 50,000 servers in 33 countries and a Conduit sharing option. The gaps: no native Mac app, a legacy Windows client, and the iOS browser only tunnels its own traffic. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record, but you install it and connect without an account or any protocol to pick. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Android, iOS and Windows. Phones and a computer, but no Mac or Linux and no API. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Psiphon's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among VPNs - Psiphon's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 20 of the 27 other VPNs we grade, and level with 4. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 23 of 27) and worst on features (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $2.88 a month, against a middle price of $5 for the category: 2 of the 26 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/vpn ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Psiphon you would be making servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 20 of the 27 other VPNs we grade. It costs $34.56 a year. Psiphon is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could not: Servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private. - You could not: Apps for Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** VPN, Open source ## Alternatives - [Lantern](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lantern): Nonprofit, open-source VPN built to get past censorship. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/lantern-vs-psiphon) - [Proton VPN](https://toolgpa.com/tools/proton-vpn): Open-source Swiss VPN with a free plan that has no data cap. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/proton-vpn-vs-psiphon) - [Windscribe](https://toolgpa.com/tools/windscribe): VPN with a 10GB free plan and pay-per-location pricing. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/psiphon-vs-windscribe) - [TunnelBear](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tunnelbear): McAfee-owned VPN with a 2GB free plan and pay-once multi-year plans. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/psiphon-vs-tunnelbear) - [Cloudflare WARP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cloudflare-warp): Free Cloudflare app that encrypts traffic, with an optional paid tier. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cloudflare-warp-vs-psiphon) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://psiphon.ca/en/index.html - https://psiphon.ca/en/download.html - https://psiphon.ca/en/about.html - https://psiphon.ca/en/faq.html Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/psiphon Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).