Guide
Free VPN for Mac — what you get on FollowNet Free
FollowNet has a free plan on Mac: a real system-wide VPN with WireGuard and Smart Connect, a weekly traffic allowance and no credit card. Here is what Free includes, where its limits are and when Premium makes sense.
What the free plan includes
Free is the same Mac app as Premium, not a demo. You get the system VPN tunnel for every app, the menu bar icon, Smart Connect and the full protocol list, kill switch, Auto-connect, DNS profiles and Speed Test. The difference is the amount of traffic per week and the set of locations: Free uses the servers marked Free in the app, Premium unlocks all of them.
How the weekly allowance works
Free traffic is counted per week and resets automatically; the app shows how much is left. That is plenty for protecting email, messengers, banking and browsing on public Wi‑Fi. It is not meant for streaming video all day or downloading large files through the tunnel — when the allowance runs out, the VPN disconnects until the next reset or until you upgrade.
Why many free Mac VPNs are a bad deal
Running VPN servers costs money, so a VPN that is free forever with no limits has to earn somewhere else — often by showing ads, selling data or bundling unrelated software. FollowNet is paid for by Premium subscribers; Free exists so you can test real speed and reliability on your own networks. Read the Privacy Policy to see exactly what the service processes.
No account password, no credit card
Download FollowNet from the App Store, sign in with your email and the one-time code the app sends, and connect. You do not enter payment details to use Free. If you later buy Premium on iPhone, iPad or Mac, it applies to the same account and Apple ID across devices.
When Premium is worth it
Upgrade when the weekly allowance is regularly not enough — for example if your Mac is on hotel or coworking Wi‑Fi every day, you work through the VPN for hours, or you need a location that is not in the Free list. Premium removes the traffic cap, opens all locations and covers up to five devices: Mac, iPhone, iPad and more.
Key points
- Free plan with weekly traffic — no credit card
- Full system VPN for every app, not a browser-only proxy
- Smart Connect, WireGuard and the rest of the protocol stack
- Kill switch, Auto-connect and menu bar icon included in Free
FAQ
Is FollowNet really free on Mac?
Yes. Download it from the App Store and use the Free plan with a weekly traffic allowance. No payment details are needed.
What happens when the free traffic runs out?
The VPN disconnects until the weekly allowance resets. You can keep using the Mac normally without the VPN, or upgrade to Premium for unlimited traffic.
Does Free have ads?
Premium is ad-free; Free may show offers in the app. The VPN tunnel itself does not inject ads into websites.