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Getting an Android Package Kit or APK is sometimes the best way to get an app on your Android device, especially when it comes to VPN services. It is the file format that ensures that the VPN software will be compatible with your Android device, but following the path of an APK is not normally done through the more common Google Play Store.
In general, you’ll find that APK VPNs can be found through third-party vendors, which may also mean you need to be a little more careful about what you find. For example, some packages may look temptingly good, but they may also contain malicious content, which you obviously want to avoid.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to install applications this way (rather than through Google Play). This can range from being able to install any version of any application (not just the latest) to testing applications that have not yet been released. It can therefore be a good way to do things differently, as long as you take your time and double check what might not be what it claims to be.
You will definitely want to be careful about the legitimacy of your download sources. As with Windows software, make sure that the APKs you download are not pirated copies, are free of malware, and have not been compromised in any way.
To help you with that, we’ve listed our recommended APK resources on this page to find your VPN provider solution. Keep in mind that while the APKs may be free, in many cases you still have to pay for the actual service from the VPN provider in question. Fear not though, as we also have a list of the best VPN services (opens in new tab) convenient, as it should be. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the page, we explain the benefits of using a VPN APK for some users.
APK Pure (opens in new tab) has one of the largest repositories of VPN APKs on the web with over 250 results listed. Unfortunately, there’s no way to sort them (by date or price), but in theory you can filter the results by region, although that feature appears to be broken at the time of writing.
Each VPN page has a very small description, a prominent download button (with the file size), a few screenshots, the version number, the OS requirement, a list of latest features, the launch date, and a list of previous VPN APKs.
As expected, there is also a list of related VPN services (mostly competitors) and APK Pure provides a discussion forum with a rating system for each product. The download site claims to be 100% safe as all apps are managed and manually verified before publishing.
It may not have as many VPNs (only about 200) as its competitors, but apk mirror (opens in new tab) offers a range of VPNs you can’t get anywhere else. For example, it’s the only one we’ve listed here that offers Samsung’s Enterprise VPN services for download. So, as you can probably guess, it’s not a bad idea to combine this repository and the aforementioned (APK Pure) together to get your fix of VPN APKs.
APK Mirror allows you to sort APKs by app name or developer name. It shows the number of downloads and the size of the download, but unlike APK Pure, it doesn’t have a discussion forum or a user rating system, just a standard Disqus-based comment area. However, it does show the certificate file prints and the file hashes of each file. Nice! There are also plenty of options to make downloading files easier: QR code, PushBullet, and even RSS feed.
At the moment of writing, APK4Funs (opens in new tab) search facilities were found to be broken. This repository is run by Google Custom Search Engine and contains over 6,000 results for VPNs, an impressive number. Unfortunately, you can only access 100 (ed: You can also use the search operator site:www.apk4func.com “VPN” to track down about 400 VPNs).
As with the competition, it uses a star rating system pulled directly from Google Play (rather than generated by users on site). It provides the usual details to check the integrity of the file you are downloading and provides up to six sources to download your files from.
Note that we encountered some dead links to external servers, but not to APK4fun’s own servers. Why this is the case is anyone’s guess, and unfortunately you won’t be able to easily download older versions (archived versions aren’t on a central page).
This is the only website we’ve highlighted here that has adopted an infinite scroll layout instead of a classic next/previous navigation model. This makes it possible From the top down (opens in new tab) to fit in well with its intended audience – namely smartphone users – mainly because it has a narrow design, making it a great choice to sift through the 140+ listed VPN providers.
Filtering options are only limited to specifying the platform. You can’t sort by date or by type (whether they’re free or not). The product page offers previous versions of the APK and details the permissions required for installation, with a short description and the usual screenshots and share buttons.
This site has its own comments and ‘ask a question’ sections, but we found them pretty empty. Uptodown uses VirusTotal to scan for malware or spyware with as many as 57 antivirus solutions.
There are many more VPN APKs on it Aptoid (opens in new tab) then anywhere else. Indeed, we counted to 500 before giving up. That said, our latest global VPN audit showed there were 340 providers worldwide – so we’re rather dubious about Aptoide’s claims on search results here.
In any case, Aptoide – which uses a similarly narrow page layout to Uptodown – doesn’t curate content from Google Play, instead using its own commenting and rating system (with some success), while adding its own details, such as the MD5 and SHA1 signatures .
Downloading APKs is a fairly simple process and we love that it shows how many downloads each brand has had. All the main features are here: you can download older versions, you can share the page with others, you can easily access other alternative VPN APKs, and the list of permissions required for each app is presented.
The benefits of VPN APK
Using VPN APK can reap many benefits as long as you are diligent with the source you use and stick to the more famous ones mentioned above. The beauty of a VPN that works seamlessly with the Android operating system is that you can enjoy the same levels of privacy and security as you would on other popular computing platforms.
The added benefit is that you can surf online knowing that you also have an extra level of security, which is always a good thing. A VPN also offers a lot more freedom, with the ability to get around geographic boundaries by not letting services know where you are. This can be useful for services like streaming TV shows, which often prevent users from accessing their content if they are abroad or in an unusual location.
Having the ability to effectively cover your tracks as you browse the web can also pay dividends when it comes to avoiding the dreaded targeted ads that are the bane of many browsing sessions. While this all sounds fine, you should still be very careful when considering a VPN APK package.
If you’re in any doubt, you’re probably better off bypassing what seems like a decent free VPN (opens in new tab) and heading for a reputable, paid VPN. Services from ExpressVPN, for example (opens in new tab)NordVPN (opens in new tab) and Surfshark (opens in new tab) have earned their excellent reputation for a reason, so parting with some cash may be the best way to get ahead if you’re looking for a hassle-free online life.
We’ve highlighted the best business VPNs.