Riseup VPN vs Thunder VPN: which wins in 2026?
Head-to-head on the facts that decide the purchase: real prices in the provider's own unit, minimum, KYC, proof, payment and terms - every number sourced in the linked reviews.
The most trustworthy free VPN on structural grounds: an anarchist Seattle collective that has run since 1999, funds itself by donations, asks no account registration and states plainly that it does not log IP addresses, with a quarterly PGP-signed warrant canary and honest documentation of its own VPN limitations and the 2016 canary incident. But it is still US jurisdiction, there is no independent audit, servers are few, and the client is Bitmask-based with basic features - activists' pick, not a streaming tool.
Thunder VPN is the app-farm version of the free-VPN trap: a 100-million-install product whose operator does not exist on paper under any verifiable name. The evidence trail is consistent across five years of independent scrutiny - Top10VPN's ownership investigation (2020) got the developers to admit by email they are from Hong Kong but refuse to say who they are, confirmed the US address is 'for payment purposes only', and graded the privacy policy POOR; the operator's own Terms of Service say 'we will not collect... traffic data or browsing activity' and then list ISP, device details, connection times, per-day bandwidth and 'etc.', while sending diagnostics to third-party analytics; Google's data-safety box admits collecting device identifiers, sharing app data with third parties, and that data 'can't be deleted'; and a peer-reviewed NDSS 2026 study placed Thunder VPN among 76 Android VPN apps that transmit the Advertising ID used for device and user tracking. The engineering is as thin as the identity: an outdated SSL-based tunnel (no OpenVPN, no WireGuard), no kill switch, four server countries, up to 87% speed loss, and an ad on every connect/disconnect. Meanwhile the Thunder VPN brand itself is a shell game - a different Thunder VPN with undisclosed Qihoo 360 (US-sanctioned) ties was pulled from Apple's US App Store in 2025, and the iOS 'Thunder VPN: VPN Fast & Secure' has migrated between developer entities and DUNS numbers in Vietnam and Hong Kong. The honest positives are real but small: it is genuinely free with no data cap, no registration, it passed IP/DNS leak tests in three independent reviews, and some users find it stable. None of that outweighs routing your traffic through an anonymous, unaudited, ad-monetized operator whose own documents contradict its headline claim.
Short answer: Riseup VPN wins overall (4.5/10 vs 2.3/10). Thunder VPN is the better pick if you care most about security. Facts checked 2026-11-03.
The facts
 Riseup VPN | Thunder VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score (0-10) | 4.5 | 2.3 |
| Privacy & proof | ||
| Logging claim | 'Unlike most other VPN providers, Riseup does not log your IP address' | Google Play listing: 'Strict no-logging policy'. Operator site thunder.free-signal.com:… |
| Logging evidence | promise only (no proof) | CLAIM CONTRADICTED |
| Audits | unknown | unknown |
| Jurisdiction | United States | Unclear and deliberately layered: Google Play lists Secure S… moreUnclear and deliberately layered: Google Play lists Secure Signal Inc., 8 The Green Ste A, Dover, DE 19901, USA (+1 302-541-3833); the operator's signallab.org policy states 'Signal Lab SOFTWARE LIMITED is a company registered in HongKong and acts as the data controller'; Top10VPN (2020) confirmed the developers are Hong Kong Chinese who declined to reveal their identities; the iOS App Store trader is 'Signal software company limited' with a Vietnam address (DUNS 665534081) |
| Owner | Riseup Collective (volunteer collective, Seattle) | Qihoo 360 / Innovative Connecting app family |
| Money | ||
| Intro price | unknown | $0 /mo |
| Renewal price | not published | $4.99/mo |
| Anonymous payment | bitcoin | fiat |
| Account | ||
| Personal info | none | none |
| Kind | Free VPNs | Free VPNs |
| Facts checked | 2026-09-29 | 2026-11-03 |
Score breakdown
Riseup VPN leads on privacy & logging (+3.5), ownership & track record (+2.5), honest value (+5), ease of use (+1.5) · Thunder VPN leads on security (+2).
Riseup VPN at a glance
++ What holds up
- Completely free, donation-funded, no account registration (VPN page re-checked 2026-09-28)
- 'Riseup does not log your IP address' - explicit operator statement
- Quarterly PGP-signed warrant canary (re-checked 2026-09-28)
- Unusually honest docs: a dedicated 'security issues / limitations of VPN' page that explains what a VPN cannot do
- Open-source Bitmask client; same stack as CalyxVPN
- Fifteen-year paper trail of collective operation (FBI server seizure 2012, canary episode 2016) handled candidly
-- What to watch
- US jurisdiction and US-based infrastructure
- No independent audit of the no-logs claim
- Small free network; speeds and server choice are basic
- Client setup is less polished than commercial apps (users report uninstall troubles and occasional site-blocking quirks)
Thunder VPN at a glance
++ What holds up
- Genuinely free and unlimited: no data cap, no registration, no payment details required (Google Play listing; Top10VPN free-VPN table)
- One-tap simplicity with a clean, well-designed UI - Top10VPN: 'there is a level of care in design that elevates it above some of the more lazily produced free VPN providers'
- Passed IP, DNS and WebRTC leak tests in three independent reviews (Top10VPN Nov 2024, vpnMentor, PrivacySharks)
- Per-app split tunneling ('Choose apps which using VPN', Android 5.0+) is included even on the free tier
- Some users report it as stable free networking: 'Thunder VPN is the one I used for years' (r/Uzbekistan, 2023); 'minimal ads... THIS IS IT' (Google Play review, Jul 2026)
-- What to watch
- The 'strict no-logging policy' headline is contradicted by the operator's own policy text, which lists ISP, device OS/manufacturer/model, app version, connection times, per-day bandwidth, 'etc.', and third-party analytics sharing
- Operator is anonymous: no verifiable corporate entity behind 'Signal Lab' (Top10VPN: no such HK-registered company; support on Gmail addresses; US address used 'for payment purposes only'), and developer names churn across stores and years (Signal Lab -> Secure Signal Inc. on Play; Signal Lab Software Company Ltd -> Signal Software Ltd on iOS)
- Outdated, weak tunnel: SSL-based protocol, no OpenVPN/WireGuard, AES-128, no kill switch (Top10VPN security 1.0/10; PrivacySharks security 25%)
- Very slow: 13 Mbps average and up to 87% local speed loss (Top10VPN); under 2 Mbps free-tier downloads (PrivacySharks); ~50% loss (vpnMentor); gigabit users report double-digit speeds (Play review, Feb 2025)
- Ad-funded: 'Contains ads', pop-up ads on every connect/disconnect with minimum-duration unskippable ads (Top10VPN); an NDSS 2026 study classifies it among apps transmitting the Advertising ID for tracking
- Tiny, shrinking network: 4 countries, no Asia/South America/Africa servers, no obfuscation, failed to unblock any of 10 streaming services in Top10VPN testing
- Effectively no support: no live chat, no working support channel (vpnMentor: 'no support team'; iOS user reports support mail 'not available'); no money-back guarantee documented
- The Thunder VPN brand name is shared with unrelated apps, including a Qihoo 360-linked iOS app that Apple removed in 2025 - a real confusion and trust hazard
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Riseup VPN or Thunder VPN?
Thunder VPN publishes a price ($0 /mo); Riseup VPN is free (no comparable price exists) - compare what each one takes instead of money.
Which has better logging evidence, Riseup VPN or Thunder VPN?
Riseup VPN has the stronger logging evidence; Thunder VPN documents no logging evidence - unknown is not evidence - and its claim was contradicted in a documented case.
Which renewal price is honest, Riseup VPN or Thunder VPN?
Thunder VPN documents renewal at $4.99/mo; Riseup VPN is free - no renewal price exists.
Which needs less KYC, Riseup VPN or Thunder VPN?
Both have the same KYC stance (none).
Which has the longer track record?
Riseup VPN has the longer track record (since 1999).
Scores and facts: meta-reviews with dated sources - Riseup VPN · Thunder VPN. Method: how we verify. More: all providers compared · all head-to-heads.