Technologies

Some VPN Free Trials Are Misleading, but These 8 Are Legit

You don’t have to pay upfront to take a spin with a VPN.

Repeat after me: Activate, then cancel. Activate, then cancel. You’ll sleep better at night and your wallet won’t take a hit.

That’s one piece of advice from SafePaper, accompanied by its 2025 VPN free trial guide. The cybersecurity and online privacy website tested more than 30 VPN services to determine which offer true-blue free trials and «not just ‘risk-free’ money-back guarantees.»

When shopping for VPNs, you’ll find many that offer «free trials,» but not all free trials are made the same. There are those where you have to pay up front, and then only get your money back if you don’t violate the refund clause.

SafePaper has identified the VPNs that offer genuine free trials, where you get to use the service for free (usually 1 to 7 days) before your payment method kicks in — unless you cancel first, of course.

Read more from CNET: The Best Free VPNs | The Best Cheap VPNs | Save on Your Subscription

«True free trials are surprisingly rare in the VPN industry,» said Paige West, editor at SafePaper, said in a statement. «We wanted to cut through the marketing language and identify services that offer real no-commitment access, especially for users who value transparency and cost control.»

It’s not that VPNs with genuine free trials are better than those that offer refunds after the trial is over. «It’s a matter of preference» as to which free trial VPN you want to try out, said CNET VPN expert Attila Tomaschek.

«A VPN free trial typically only lasts a few days, giving users limited time to thoroughly test the service,» Tomaschek said. «A money-back guarantee, while requiring upfront payment, usually lasts about 30 days, which can help users get a much more comprehensive look at the service over a longer period of time.»

See also: NordVPN vs. Surfshark: See How These Sister Services Stack Up

But buyer beware, adds Tomaschek: «While getting your money back from a reputable VPN provider is usually unconditional and pretty straightforward, it’s important for users to read the fine print ahead of making a purchase to ensure the VPN company doesn’t impose any hidden caveats like usage limits that may void its money-back guarantee.»

Free trials, no payment required

In its report, SafePaper identified eight VPN providers with free trials that did not require payment to use the trial. They’re listed below, with info about how long the trials last, which operating systems they work with and whether payment info is required:

Surfshark (see CNET review): 7 days; payment info required; all major operating systems
CyberGhost (see CNET review): 1-7 days (varies by device); partial payment info; Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS
Kaspersky: 7 days (non-US); payment info required; all major operating systems
X-VPN: 7 days; payment info required; all major operating systems
NordVPN (see CNET review): 3 days; payment info required; Android only
HideIPVPN: 3 days; no payment info required; all major operating systems
Hidemy.name: 1 day; no payment info required; all major operating systems
WordVPN: 1 day; no payment info required; all major operating systems

Look before you leap

SafePaper added a few pro tips to consider when going with a free VPN trial:

Cancel immediately after you activate the trial. That way, you won’t get charged if you miss the deadline to cancel the subscription. And haven’t most of us made that mistake before?
You should try two to three different VPN services before making your final decision. Compare speed, support and stability.
Use alternate email addresses to safeguard the privacy of your primary email account.

Technologies

This New Humanoid Home Robot Costs $20K, and You Still Have to Train It

The Neo robot from 1X is designed to do household chores, but it’s got a lot of learning still to do.

It stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs about as much as a golden retriever and costs near the price of a brand-new budget car.

This is Neo, the humanoid robot. It’s billed as a personal assistant you can talk to and eventually rely on to take care of everyday tasks, such as loading the dishwasher and folding laundry.

Neo doesn’t work cheap. It’ll cost you $20,000. And even then, you’ll still have to train this new home bot.

If that sounds enticing, preorders are now open (for a mere $200 down). You’ll be signing up as an early adopter for what Neo’s maker, a California-based company called 1X, is calling a «consumer-ready humanoid.» That’s opposed to other humanoids under development from the likes of Tesla and Figure, which are, for the moment at least, more focused on factory environments.

Neo is a whole order of magnitude different from robot vacuums like those from Roomba, Eufy and Ecovacs, and embodies a long-running sci-fi fantasy of robot maids and butlers doing chores and picking up after us. If this is the future, read on for more of what’s in store.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What the Neo robot can do around the house

The pitch from 1X is that Neo can do all manner of household chores: fold laundry, run a vacuum, tidy shelves, bring in the groceries. It can open doors, climb stairs and even act as a home entertainment system.

Neo appears to move smoothly, with a soft, almost human-like gait, thanks to 1X’s tendon-driven motor system that gives it gentle motion and impressive strength. The company says it can lift up to 154 pounds and carry 55 pounds, but it is quieter than a refrigerator. It’s covered in soft materials and neutral colors, making it look less intimidating than metallic prototypes from other companies.

The company says Neo has a 4-hour runtime. Its hands are IP68-rated, meaning they’re submersible in water. It can connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 5G. For conversation, it has a built-in LLM, the same sort of AI technology that powers ChatGPT and Gemini.

The primary way to control the Neo robot will be by speaking to it, just as if it were a person in your home.

Still, Neo’s usefulness today depends heavily on how you define useful. The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern got an up-close look at Neo at 1X’s headquarters and found that, at least for now, it’s largely teleoperated, meaning a human often operates it remotely using a virtual-reality headset and controllers.

«I didn’t see Neo do anything autonomously, although the company did share a video of Neo opening a door on its own,» Stern wrote.

1X CEO Bernt Børnich told her that Neo will do most things autonomously in 2026, though he also acknowledged that the quality «may lag at first.»

What you need to know about Neo and privacy

Part of what early adopters are signing up for is to let Neo learn from their environment so that future versions can operate more independently.

That learning process raises privacy and trust questions. The robot uses a mix of visual, audio and contextual intelligence — meaning it can see, hear and remember interactions with users throughout their homes.

«If you buy this product, it is because you’re OK with that social contract,» Børnich told the Journal. «It’s less about Neo instantly doing your chores and more about you helping Neo learn to do them safely and effectively.»

1X says it’s taking steps to protect your privacy: Neo listens only when it recognizes it’s being addressed, and its cameras will blur out humans. You can restrict Neo from entering or viewing specific areas of your home, and the robot will never be teleoperated without owner approval, the company says.

But inviting an AI-equipped humanoid to observe your home life isn’t a small step.

The first units will ship to customers in the US in 2026. There is a $499 monthly subscription alternative to the $20,000 full-purchase price, though that will be available at an unspecified later date. A broader international rollout is promised for 2027.

Neo’s got a long road ahead of it to live up to the expectations set by Rosie the Robot in The Jetsons way back when. But this is no Hanna-Barbera cartoon. What we’re seeing now is a much more tangible harbinger of change.

Technologies

Chevy’s New Bolt EV Is a Truly Affordable Electric Car, at Less Than $30,000

It’s cheaper than other so-called «affordable» EVs and fixes the weaknesses of its predecessor.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Oct. 30

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 30.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I admit, 1-Across stumped me until I filled the other answers in. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.