Lantern needs your help: Your donation powers a censorship-free internet for millions of people. Donate Now!

lantern home
Download

Nonprofit VPN trusted by over 250 million people

The VPN that fights censorship

Fast, secure, and reliable access to anything from anywhere.

Start Using Lantern
handshake
Using Lantern supports free access in censored regions.

Built to Unblock

A smarter VPN that’s seriously fast

Lantern is built to get past censorship. By default we send blocked sites and apps through our network and let everything else connect directly. Sites that are unblocked stay fast. Want everything protected? Switch to Full Tunnel anytime.

alt_route

Smart Routing By Default

Smart Routing uses region-specific rules to protect blocked and sensitive traffic. Everything else connects directly, so your connection stays as fast as possible.

Learn More →

dns

Host Your Own Server

Our optional Private Server mode lets you run Lantern on your own hardware or cloud account. No upgrade needed, just pay your own server costs.

Learn More →

public

Reliable Access, Anywhere

Lantern adapts in real time to blocks and censorship with multiple protocols, smart routing, and constant updates. When one method gets blocked, Lantern switches to another automatically.

Learn More →

Try Lantern for Free

Why people trust us

storm

Proven when it matters most

Lantern has helped people stay online during some of the world’s most extreme censorship events, including the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran (2022) and the Hong Kong protests (2019). We've helped millions reach the open internet when access was nearly impossible.

Learn more about our impact

target

Mission-driven nonprofit

Lantern is built by Brave New Software Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with 12+ years keeping people online in the world's most restricted regions.

Read about our mission

code

Open Source

star16k Stars on GitHub

Lantern is open source and actively improved in partnership with the global circumvention community.

Follow us on GitHub

visibility_off

No Logs

We don’t collect your browsing activity, connection history, or any personal data. Ever.

View our Privacy Policy

document_scanner

Audited

Regularly reviewed by independent security experts.

View our Audits

Get access to anything, from anywhere

Join the 250+ million people who've downloaded Lantern.

Get Lantern

What makes Lantern different?

What makes Lantern different?

route

Smart routing

Region-specific rules protect blocked, unencrypted, and sensitive traffic. Everything else stays fast and direct.

vpn_lock

Private server ready

Our optional Private Server mode lets you run Lantern on your own hardware or cloud account. No upgrade needed, just pay your own server costs.

waves

Advanced censorship circumvention

We support more protocols than any other VPN, so we can adapt and get through in the most restrictive environments.

do_disturb_off

Built-in Ad Blocking

Block intrusive ads and trackers with built-in protection for a cleaner, more private web.

Learn more about our features →

Stay connected across all your devices

Android

Windows

iOS

Mac

Linux

— Testimonials

What people are saying about Lantern

Instead of any other VPN, Just use the Lantern, which allows you to access the internet by bypassing restrictions.

MariaSTsehai

I always choose Lantern; I use it exclusively and have never had a problem, not even for a single day!

Edito_r5

Lantern is the best VPN in the world.

Bluehana86

Lantern FAQ

Lantern is a nonprofit VPN built to bypass internet censorship and provide fast, private access to the open internet. It's developed by Brave New Software Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and has been downloaded over 250 million times since 2014. It's available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Yes. Lantern is free to use. In most countries the free version has a daily data limit, and Lantern Pro removes that limit and adds server selection, ad blocking, and up to 5 devices. In places where paying for Pro is blocked or unsafe, we don't cap the free version at all.

Yes. Lantern is designed for the world's most heavily censored environments and supports more censorship-resistant protocols than any other VPN. It adapts in real time to maintain access when other tools can't connect. During Iran's 2022 protests, an estimated 13% of all Iranian internet traffic flowed through Lantern.

No. We don't collect your browsing activity, connection history, or personal data. Lantern is open source, independently audited, and built by a nonprofit with no incentive to monetize your data.

Lantern is one of the only nonprofit VPNs. We use Smart Routing to protect only the traffic that needs protection, keeping everything else fast and direct. We support more censorship-resistant protocols than any other VPN, and you can host your own server for free with Private Server.