textPlus is a great app for sending free SMS and MMS messages and making low-cost calls to contacts in the US and Canada. Unfortunately, if you’re outside of North America, you can’t use textPlus as the service is restricted to this region.
An app called a VPN can let you connect to textPlus when you’re not in the US or Canada so you can still contact friends and family. This changes your IP address to look like you’re in North America, letting you access the app and its features.
Of the VPNs I tested, ExpressVPN is the best to use with textPlus. While it’s not 100% free, it has a 7-day free trial if you sign up on Google Play or the Apple App Store. If you want to test it for longer, ExpressVPN also has a 30-day money-back guarantee — should you change your mind, you can get a full refund within 30 days.
Though it’s not 100% free, ExpressVPN is the best for textPlus with fast connections for instant messaging. You won’t have to worry about delays when texting or interrupted voice calls — ExpressVPN’s connections are consistently fast, even if you’re using a long-distance server, so you can use textPlus from anywhere.
To protect your textPlus activity and personal messages, ExpressVPN provides secure and private connections on every server. Features include military-grade encryption, obfuscated servers, leak protection, and Advanced Protection — this blocks annoying ads, trackers, and malware from infecting your devices.
ExpressVPN has multiple servers in the US and Canada so you can always find a working textPlus connection. Every server tested worked flawlessly with the textPlus app. Its extensive server network ensures you won’t face slower speeds or issues due to user congestion. You’ll always have the necessary bandwidth to use textPlus without lag.
You can try ExpressVPN for free on your Android or iOS device. When you sign up through the Google Play or Apple App Store, you’ll get a 7-day free trial. Just make sure you cancel before the 7 days are up, or you’ll be charged for a subscription.
CyberGhost has a huge number of servers in the US and Canada, so you get reliable connections when using textPlus. A large number of available servers reduces the chance of congestion, even at peak traffic times like evenings and weekends — this means you can contact family and friends on textPlus at any time of day.
With a solid list of security and privacy features, you can rest assured your messages and calls on textPlus are safe when using CyberGhost. Every server has top-tier encryption, leak protection, and kill switch functionality to protect your data if the VPN is interrupted.
While it’s not completely free, CyberGhost has several free trials available — 3 days for Android and 7 days for iOS. If this isn’t long enough for you, you can also take advantage of its 45-day money-back guarantee. You can request a refund any time within the 45 days and get your money back.
The only downside is that CyberGhost slows down a lot when connecting long-distance. This could be an issue if you’re traveling abroad and want to connect to textPlus, as you could experience some delays.
Proton VPN is 100% free, with unlimited bandwidth — this means you can talk and text with textPlus as much as you want and you won’t hit a data cap. While you do have to create an account to use Proton VPN, it won’t ask for any personal information on signup so you can remain anonymous if desired.
It’s not as fast as other VPNs, but speeds with Proton VPN are consistently good. You may notice some minor delays when sending or receiving messages, but voice calls are smooth without interruptions.
To keep your textPlus messaging and other activity secure, Proton VPN protects every connection with military-grade encryption, a kill switch, and leak protection. During tests, Proton VPN didn’t leak any personally identifiable data.
The issue with Proton VPN is that you can no longer manually select a server location. Instead, Proton VPN automatically connects free users to the fastest available server. While the US is an option, you may not always get connected to a US server — you may have to disconnect and reconnect several times to access the US server for textPlus.
LightningX VPN stands out for its ultra-low price and powerful features. It also provides fast and reliable network connections, which are perfect for video conferencing, gaming, and large file transfers. LightningX VPN is compatible with many devices, including iPhones, Androids, iPads, macOS, and TVs.
Therefore, if you need a secure and fast network environment, LightningX VPN is your best choice.
Hotspot Shield is one of the fastest free VPNs, thanks to its Catapult Hydra protocol. This protocol prioritizes speed while ensuring your connection is secure — meaning you can connect to textPlus and message without delays or interruptions, all while protecting your online activity.
You can use Hotspot Shield completely free, and you don’t need to sign up for an account. Simply visit the website or your device’s app store, download the app, and connect to one of 2 US locations to use textPlus. This further ensures your online activity is never traced back to you for improved privacy.
Each server is secured by premium features, like AES-256-bit encryption and a kill switch, and auto-connect when using public WiFi. This ensures safe access to textPlus when you’re on the go.
The downside is that Hotspot Shield is supported by ads, which are intrusive and annoying. On mobile devices, you have to watch ads to earn connection time, and watch more ads once your time is up. Although Hotspot Shield offers unlimited data in this way, it’s frustrating to have to pause a phone call to continue having a VPN connection.
hide.me’s 100% free service provides reliable connections to US servers for textPlus. During tests, hide.me consistently connected to its free US server within 5 seconds and didn’t experience drops or delays. These dependable connections mean you can make calls and share messages without issues.
While it’s not as fast as other VPNs, hide.me’s speeds are good (even on long-distance connections). You may notice slight delays when sending or receiving texts in the textPlus apps, but they aren’t enough to cause any significant problems.
You’ll find hide.me’s mobile apps are intuitive and easy to use, with plenty of features designed to improve security and privacy when messaging. You can use secure protocols, the kill switch, and auto-connect rules on the free app.
However, there’s a catch — hide.me technically has unlimited data, but you can only manually select a server up to 10GB. Once you’ve used 10GB, you can still connect, but hide.me will assign a server. You may have to reconnect multiple times to get a US connection for textPlus, which could be frustrating and time-consuming.