Cloudflare WARP is one of the few genuinely free, permanent VPN tunnels with no ads and no data cap. Setup takes a couple of minutes on any platform — here's the step-by-step.
1. Download the 1.1.1.1 app
The app is called "1.1.1.1: Faster Internet" and is available on the App Store, Google Play, and as a standalone build for Windows, macOS, and Linux from Cloudflare's official site. It's the same app across every platform.
2. Turn on WARP mode, not just DNS
After installing, the app may default to DNS-only mode, which doesn't encrypt your traffic. To turn on the full VPN tunnel, switch the mode from "DNS only" to "WARP" in the app's settings (some platforms label this "1.1.1.1 w/ WARP"). We cover the difference between these two modes in detail in "Is 1.1.1.1 a VPN?".
3. Connect with one tap
From there, it's a single "Connect" toggle on the app's main screen — no server or country selection, since WARP automatically connects you to the nearest Cloudflare location.
4. Confirm the tunnel is actually working
Once connected, check the what-is-my-IP page — with WARP on, the network provider shown should switch to Cloudflare rather than your usual ISP. It's also worth running a WebRTC leak test to confirm your real IP isn't leaking around the tunnel.
5. Do you need WARP+
The paid WARP+ subscription adds Cloudflare's optimized traffic routing (Argo) for more stable speed over long distances — but it doesn't add more countries or unlock streaming. Free WARP is enough for most use cases; paying makes the most sense if you're dealing with unstable mobile data over long routes.
Does WARP work on all my devices at once?⌄
You need to install and turn it on separately on each device — there's no single "all devices at once" license the way some paid VPNs offer, though there's also no stated device-count limit.
What if sites load slower after turning WARP on?⌄
Try switching to WARP+ (paid), or temporarily disable WARP for specific problem sites — unlike classic VPNs, there's no manual option to pick a different server to compare speed.
