I also use it in the free version. For my purposes, 10 gigabytes of traffic per month is enough. I only need a VPN to use telegram messenger in Russia.
I use telegram without VPN in Russia. How come you have problems? Do you use a web version or a desktop/mobile option?
The application works without VPN, but when you need to make a transition to the messenger Telegram from the browser, then without using a VPN link does not open.