5 Best VPN Services For Unblocking Streaming Services in 2023

Streaming aficionados have found it exceedingly complicated to enjoy the content they want from anywhere in the world.

The golden age of television was meant to be enjoyed by one and all, but due to the geo-restrictions of certain content especially on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Disney Plus, people are forced to make use of VPNs.

This is why the search for the best VPN for streaming is almost always in fashion. But we warrant the search ends here; read on to learn why!

Quick Overview: Best Streaming VPNs

We have chosen 5 top VPN providers that unblock popular streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, etc and allow you to stream your favorite show without facing buffering issues.

1. ExpressVPN – Overall best VPN for streaming
2. Surfshark – Affordable streaming VPN
3. NordVPN –  Most secure VPN to stream Movies and TV shows
4. CyberGhost – Great steaming VPN which comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee
5. PIA – One of the oldest and most reliable VPN services for streaming

5 Best VPN Services for Unblocking Streaming Services

Your choice of a VPN depends mostly on your favorite TV streaming service. Even though Netflix is the most coveted streaming platform in the world, it is also one of the toughest to unblock.

But have no fear, for you can choose any one of the below-mentioned services and unblock Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus from anywhere in the world and enjoy unlimited content with lightning-fast speeds.

1. ExpressVPN – Overall best VPN for streaming

ExpressVPN is recommended by far and wide as the best VPN for streaming and holds all the keys for global streaming. For streamers, it unblocks major platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, BBC iPlayer, Spotify, ESPN, Youtube, Twitter, iTV Player, Hotstar, French TV, Sky Go, Sling, DAZN, Showtime, Peacock, Locast, etc.

For people who are fans of live online events especially sports, ExpressVPN will help you stream events like UFC and Oscar Awards.

ExpressVPN makes streaming easy and breezy with their incredibly speedy servers that do not show much variation throughout the network.

It truly shines in the mobile department with its intuitive VPN apps for Android and iOS, which also have Smart Location. This feature automatically connects the users to the nearest server that offers optimal speeds with zero latency.

This takes the cake as you can always stay connected to your favorite content while away on business or holidays or in a simple commute to your office. Moreover, it has compatible apps for major streaming devices like Nvidia Shield, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox One. The single subscription on ExpressVPN allows up to 5 simultaneous connections.

It has 3000+ servers in 94 countries. Users who choose to go for ExpressVPN can rest assured of their streaming needs because it has multiple servers in locations where these services are hosted.

It offers 256-bit AES technology which is the military-grade security protocol in the industry. The standard protects your data and your online identity on the network so that no internet entity could crack your digital footprint. Be it a hacker or your ISP, nobody gets to know your internet activity as long as ExpressVPN is enabled.

It has several security features such as the kill switch along with other options of automatic or manual security protocols, including PPTP, IKeV2, L2P, and OpenVPN. The Kill Switch protects against accidental IP leaks.

Think of a situation when you are exchanging your favorite content on a sensitive torrenting platform and your VPN connection terminates. In this case, the feature, if enabled from the settings, will disconnect your internet too, in an attempt to protect your device from exposing the IP.

It is definitely the best VPN for streamers who do not mind the price and prioritize value and privacy.

• $12.95/mo for monthly plan
• $9.99/mo for 6 months
• $6.67/mo for a year

Customer service at ExpressVPN is quick and available 24*7. You do get a 30-day money-back guarantee which reflects its reliability of service, which you can always cancel if things don’t work out the way you desire. The yearly plan offers the most value out of its three subscription plans, and ExpressVPN’s free trial is a cherry on the top.

If you are not yet convinced with our explanation above, you might want to check out ExpressVPN detailed review, where we test it for speed, security customer service, and much more.

2. Surfshark – Affordable streaming VPN

Surfshark is undeniably the best VPN with a remarkable suite of features. The company is located in the British Virgin Islands, with over 3200+ servers in 65 countries.

It offers access to major streaming sites, and also walks you through the process of how to do so and how a VPN server affects viewing capabilities. With Surfshark you can watch Hulu in Canada, and Voot in the USA easily. Moreover, this VPN unblocks BBC iPlayer, SonyLiv, Amazon Prime, Zee5, ESPN+, HBO Max, ITV Hub, Spotify, SkyGo, Discovery, Peacock, and more.

Surfshark has a lot of robust security features that other VPNs do not offer and is recommended for more global coverage with steady and reliable networks.

It has dedicated apps for all major operating systems and devices, including Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV, providing impressive security for all your devices.

In addition to these apps, Surfshark also offers browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. And it covers all of these devices you have at home under a single subscription.

Yes, Surfshark allows unlimited simultaneous connections and you and your family can use the credentials on whichever device you have in your household. This means that all family members can unblock Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, or other desired services simultaneously from anywhere in the world.

Surfshark gives extensive protection, especially with ‘MultiHop,’ which routes your internet connection through two VPN servers, offering an added layer of invisibility to your real IP address.

A feature called “NoBorders” permits the VPN user to access content in overly restrictive regions like China. Meanwhile, the Whitelister feature also offers certain websites and apps to connect outside the VPN tunnel through which local network resources can be accessed, such as scanners, printers, and more.

The Kill Switch protects against accidental IP leaks, which comes in handy in case you lose your connection to VPN while torrenting on a sensitive website. The ad-blocker tool provides device-level security by blocking malicious redirects, popups, and third-party advertisements.

The security features of Surfshark are fairly standard with 256-AES encryption in conjunction with SHA512 hash and 2048-bit DHE-RSA key exchange. All of these standards guarantee maximum network-level security to your devices, your data in transit, and your ultimate online identity.

Surfshark offers many discounts depending on the subscription length:

• $12.95/mo for one month
• $3.99/mo for 12 months
• $2.05/mo for 24 months

The 12-month plan makes it the cheapest VPN in the industry. And if you wish to cancel your subscription at any time, you can easily do so within 30 days and avail Surfshark free trial. Surfshark has a 30-day money-back guarantee. This gives you enough time to test the waters with Surfshark and figure out if it’s the best fit for you. Read our in-depth review of Surfshark if you want to know more about this VPN.

3. NordVPN – Most secure VPN to stream Movies and TV shows

If smooth streaming with maximum privacy, reasonable pricing, and handy support are what you’re searching for, then NordVPN is the way to go.

NordVPN unblocks Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, Disney Plus, and BBC iPlayer. It has dedicated apps for major platforms including Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, and compatible with streaming devices like Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, and PlayStation. This VPN is one of the best VPNs for Xbox One.

Currently, it has 5200+ servers in 59+ countries. And a lot of servers in the United States, allowing you to easily access Hulu in the UK, Disney+ Hotstar in USA, etc. It allows 6 simultaneous connections with a single subscription.

NordVPN uses SmartPlay technology: a secure proxy service to bypass all geo-restrictions, making it a dream to stream. This feature is automatically enabled in NordVPN, so your requests will be rerouted through an apt remote server. In other words, you can easily unblock content from all major streaming services and hundreds more.

NordVPN comes with explainer guides that make your usage of it a lot more convenient than other VPNs plus their 24/7 live chat support is always available in case of an issue. The provider offers superb speeds and laudable consistency, which take a pitch over the long-distance connection, but if your broadband is up to it, you shouldn’t experience any lag in your streaming.

Suppose you’re going to use your VPN for a lot more than streaming. In that case, you’ll be relieved to know that this Panama-based provider offers top-notch security features such as Double VPN, a kill switch, no-logs policy, and 256-AES encryption, plus support for all security protocols. There are also options to get a dedicated IP address if you want your internet roaming a hundred percent risk-free.

This Double VPN feature is quite unique in comparison to other popular VPN brands. With this switch, the app provides double protection to your internet activity. This means your internet traffic passes through two secret chambers one after the other to ensure maximum network-level security.

For such an amazing piece of software, NordVPN has some impressive pricing.

• $11.95/mo for monthly package
• $4.92/month for the yearly package
• $5.29/mo for the two-year package

There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can relax and check it out, and if it doesn’t perform according to your expectations, then you can always get a refund. The two-year plan is currently on a discount which may end soon. We have covered a complete review of NordVPN so, you will know more about its features, pricing, servers, etc.

4. CyberGhost – Great streaming VPN which Comes with 45-day money-back guarantee

It is a popular choice when it comes to streaming due to its relatively steady speeds, 7 simultaneous connections and not to mention its expansive server list with around 7700+ servers in 90+ countries.

CyberGhost can easily let you access Disney Plus in Philipines, South Africa, or even unblocks major streaming websites like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, HBO Max, Showtime, BBC iPlayer, and more.

With CyberGhost, you don’t need to trade speed with security since it offers you both and does a good job at delivering it. With its jurisdiction in Romania, you can rely on its 256-bit AES technology and its no-logs policy which ensures it does not record or share any user activity.

It has a leak-proof kill switch that prevents accidental IP leaks. Also, it allows split-tunneling so that you can view native as well as international geo-restricted content simultaneously. It provides multiple VPN protocols including L2TP-IPsec, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols.

It has a 45-day trial period that beats both ExpressVPN and NordVPN, and its triennial subscription package is real value for money.

• $12.99/mo for a monthly package
• $4.29/mo for yearly package
• $2.29/mo for three-year package

Users can choose to test CyberGhost VPN for its 45-day money-back guarantee. Moreover, you can choose to chat with customer support any hour of day or night. The main website has a 24*7 live chat option for technical or non-technical assistance.

All your streaming expectations can come to fruition with CyberGhost and its dedicated apps for all major devices computing, mobile, and streaming devices including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. 

With CyberGhost, you can actually stream on the go. You can read our CyberGhost review and find out everything you want to know about this Romanian VPN provider.

5. Private Internet Access – One of the oldest and most reliable VPN services for streaming

Known in the market as one of the best VPNs for streaming, PIA is a testament to its name with its no-logs policy and a super long list of thousands of servers. This clearly suggests that PIA will fulfill all the torrenting and streaming hunger, especially if you do not have a specific platform preference.

It unblocks Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, SkyGo. However, users have commented that it is still unable to unlock Disney Plus. It supports all major platforms including Windows, Linux, Android, macOS, iOS as well as streaming devices Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, and PlayStation.

One of the best perks of subscribing to Private Internet Access is simultaneous connections on 10 devices. Yes, if you are a family of four, with a mobile device for each member, and have a smart TV, a PS4, or Fire Stick at home, you are all covered with PIA’s single subscription.

This huge list of servers delivers excellent speeds all across the board, which is good news for streaming fans. Most importantly, PIA has 1000+ servers for high-volume regions like the USA, UK, Canada, Japan, and France. PIA is P2P optimized and offers torrenting on all their servers with a no-logs policy which is preferred for anonymous torrenting.

Private Internet Access has a Kill Switch which protects from accidental IP leaks during torrenting, gaming, and streaming. Also, it has a split tunneling feature that will let you pass selected traffic via the private chamber so you can stream native and global content simultaneously.

It has dedicated apps for all major operating systems, and the default setting is for the OpenVPN protocol, which you can alter and choose from TCP and UDP connections. It also supports WireGuard VPN Protocol, however, we suggest users browse over OpenVPN only since it is stable, reliable, and speedy.

Private Internet Access comes with a free ad-blocker and malware protection tool. It discourages web tracking and blocks all third-party pop-ups, and redirects to malicious websites.

PIA’s pricing is another reason for its popularity, with awesome discounts on certain subscriptions.

• $11.99/mo for a monthly package
• $7.50/mo for Six months
• $2.19/mo for two-year plan with two free months

In addition to these prices, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee which you can avail of if this service isn’t an ideal fit for your purpose or isn’t giving you the streaming experience as expected. We would recommend you read our detailed review of PIA VPN or go for a 7-day free trial of Private Internet Access before making a financial commitment.

Our Criteria For Choosing The Best VPNs For Streaming

It can be quite challenging to find a steady and reliable VPN without having to go through the hordes of options available on the internet. The list of VPNs above is not being mentioned on a whim but fall on carefully selected criteria, including the following:

Ability to unblock popular streaming services: streaming geo-restricted sites is the most sought-after ability by VPN users, which is why this select team of VPNs has been added to this list. They have the capacity to unblock all major streaming sites and give you amazing speeds even if you’re on the go. An exception is with Private Internet Access which can not unlock Disney Plus at the moment, yet has steady servers for the overall streaming experience.

1. Money-back guarantee

A money-back guarantee attests to the credibility of a VPN which is why all of the names mentioned above have an ample trial period during which you can decide whether you want to keep it or discard it.

2. Simultaneous connections

The common household has an average of 10 devices, fewer of them in use at a particular time of the day. Therefore, it is imperative that your chosen VPN offers simultaneous connections so that everyone in the family is safe. The criteria we had set were at least 5 simultaneous connections and all satisfy the benchmark.

3. Servers across the world

The larger the number of servers, the better the speed since fewer users would hog the same server.

4. Native mobile app

The real value of a VPN lies in its mobile support and keeping your device protected while you’re connected to public Wi-Fi. All of these VPNs have robust mobile compatibility.

5. Streaming speed

The speed provided by a certain VPN is of the essence since it determines the entire streaming experience. The VPNs in this list have impressive speeds even when connected to distant servers. And that’s tested, not just a word of mouth!

6. Overall features

other crucial aspects include a no-logs policy, standard encryption, kill switch, DNS/IP leak protection, bandwidth and performance, and prompt customer service.

How to Connect to a VPN to Access Geo-Restricted Content from Anywhere in the World?

Any streaming service that prevents you from accessing your desired content is a major put-off. This is why VPNs have become so pervasive, especially when it comes to geo-restricted services like Hulu and Disney Plus. Here’s how you can use a VPN for streaming geo-censored content:

1. Subscribe to ExpressVPN and download the compatible VPN app for your device.
2. Enter your credentials and connect to a server of your choice.

*For example, if you want to access the American libraries on Netflix, choose a USA server from your VPN app.

3. Launch your streaming app, Netflix in this case. Search for your desired content and it will be readily available.

VPN vs. DNS: What is the Best Solution for Streaming?

DNS and VPNs offer the same services yet deliver the process in very different ways. They both provide ways of navigating around internet blocks set up by streaming services.

VPNs, however, are a clear choice here because they are far more secure. VPNs come with excellent protection for website access and browsing, change your IP address providing complete anonymity, easily set up on many devices, access geo-restricted content along with varied security features that DNS simply doesn’t offer.

Conclusion

The best VPN for streaming is usually the one that gives you a seamless desired streaming experience without all the bells and whistles. All of the VPNs mentioned above will do the job expertly and keep you completely safe from internet predators.

However, our final verdict is in favor of ExpressVPN, it has a fair number of servers to support the streaming of geo-restricted content, offers the fastest speed, and provides a complete solution as a consumer-side VPN.

In the end, know that media content is created for the entertainment of one and all, more conveniently than ever with VPNs by your side.