Do You Need a VPN for Streaming?

Yes, you might need a VPN for streaming — mostly when traveling abroad. A VPN helps you access streaming services, TV shows, and movies that are not available in your location. For example, if you’re from the US and go on vacation to Europe, you can use a VPN to connect to a US server and enjoy Netflix US while abroad.

If that answers your question, great. If you want to learn more about using a VPN for streaming, check out the rest of this article (feel free to use the table of contents to quickly skip to the part that interests you the most).

How Does a VPN Help You Access Streaming Sites?

It does this by changing your IP address, which reveals your real-time location. Basically, every time you access a streaming site (or any site for that matter), the website communicates with your device’s IP address. And that IP contains various data, including what country you’re from — and the streaming site gets access to that data.

When you go online via a VPN server, you communicate with the web through the server’s IP address. So any streaming site you access while connected to the VPN will only see data that’s associated with the VPN server’s IP address.

So, if you’re in Germany and use a VPN server in the US to connect to Netflix, the site will think you’re connecting to it from the US — so, it will allow you to access its US library. Here’s a visual representation:

Just think of the VPN as a middleman between you and the internet — you tell it what site you want to browse, it accesses that site for you, and then retrieves the data you requested so that you can view it. And all of that happens either instantly or in just a few seconds.

To make things 100% easy to understand, here’s a very basic diagram of how your internet connection looks like when you access a website:

And here’s how your connection to a site looks like when you use a VPN:

Can I Use a VPN for Streaming at Home?

Yes — many people actually do this to access streaming content that’s not available in their countries. For example, someone who lives in Germany might use a VPN server in the US to watch movies and TV shows that are only available on Netflix US or Amazon Prime US.

I don’t exactly encourage this since it might be against a streaming platform’s terms of use. This is actually why many top VPNs have stopped saying how you can use their services to unblock streaming sites not available in your country — instead, they now focus on things like “securely accessing streaming sites,” “accessing your streaming account while traveling abroad,” or “unblocking streaming platforms at work or school.”

Still, it’s pretty obvious a ton of people use a streaming VPN just for that reason, so I wouldn’t be 100% real with you guys if I wouldn’t mention it.

You could also use a VPN while streaming at home if you want more privacy. Since the VPN encrypts your traffic, your ISP, hackers, or God knows who else won’t be able to monitor your streaming traffic. Also, the streaming site won’t be able to see your real IP address, which reveals your location. Note that this is a pretty unlikely scenario, so you should only do this if you’re worried somebody might be spying on your streaming.

Another use case is to get a VPN to prevent bandwidth throttling while streaming. Bandwidth throttling is when your ISP says “okay that’s enough data for you” after you binge 3 whole seasons of a TV show in 1 weekend. Basically, your ISP limits your speeds to reduce data consumption. A VPN could prevent that by encrypting your traffic, which stops your ISP from seeing what you’re doing online — emphasis on “could,” though, since your ISP will still be able to see how much data you use and throttle your connection to the VPN instead.

Finally, you can use a VPN to access blocked streaming sites at work or school, just like CyberGhost VPN mentioned in their web copy. For example, a VPN could help you watch an episode of your favorite TV series during your lunch break. Just remember — network admins could detect your VPN usage. So, I’d avoid this if there are rules against using a VPN at your school or workplace.

What’s the Best VPN for Streaming?

I honestly can’t recommend just one VPN as the best for streaming — there are tons of top providers out there that provide a great streaming experience.

Still, I can point you in the right direction, so I’ll highlight a few VPNs that have always performed well (accessed top sites + had fast speeds) whenever I used them in my streaming tests:

• ExpressVPN — It claims to work with over 100 streaming services, from big names like Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Amazon Prime Video to “smaller” or more niche sites like NRK TV, ORF, and CBC. It also has a smart DNS (MediaStreamer), which is a cool little tool you can use to enjoy streaming content on devices that don’t normally work with VPN apps, such as gaming consoles. A bit expensive, though.
• Windscribe — Its reps told me the VPN can access up to 300 streaming platforms, which is awesome. Windscribe doesn’t guarantee it will 100% work with all streaming sites 24/7, so bonus points for the transparency. But it always worked with Netflix and HBO Max in my tests, even on the its free plan. It doesn’t have a smart DNS, but its sister company provides one via the CONTROL D service.
• CyberGhost VPN — Has streaming servers that can access 50+ streaming platforms, including big boys like Netflix, Disney+, DAZN, and Hulu. The provider configures those servers to refresh their IPs very often, which should theoretically make it harder for streaming websites to detect and block their IP addresses. CyberGhost VPN also has a smart DNS, which is nice.
• Surfshark — Claims to work with over 50 streaming sites, and also has a smart DNS. Plus, it supports unlimited connections, so it’s a good solution if your whole family (or, why not, the whole block) needs a streaming VPN. On Android, it also has a cool feature that spoofs your GPS data. You can use that to make it harder for mobile streaming apps to detect and block your VPN connections. Surprisingly not many people know this, but many streaming mobile apps use your device’s GPS data (in addition to its IP address) to determine your location.
• NordVPN — Multiple support reps have confirmed that the VPN can access 30+ streaming platforms. Also has a smart DNS and the SmartPlay feature, which is pretty cool. SmartPlay combines smart DNS and VPN tech across all of the provider’s VPN servers. Basically, it’s supposed to make it more difficult for streaming sites to detect and block your NordVPN connections.
• Private Internet Access — Its support articles claim the provider can access 20+ streaming services, including Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+. Also has a smart DNS and allows unlimited connections, which is a bonus. And its longest plan is super cheap, so it might be a good fit for anyone who’s on a tight budget.
• PureVPN — Claims to work with over 10 streaming sites, mostly big ones like Netflix, Peacock, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu. It unfortunately doesn’t have a smart DNS tool, so I wouldn’t really recommend using this VPN for streaming on smart TVs that don’t run Android TV or Fire OS, gaming consoles, or any other streaming devices that don’t work with VPN apps.

How to Use a VPN for Streaming

It’s really straightforward — here’s what you need to do:

1. Get a good VPN for streaming. Any of the providers I mentioned above are good picks — just head to their sites and see which one works for you. After you decide, sign up and create an account.
2. Download & install the VPN on your device. Installing a VPN app is really straightforward and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. If you need help, just use the VPN provider’s installation guides.
3. Use the VPN app to connect to a server. Make sure the VPN server is in the same country as the streaming platform or content you want to access.
4. Access your streaming account. Log in and look up the titles you want to watch. For the best results, I recommend using a separate browser running incognito/private mode.

Do You Need a VPN for Illegal Streaming?

Probably not since illegal streaming sites likely don’t use geo-blocks, so you can access them from anywhere in the world. These sites don’t exactly care about copyright and licensing regulations, so they really have no reason to geo-block their content.

You’d need a VPN if the illegal streaming site you want to use is blocked, either by your ISP or the government. With a VPN, you can communicate with a site through a new IP address, one that doesn’t have any firewall restrictions associated with it.

But I don’t really recommend using these sites anyway. You’re not likely to get in legal trouble for using them, but there are other annoyances — such as buggy interfaces, slow-loading pages and streaming speeds, piss-poor cam quality instead of HD or 4K quality, and tons of ads (some of which might be malicious). You can try using an ad blocker, but some illegal streaming sites simply won’t work if you have the ad blocker enabled.

To be honest, if paid streaming sites are not an option, you’re better off trying your luck with torrents — of course, I’ll need to add the mandatory legal disclaimer and say that I definitely don’t encourage anyone to use a VPN to download copyrighted content.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best free VPN for streaming?

Windscribe is the best option — it’s the only free VPN I have ever used that consistently works with top streaming platforms, such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and HBO Max. And unlike most free VPNs that are slow and limit you to 1 connection, Windscribe has fast speeds and allows unlimited connections.

The only drawback is the data limit, but it’s not that bad. It starts at 2 GB per month — but you can easily raise it to 10 GB per month by confirming the email address you use to sign up. And if you tweet to the provider, you can permanently add 5 GB of data to your limit. Plus, you can get additional GB per month by referring friends to Windscribe. All in all, you can get enough data for 4–5 hours of HD streaming per month, which is pretty decent.

What’s the best VPN for streaming Netflix?

All the VPNs I mentioned here work really well with Netflix. The streaming giant barely detects and blocks them, they have really good streaming speeds, and they provide access to mobile and desktop apps that are very simple to use.

But if only the number of Netflix libraries matters, I’d try CyberGhost VPN — it has dedicated streaming servers that are optimized to work with up to 15 Netflix libraries, including Netflix US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and more.

What’s the fastest VPN for streaming?

To be honest, most top VPNs provide very fast streaming speeds. I have tested all of the ones I mentioned here over the past years, and have always enjoyed smooth streaming with all of them. Videos usually load instantly or in 2–3 seconds, and I very rarely experience buffering — and when I do, it’s usually minor and not extremely noticeable.

But if your original speeds are very slow, I’d go with ExpressVPN — its proprietary Lightway protocol usually provides me with faster speeds than WireGuard, so you might have a better experience with it. If ExpressVPN is too expensive, I recommend trying Windscribe since it’s really fast and has a cheap monthly plan. Or, you can try CyberGhost VPN or Surfshark if you’re good with long-term commitments since they have really cheap long-term plans and also have consistently fast speeds

Is it illegal to use a VPN for streaming?

No, since using a VPN is perfectly legal in most countries. There are just a few exceptions, which include countries with restrictive governments that might make it illegal to use a VPN (emphasis on “might”).

But there’s still a risk that’s related to the streaming site’s terms of service. Basically, certain sites say you can’t use a VPN to access content from a country different than the one you registered your account in. Even so, I haven’t seen any credible reports about VPN users having their accounts banned when streaming sites catch them using a VPN — usually, the site will just block their VPN connections.

Which VPN protocol is best for streaming?

The protocol that provides the best streaming speeds — usually, it’s WireGuard. But you can also get good speeds with IKEv2/IPSec and even OpenVPN (depending on how fast your original internet connection is). Some providers also have their own proprietary protocols that provide very fast speeds. For example, ExpressVPN has Lightway and NordVPN has NordLynx, which is based on WireGuard.

PPTP and L2TP/IPSec are also really fast, but I don’t recommend them. PPTP provides very weak security, and most top VPNs have already dropped support for both PPTP and LT2P/IPSec — so the only way to use them is via manual setups, which are a pain in the ass in terms of effort and time investment.