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The Best VPNs for India
Simon Migliano
Simon Migliano is a recognized world expert in VPNs. He's tested hundreds of VPN services and his research has featured on the BBC, The New York Times and more. Read full bio
The best VPN to get an anonymous Indian IP address is Surfshark, with 50 fast Indian servers that easily accessed geo-blocked services like JioHotstar, Netflix India, and SonyLIV. The VPN also bypassed online censorship from inside India. PrivadoVPN is a good free option that surprisingly worked with Prime Video India, but its 10GB monthly data cap and limited streaming access pales in comparison to Surfshark.
Are you tired of looking for an Indian VPN that actually delivers on its promises?
It’s got so much harder to find VPNs with reliable Indian IP addresses, especially ones that unblock geo-restricted content platforms like JioHotstar, Netflix India, Prime Video India, and SonyLIV.
India’s intrusive VPN data laws, which require VPN providers to store user data locally, are to blame. Many VPN companies have removed physical servers from the country, while some have had their apps banned from Indian app stores, like PrivadoVPN.
To make matters worse, many tech review websites (some owned by VPN companies themselves) publish biased recommendations influenced by commercial agreements or conflicts of interest.
Summary: The Best VPNs for India
After testing 61 VPNs for India, we can hand on our heart only recommend these three for the best experience:
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
VPNs Tested
61
Total Hours of Testing
30,000+
Combined Years of Experience
50+
You can trust the three VPNs we recommend to provide high-quality virtual Indian servers that unblock India-only content platforms, online banking apps, and more from abroad.
And if you’re in India, these VPNs also bypass censorship blocks preventing you from accessing TikTok, certain news websites, and videogames like PUBG Mobile.
🔄 Recent Updates
We’ve made general improvements to the guide and added more dangerous free VPNs that you must avoid using.
VPN Comparison Table
The table below compares our chosen VPNs based on number of India servers, Indian cities you can connect to, access to Indian streaming platforms, price, and more:
50 virtual servers in two server locations in India
Consistently unblocks JioHotstar, Netflix & Prime Video India
Android GPS spoofer for bypassing mobile geo-restrictions
Effective Firestick & Apple TV applications
Costs just $1.99/mo over 28 months
Not as fast as competitors
Slower server connection times than rivals
Kill switch not enabled by default
Occasional IPv6 leaks
Pricing Plans
$15.45/mo
$2.99/mo over 16 months
$1.99/mo over 28 months
India Servers
50
India Server Locations
Delhi, Mumbai
Hotstar
Yes
Netflix India
Yes
Logging Policy
No Identifiable Data
Compatible with
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android
Linux
Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Apple TV
Router
Chrome
While no other tech review website is willing to admit it, Surfshark is clearly the very best VPN for India.
It has an unmatched number of virtual servers in India that work flawlessly, genuine free trial options, and a cheap subscription price.
Above all, out of the 61 VPNs we tested, it’s the only VPN able to reliably unblock every major Indian streaming service from outside the country.
You can even try Surfshark risk-free by enrolling in its 7-day free trial, which won’t take any payment upfront.
Surfshark successfully unblocked JioHotstar in our tests.
Multiple Virtual Indian Servers
Surfshark has 50 VPN servers in India, giving you either New Delhi and Mumbai IP addresses. Only CyberGhost comes close to this impressive total (with 37 servers).
Surfshark’s server locations in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Unlike ExpressVPN, Surfshark lets you manually select a specific India server location. This is useful for identifying and choosing the closest possible VPN server to maximize your internet speed.
All the VPN’s India servers are virtual in order to avoid India’s intrusive data laws. The servers’ real-world locations rotate between the Netherlands, the UK, and Singapore.
Unblocks Every Major Indian Streaming Service
Surfshark is currently the only VPN that can consistently unblock JioHotstar, Amazon Prime Video India, SonyLIV, ZEE5, and Netflix India.
We watched the latest season of Asur on JioCinema (now JioHotstar) using Surfshark.
For example, by connecting to one of Surfshark’s India servers, we were able to load JioHotstar exclusives in HD quality without blurriness or buffering.
Also, Surfshark’s GPS spoofing setting on Android gives it the edge in bypassing the strictest Indian geo-restrictions.
Up to 67 Days of Free VPN Servers in India
If you need a free VPN with servers in India, we recommend using Surfshark’s seven-day free trial and two 30-day money-back guarantees for a total of 67 days of free usage.
All of this comes without any restrictions on the VPN’s features, speeds, or data.
You can also upgrade to a permanent subscription for just $1.99/mo over 28 months. This makes Surfshark one of the cheapest India VPNs available, especially compared to ExpressVPN’s pricing plans.
You can quickly get an Indian IP address by connecting to one of its VPN servers in New Delhi or Chennai.
What we like most about ExpressVPN is how easy it is to use on a wide range of devices. The connection speeds on its India servers were equally impressive, and considerably faster than Surfshark’s.
You can try ExpressVPN for free for seven days on mobile devices. It also has a 30-day risk-free money-back guarantee for other devices like PC and Mac laptops, and streaming devices.
We used ExpressVPN to stream Satyabhama on JioCinema.
A Fast, Versatile & User-friendly VPN
You can easily get an Indian IP address with ExpressVPN, by connecting to its virtual India servers.
ExpressVPN always assigned us an Indian IP address without any issues.
The server list is very easy to find and we never experienced any difficulties finding an Indian server, or any speed fluctuations while connected.
More than that, ExpressVPN quite simply left Surfshark in the dust in our international speed tests, including India: 85Mbps versus 83Mbps.
Unblocks JioHotstar from Outside India
ExpressVPN is renowned for bypassing streaming geo-blocks, and its performance with Indian streaming services didn’t disappoint.
The VPN unblocked Hotstar and SonyLIV with ease, and in our latest Netflix VPN tests we discovered it now works with the Indian library, which it couldn’t before.
ExpressVPN’s virtual India server locations gave us access Hotstar outside of India.
Despite its otherwise impressive streaming performance, ExpressVPN surprisingly doesn’t unblock Amazon Prime Video India.
PrivadoVPN is the best free VPN for India. It has free servers in India, unblocks Amazon Prime Video India, and delivers fast long-distance download speeds.
It’s the only safe free VPN for getting an Indian IP address, thanks to its robust encryption, privacy-friendly jurisdiction, and scandal-free history.
We used PrivadoVPN Free to stream Dhootha on Prime Video.
Free Mumbai Server Works with Prime Video
PrivadoVPN offers free servers in Mumbai that assign you an Indian IP address and unblock Amazon Prime Video India.
However, we couldn’t unblock JioHotstar, Netflix India, or SonyLIV. Moreover, its single Mumbai server was often congested from high traffic. We suggest using a Surfshark if unblocking a geo-restricted Indian streaming service is a priority.
We couldn’t get around JioCinema’s error message.
Limited Bandwidth & Device Compatibility
The main issue we had with using PrivadoVPN is that free bandwidth is capped at 10GB per month. This roughly equates to four hours of HD streaming.
On top of the usage limit, PrivadoVPN also lacks the device compatibility offered by top-tier VPNs.
Unlike Surfshark and ExpressVPN, there are no browser extensions available, no Apple TV app, and the Fire TV software often played up in our tests.
Finally, if you’re in India, you won’t be able to download PrivadoVPN directly onto your smartphone since it has been removed from local app stores. The only way to get the VPN will therefore be via its official website.
The vast majority of VPN services have removed their physical servers from India due to the country’s new data logging requirements, replacing them with virtual servers or removing the server location entirely.
Virtual VPN servers are servers that aren’t physically located in their advertised location, despite providing the correct IP address. In this case, it allows a VPN to still provide an Indian IP address, while removing its actual VPN server from India’s legal jurisdiction.
ExpressVPN’s virtual India servers are actually located in Singapore and the UK.
Physical VPN servers are ones that are physically located in their advertised location. If a VPN implemented this type of server in India, it could become subject to data logging.
As of writing, the only premium VPNs we review that still use physical servers in India are Windscribe, VyprVPN, HMA, and PrivateVPN.
There may also be some insecure, free VPN services with physical servers in India. This is much more difficult for us to verify as their customer support and provider website are usually more limited.
We’ve listed which popular VPN services have servers in India below:
How to Get an Indian IP Address Using a VPN
Using a VPN with Indian servers is the most effective way to change your IP location to India. We strongly recommend you use one of our shortlisted VPNs.
You could also try using a proxy server for India, but they are often ineffective and they won’t encrypt your connection, leaving your data transfers exposed.
In the video below we’ve demonstrated how easy it is to get an Indian IP address with a VPN:
We used Surfshark to get an Indian IP address and unblock Netflix India.
Instructions: How to Change IP Location to India
Get a VPN with virtual India servers. We recommend using Surfshark due to its large number of India servers, fast Internet speeds, and robust encryption.
Connect to an Indian server location. Locate the server list in your VPN’s settings and select the India server.
Verify your new IP address. Open your preferred internet browser and use our IP checker tool to confirm your changed IP address and geolocation.
Once you’ve verified that you’ve obtained an Indian IP address, you can access India-only websites from any country, including the US and the UK.
What Can You Do with an Indian IP Address?
You can use an Indian IP address to bypass geo-restrictions on online services, such as streaming platforms, video games, and banking apps.
For the best balance of privacy and ease of use, we recommend using a VPN to get an Indian IP address, rather than using a proxy server.
Below is a summary of content that’s exclusive to India on major streaming services, only accessible with a paid India VPN:
We’ve also listed popular sporting events that can be unblocked with an Indian IP address:
If you’re a PC gamer, you can also use an Indian IP address to change your Steam store region. If you live in a country like the US or UK, this could save you up to 50% on games and DLC.
Free VPN vs Paid VPN: Which is Better for India?
Unfortunately, there are many disadvantages to using free VPNs to get an Indian IP address. Especially when it comes to streaming.
Most safe-to-use free VPNs are limited by restrictive daily/monthly bandwidth caps, slower speeds, and limited free server selection.
Furthermore, even the best free VPNs often don’t work with JioHotstar, SonyLIV, Prime Video India and other popular streaming apps.
Since 2016, we’ve investigated over 150 free VPNs for security, privacy and trustworthiness. Our most recent tests show that:
88% leak your data, including IP and DNS data.
10% suffer encryption failures, exposing your browsing activity
53% had unreliable connections due to VPN tunnel instability
By contrast, many paid-for India VPNs offer a reliable streaming experience with increased privacy and security.
Key features of paid India VPNs include:
Unlimited bandwidth
Faster connection speeds
Much better unblocking capabilities
More India VPN servers
Extra privacy and security settings
Wider device compatability
If you aren’t sure about whether a subscription-based India VPN is really worth it, you can try one first by using a VPN free trial or taking advantage of a money-back guarantee.
Free VPNs for India to Avoid
To capitalize on the recent surge in demand for VPNs, dozens of untrustworthy free VPNs have sadly cropped up in recent times.
These unsafe free VPNs can carry malware, sell your data to third-parties, or simply not work properly.
TunnelBear can’t unblock Indian platforms since removing its India servers.
We’ve listed below some of the most popular free VPNs that appear prominently in search engines and app stores that you should not use for India:
Psiphon VPN
In our tests, Psiphon VPN leaked our DNS requests.
Psiphon logs your real IP address and it caps download speeds at 38Mbps. Psiphon provides a server in India on both its paid and free plan, but doesn’t provide any information as to whether it’s virtual or not.
TunnelBear
TunnelBear has stopped its service in India.
Despite providing servers in neighboring countries, TunnelBear blocks Indian residents from downloading its apps, and it doesn’t offer any Indian IP addresses.
Urban VPN
Urban VPN was unable to unblock any Indian streaming services.
Urban VPN logs your IP address, can’t unblock any streaming services, and leaks DNS requests. It lists an India server in its apps, but the benefits of an Indian IP address are outweighed by the risks to your online privacy and security.
VPN India by AltApps
The privacy policy of VPN India by AltApps.
AltApps (also known as tap2free) is a shady company that has developed dozens of risky VPNs targeting specific countries, including India.
Its ‘VPN India’ app in particular is very poor, with constant networking issues and way too many in-app ads that make the product almost unusable.
That said, its privacy policy is what really concerned us. VPN India will, among other things, record your IP address, comply with any court-ordered data requests, and the company refuses to support ‘Do Not Track’ requests.
VPN India by Planet VPN
Planet VPN is notorious for flooding app and browser extension stores with country-specific variants of its main service. This practice alone doesn’t sit well with us, however it’s the least of this VPN’s issues.
Using its VPN India application is a very disappointing experience, with incredibly slow speeds, frequent connection failures, and no access to India’s popular geo-restricted content.
VPN Proxy Master
VPN Proxy Master logs your country, VPN server location, and whether you connected successfully, among other data points.
VPN Proxy Master collects too much user data and we detected malware within its apps. It provides a free server in India but we can’t recommend using it with VPN Proxy Master’s ongoing safety issues.
How We Test VPNs for India (Methodology)
We’ve created a unique testing methodology for determining the best VPNs for India. Every VPN is subject to the same stringent process to ensure fair and unbiased rankings.
For India VPNs specifically, we test for:
Multiple virtual servers in locations across India.
Consistent access to Indian streaming services, including JioHotstar and Netflix India.
Fast connection speeds for smooth 4K quality streaming.
A private logging policy, ideally backed by an audit.
Strong encryption and reliable VPN protocols
Here is a table showing how the top-rated India VPNs performed in our testing categories:
Below is a more detailed walkthrough of our India-specific testing methodology:
1. India Server Locations: 30%
Minimum Requirement: A virtual server location in India.
We Recommend: Multiple virtual servers in India, covering a variety of locations.
To qualify for this list, it’s essential for a VPN to have a virtual India server location. Without one, it’s impossible to obtain an Indian IP address.
It’s also important that the VPN service uses a virtual server, instead of a physical one, to avoid India’s intrusive VPN laws.
We expect the very best India VPNs to provide server coverage across the country. This minimizes speed loss by reducing the distance between the user and the VPN server.
2. India Streaming: 30%
Minimum Requirement: Unblocks JioHotstar and Netflix India.
We Recommend: All of the above, as well as Amazon Prime Video India and SonyLIV.
Due to licensing and distribution agreements, streaming services are often required to geo-restrict their content to specific regions.
The best VPNs for India are capable of bypassing these geo-blocks and streaming content that’s exclusive to India.
To calculate this category’s rating, we regularly test every VPN’s ability to unblock popular Indian streaming services from outside India.
This includes Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, Netflix India, and Amazon’s India originals.
3. Speed: 20%
Minimum Requirement: An average international download speed greater than 60Mbps, and ping lower than 100ms.
We Recommend: An average international download download speed above 80Mbps, and ping lower than 50ms.
All of our shortlisted VPNs use fast and modern tunneling protocols to minimize the impact on your connection speeds.
A fast download speed is vital for streaming content in HD quality, without any buffering or long load times.
Additionally, a low ping time ensures that you can play games like BGMI, lag-free.
4.Security: 10%
Minimum Requirement: Secure open-sourced protocols and AES-256 or equivalent encryption.
We Recommend: All of the above, as well as leak protection and a working kill switch.
Without strong VPN encryption, your browsing activity will be visible when connecting into India.
This includes any streaming services you use, websites you access, and files you share.
To anonymize your web activity, the VPNs we’ve shortlisted all use AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption.
They also use open-sourced and dependable VPN protocols like OpenVPN or WireGuard. This allows the apps to establish a secure connection between your device and the VPN server in India.
5. Privacy: 10%
Minimum Requirement: Minimal logging policy, proven by a court case or an independent audit.
We Recommend: No-logs policy verified by real-world events, trustworthy ownership, and diskless servers.
A VPN provider’s logging policy outlines how much information it monitors and collects about your online activity.
It’s vital to use a VPN with minimal logging practices to safeguard your personal data against hackers and law enforcement agencies.
As a result, every VPN we’ve recommended for India logs a minimal amount of data or no data at all.
We’ve also highlighted VPNs that take extra measures to protect your online privacy, such as using RAM servers.
Data Cap Penalty
Almost every free VPN service is limited by a data cap. This restricts the VPN to encourage users to upgrade to the premium version.
Using up your data prevents you from using the VPN anymore, including connecting to an India VPN server. As such, you won’t be able to get an Indian IP address or watch geo-blocked Indian streaming services.
We apply a penalty to the VPN’s final overall rating for India based on its data cap:
Unlimited bandwidth: No deduction to the overall rating
10GB per month: -20% to the overall rating
500MB per day: -25% to the overall rating
5GB per month: -30% to the overall rating
1GB per month: -35% to the overall rating
200MB per day: -40% to the overall rating
500MB per month: -50% to the overall rating
Additional Testing Criteria
Along with our five key testing categories, we take into consideration other factors when determining the best India VPNs.
These additional factors do not affect the calculation of our overall India rating, but they do influence which VPNs we consider for the shortlist.
We automatically exclude any VPNs with blocked websites in India, or those that have withdrawn their service from the region.
Alongside robust encryption and modern tunneling protocols, we reward VPNs that prioritize users’ online safety and privacy in India. This includes providing anonymous payment methods and implementing virtual servers to sidestep India’s VPN data law.
Lastly, we take into account the availability of free trials and the length of money-back guarantees.
FAQs
Are VPNs Legal in India?
VPNs are still legal in India, but VPN companies are being increasingly regulated.
In 2022, the Indian government introduced legislation that forces VPN providers with physical servers in the country to store user data for at least five users.
This data includes usernames, IP addresses, and web activity data, which VPN services must hand over to authorities upon request.
This has made it potentially dangerous to connect to a VPN in India. If a VPN server is physically located in the country, it is most likely collecting your Internet activity and personal data.
Many trustworthy VPN services have therefore removed all physical servers in India. Some providers have replaced them with virtual ones, which are configured to assign you an Indian IP address while being physically located in other countries.
Which VPN Has the Most Servers in India?
Surfshark is the VPN with the most servers in India, with 50 virtual servers. The second highest is CyberGhost, with 29 virtual Indian servers.
Which Free VPN Has Servers in India?
Out of the free VPNs we’ve reviewed, only PrivadoVPN, SkyVPN, Psiphon VPN, and VPN Proxy Master have free servers in India.
However, we can only recommend using PrivadoVPN, since the other free VPNs have invasive logging policies and lack basic security features.
Alternatively, you can take advantage of Surfshark’s free trial and multiple money-back guarantees for a total of 67 days of free VPN usage.
To put it simply, you can use Surfshark to get access to free VPN servers in India for just over two months.
Which VPN Unblocks the Most India-only Video Content?
According to our most recent tests, Surfshark is the most effective VPN for streaming Indian content from outside the country.
Using Surfshark we were able to unblock JioHotstar, SonyLiv, Amazon Prime Video India, and many more geo-restricted platforms.
Surfshark also comes equipped with a Smart DNS tool for streaming on devices that don’t support VPN applications.