Best VPN for Netflix in 2020

Using a VPN with Netflix can help you unlock the full potential of your subscription and increase the amount of content you have available to stream.

Using a VPN ensures you’re getting the maximum value from your Netflix subscription. Depending on where you are in the world, a VPN will allow you to access over 4,000 movies and 2,000 TV shows – nearly three times as many as one Netflix library alone.

The process is simple: subscribe to a VPN that works with Netflix, connect to a server in your target country and then access Netflix on whichever device you’re using. To access the Netflix catalog of another country, simply disconnect from your current server and reconnect to a new location of your choice.

Your Netflix subscription works in every country, so you can use your existing account details to watch the complete catalog of any country you’re connected to without purchasing any additional subscriptions.

To use a VPN with Netflix:

1Choose a reliable VPN service that works with Netflix

Subscribe to a VPN that offers fast speeds and reliably bypasses region-restrictions. We recommend choosing ExpressVPN for its server coverage, performance, and ease-of-use, but you could also use Windscribe if you plan on streaming Netflix from many countries around the world. 

2Download and install the VPN from your provider’s website or an app marketplace

Download the VPN onto your preferred device and set it up by following the onscreen prompts. All of our recommended VPNs for Netflix have a minimum of five simultaneous connections, so you can easily install the software on all of your devices.

You will be able to download the VPN by choosing from this list or accessing the downloads page on the VPN provider’s website. If you’re using your smartphone or an Amazon Fire TV Stick, simply search for the VPN provider’s name in the device’s app store.

If you wish to use your VPN on your smart TV or other streaming devices, the installation process will be slightly different. For these platforms, all of our recommended VPNs for Netflix provide online installation guides to follow instead. Alternatively, you can skip to our instructions for how to use a VPN on Apple TV or read our dedicated guide to installing a VPN on your Smart TV.

3Choose a VPN server and connect to the VPN

Once the VPN is installed on your device, launch the app and connect to a server in your chosen location.

For example, to stream US Netflix, connect to a US VPN server. To access the Japanese Netflix library, connect to a VPN server in Japan. 

For VPN providers that have dedicated servers for Netflix like PrivateVPN and CyberGhost, the process is slightly different. Make sure to connect specifically to the servers labeled for use with Netflix to ensure your Netflix streaming goes smoothly.

4Launch Netflix

Once you’re connected to a VPN server in your target country, launch Netflix in your browser or open the app on your mobile device.

If you find a server that’s blocked, simply disconnect and try another VPN server in that location. The best VPNs have dozens of servers in every country; when you reconnect, you’ll be assigned a new IP address to overcome this problem.

The VPN will reroute your internet traffic through the server in the country of your choice. This means that Netflix will think you’re legitimately connecting from this location, and you will now have access to a range of movies and TV shows that you were blocked from viewing before.

How to Find Which Country Has a Netflix Movie or TV Show

To find out what Netflix catalog has the content you want, we recommend you use uNoGS. uNoGS is a service that informs you which country’s Netflix library contains any movie or TV show you search for.

Although the US Netflix library has by far the largest collection of movies and TV series, it is certainly not the only Netflix catalog worth streaming. Titles like Harry Potter, Friends, The Office, and the Studio Ghibli movies are only available on Netflix in countries outside of the US.

Once you know which location has the TV show or movie you want to watch, simply connect to a VPN server in that country and enjoy streaming.

To see which VPNs are fast and reliable enough to consistently unblock Netflix and stream in HD quality, we’ve tested 74 VPNs for key attributes including speed, support, and reliability.

Netflix constantly blocks VPN services, so we favor those with a proven history of successfully bypassing the proxy error — we don’t want to recommend VPNs that might work today but not tomorrow. 

Once you’ve established that a VPN can access Netflix without being blocked, download speeds should be your next priority. Streaming is a data-intensive activity, so you’ll need strong performance from your VPN to avoid video buffering or interruptions, particularly when watching 4K content.

Likewise, having plenty of servers on offer means you’ll be more likely to find the fastest connection available, as each server will be less congested. It’s always worthwhile to choose a service with excellent support too, just in case you run into any issues.

Testing multiple servers on each VPN with this process gives us a good idea of how each service performs while streaming in real-life. Combined with our regular reviews and speed test results, we’re able to recommend exactly which VPNs will provide the best experience for Netflix.

Netflix blocks VPNs by restricting access from any IP address that is known to belong to a VPN service. If you’re displaying an IP address that is known to belong to a VPN server, Netflix will restrict you from accessing any of its non-original content and display the infamous ‘proxy error’ message.

For example, this is what it looked like when we tried accessing US Netflix with Mullvad VPN:

The Netflix proxy error message is so common because the service’s sophisticated VPN detection techniques are very effective at identifying when users are using a VPN, so only the very best VPNs succeed.

Netflix blocks VPNs because they allow users to circumvent the territorial licensing agreements that the company has in place with content providers.

These licensing agreements allow copyright holders to sell their content in different locations around the world for a larger fee than if they were to be distributed globally.

Netflix sadly caved to the pressure from these large copyright holders and enacted the infamous Netflix ban in 2016. Since then, it has attempted to block access to any user found to be using a VPN service.

When using a VPN, you share an IP address with other users who are connected to the same VPN server as you. This is great for privacy and security, as sharing an identical IP address makes it much harder for any third-party to determine which user is responsible for a given behaviour.

However, this makes it easier for streaming services like Netflix to detect VPN users. If over 1,000 people are streaming Netflix from the same IP address at once, Netflix can infer that this IP is non-residential and therefore block it.

Netflix also detects whether you are using a VPN by validating whether the location of your IP address matches the location of your DNS server. This particular method of detection is less effective on desktop users, as the VPN provider is able to hide your true location by routing your traffic through its own DNS servers.

This method of VPN detection is extremely effective on mobile though, where the Netflix app can force your device to use its default DNS servers rather than those of the VPN provider. This explains why it’s often harder to unblock Netflix on your mobile device compared to in a web browser.

The best VPNs for Netflix, like those included in our list, circumvent these methods of detection by using their own DNS servers and regularly refreshing their IP address. This ensures that they’re able to consistently bypass Netflix’s VPN blocks and reliably stream the content you want.

Netflix maintains that the company’s ultimate aim is to create a “global Netflix,” where its content library would be identical everywhere in the world.

However, Netflix’s real aim is to stuff its content library full of its original content — a project which it spent a massive $14.61 billion on in 2019. By producing TV shows and movies itself, Netflix will be able to deploy this content everywhere in the world without having to worry about restrictive territorial agreements.

We’re still years away from this, so using a VPN to bypass Netflix’s geo-restrictions is still essential if you want access to all of Netflix’s best TV shows and movies.

The vast majority of free VPNs do not work with Netflix. Being able to bypass the Netflix VPN ban requires a considerable amount of resources and almost all free VPNs simply cannot stay ahead of the curve. 

In addition to this, our independent investigation found that nearly 90% of popular free VPN apps have significant privacy flaws. For example, Hola VPN — a wildly popular free VPN for Netflix — has permission to access extremely sensitive information like your name, home address, and birth date.

Free VPN services that do work with Netflix will do so on a very limited basis. Most are eventually identified by Netflix and the rest will place a limit on the amount of data you can use before you upgrade. Hotspot Shield Free, for example, will direct you to its premium subscription plan if you attempt to access Netflix.

Thankfully, our tests have discovered two free VPN services that will partially work to unblock Netflix. The best free VPNs for Netflix are:

1. Windscribe Free
2. HideMyAss browser extension

Our tests found that Windscribe free can access both the US and UK Netflix libraries, which is really impressive for a safe free VPN. 

Windscribe’s free-tier does come with significant disadvantages compared to the paid version, though – mainly that the VPN only allows you to consume 10GB of data per month.

Despite being more generous than other free VPNs, this data cap will allow you to stream just four hours of HD Netflix content per month.

If 10GB a month is simply not enough for your Netflix streaming habits, we also recommend using the HideMyAss browser extension. This extension for Chrome and Firefox gives you unlimited bandwidth — allowing you to stream US Netflix without a data cap.

The HideMyAss browser extension can only be used on a Mac or PC, though, which means you won’t be able to unblock Netflix for free on your mobile or streaming device. 

It’s also worth noting that a proxy extension is not a VPN. It will geo-spoof your location, but it won’t do anything to protect your online privacy. This isn’t a problem if you just want a free way to access US Netflix, but should be avoided if you’re serious about your digital anonymity and security. 

If you’re not sure how web proxies fail to provide the same level of online privacy and security as a fully-fledged VPN service, check out our beginner-friendly guide into the differences between VPNs and proxies.

Although free VPNs can be useful if you’re on a budget, most are unreliable or even dangerous. If you need permanent unlimited access to Netflix, it’s much easier to use a paid VPN service or even to try out a premium provider with a free trial.

For a more detailed look at using free VPNs for Netflix, read our dedicated guide.

• What Is the Best VPN for Netflix?
• How to Watch US Netflix From Abroad
• VPN Speeds for Streaming Netflix
• Is It Legal to Use a VPN With Netflix?
• How to Bypass the Netflix Proxy Error
• What Is Smart DNS?
• How to Unblock Netflix on Apple TV
• Can I Unblock Netflix With a VPN-enabled Router?

What Is the Best VPN for Netflix?

ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Netflix — it’s actually the best overall VPN of 2020, period. The VPN is extremely secure, fast, and reliable. It’s compatible with all major platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android and has consistently worked to unblock dozens of Netflix libraries over all our years of testing.

Though it is a fantastic all-round VPN service, ExpressVPN is still limited. If you’re looking for an inexpensive VPN or you need access to as many international Netflix libraries as possible then we recommend installing Windscribe, which provides reliable access to Netflix for a much lower subscription fee. 

How to Watch US Netflix From Abroad

Being able to access US Netflix is an essential VPN feature for most users. British and Australian Netflix users are limited to just 2,000 titles, while the US Netflix library has a massive total of 5,665 movies and TV shows.

To watch US Netflix with a VPN:

1. Subscribe to a VPN that works with Netflix and download the application.
2. Select a server in the United States and connect to the VPN.
3. Launch Netflix on whichever device you’re using.
4. Contact your VPN provider’s customer support if you’re having any issues.

Whether you’re on holiday or now living somewhere else in the world, you could be missing out on thousands of the movies and TV shows that Netflix has to offer.

Using a VPN, you can access American Netflix from anywhere in the world without using an American payment method or purchasing an additional subscription. All you need is an existing Netflix account and a US-registered IP address, which you can get by using a VPN service that successfully unblocks Netflix.

VPN Speeds for Streaming Netflix

By encrypting and tunneling your internet traffic, all VPNs will slow down your internet speeds to some degree. However, the best Netflix VPNs maintain fast internet speeds, ensuring your Netflix streaming is not interrupted by any buffering issues. 

Here are the minimum internet speeds Netflix itself says you need for streaming:

• 3Mbps — Recommended for SD quality
• 5Mbps — Recommended for HD quality
• 25Mbps — Recommended for Ultra HD (4K) quality

These recommendations from Netflix align with what we’ve found in our testing — but we recommend aiming slightly higher than the official recommended speeds if you want your Netflix streaming to be as buffer-free as possible. 

To check your internet speed, connect to a VPN server and complete a speed test using fast.com. Fast.com is owned by Netflix, so the speed test is completed on the company’s own servers — giving you the most accurate results possible. 

By comparison, our research found that other speed testing tools like Ookla overestimate your VPN speed and lead to unrealistic expectations of what streaming quality you can expect.

To optimize and increase your internet speed for streaming Netflix you should connect to the closest VPN server you possibly can. This means your internet connection will not be routed via a far-away server, minimizing any connection speed loss and keeping your streaming interruption-free.

To further speed up your Netflix VPN, make sure to use a VPN encryption protocol that’s optimized for speed. For the very fastest speeds, we recommend connecting to WireGuard if your VPN supports it. Otherwise, connect using OpenVPN UDP or IKEv2.  

If you are still experiencing slowdowns with Netflix when connected to a VPN server, try reconnecting to another server in the same country and retest your internet speeds. Some popular server locations can become congested and frustratingly slow. Less popular server locations have fewer active users at a given time, often resulting in dramatically better speeds.

What Is the Fastest VPN for Netflix?

To make sure the VPNs we recommend are the fastest on the market, we use the results from our custom automated VPN speed testing tool.

These automated speed tests run 24/7, on servers around the world, with speeds capped at 100Mbps. This gives us results similar to what you’ll get on a home internet connection.

We own all the servers and infrastructure that we test with and report the unbiased results exactly as we find them.

These are the latest results from our five best VPNs for Netflix on a New York to London connection:

Use our Speed Test Tool to compare the speeds of Netflix VPNs across different countries.

Over the previous eight weeks, Surfshark has consistently been the fastest VPN. The VPN’s speed peaked at 84Mbps and fell to an impressive 70Mbps at its lowest point. These results mean that Surfshark will unblock Netflix content in HD or 4K.

The other VPNs performed less impressively, however. While PrivateVPN often reached very fast speeds, its performance was inconsistent. This chimes with our manual speed test results, which show PrivateVPN to be an unreliable VPN for speed.

ExpressVPN wasn’t the fastest over the past eight weeks, but its speeds did remain steady and consistent — a must for reliable Netflix streaming. Windscribe and CyberGhost performed the worst, with a speed loss of 50% in some cases. Depending on your internet speed, this might prevent you from being able to stream Netflix in HD.

Is It Legal to Use a VPN With Netflix?

It is completely legal to use a VPN with Netflix. There is no law preventing Netflix users from using a VPN to access different international catalogs, so there is no risk that watching Netflix with a VPN will result in any form of legal penalty.

Many users are worried that by bypassing content geo-restrictions they are somehow committing an act of piracy. Piracy is illegal because it allows people to access copyrighted material they have not paid for, but by using a VPN with Netflix you are still paying for your Netflix subscription.

Simply put, using a VPN with Netflix doesn’t allow you to access content for free, it just allows you to bypass licensing restrictions.

Although there is no law preventing users from watching Netflix with a VPN, it is actually against the company’s Terms of Service. Section 4 of Netflix’s Terms of Use states that:

“You may view the Netflix content primarily within the country in which you have established your account […] you also agree not to circumvent […] any of the content protections in the Netflix service […] we may terminate or restrict your use of our service if you violate these Terms of Use”

As a result, you technically could be banned from Netflix for using a VPN. However, we have not seen a single example case to suggest this has ever been enforced on a user. In practice, you will not be banned from Netflix if you are caught using a VPN. The worst that will happen is that you will not be able to watch the content you’re looking for while using a VPN.

Although the aggressive language in Netflix’s Terms of Use can be frightening, its threats are not enacted in reality. We have never had our Netflix account suspended despite conducting thousands of VPN tests with Netflix over several years.

How to Bypass the Netflix Proxy Error

If you’re using a VPN with Netflix and you encounter the “proxy error” message, follow the steps below:

1. Use one of the VPNs we recommend – that should be enough to avoid the streaming error message.
2. If you’re still having problems with accessing Netflix, connect to a number of different VPN servers in the same country. If you still can’t access Netflix, simply contact the VPN’s customer service. They’ll quickly tell you which servers are working for Netflix.

What Is Smart DNS?

Smart DNS is a technology provided by some VPN services that allows you to spoof your location and access region-restricted Netflix libraries on devices that are not VPN-compatible. Smart DNS proxies will work with Apple TV, smart TVs, and game consoles, whereas VPNs do not.

Your ordinary ISP-assigned DNS address contains details that expose your true location, so Smart DNS proxies work by routing your DNS requests through a dedicated DNS server somewhere else in the world. This is what allows you to access Netflix content in regions outside of your own. 

Smart DNS is complicated technology that requires a lot of overhead, so only a select few VPN providers include it in your subscription. These providers are ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost. Our tests found ExpressVPN’s Smart DNS to be the most reliable.

Unlike a VPN, Smart DNS technology does not encrypt your online traffic — leaving your activity exposed to your ISP and other third-parties. This is fine if you’re just using Smart DNS for accessing Netflix libraries, but make sure to connect to a full VPN service for everything else. 

Smart DNS services do not allow you to unblock as many Netflix catalogs as full VPNs, either. This is because Smart DNS is a relatively complicated technology, so VPN providers typically only configure their Smart DNS service to unblock American Netflix.

CyberGhost’s Smart DNS service unblocks the most Netflix libraries, but this still only allows you to stream the UK and US Netflix. On the other hand, Windscribe’s full VPN allows you to access over 40 Netflix libraries.

As a result, you should always use a VPN app over Smart DNS whenever you can. This will allow you to secure your internet connection while accessing as many geo-restricted Netflix libraries as possible. However, if you just want to watch US Netflix on an Apple TV or games console, Smart DNS is a legitimate tool for conveniently bypassing Netflix’s geo-blocks.

To find out how to set up Smart DNS, look for the instructions for your specific device on your chosen VPN provider’s website or contact its support team.

How to Unblock Netflix on Apple TV

Apple doesn’t allow VPN apps on its Apple TV App Store, so the simplest way to unblock Netflix on Apple TV is to set up a Smart DNS proxy. Smart DNS allows you to stream geo-blocked content directly on your Apple TV.

Of our recommendations, only ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost allow you to unblock Netflix on Apple TV using Smart DNS. After signing up for one of these VPN services, you will be given a unique DNS address. All you have to do is replace your Apple TV’s DNS address with the new one from your VPN provider.

There is one drawback, though: Smart DNS can only unblock US and UK Netflix. 

This should get you access to most of the Netflix movies and TV shows you need, but if you crave even more on your Apple TV, you’ll have to either install a VPN on your existing router or set up a virtual router. You can read more on router configuration in the section below.

While other publications still suggest that the best way to unblock Netflix on your Apple TV is to use the content-beaming AirPlay functionality on your iOS device, these instructions are now useless as Netflix has blocked this functionality for over a year.

Can I Unblock Netflix by Setting up the VPN on a Router?

Yes, configuring your router with a VPN is a very effective method to unblock Netflix. This will allow you to stream Netflix on devices that do not support VPNs, like a Chromecast or PS4.

Installing a VPN on your router is trickier than on other devices, though, and most routers do not support VPN software. You can find detailed instructions on how to install a VPN on your router in our step-by-step tutorial.

However, because of the difficulty involved, all five of our recommended Netflix VPNs sell pre-configured routers. These routers are expensive, but they save you the hassle of a complicated set up process and will allow you to unblock Netflix on all of your devices.

Some VPN services, such as ExpressVPN, even come with a router app that has a graphical interface, making changing VPN router settings and server locations easy.

If this sounds too difficult or too expensive, you can also set up a virtual router or mobile hotspot using a desktop or laptop computer.

Virtual routers and mobile hotspots can be set up on both Windows and Mac devices and are a lot simpler than configuring a physical router with a VPN.

Simply, this method involves setting up a virtual router on your computer before connecting to a VPN in the usual way. You then share your computer’s VPN-enabled connection with all of your other devices, allowing you to unblock Netflix everywhere. 

To learn how to set up a virtual router on your Windows or Mac device, read our beginner-friendly guide.

Without a VPN, you are only able to access a fraction of Netflix’s movies and TV shows. A good Netflix VPN allows you to bypass the streaming service’s restrictive copyright agreements so you can watch whatever you want from any location in the world.

You’ll be able to access Netflix US, UK, Canada, France, and many others while encrypting your internet connection and protecting your online privacy. 

We’ve spent years testing hundreds of VPNs to ensure our Netflix VPN recommendations are accurate and reliable. Every VPN service recommended in this guide will give you everything you need to unblock Netflix and maintain fast internet speeds — keeping you safe and anonymous as you stream thousands of newly available shows.

Remember to contact your chosen provider’s support team if you are having any issues streaming Netflix. Alternatively, leave a comment below and our VPN experts will answer any questions you might have.