The Best VPNs for the UAE

ExpressVPN is the fastest VPN we tested in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with an average speed loss of just 15% connecting to locations as far as Australia and the US.

These exceptional streaming speeds were most noticeable bypassing content geo-restrictions on popular platforms like Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.

Every video, including live streams, loaded quickly and at maximum picture quality, without buffering or sudden interruptions.

Using ExpressVPN to Stream the UCL on Prime Video UK.

Moreover, the VPN’s excellent upload speeds (less than 15% slowdown on long-distance connections) turned out very useful for holding VoIP calls.

We didn’t have any connection issues calling on WhatsApp or FaceTime with ExpressVPN running on both e& UAE and du WiFi networks.

We love how simple it is to use ExpressVPN on all devices, but especially on smartphones. The apps look and feel the same across iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, and TV devices.

The interface is refreshingly clean, with no annoying distractions.

You’ll easily find a location to connect to, from the 109 countries on offer. Tap the large ‘Connect’ button on the home screen, and within seconds your IP address will change.

Given their relative proximity to the UAE, we recommend using ExpressVPN’s Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Georgia servers to reach the fastest speeds.

The app also comes with integrated VPN obfuscation on all connections, which eliminates the need to fiddle with protocols and settings.

ExpressVPN’s built-in ShuffleIP technology constantly rotates your IP address in the background, too, which further improves your chances of your connection being blocked.

At just $3.49/mo over 28 months, ExpressVPN is much cheaper than Astrill.

You can also opt for a monthly subscription, giving you the flexibility to cancel when you like, for just $12.99 per month.

Additionally, you can try out the VPN completely free for seven days by signing up to it via the App Store or the Play Store.

Just remember to cancel the trial before the test period is up to avoid being charged.

What makes Astrill better than all other VPNs at unblocking is its advanced obfuscation technology.

Its proprietary protocols (StealthVPN and OpenWeb) disguise your VPN traffic as normal HTTPS traffic, allowing you to access websites and VoIP services that many other VPNs fail to unblock.

StealthVPN is the better option if you want the most powerful obfuscation, whereas OpenWeb is a more lightweight alternative that’s faster and better for voice calls or streaming.

UAE’s censorship apparatus is less sophisticated than countries like China, Iran, and Russia. Using Astrill and its StealthVPN may therefore be overkill if you’re a tourist.

That said, it’s certainly worth considering if you need almost guaranteed access at times of increased restrictions, or if you’ll be traveling to other Middle Eastern countries.

Unlike ExpressVPN, Astrill has a server physically located inside the UAE. That means you can get a UAE IP address — useful if you need to access UAE-based services from abroad.

For bypassing UAE censorship from within the country, we recommend connecting to nearby server locations with better internet freedom, including Greece, Bulgaria, and South Africa.

Astrill is the most expensive VPN we’ve reviewed. Its cheapest long-term plan is $12.50/mo over 24 months, which is significantly more than ExpressVPN.

There’s also no free trial and no refund policy.

To our continued surprise, Astrill also lacks some of the latest developments with other privacy-focused VPNs, such as diskless servers, post-quantum encryption, and an independent audit of its logging policy.

Speed is also a genuine issue. In our tests, Astrill produced an average speed loss of 25% worldwide — noticeably slower than ExpressVPN.

In highly censored regions, speeds improve if you use Astrill’s SuperCharged servers, but the VPN still remains the slowest of our picks.

There’s a reason why Windscribe is the only free VPN we recommend for the UAE: it’s the only trustworthy free service that works well against online censorship.

Its two obfuscation protocols, Stealth and WStunnel, consistently bypassed restrictions in the UAE without any issues.

Enabling anti-censorship mode only takes a few seconds.

Usually, we see VPNs paywall their obfuscation protocols or servers, so Windscribe’s user-first approach is a refreshing change.

Windscribe’s free service might offer a restricted server network, but it comes with the same robust security and privacy as the paid version.

In addition to a reliable kill switch and strong encryption, Windscribe diskless VPN servers never write your activity data onto a physical hard drive.

Windscribe also completed a privacy and security audit, which validated its robust server infrastructure and privacy-friendly logging policy.

Since Windscribe doesn’t offer free servers in neighboring countries, like Cyprus or Greece, you’ll have to connect to locations further afield.

The closest free Windscribe servers to the UAE are Romania and Turkey, although you may be better off connecting to its German VPN location for better access.

While connection speeds were generally very good, the service’s small server network does suffer from intermittent speed instability.

This is mainly due to the popularity of Windscribe’s free servers, which often overload during hours of peak internet traffic.