The Best VPNs for the UK

The Online Safety Act 2023 introduced mandatory age verification for sites hosting adult content, and the rules took effect on July 25, 2025.

To prove you’re over 18, sites now ask for things like a facial age scan, a photo of your government ID, a credit card check, or bank-based verification.

The legitimate privacy worry is simple: handing your passport photo or a face scan to a third-party verification firm creates a honeypot of sensitive data that could be breached or misused.

I want to be clear about two things here. First, a VPN is not a way to dodge the law, and it shouldn’t be used by under-18s to reach age-restricted content.

Second, using a VPN in the UK is entirely legal: Ofcom itself has acknowledged that VPNs can’t be blocked under the Act.

There’s an active political debate about age-restricting VPNs for children, which my team and I are watching closely, but for now they remain a legal, mainstream privacy tool.

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, nicknamed the Snoopers’ Charter, requires UK internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) to keep records of the websites, apps, and services you connect to for up to 12 months.

A long list of public bodies can then request access to that data from BT, Virgin Media, Sky, and all other UK providers.

A VPN doesn’t put you above the law, and it won’t hide anything from a service you log into. What it does do is encrypt your traffic and stop your ISP from logging which sites you visit. All it will see is an encrypted connection to a VPN server.

For that reason, I’d lean toward a VPN with a proven no-logs policy and a privacy-friendly home country, which is exactly why Proton VPN earns its place in this guide.

Beyond the headlines, the day-to-day reasons to use a VPN in the UK haven’t changed:

1. Stopping your ISP profiling you. Without a VPN, your provider can see and log every domain you visit. A VPN encrypts that away.
2. Securing public WiFi. Cafés, hotels, and airports are easy targets for eavesdroppers. A VPN encrypts your connection on any network.
3. Avoiding price discrimination. Some retailers and booking sites adjust prices based on your location and browsing history.
4. Blocking ads and trackers. All my VPN picks in this guide bundle in effective ad and malware blockers.
5. Unlocking more streaming. A VPN lets you swap your British IP for a US or Australian one to reach bigger Netflix libraries and foreign services like Hulu and Peacock.

Of course, plenty of people in Britain still use a VPN to access video content available in other countries, either exclusively or for cheaper (if not free).

By connecting to a server in another country you can take on an IP address from that country, which opens up its geo-restricted content.

Here are a few of the big draws:

1. More Netflix Titles: Netflix shows a different library in every country. The US catalog is the largest, and switching to it (or to Canada, Japan, and others) surfaces thousands of titles that never reach the UK library.
2. US-Only Services: Connect to a US server and you can stream Hulu, Peacock, and ESPN+, none of which are available in the UK.
3. Australian Sport and TV: An Australian IP address unlocks Stan, Kayo Sports, 9Now, and 7plus, which are all great for streaming Australian cricket, the AFL, and the NRL.

This is exactly why I weight global server coverage highly in my VPN rating: the more countries a VPN covers, the more content you can open up.

For US Netflix and the American streaming services, ExpressVPN and NordVPN were the most reliable in my testing. Both handle Australian platforms well, too.

On the free side, PrivadoVPN can access several geo-blocked apps in the US, UK, and Canada.

• Test Conducted: I counted each VPN’s total number of servers and the number of countries it covers, then assessed how evenly that network is spread around the world. I connected to locations across multiple continents and used an IP checker tool to confirm their accuracy.
• Why It Matters: A large, well-distributed network means a fast, uncongested server is always within reach, and it lets you unblock websites and streaming libraries far beyond the UK, from US Netflix to Australian sport. More locations also give you fallback options if one stops working.
• Optimal Result: Several thousand servers spread across at least 100 countries, with healthy coverage outside North America and Western Europe.

• Test Conducted: I analyzed each VPN’s server network and noted the distribution of its UK server locations along with its number of UK IP addresses.
• Why It Matters: You need a UK IP address to access British websites and streaming services. A high number of IPs reduces the risk of congested speeds, and multiple server locations mean you can avoid regional restrictions.
• Optimal Result: Over 400 UK servers, with at least one server location in London, one in the Midlands or the North of England, and one in Scotland.

• Test Conducted: We’re constantly testing each VPN’s speed by connecting to its server locations from various locations around the world, including North America, Europe, and Asia. Based on these extensive speed results, I calculated the average speed loss compared to my baseline internet speed without a VPN.
• Why It Matters: A VPN that adds minimal overhead ensures you can stream buffer-free, load pages quickly, and video-call without disruption.
• Optimal Result: An average speed loss below 10% on nearby connections, and less than 20% on international connections.

• Test Conducted: I regularly test each VPN’s ability to unblock British and international streaming services from abroad. I tested streaming access during peak hours to ensure each VPN can handle increased traffic.
• Why It Matters: A VPN needs to successfully bypass geo-restrictions, so you can stream popular content in regions where it isn’t available.
• Optimal Result: Consistent access to popular content platforms like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, ITVX, Sky Go, HBO Max, Disney+, and Prime Video. I also expect to stream at maximum resolution with no buffering.

• Test Conducted: I reviewed each VPN’s privacy policy and evaluated its data collection practices. I also checked for privacy features like diskless servers and anonymous payment methods.
• Why It Matters: Excessive metadata logging, like storing your physical location, makes it possible to link your online activity to your real identity. This undermines the purpose of a virtual private network.
• Optimal Result: A VPN that doesn’t store any logs, with proof from a court case or server seizure. I also favor the use of diskless servers, which makes extracting activity data much harder.

• Test Conducted: I used a third-party data packet analyzer to inspect the encryption used by each VPN. I also used proprietary testing tools to check each VPN’s kill switch and leak protection.
• Why It Matters: If you don’t use a VPN with the highest degree of encryption, your online activity is at risk of being monitored and logged by third-party services or, worse, intercepted and misused by bad actors.
• Optimal Result: A trustworthy VPN that uses ChaCha20 encryption and WireGuard, or AES-256 and OpenVPN. Plus, an effective kill switch, first-party DNS servers, and built-in leak protection.

Mullvad is a highly secure VPN that comes with protections like advanced traffic obfuscation, multi-hop servers, and post-quantum encryption.

The big challenge using Mullvad is that it’s not built for streaming, and it largely fails at unblocking content. That being said, the VPN still streams Sky Go, which keeps surprising us.

Mullvad’s device compatibility is also limited compared to my picks, since it doesn’t offer apps for Fire TV and Apple TV, or even browser extensions.

Mullvad failed to unblock US Netflix on multiple attempts.

IPVanish is another very good VPN that came very close to making my rankings. Its only major shortcoming was not being able to unblock Sky Go UK from abroad.

IPVanish also lacks two features that are popular with my readers: browser extensions and a Smart DNS proxy.

Sky Go blocked IPVanish’s UK IP addresses.

CyberGhost’s main problem revolves around its speeds, which are significantly slower than NordVPN’s and ExpressVPN’s.

For example, connecting to nearby servers, my speed dropped by 5% compared to ExpressVPN’s 2% and NordVPN’s 4%.

CyberGhost is significantly slower connecting to the UK than other top VPNs.

PIA is undoubtedly a great no-logs VPN, and if you need a VPN for torrenting, you’ll be fine using it.

The issue I have with recommending PIA for the UK is its worsening streaming performance. In my latest tests, I just couldn’t get it to work with Sky Go or Disney+ UK.

I don’t recommend PIA for UK streaming.