How to Watch Netflix with the Best Free VPNs

Our tests revealed that PrivadoVPN is the only free VPN capable of unblocking Netflix USA.

While many paid VPNs are able to access the American library, PrivadoVPN is the only free service to be able to do this on desktop and mobile.

PrivadoVPN can also access the UK Netflix library, enabling you to stream shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and other UK-restricted titles.

However, with servers in only 11 countries, PrivadoVPN needs to expand its reach to more Netflix libraries and catch up with Windscribe, which currently unblocks 5 regions via its free service

We were especially frustrated by PrivadoVPN’s inability to access the French and German Netflix libraries, which Windscribe reliably unblocks. These regions offer a lot of licensed content, including popular shows like Yellowstone and The Vampire Diaries.

On the plus side, PrivadoVPN’s free servers delivers very fast speeds and a buffer-free streaming experience.

Its average international speed loss came in at only 8%, which is surprisingly better than the likes of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost.

This marginal internet speed loss also allowed us to consistently meet the 25Mbps Netflix requirement for 4K streaming without issue.

To its credit, PrivadoVPN offers user-friendly apps for every streaming device, including Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android TV. Switching between UK and US servers was easy on all these apps.

Its Android TV app is a standout, working seamlessly with American Netflix. The Fire TV app wasn’t as good, initially, suffering many abrupt crashes. We’re seeing less of those now, though.

Where PrivadoVPN disappointed us was on mobile, with slow load times (over 60 seconds) and poorer video quality on iOS and Android compared to desktop.

Moreover, the lack of router support and Smart DNS functionality limited our ability to unblock Netflix on devices that don’t support VPN apps, like Roku and games consoles.

PrivadoVPN doesn’t require any payment details whatsoever to use its free service, but it does impose a 10GB monthly data cap, which translates to about 5 episodes of a Netflix show per month.

PrivadoVPN also requires you to manually renew your data every 30 days, which is frustrating and in our opinion unnecessary, especially since competitors like Windscribe, Hide.me and TunnelBear don’t have this requirement.

Windscribe’s free VPN lets you unblock geo-restricted Netflix titles from France, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, and the UK. It’s in fact the free VPN that unblocks the most Netflix libraries.

However, in our Windscribe tests, its free apps failed to unblock American Netflix, one of the biggest and most popular content libraries.

This is a big disappointment, especially as Windscribe was previously the most dependable free VPN for accessing US Netflix, and we’d hoped the issue would be resolved by now.

To access the US Netflix library for free, you’ll have to use PrivadoVPN. Since both VPNs don’t cost anything, we actually recommend you use a combination of both for broader access to geo-restricted content.

Windscribe’s free apps are ad-free and very user-friendly. It takes seconds to connect to a VPN server location on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.

However, we preferred using PrivadoVPN on Android TV. Windscribe’s app for this platform feels clunky, with an oversized interface that’s difficult to navigate and a cumbersome login process.

Windscribe is slightly slower than PrivadoVPN, but still offers excellent long-distance speeds.

We often streamed Netflix in HD, and occasionally even enjoyed Ultra HD, with an average download speed of 87Mbps around the world. This represents a speed reduction of 13% compared to our 100Mbps baseline.

A major downside is the 10GB monthly data limit for free users, which translates to about 4 hours of HD streaming per month.

While Windscribe’s 10GB cap is among the highest for free VPNs, 4 hours of streaming isn’t much.

It is possible to get an extra 5GB per month if you tweet a Windscribe ad. You might want to consider this as it would make Windscribe the only free Netflix VPN with over 10GB of free data.

Regardless of the CyberGhost free trial you opt for, you’ll find that the VPN bypasses Netflix geo-blocks well on all popular devices.

In our tests, CyberGhost unblocked 10 regions: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, Spain, UK, and the US. Only Windscribe, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and PrivateVPN can access more regions.

Very few review websites, if any, will tell you that CyberGhost’s free Chrome browser extension still works with Netflix USA and Germany.

While the interface and design could really use an update, the extension remains functional and is an easy way to watch Netflix in-browser.

CyberGhost offers the best VPN free trial on the market, with several options on offer.

Firstly, there is a 1-day free trial on Windows and macOS with no payment details required.

Secondly, you can access a 3-day free trial on Android and a 7-day free trial on iOS, though these require payment details. Cancel before the trial ends to avoid charges.

Lastly, CyberGhost offers an industry-leading 45-day money-back guarantee. Unlike most VPNs that offer a 30-day refund, CyberGhost allows a full, risk-free refund for up to 45 days with yearly and multi-year subscriptions.

CyberGhost’s speeds are good, although the speed loss is higher compared to other leading VPNs.

We recorded a 19% decrease in speed when connecting internationally from the US.

While this speed loss isn’t catastrophic given some of the distances involved, we did experience longer loading times and occasional streaming interruptions.

We also prefer the user experience of ExpressVPN’s apps. Although CyberGhost’s apps work well on various streaming devices including Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV, they don’t perform as smoothly as ExpressVPN’s.

On a positive note, CyberGhost’s Smart DNS feature is unique in its ability to unblock both US and UK Netflix content, whereas ExpressVPN can only unblock the American library.

Although ExpressVPN doesn’t offer a permanent free plan, its 30-day refund period gave us enough time to access most of the geo-blocked content we wanted to watch.

The VPN can access 18 different Netflix libraries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, UK, and the US.

This level of Netflix access is unmatched across the entire VPN industry. On top of that, ExpressVPN delivers some of the fastest VPN speeds we’ve tested, with an average speed slowdown of just 15% on connections around the world.

ExpressVPN offers a full refund to customers within the first 30 days of purchasing a subscription – no questions asked.

You can therefore use ExpressVPN with Netflix for an entire month completely free of charge. When we tested this policy, we received our refund within three business days.

We also verified with customer support that as long as you cancel within the 30-day period, your refund is guaranteed.

On mobile, there’s an additional option of a 7-day ExpressVPN free trial through Google Play or the App Store.

To avoid charges, just cancel within the trial window. Unlike the money-back guarantee, you can cancel immediately after signing up and still enjoy full access for the entire week.

Even after testing ExpressVPN for 9 years, it continues to be a pleasure to use thanks to its attractive and user-friendly apps.

It offers intuitive software on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices, making it easy to switch between servers and access different Netflix libraries.

We found its browser extensions particularly useful, as they allow for quick Netflix region changes without ever leaving the browser.

Notably, unlike CyberGhost, ExpressVPN has an app for tvOS, making it an excellent choice for Netflix if you own an Apple TV.

Additionally, ExpressVPN offers a unique feature: an app for routers. This allows you to connect every device to the same VPN server, even ones that don’t support VPN apps, like Chromecast and Roku.