5 Free VPNs That Work with Netflix in January 2021
1. Windscribe Free
The only 100% free VPN that works with Netflix in 2021.
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If you want a free VPN for Netflix, Windscribe Free is the best option. It is extremely secure, unblocks movies and TV shows in 10 countries including the US, and is fast enough for high-quality, buffer-free streaming.
In fact, of the 69 VPNs our experts regularly test, Windscribe Free is the only completely free VPN service that reliably changes your Netflix region.
This is a recent development which came after Windscribe announced that all of its servers were now optimized for streaming. Previously, only specialty ‘Windflix’ servers could be used to watch Netflix, and these servers were only available to customers of the paid service.
However, since the update, users can now access Netflix libraries in any of Windscribe Free’s ten server locations. These include:
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Hong Kong
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Romania
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Most importantly, Windscribe Free works with American Netflix, which is by far the largest content library. This is extremely impressive for a free VPN, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely to see if Windscribe can stay ahead of the Netflix blockers.
Windscribe Free is the only truly free VPN that works with Netflix.
While Windscribe isn’t the fastest VPN we’ve seen, its long-distance speeds are reasonably good. We recorded an average download speed of 68Mbps when connecting from the UK to a server in the US. This is a percentage speed loss of around 32% compared to our baseline 100.
For reference, Netflix’s official guidelines state that:
- >3Mbps is required for SD quality
- >5Mbps is required for HD quality
- >25Mbps is required for Ultra HD quality
We were able to stream in HD comfortably and even enjoyed Ultra HD quality for a lot of the time.
Country | Avg. Download Speed | Avg. Speed Loss |
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United Kingdom | 95Mbps | 5% |
Germany | 85Mbps | 15% |
USA | 68Mbps | 32% |
Singapore | 4Mbps | 96% |
Australia | 9Mbps | 91% |
Windscribe’s apps are ad-free and very user-friendly. It takes a matter of seconds to connect to a VPN server in a location of your choosing and to start streaming.
If you encounter any issues, you can live chat with Garry the chatbot or email the Windscribe customer support team. They tend to take about a day to reply, which is something we’d like to see improved.
Windscribe is one of the most secure free VPN services we’ve tested. It uses the OpenVPN connection protocol with military-grade encryption cipher AES-256. The app comes with a built-in VPN kill switch and uses perfect forward secrecy to secure your data. This makes Windscribe Free even more secure than some popular subscription-based services.
There is one major downside to using Windscribe Free for Netflix. The VPN imposes a 10GB monthly data limit on free-tier users, which equates to around four hours of HD Netflix streaming a month.
Though it is common for free VPNs to enforce data caps – and Windscribe Free’s 10GB offering is among the highest we’ve seen – four hours of streaming a month isn’t a lot.
If you want to watch more than a few hours of Netflix a month, you’ll need to use a premium VPN or take advantage of a free trial. While the rest of the VPNs recommended on this list are not 100% free, they can be used without payment for a specified period of time and they work great with Netflix.
Read our complete guide to using Windscribe for Netflix here.
2. ExpressVPN
The best overall VPN for Netflix; can be used for 30 days risk-free.
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ExpressVPN is the best overall VPN for Netflix according to our most recent tests. It is extremely secure and works to unblock American Netflix along with 18 other content libraries around the world.
Though it’s normally one of the more expensive VPN services, ExpressVPN offers a full refund to customers within the first 30 days of purchase – no questions asked. This means you can use the very best Netflix VPN for an entire month completely free of charge.
We spoke to a customer support agent who confirmed to us that under no circumstances would a refund be denied within the 30-day period. Just make sure to claim your refund before the month is up, otherwise you’ll have to pay for the service.
Stream with ExpressVPN for free for an entire month.
ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPNs we’ve tested and its international connection speeds are exceptional. We saw an average speed loss of just 20% on long-distance connections to the US, so streaming Netflix in HD is no problem.
Country | Avg. Download Speed | Avg. Speed Loss |
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United Kingdom | 85Mbps | 11% |
Germany | 79Mbps | 17% |
USA | 77Mbps | 20% |
Singapore | 73Mbps | 24% |
Australia | 59Mbps | 38% |
With ExpressVPN, you’ll gain unrestricted access to Netflix in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and much more. The service is extremely easy to use and is great for streaming on a wide range of devices and platforms, including smart TVs and games consoles.
Unlike with Windscribe, you’ll only be able to connect a maximum of 5 devices to ExpressVPN at any one time. This is commonplace among VPN providers and should be more than enough for watching Netflix.
To learn more about ExpressVPN, read our complete review.
3. CyberGhost
A beginner-friendly Netflix VPN with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
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CyberGhost is a great VPN for beginners. It works well with Netflix in 4 countries: the US, UK, France, and Germany. It comes with specialty servers that are optimized for streaming and is compatible with a wide range of devices and platforms including Android, iOS, Windows, and MacOS.
CyberGhost’s Smart DNS technology means it’s currently the only VPN service that unblocks both Netflix US and UK on games consoles and smart TVs. Its native Fire TV Stick app is also particularly impressive, allowing you to seamlessly stream American Netflix on your TV.
CyberGhost works great with Netflix on streaming devices, like the Amazon Fire TV Stick.
What sets CyberGhost apart from the crowd is its generous 45-day money-back guarantee. Users are entitled to a full, risk-free refund at any point within the first 45 days. Simply sign up to the VPN, enjoy unrestricted streaming and then claim your money back before the time period expires.
CyberGhost offers 6,900+ servers in 90 countries, which makes it one of the largest server networks around. It delivers excellent local speeds, but can be slow and inconsistent on longer-distance connections.
We saw a worrying 74% loss in speed when connecting to US servers from the UK. While you shouldn’t have any problems accessing American Netflix, the video quality might not be as good as you’d like.
Country | Avg. Download Speed | Avg. Speed Loss |
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United Kingdom | 87Mbps | 13% |
Germany | 66Mbps | 34% |
USA | 26Mbps | 74% |
Singapore | 14Mbps | 86% |
Australia | 8Mbps | 92% |
CyberGhost also offers a 7-day free trial. This differs from the money-back guarantee in that users don’t have to pay anything up-front – you can use the VPN without having to register any payment information and you don’t have to remember to claim a refund at the end.
It should be noted that CyberGhost’s 7-day free trial is only available on mobile devices. Desktop users have the option of a 1-day free trial, but this does not permit use of the specialized streaming servers.
Want to know more? Read our CyberGhost review.
4. Surfshark
Reliably unblocks US Netflix with a 7-day free trial.
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Surfshark is a popular subscription-based VPN service that comes with a 7-day free trial so you can try it out risk-free.
The Surfshark free trial can be used across all devices – although it has to be initiated on either Android, iOS, or Mac. To activate the trial, you need to enter payment details, however nothing will be charged to your account until after the 7 days have passed. Just be sure to deselect the ‘auto renewal’ feature in order to enjoy this great Netflix VPN for free.
Surfshark works with Netflix in 15 major locations including the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, and Japan. It also includes a feature that automatically connects users to American Netflix when trying to stream from an unsupported location.
This is a great feature that lets you access the largest Netflix content catalog from anywhere in the world without enduring huge speed losses. Simply connect to a nearby server that isn’t Netflix-supported, and you’ll be able to watch US movies and TV shows with local connection speeds. It also works well with Netflix on Fire TV Stick and Apple TV, where its apps are intuitive and easy-to-use.
Surfshark lets you watch American Netflix on your TV no matter where you are in the world.
Surfshark isn’t the fastest VPN we’ve tested, but its long-distance speeds are certainly good enough for reliable, high-quality streaming. Our tests showed an average speed drop of 45% when connecting to Surfshark’s US servers from the UK. Here is a summary of the speeds we saw around the world and the speed loss as a percentage of our baseline 100Mbps connection.
Country | Avg. Download Speed | Avg. Speed Loss |
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United Kingdom | 85Mbps | 15% |
Germany | 71Mbps | 28% |
USA | 56Mbps | 41% |
Canada | 71Mbps | 28% |
Australia | 59Mbps | 39% |
With Surfshark, we were able to stream Netflix in Ultra HD quality no matter which country we connected to. Read more about our tests in this complete guide to Surfshark and Netflix.
To top it all off, Surfshark also offers a 30-day risk-free refund. Enjoy a month of Netflix streaming and then claim a full refund, no questions asked.
To learn more, check out our complete Surfshark review.
5. NordVPN
An excellent VPN for Netflix with a generous 30-day refund period.
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NordVPN is widely-recognized as one of the best VPNs available. It is fast, uses super secure AES-256 encryption, and takes user privacy very seriously. The service is used by over 14 million users, making NordVPN one of the world’s most popular VPNs.
To use NordVPN with Netflix for free, you can take advantage of its generous 30-day refund period. For a whole month, you can experience the VPN’s industry-leading connection speeds while streaming your favorite Netflix shows. Then, at the end of the 30-day period, just contact the NordVPN customer support team and request a full refund.
You can easily stream the US Office with NordVPN.
NordVPN successfully unblocks nine content libraries including the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and Brazil. It also has a similar feature to Surfshark in which users are automatically redirected to American Netflix when connected to an unsupported server location.
This is especially useful given NordVPN’s impressive local connection speeds. Our experts found just a 2% drop in speed when connecting to nearby servers in the UK. You can expect similar performance levels for your same-country connections. This means, if you live in an unsupported Netflix location, you can access American Netflix with only marginal drops in speed.
Here is a quick summary of our NordVPN speed tests:
Country | Avg. Download Speed | Avg. Speed Loss |
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United Kingdom | 92Mbps | 2% |
Germany | 83Mbps | 12% |
USA | 74Mbps | 21% |
Singapore | 63Mbps | 33% |
Australia | 56Mbps | 40% |
NordVPN is one of the few VPNs to be verified as truly no-logs. This is particularly important given the company’s server breach in 2018, where a hacker successfully broke into a NordVPN server in Finland.
While we were disappointed with the VPN company’s response at the time, we have been very pleased with the measures they have taken since. We now believe they are one of the safest and most secure VPN services around.
NordVPN works well on PS4 and other games consoles, but it cannot be used for streaming on Apple TV and is limited to just the American, British and Candian Netflix catalogs on Fire TV Stick.
For desktop and mobile users, however, NordVPN remains one of the best VPNs for Netflix and you can use it risk-free for an entire month. To learn more, check out our dedicated guide to NordVPN and Netflix.