Digital personal networks, or VPNs, are generally used to dodge regional restrictions on streaming companies. Say you reside within the U.S. and need to watch a brand new episode of Love Island earlier than it hits Hulu. If you happen to connect with a VPN server within the UK, the place the free streaming platform ITVX has distribution rights for the present, you will get a brand new British IP handle that allows you to skirt the geolock. (Out of the blue you are the recent new bombshell coming into the villa, so to talk.)
Sounds easy, proper? It can be, when you’ve got a VPN that is as much as the duty. Streaming companies do not take kindly to VPNs as a result of they let individuals evade their content material licensing restrictions, and plenty of of them have gotten actually good at detecting VPN utilization. Some VPN companies cannot bypass their blocking strategies.
As Mashable’s resident VPN skilled, I additionally assume it is necessary to acknowledge that accessing worldwide streaming companies is definitely a secondary use case for VPNs. The predominant goal of getting a VPN is so as to add an additional layer of privateness to your web connection so your ISP, advertisers, and different prying eyes cannot see all the things you are doing on-line. A VPN will get unique entry to your site visitors whenever you’re linked to it, so it must abide by strict privateness practices and keep a clear observe report. If a VPN is sweet at unblocking worldwide exhibits however shoddy in the way in which it handles your information, that is not deal.
With that in thoughts, the one VPN I like to recommend for streaming can be the one one I think about exceptionally reliable, dependable, and good for streaming. That is Proton VPN.
Why Proton VPN?
I ought to preface this by clarifying that this is not sponsored content material — it is the results of Mashable’s ultra-picky VPN testing course of, which we have refined through the years primarily based on in depth analysis and interviews with cybersecurity consultants. It primarily revolves round particular privateness indicators, however we additionally verify to see if VPNs can unblock streaming companies as a result of, frankly, it issues to lots of people (together with Mashable readers).
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Out of all of the premium VPN companies I’ve tried, Proton VPN is my high decide for streaming as a result of it ticks the correct bins in the correct order. It is good on the predominant factor a VPN must be good at doing, which is preserving its customers secure with out a shred of a doubt: It has a no-logs coverage that is recurrently verified by third-party audits, open sources its apps, points a transparency report about any authorized requests it will get, and provides superior options like doubly encrypted multi-hop servers. It additionally simply so occurs to be good at getting round streaming companies’ georestrictions, which I consider as a pleasant added bonus.
Proton VPN has apps for practically a dozen platforms.
Credit score: Proton
Proton VPN posits itself as a streaming-friendly service, publishing entry guides for practically 100 streaming companies worldwide. In follow, it efficiently obtained me watching Love Island on ITVX from my residence in Chicago through one in all its London servers. I like that it shows a load proportion indicator for each server so customers can see how busy they’re at any given time. The extra individuals on a given server, the slower it will be. With the ability to establish uncrowded servers means you will not must cope with frequent connection slowdowns, which is necessary whenever you’re attempting to load movies.
Proton VPN now has greater than 13,600 servers in over 120 nations as of June 2025, which is the most important and most geographically numerous VPN server community I’ve encountered. It is best to by no means have hassle discovering a speedy server in a rustic the place your favourite exhibits and flicks can be found. (In testing, my connection pace took a mere 13% hit after I used a British Proton VPN server. That is fairly nice, contemplating my site visitors needed to journey throughout a whole ocean.)
Proton VPN assessment: Premium, confirmed privateness and a free tier with no information limits
Proton VPN additionally has streaming enchantment as a result of it provides a customized Stealth protocol that is particularly designed to get round VPN blocking strategies. It was purpose-built for customers in counties the place authoritarian governments impede VPN utilization, and it ought to make your connection undetectable to streaming companies, too.
Proton VPN helps as much as 10 simultaneous connections and has apps for myriad platforms (together with Android TV, Apple TV, and Firestick), so you possibly can tune in out of your smartphone, laptop, or TV.
The catch right here is that it’s important to pay for a Proton VPN subscription if you’d like city-level entry to its total server community, zero pace restrictions, dwell chat assist, and the flexibility to apply it to multiple machine. (In different phrases, its free tier will not reduce it.) If it helps, I feel its Plus plan may be very pretty priced for all that it provides. Learn my full Proton VPN assessment for more information.
Disclaimer: Proton VPN would not condone violating copyright rules, and neither does Mashable.
