Best VPN for Lagos

Despite having laws that protect freedom of expression, Nigeria is a country that engages in high levels of internet censorship. For example, even expressing dissenting opinions or accessing content critical of The Government can be risky. For these reasons, it’s wise to use a VPN to protect yourself when visiting or living in Lagos.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an internet privacy tool that people use to prevent government surveillance in Nigeria. A VPN works by encrypting your internet traffic and proxying your DNS requests so that your ISP, Wi-Fi networks, and government snoops can’t monitor what you do online. This not only keeps your online activities private and allows you access to restricted content within Nigeria, but it can also gain you an overseas IP address to access international sites and streaming services.

In this guide, we will explain how to bypass internet restrictions imposed on users with a VPN for Lagos and list the best VPNs for the job. We’ll go into more detail about each of the providers we recommend later on, but if you don’t have the time for a full analysis, check our quick overview.

Best VPNs for Lagos:

1. NordVPN: Our top VPN for Lagos. A highly reliable VPN with advanced privacy features. Apps for all platforms. Super-fast NordLynx protocol. Kill-switch and obfuscated servers. AES-256 encryption (OpenVPN protocol). Servers in 59 countries. Risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
2. Surfshark: Best value VPN option with no connection limits and servers in Lagos. Fast connections. Kill-switch and AES-256 encryption. Protects your privacy at home and on public Wi-Fi. No logs policy. Works with Netflix US.
3. ExpressVPN: A popular and versatile VPN for Lagos. Servers in 94 countries, including Africa and the Middle East. Zero logs. Obfuscation and a kill switch. Super-fast Lightway protocol (default). Permits torrenting. 24/7 live chat support.
4. CyberGhost: Superb for beginners. Servers in 90+ countries, including Nigeria. IPs in Lagos to use local services privately. Works with Hulu, Player, and Netflix. OpenVPN protocol with AES encryption. Kill-switch. 45-day money-back guarantee.
5. IPVanish: US-based VPN with a proprietary network. 5 servers in Lagos, Nigeria. Apps for all platforms. No logs policy. Kill-switch. XOR Obfuscation. OpenVPN protocol. Live chat support.
6. PrivateVPN: A solid performer with servers in Lagos. Based in Sweden. No logs policy. Apps for all platforms. Easy to use. Works with over a dozen Netflix regions. Excellent cost-to-performance ratio. Allows 10 connections.
7. Hotspot Shield: Servers in 80 countries, including several in Africa (Egypt, Algeria, South Africa). Fast Catapult Hydra protocol. Works with Netflix US and other popular streaming platforms.

Best Lagos VPNs: at a glance

We’ve compared the most important features of the top VPNs here. Prefer to read the in-depth reviews? Start with NordVPN – our #1 choice for Lagos.

Best VPNs for Lagos

There is a huge number of VPNs on the market, but they don’t all provide the same level of service. We have selected the best VPNs for Lagos using the criteria below:

• Servers located in (or close to) Nigeria
• Apps for all major operating systems
• Strong encryption and a kill switch to provide reliable privacy
• Fast connections suitable for streaming in HD
• Obfuscation to conceal VPN use from your ISP
• Outstanding value for money

This is just an overview, but you can read more about how we test and rank the VPNs we recommend in our methodology section below. For now, let’s take a look at the ones that made the cut. 

Here’s our list of the best VPNs for Lagos:

1. NordVPN

Dec 2024

NordVPN is our top recommended VPN for Lagos. This veteran provider is based in Panama, outside of government surveillance jurisdictions. In addition, it has a proven no-logs policy and comes set to its NordLynx protocol by default, which ensures you get some of the fastest VPN speeds available on the market.

NordVPN has a wide network of over 5,500 servers in 60+ countries, including South Africa, the UAE, and Turkey, which should allow you to get decent speeds from Lagos. It has excellent accessing abilities and is proven to work with such popular streaming platforms as Netflix, Prime, Hulu, iPlayer, HBO Max, and other popular services.

NordVPN’s apps come with a kill switch, obfuscated servers, the OpenVPN protocol (must be toggled on in settings), DNS leak protection, split tunneling, double hop connections for added privacy, and VPN over Tor. This makes Nord the most advanced VPN for Lagos.

The VPN also has guides for connecting to the VPN on routers and for installing the service on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and smart TVs. You can test it yourself thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

THE BEST VPN FOR LAGOS:NordVPN is our #1 choice and a great option for those who want advanced privacy features. Super-fast NordLynxy protocol. Servers close to Nigeria. Works with Netflix. Obfuscated servers, OpenVPN protocol, Kill-switch, double hop connections. Provides a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of NordVPN.

2. Surfshark

Surfshark is a great value VPN for Lagos for several reasons. It is easy to use across all platforms, and it has superb apps with advanced privacy features. This makes it suitable for gaining privacy both at home and on public Wi-Fi and to ensure you don’t fall victim to hackers on hotspots.

Surfshark offers superb value for money because you can use it on an unlimited number of devices. It has servers in Lagos, Nigeria, to ensure that you can gain privacy even when using local services. It is a no-log VPN, which ensures that it stores no details about what you do online.

You also get 24/7 live chat support, and the agents are extremely knowledgeable. In addition, the VPN has guides for using the VPN on routers, smart TVs, and other devices.

BEST VALUE VPN FOR LAGOS:Surfshark offers superb value for money. Servers in Nigeria to gain privacy in Lagos.  Works with Netflix. Optimized for torrenting. Lightning fast speeds. No connection limits. AES-256 encryption. Obfuscation and a kill switch. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Surfshark review.

3. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is a quality provider based in the British Virgin Islands – a popular location that is considered ideal for privacy purposes because of its lack of mandatory data retention directives. The service has apps for all platforms that come with a kill switch, obfuscation (Lightway and OpenVPN protocols only), DNS leak protection, and robust AES-256 encryption.

The VPN can easily be installed on both PCs and mobile devices to ensure you can always gain privacy while in Lagos. It has military-grade encryption to ensure you are protected against hackers on public Wi-Fi (and can prevent surveillance capitalism at the hands of Wi-Fi providers).

ExpressVPN has servers in 94 countries that are perfect for bypassing censorship and accessing geo-restricted content. Servers in Kenya, Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa will get you fast speeds in Lagos.

FAST AND RELIABLE:ExpressVPN is highly popular. Servers in 94 countries, including in Africa and the Middle East. Watertight no logs policy. Obfuscation available for OpenVPN and Lightway protocols. Kill-switch. Fast for streaming. Works with two dozen Netflix regions. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full ExpressVPN Review.

4. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a provider based in Romania that is perfect for VPN beginners living in Lagos. The VPN has apps for all platforms that are uncomplicated and easy to use. Those apps have the privacy features required to use the internet without ISP or government tracking. This includes a no-logs policy, a kill switch, and military-grade AES-256 encryption (OpenVPN protocol).

CyberGhost has a vast network of over 9,000 servers in 90+ countries (including 10+ in Lagos, Nigeria) to allow you to bypass local censorship or access foreign blogs, news, and streaming services. CyberGhost works with popular international services like Netflix, Hulu, iPlayer, and HBO Max. This makes it a great all-rounder.

To ensure that anybody can use the VPN, this service has live chat support. It also has guides for setting up and using the VPN on a wealth of different devices. This includes routers, consoles, and media devices like the Amazon Firestick and Apple TV.

What’s more, this VPN has 11 servers in Lagos to ensure you can gain privacy while using local services. Plus, it has everything you need to remain secure when using the internet at home, via mobile data, or on public hotspots. You can test it yourself using its generous 45-day money-back guarantee.

IDEAL FOR BEGINNERS:CyberGhost is a reliable VPN for anybody that is new to VPNs. Has all the important features to gain privacy and prevent censorship in Nigeria. 10+ servers in Lagos to gain better speeds. OpenVPN protocol. Kill-switch. Permits torrenting. Generous 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost VPN review.

5. IPVanish

IPVanish is a provider based in the US with an expansive network of self-owned and maintained servers across the world. This allows it to resolve problems more quickly than some competitors. The addition of the WireGuard protocol has helped it become the fastest VPN we’ve tested. Needless to say, IPVanish is more than fast enough to stream 4K video with no lag or buffering.

It has a proven track record of providing privacy for its users. It is a no-log VPN that comes packed with strong security options. In addition to the 256-bit encryption, kill switch, and IPv6/DNS leak protection, there’s the option to block LAN traffic, obfuscate OpenVPN data, and switch IP addresses at regular intervals.

IPVanish has apps for Amazon Fire TV, Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android. Linux-based systems such as the Raspberry Pi require manual configuration, as do supported internet routers.

PERMITS UNLIMITED CONNECTIONS:IPVanish self owned servers in 60+ countries. It is easy to use, good for torrenting, and fast for streaming. Comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full IPVanish review.

6. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN is a provider based in Sweden that is always praised by consumers. The service has only been around since 2018, but it has quickly risen to be a user favorite. This is, in part, because of its fantastic apps that provide excellent speeds for streaming, torrenting, and gaming. Private VPN has servers in Lagos.

True to its name, PrivateVPN has a no-logs policy. It also implements strong AES-256 encryption, which ensures that what you do online stays private whether you are at home, at work, or on public Wi-Fi. Plus, the OpenVPN tunnel prevents hackers from accessing your data on insecurely implemented public Wi-Fi hotspots.

PrivateVPN has apps for all popular platforms, and you can use it on up to 10 devices simultaneously. This will let you bypass any government blocks or access international services that are usually geo-restricted. We love that this VPN can access international Netflix catalogs, iPlayer, Hulu, and other popular services.

A great all-rounder with live chat support that is available around 18 hours per day. You can test it yourself using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

STRONG ON PRIVACY:PrivateVPN has servers in Lagos. It is fast for streaming. It permits torrenting. And it has apps for all platforms. It also works with Netflix and tons of other international services. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PrivateVPN review.

7. Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is a US-based provider that is extremely popular. It has apps for all platforms, and it is easy to use with fast servers in over 80 countries. This includes servers in the US that work to watch Netflix, HBO Max, and other popular streaming services. Also, Hotspot Shield is super fast thanks to its Catapult Hydra protocol. And this VPN permits torrenting throughout its network.

Being based in the US might put some users off. However, Hotspot Shield stores no usage logs, so everything you do online while in Lagos remains completely private.

Finally, this VPN is a little expensive if you purchase it directly through the app or via its website. The good news is that you can get a substantial discount by using the link in this guide. Finally, you can compare this VPN to our other recommendations by making use of its generous 45-day  money-back guarantee.

FAST SPEEDS:Hotspot Shield is a fast VPN that is perfect for streaming. It is a secure and private VPN that is great for bypassing censorship in Lagos. Works with Netflix US. 45- day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Hotspot Shield review.

Methodology: How we find the best VPNs for Lagos

At Comparitech, we always test each VPN before we recommend it. We recommend all the VPNs in this guide for users in Lagos because they meet the criteria below:

• Servers in Nigeria. VPNs that have servers in Nigeria are fairly rare. The good news is that we have found a number of services that have servers in and around Lagos. Those that don’t were picked because they have fast servers located elsewhere in Africa and nearby in the Middle East.
• Apps for all platforms. We selected VPNs that have apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and other popular devices. This lets you use the VPN for privacy, no matter which devices you own.
• A zero-logs policy. This ensures that the provider keeps no logs about what you do while connected to the VPN.
• Advanced VPN privacy features. We want you to always be safe when you connect to a VPN in Lagos. That is why we have selected VPNs that provide military-grade encryption, a kill switch, and advanced features like obfuscation to conceal VPN use from your ISP.
• Fast speeds and access to streaming services. Fast VPN servers allow you to get the most out of your VPN to stream in HD, download faster, and engage in data-intensive tasks such as video conferencing privately.

How to use a VPN in Lagos

Once you have chosen a VPN from this guide, you are ready to start enjoying the internet without censorship and with added privacy. Just follow the steps below, and you’ll be browsing and streaming securely in no time.

Here’s how to use a VPN in Lagos:

1. Choose a VPN from this article and click through to its website. We highly recommend NordVPN.
2. Subscribe to the VPN and download the VPN app onto your device
3. Choose a server and click the connect button. You will need to select a server in Nigeria if you want a Nigerian IP address or a server elsewhere – such as the US – to gain an international IP address.
4. Head to your browser or streaming service to check that your VPN is properly connected.
5. If you encounter any issues, try clearing your browser cookies and cache, connecting to a different server, or contacting your VPN’s customer service team for more help.

Lagos VPNs: FAQs