Best VPNs for UK expats: Unlock British streaming services abroad

Living in a foreign country can be tough. After all, you have to build an entirely new circle of acquaintances, while dealing with all the necessary paperwork and often, a language barrier. One less-heard about problem though, is that when you go abroad, you lose access to streaming platforms from back home. Don’t worry: there’s a quick and easy fix! After connecting to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) server in the UK, British expats can start watching BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, and Now TV in a matter of minutes.

There are other benefits too. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic, preventing it from being read or censored by local ISPs, public hotspot owners, or the government. This means that you’ll be able to communicate freely with people back in the UK, even if you’re in a country where VoIP services and Western social media platforms are normally inaccessible.

Looking for the short version? No problem. Here’s a brief rundown of the best VPNs for British expats or anyone hoping to unblock British streaming services during a trip abroad:

1. NordVPN: Our #1 choice for UK expats! A fantastic option for anyone looking to access British content securely, regardless of their location. Works with BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Sky Go, and most other streaming platforms. Includes a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. TIP In our testing we found that the cheapest NordVPN plan (Standard) works perfectly for expats.
2. Surfshark: The best budget VPN for streaming British TV abroad. No-logs provider with powerful security features and a total lack of connection limits. Works in high-censorship countries and boasts a stellar customer support team.
3. IPVanish: A quick and responsive VPN with lots of reliable British servers. Great for streaming UK TV, unblocking messaging apps, or torrenting. Doesn’t work in China but you should be fine just about anywhere else. No connection limit.
4. ExpressVPN: No-logs VPN with a great reputation. Effortlessly unblocks British platforms like Channel 5 and ITVX. Recently added a Threat Protection feature that enhances your privacy, blocks ads, and alerts you when you visit shady sites.
5. CyberGhost: Beginner-friendly VPN with servers specifically designed to access British streaming platforms. Highly-customizable security, 24/7 customer support, and some of the fastest speeds we’ve seen.
6. ProtonVPN: Fast, reliable, and easy to use. A great option for streaming British TV abroad, though you’ll need the paid plan to do so. Lots of advanced security features.
7. PureVPN: An affordable option for UK expats. Outperforms most other VPNs on the market and works well for accessing iPlayer, ITVX, and other streaming platforms while abroad.
8. Private Internet Access: Speedy service with strong streaming abilities and a proven no-logs policy. Good set of security and privacy tools, plus novice-friendly apps for all platforms.
9. PrivateVPN: Boasts steady speeds and powerful security features, plus the ability to access all manner of British services including Channel 4, BBC iPlayer,and Now TV.

How we identified the best VPNs for British expats

There are hundreds of VPNs on the market and nobody wants to spend their valuable time trying multiple until they find one that fits. That’s where we come in: our experts have more than a decade of combined experience testing consumer VPNs. Not only that, we have a rigorous testing process designed to make sure that we only recommend the very best VPNs for expats.

If you’d like to learn more about our testing methodology, scroll down to the bottom of this post. In the meantime, here’s a quick look at the main areas we analyzed:

• Streaming ability: We attempted to access some of the UK’s most popular streaming platforms, on both mobile and desktop devices, to see which VPNs were the most reliable. We also considered how many British servers were available and their locations, since this impacts whether you’ll be able to access regional variants (for instance, watching STV instead of ITV).
• Speed: There’ll almost always be some slowdown when using a VPN but some providers are better-optimized than others. Our team carried out multiple speed tests at varying times of day using a home broadband connection to get the most realistic indication of each VPN’s performance.
• Security & privacy: A VPN’s prime goal is to protect your activities from prying eyes. To make sure that they’re up to the job, we evaluated each candidate against a list of 15 separate criteria. This included checking their encryption standards, included safeguards, and supported protocols, as well as examining their audit histories.
• Ease of use: Ideally, VPNs would be extremely beginner-friendly while also giving experienced users all of the tools they need. We assign each a score based on 10 criteria such as how easy it is to sign up (or cancel) and which apps they offer.
• Value for money: Next, we make sure you’re actually getting your money’s worth. Naturally, this involves comparing each VPN’s monthly price to those of competitors but we also consider how often they go on sale, whether there’s a money-back guarantee included, and how many devices you can connect at the same time.
• Expert reviewer’s rating: Finally, our reviewer assigns each VPN a score out of 10 based on their personal experiences using it. This is combined with the scores from the other categories above and used to calculate a final, overall score for each provider.

Best VPNs for UK Expats – Our hands-on review

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

Best VPNs for UK expats

Below, you’ll find reviews of our top VPNs for expats, as well as observations made during our exhaustive testing process.

1. NordVPN

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NordVPN is our first choice for British users living abroad. It has more than 400 servers in the UK with two locations in England and two in Scotland (as well as over 6,000 more spread across a further 110 countries. That’s one of the largest networks we’ve seen, and in practical terms, it means you’ll always have access to a low-load server in your preferred location.

Streaming is actually one of NordVPN’s biggest strengths. We were able to successfully access a huge range of British platforms including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Netflix UK, BritBox, Now TV, and Channel 4, to name but a few. You don’t have to use specific servers either – so long as they’re in the UK, the general-purpose ones will work just fine.

We regularly check VPN performance using an ultra-fast test server, but while this helps see what a service can do when pushed to its limits, it doesn’t really give you a great idea of the speeds you can actually expect. With this in mind, we tested NordVPN’s London servers at three different times of day on a home broadband connection that averaged 120.3 Mbps. NordVPN had very little impact on our overall speeds and came extremely close to outpacing every other service we tested. Here are the full results:

Accessing geo-restricted content is great, but the main purpose of a VPN is to keep your online activities private. NordVPN gives you plenty of ways to achieve this thanks to its powerful encryption, independently-audited no-logs policy, and customizable kill switch. However, it also has a few more unusual features. Chief among them is MeshNet, a recently added tool that can route traffic from multiple devices through a single point. This is particularly useful for securing Smart TVs, games consoles, or other devices that don’t support full VPN apps (and as an added bonus, you’ll be able to watch British TV on these, too).

NordVPN boasts split tunneling functionality, too. This means you can specify which apps have their data encrypted by the VPN and which don’t. That’s handy, for instance, if you want to access Netflix UK without losing access to your current location’s streaming apps. In this instance, you could just select “Disable VPN for selected apps”. Alternatively, choose “Enable VPN for selected apps”, and add Netflix.

In our professional opinion, NordVPN’s apps are very beginner-friendly, though there are quite a few tabbed menus to navigate, which can be a tad confusing at first. This VPN supports MacOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux systems, plus it can be manually installed on most home routers in case you need to protect more than 10 devices simultaneously.

BEST VPN FOR BRITISH TV:NordVPN is our top choice. Boasts hundreds of reliable British servers plus it works well with major streaming services including BBC iPlayer and Netflix. Also offers extremely high speeds and a 30-day risk-free, money-back guarantee.

Read our full NordVPN review.

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2. Surfshark

Surfshark is a fantastic, low-cost VPN option for British expats. Its network comprises 3,200 servers in 100 countries, with roughly 200 throughout the UK alone. A couple of multi-hop servers pass through the UK, making you even harder to track. Better still, this is one of the few major VPNs that lets you simultaneously connect every device you own, meaning it’s a solid choice for families.

Now, this provider doesn’t have specially-labeled streaming servers. However, it performed exceptionally well in our streaming tests, unblocking BBC iPlayer, Channel 5, and Sky Go without breaking a sweat. It even allowed us to use Amazon Prime Video – a service that regularly stumps most other VPNs thanks to its stronger-than-average location-detection systems. In short, if you want to watch British TV abroad, Surfshark is a great choice.

Let’s talk about performance. Surfshark outpaced every other contender in the morning, with virtually no slowdown. Perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise given it topped our list of the fastest VPNs, but it’s still nice to see these results replicated on a home broadband connection. There is a NoBorders mode that’ll help you beat countrywide censorship but this naturally reduces speeds so for the purpose of fair testing, we didn’t enable it. Here are Surfshark’s results:

Surfshark doesn’t keep logs and we know that for sure as it’s been repeatedly audited. Its encryption is top-notch, plus it can block ads, trackers, and malware automatically. This service even offers an IP address rotation feature, split tunneling functionality, and the ability to hide your device from others on the network. Further, it can activate on its own whenever you use an unfamiliar network – that’s helpful if you find yourself relying on public wifi hotspots often.

The apps are near-identical, regardless of whether you’re on desktop or mobile. Our only complaint is that they devote quite a bit of space to features that are only included with a Surfshark One subscription. For instance, standard users won’t have access to the antivirus app, private search engine, or new Alternative ID tool (that generates fake personas so you can sign up to services anonymously), yet each has its own tab on the main screen.

Still, with apps for all major platforms, a great set of security tools, and a shockingly low monthly price, Surfshark remains a fantastic option for any expat. It supports manual router installation too (check the website’s support section for instructions) and offers 24/7 customer support over live chat. If you want to securely stream British TV without breaking the bank, you could do a lot worse than Surfshark.

BEST BUDGET VPN:Surfshark is affordable, quick, and secure, ensuring you’ll never have to trade privacy for convenience. Expats can connect as many devices as you like and stream UK-only video from anywhere. 30-day money-back guarantee included.

Read our full Surfshark review.

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3. IPVanish

IPVanish has four UK locations to choose from (three English, one Scottish) and more than 2,400 servers throughout 60+ countries. Its interface is nice and beginner-friendly, though it is possible to view each server’s current load and select one individually if you’d rather not use the one that’s chosen automatically when you hit Connect. In most cases, though, you should be just fine with whichever server you’re assigned, so long as it’s in the UK.

This provider used to struggle with geo-restricted services but has made streaming a focus lately. Now, it’s able to access notoriously-tricky platforms like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Hayu, and Disney Plus without any issues (though you may have to try a few servers to find one that works). It also allows torrenting across its entire network of self-owned servers and is more than fast enough for gaming, video-calling, or anything else you might have in mind.

On that note, IPVanish placed very highly in our site-wide speed testing, averaging 271 Mbps on an ultra-fast test server. Its real-world performance was similarly impressive; in fact, IPVanish was one of fastest VPNs we saw, even managing to beat titans like ExpressVPN on a home broadband connection. Here’s a breakdown of IPVanish’s speeds at different times of day, using its London servers:

IPVanish doesn’t have as many advanced features as some of its rivals but it is working on it. Just recently, it introduced a Threat Protection tool that blocks ads, trackers, and malicious websites automatically. It also offers basic obfuscation that should help you bypass some forms of VPN detection. However, it’s worth noting that this can’t help you beat particularly-robust digital restrictions such as China’s Great Firewall.

On the plus side, this provider’s encryption is top-notch and would take centuries to crack. It provides safeguards such as a kill switch, leak protection, and a proven no-logs policy. The split tunneling feature is very interesting – it allows you to unencrypt any combination of websites AND apps through the VPN, whereas most VPNs only work with one or the other. There’s even the option to include a site’s subdomains so that there’s no room for error.

A major selling point of this service is its impressive Advanced plan. This includes an unlimited VPN, one terabyte of secure cloud storage, and a cloud-based browser to sandbox your online activities, protecting your device from malware and trackers.

Our tests confirmed the sandboxed browser works well for private browsing, but it struggles with streaming HD or 4K, significantly lowering picture quality. It also caused quite a few captchas. However, for people living in countries that have a lot of censorship, the ability to browser securely via a remote server is extremely useful.

IPVanish has apps for MacOS, iOS, Windows, and Android. Most functionality is the same across platforms, though you will have to manually set up the kill switch on mobile devices (which is standard). There isn’t a Linux app, though the website does provide detailed setup guides explaining how to configure a connection manually on popular distros and most routers. One more thing: unlike most of its rivals, IPVanish has absolutely no connection limits.

IDEAL FOR STREAMING:IPVanish has high speed servers in the UK, values your privacy, and easily unblocks most British streaming services. You’re free to protect as many devices as you like, and long-term subscriptions include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Why not check out our full review of IPVanish?

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4. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is a veteran provider with five British server locations. Unfortunately, these are all in England so while the network spans 105 countries, it might not be the best option for accessing smaller regional platforms like STV. This is a fairly niche use case, though, and during hands-on testing, we found that ExpressVPN worked with a huge range of popular streaming apps, including Netflix UK, iPlayer, and My5.

If ease of use is a priority, ExpressVPN would be a great choice. Its apps are virtually identical no matter which device you’re using and all of its functionality is available across platforms. Additionally, this is one of the only VPNs that can sidestep strict digital censorship without requiring the user to use specific servers or activate a stealth mode. Settings are well-described too, reducing the chance of you accidentally changing something important without realizing.

Looking at the screenshots above, one thing is obvious: ExpressVPN doesn’t have a ton of customizable features. It does, however, keep you safe using powerful encryption, data leak protection, and a kill switch (which it calls “Network Lock”). Further, this VPN recently added a Threat Management suite capable of blocking ads and trackers and alerting you whenever you inadvertently access a site known for phishing or spreading malware. Crucially, ExpressVPN doesn’t keep logs; its infrastructure and privacy policies have been audited several times.

You shouldn’t notice any performance issues, even when doing data-intensive tasks like torrenting or catching up on Coronation Street. That’s because ExpressVPN has its own VPN protocol named Lightway that specifically aims to connect quicker and minimize speed loss when using geographically distant servers. Its London servers delivered average speeds of 88.85 Mbps on a home broadband connection, which is more than enough for any day-to-day task. Even if multiple people share your connection, you should be absolutely fine.

There are cheaper VPNs on the market, that’s undeniable. ExpressVPN’s monthly price is on the higher end of the spectrum, but there are significant discounts for expats who are willing to commit to a longer subscription. What’s more, every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. As such, hesitant users can try it for a month and get a full refund if it’s not right for them. You can even pay in Bitcoin for added anonymity if that helps sweeten the deal.

ExpressVPN is unique in that it has its own router app. This means you’ll be able to block ads and take advantage of the kill switch on all of your devices, even those that don’t normally support VPNs. There are, of course, traditional apps for Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, and Android as well – up to eight of these can be connected at once.

HIGHLY VERSATILE:ExpressVPN is fast and easy to use, with a strong security focus, a large network, and great unblocking ability. It even comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you change your mind.

Read our full review of ExpressVPN.

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5. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is famous for having one of the largest networks around. Collectively, it offers access to 10,000+ servers in over 100 countries, with three locations to choose from in the UK. Some are even optimized for unblocking British streaming sites like ITVX, and these are separated from the general-purpose servers for easier access. Other specialty servers are available for expats looking to play games, torrent, or remain as anonymous as possible.

The overall design is fairly straightforward. Simply hit the arrow on the home screen to open the server selection menu or access the settings. From a user’s standpoint, it can be a little tricky to find a specific option since they’re spread across multiple tabs and the “privacy settings” and “smart rules” areas aren’t actually located in the settings menu. Still, it’s unlikely you’ll need to visit these sections often after initial setup.

This VPN uses 256-bit encryption, a kill switch, and a proven zero-logs policy to ensure your activities are hidden from anyone who might be monitoring the network. It also stops ads and trackers outright, prevents data leaks, and offers split tunneling functionality in case you’d like to access British services and those from your current location at the same time. This feature was recently overhauled in the Android version, making it easier than ever to see which apps’ data isn’t being encrypted. There is a rudimentary form of encryption included (random port connection) and while this might help in hotels or airports, it won’t let you bypass country-wide censorship. Just something to bear in mind if you live in China, the UAE, or Russia.

In terms of performance, CyberGhost is one of the best we’ve seen. It delivered admirable speeds in our industry-wide testing and fared equally well in our real-world tests. It might not have been the fastest VPN overall but it pegged decent speeds throughout. Overall, it’s average speed was 83 Mbps on a home broadband connection with an average speed of 120.3 Mbps. This is fast enough to stream 4K video on multiple devices simultaneously, which is great news given CyberGhost has a seven-device allowance.

Users can choose from one month, six-month, or annual subscriptions, with discounts increasing based on the length of their term. There are also a couple of optional addons: an antivirus app for Windows systems and dedicated IP addresses. Neither of these are crucial but it’s nice to have the option, especially when they’re only a few dollars more each month.

CyberGhost supports iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, and Linux devices. Need to secure even more devices? In that case, follow the manual setup instructions on the website to get it running on your router. Staff are on-hand 24/7 via live chat in case you’d like to be walked through setup.

Beginner friendly apps:CyberGhost makes watching British TV simple. Delivers ultra-fast speeds, streaming-optimized servers, and 24/7 customer support via live chat. 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost review.

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6. ProtonVPN

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ProtonVPN is perhaps best known for being the free-to-use offering from the company behind ProtonMail, a privacy-first email service used by journalists and activists the world over. Upgrading to a paid plan, however, unlocks servers in 112 countries including the UK and allows you to access just about any streaming platform you’d like, which is great for traveling abroad. Not only that, you’ll be able to secure 10 devices simultaneously, so it’s perfect for families of expats hoping to access British content.

This VPN has a bit of an unusual design, with map and list-based server selection right there on the main screen. There are more than 400 servers in the UK alone and the app lets users know which are best for streaming, which is a plus. Still, we’d rather the kill switch was kept in the settings menu rather than placed front and center since this isn’t something you’d want to turn off accidentally. Note that its special Secure Core servers won’t help you access the wider internet in China, though – these are essentially multi-hop servers kept in high-security data centers to prevent outside interference.

What’s interesting is that ProtonVPN delivered decent, if unremarkable speeds in our multi-country testing, yet wiped the floor with the competition using only the London servers. This may be down to the combination of WireGuard support and its special VPN accelerator tool which it claims can boost speeds by up to 400 percent. With average speeds approaching 97 Mbps and consistent performance even at peak times, you could do far worse than ProtonVPN for UK streaming.

One of ProtonVPN’s biggest strengths is its simplicity. Monthly plans cost $9.99 , and there’s around a 50 percent discount on annual or biannual subscriptions. That’s it – no frills, no optional extras, no fuss. Every plan comes with a 30-day guarantee as well, allowing you to try the full version of the service without any risk.

ProtonVPN has apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, and MacOS. Most functionality is maintained across platforms, but port forwarding is only available on Windows. It supports most routers too, though you’ll have to configure your connection manually. Still, that’s a small price to pay to protect every device you own.

FULLY FEATURED:ProtonVPN caters to tech-savvy users who need advanced privacy features. With servers available in over 85+ countries, it’s ideal for bypassing restrictions to watch iPlayer and other UK TV services abroad. 24/7 live chat support in the member’s area. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Find out more in our full ProtonVPN review.

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7. PureVPN

PureVPN has a fairly large network, with around 6,000 servers in 60+ countries. There are multiple British locations to choose from (all in England), and having tested numerous similar products, we can safely say that this VPN is one of the best for expats looking to stay up-to-date with British TV shows. That’s because it effortlessly unblocks all of the UK’s biggest streaming services including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, My5, Channel 4, and Now TV, among many others.

Users can quickly connect to the best-available server directly on the main screen of the app. However, getting a British server is as simple as clicking Location and searching for “United Kingdom”. The London servers even support port-forwarding, making them ideal for UK torrenting or gaming too! Each subscription permits up to 10 simultaneous connections, and as such, PureVPN is a solid choice for families or anyone hoping to protect lots of devices.

This provider has been audited several times, proving its zero-log claims beyond all doubt. It recently discontinued support for legacy protocols (citing speed and encryption as key concerns) but still allows WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 connections. Its security toolkit is well-rounded, with a kill switch, tracker-blocking, leak protection, and split tunneling functionality all included as standard. Further, PureVPN automatically obfuscates traffic on OpenVPN connections. This means that it’ll work in places like China without any additional configuration required.

Our latest round of testing revealed that PureVPN was one of the quickest providers around, coming second only to the ultra-fast Surfshark. On a home broadband connection using only the London servers, it delivered average speeds of 88.78 Mbps. This places it firmly in the middle of the pack, which is still a great position to be in, given the caliber of the competition. Even if multiple people in your household are watching TV at the same time, you shouldn’t notice any buffering, quality degradation, or slowdown. Here are our full speed test results:

PureVPN users can sign up for a month, a year, two years, or (in a rare inclusion) five years. Monthly pricing is about what you’d expect, with multi-year plans coming in at just over $2 per month. There are also enhanced subscriptions that come bundled with a password manager, file encryption tool, and data removal services; naturally these cost a little more. We would rather that the apps didn’t devote quite so much space to these exclusive features but it’s nice to know they’re available.

This VPN has Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, and iOS apps. Additionally, PureVPN’s website has step-by-step instructions for setting up your home router. There’s a generous 10-connection limit but if you’d like to stream British TV on games consoles or older Smart TVs, having the option to install it on your router is a huge plus.

AMAZING VALUE:PureVPN lets expats access BBC iPlayer and other British TV platforms without breaking the bank. Easy to use on all devices. Rock solid no-logs policy and robust AES-256 encryption. Comes with a 31-day money-back guarantee so you can try it for yourself.

Find out more in our full PureVPN review.

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8. Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access (PIA) has servers in 90+ countries, including the UK, for a UK IP address. Users can choose one in London, Manchester, or Southampton, but there are also streaming-optimized British servers that make it easy to catch up on your favorite UK content. In fact, our experts were able to access tricky platforms like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and Netflix while connected—that’s impressive, considering these services block most major VPNs outright.

The apps are intuitive and easy to get the hang of. Nothing fancy here, just the standard quick-connect button on the main page and a location selection menu. You can click the downwards arrow to reveal more info about your connection (bandwidth usage, chosen protocol, and so on) but for some reason, this is all displayed vertically, making the app really tall. It’s not anything you’d always need to see though, so we’d suggest sticking to the normal layout.

Clicking the three dots in the top-right allows you to browse the options menu. This has everything you’d expect as well as a few more advanced tools like ad-blocking, split tunneling, and LAN traffic blocking. You can also use the Automation menu to tell the VPN to connect automatically whenever you use a specific network. We’d prefer if this went a little further, similar to CyberGhost’s smart rules feature that lets you open apps or use preset servers, but this is still good to have. PIA follows a strict no-logs policy and has been audited twice so that you don’t have to take its privacy claims at face value.

Let’s address the elephant in the room. PIA was the slowest provider we tested, with its London servers delivering average speeds of 52.38 Mbps. It’s worth noting, however, that this is still fast enough for any day-to-day task including video calling, gaming, or streaming 4K content (on multiple devices, no less). Further, speeds were generally quite consistent regardless of the time of day we tested. In other words, while PIA might not offer the best overall speeds, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. Below, you’ll find the results of our PIA speed tests:

Private Internet Access costs around $12 per month, which is about the industry standard. However, there are significant discounts on its annual and three-year plans. In fact, signing up for multiple years cuts the cost to just a couple of dollars each month. If you’d like to take advantage of PIA’s antivirus app or get a dedicated IP address, you can add these during checkout for a small additional fee.

PIA apps are available for iOS, Windows, MacOS, Android. There’s also a full graphical Linux app – this feature is particularly noteworthy since most VPNs require manual configuration or are entirely command-line based on Linux systems. Naturally, you can follow manual setup instructions to get this service running on routers too.

GREAT FOR PRIVACY:PIA is another great option for expats. It has over 10,000 servers in 80+ countries, including the UK. Works to access internet banking, streaming services, Skype, Facebook, and much more. Apps for all platforms with advanced privacy features and settings. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PIA review.

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9. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN doesn’t have as large a network as some others in this list but it owns all 200 of its servers outright. Also, it acts as its own host and ISP, meaning no third party ever has access to your traffic. Experts in the field agree that this reduces the chance of outside interception, which can only ever be a good thing. There are two British locations available (London and Manchester) as well as servers in a further 62 countries.

When you first open PrivateVPN, it looks almost identical to most other VPN apps, with one exception. Clicking the Advanced View button reveals a ton of additional info and settings. These are all well-described and most can be toggled on or off for maximum ease of use. Most people should be fine using the Simple view but be aware that the stealth mode is only visible in Advanced view – this is required to use the web safely in high-censorship countries.

We’re big fans of this provider’s other security features too. There’s adjustable encryption, DNS and IPv6 leak protection, and a kill switch that lets you close specific programs when the VPN disconnects. There are several protocols to choose from but unfortunately, WireGuard connections have to be configured manually and PPTP is still supported even though it hasn’t been considered secure in a long time. On the plus side, PrivateVPN has a no-logging policy meaning it couldn’t share details of your activities even if it wanted to.

If there’s one area that PrivateVPN excels, it’s streaming. This VPN reliably bypasses location-detection systems on all manner of British platforms, from BBC iPlayer to Amazon Prime Video. Its UK servers are reasonably quick too, with an average speed of 74 Mbps. As such, you should be able to watch TV on multiple devices without any noticeable performance issues. On that note, PrivateVPN allows up to 10 connections at once.

Subscribers have three plans to choose from: monthly, quarterly, or annual. That’s it: there are no addons or enhanced packages so if you’re looking for simplicity, you’ve found it. PrivateVPN is a little cheaper than other services, at around $10 per month. Still, choosing longer plans drives that price down even further, with the annual plan costing just $72 and giving an additional two years of coverage at the time of writing.

This VPN has its own Windows, Android, iOS, and MacOS apps. Linux systems and routers are supported but require manual setup. There are detailed guides in PrivateVPN’s extensive help section and staff are on-hand to walk you through the process via live chat. This is only available during European business hours, though, so you may want to schedule your installation for when you know help will be available.

FAST SPEEDS:PrivateVPN offers stable speeds and puts your anonymity above all else. Follows a strict no-logs policy and has a great track record when it comes to streaming. Reliable but a bit pricey. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PrivateVPN review.

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Our methodology: Finding the best VPNs for UK expats

British expats looking for VPNs are usually hoping for one of two things: being able to access UK services from their new home or keeping their online activities hidden from snoopers. We don’t think users should have to settle for one of these, though. Our team of experts created an extensive set of tests to help us identify which VPNs are best for expats and which are best ignored. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of our process:

Speed and server availability

Our first task is to make sure candidates actually have servers in the UK. Then, we looked into how many (where this data was available) and where they were located. Ideally, providers would offer servers in Scotland and England, since this increases the number of streaming platforms you can access. The more locations available, the higher the VPN’s score out of 10. Note that no major provider has Welsh or Northern Irish servers, so we didn’t factor this into our scoring.

Server availability doesn’t mean much if they’re too slow to actually be useful. That’s why we tested each service’s London servers three times (once in the morning, at noon, and in the evening) before averaging the results. This gives us a single, more representative idea of what speeds you can expect in real-world scenarios using a home broadband connection. With no VPN connected, we received average download speeds of 120.3 Mbps. Below, you’ll see a chart showing how well each provider fared:

Streaming performance

Our next task was ensuring that our top VPNs were able to access popular geo-blocked services from the UK. We picked four platforms with particularly strict location-detection systems since in our experience, if VPNs work with these, any others are unlikely to pose a problem. Each provider was tested against BBC iPlayer, Now TV, Channel 4, and ITVX, with each successful streaming experience awarding 2.5 points (out of a maximum 10).

As the table above shows, all of our recommended VPNs were able to access all the popular UK streaming services we tested them with.

Security & privacy

VPNs are designed to keep your data as secure as possible. Despite this, many providers fail to include even basic privacy features. That’s just not good enough. The problem is that it’s difficult to assign a single representative score to something as complex as digital security. To address this, we’ve based our scoring on the presence (or lack thereof) of 15 key features, as shown below:

So how well did each of our recommendations perform? You can see the full results here:

NordVPN and Surfshark delivered near-perfect scores of 9.5 out of 10. Conversely, PrivateVPN had the lowest result (a still impressive 8.6). This was largely due to its lack of 4096-bit keys and custom protocols, as well as lacking a kill switch in certain versions of the app.

Ease of use

If you sign up for a VPN and then realize it’s a pain to use, you’re unlikely to rely on it regularly. That’s a real problem: not only have you spent money on something that you’re not benefiting from, but your activities remain available for public hotspot owners, ISPs, and government authorities to see. For this reason, our team personally tests each VPN we consider, checking how simple it is to sign up, navigate the app, and use it across multiple platforms. Here are all of our testing criteria:

These criteria all come with a score value, weighted and normalized to provide a final score out of 10. This way, we can more easily see how different providers stack up. For instance:

Once again, NordVPN took first place. It only missed out on a perfect score by not having a router app and having one feature that isn’t available on all platforms (obfuscated servers are noticeably absent from the iOS app, which is particularly bothersome for expats).

Value for money

You shouldn’t have to pay a huge amount to protect yourself online. We consider more than just a provider’s monthly cost, though, since this is often only the beginning of your journey with a VPN. We also look into the price of upgrading to plans with more features, how easy it is to cancel your subscription, and whether it’s possible to get a free trial, among other things. Take a look at our full value for money scoring criteria below:

Once again, we assign each VPN a score out of 10 based on what it has to offer compared to its rivals. Here’s how we ranked the best VPNs for UK expats on value:

Surfshark topped our rankings with a score of 9.7, though IPVanish wasn’t too far behind with 9.6. Proton VPN delivered the lowest result, scoring 7.4. This is mostly due to its relatively high lowest price and a lack of student discounts. That said, it is worth noting that you can use its free plan for most things without limits, so arguably, it has a longer trial than any other VPN in our list.

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