With 45% of the country's population already using an India VPN, there is evidently a huge market for the best VPN services – and if you're not already using one, it might be time to sign up!
The reason why VPNs in India are so popular is that they provide a super easy way to enhance your privacy. However, they're also the most effective way of accessing sites or apps that are blocked by the government – including TikTok, WeChat, PUBG Mobile and more.
What's more, if you're out of the country, an India VPN will be able to spoof your location back home to watch things like IPL cricket and Hotstar wherever you are, and also unblock sites like BBC iPlayer when you're back at home. Not bad for a cheap, simple app, then.
What makes the best India VPN?
If you want to avoid government restrictions, it’s important you sign up to an India VPN with powerful privacy features. Things like a kill switch, split tunnelling and excellent encryption are essential. Then, it’s worth making sure that your chosen service can unblock the streaming sites that you want to use.
If you live in India but you're going abroad, you should make sure your chosen VPN has a few servers in India. If it does, you’ll be able to access services like Hotstar to watch live cricket and tons of TV that you wouldn’t have access to outside the country.
When it comes to TikTok and other banned Chinese apps, there’s a lot of debate over which VPNs can unblock what, and if they work at all. So, in case your chosen service doesn’t do what you need it to, you should look for a money-back guarantee – that way you’ll get a full refund if it’s not good enough for you.
Fulfilling all of those is ExpressVPN, and that’s why we’ve named it the top VPN for India on the market. However, there are some other good options available, so read on to see which one is the best fit for you.
The best India VPNs today
Coming in at #1 is ExpressVPN – not only is it the best overall VPN, but it also beats the competition as an India VPN. With seriously powerful encryption and a wide range of protocols to choose from, it’s a powerful and secure VPN service, but it’s also far more than that.
With ExpressVPN you’ll be able to stream India-exclusive content when you’re on a holiday or a business trip, and when you’re back home you’ll be able to choose from a huge selection of worldwide media to access – including Netflix libraries from around the world, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Peacock. Plus, you’ll be able to find cheap or free ways to watch cricket matches and other sport.
That’s no good without excellent connection speed, though, and ExpressVPN doesn’t disappoint here. In our testing, it delivered class-leading speeds on all the servers we tested, and has two dedicated server banks in India; one in Mumbai, one in Chennai.
What brings this all together, though, are Express’s excellent apps. Want Express on your Fire Stick? No problem. Router? Easy. As well as Windows, Mac, iOS and Android VPN apps, Express supports a huge range of devices – all of which work really smoothly and look great – so whatever you want to protect, you’ll be able to do so with ease.
If we had to find a fault, it’d be that you can only use ExpressVPN on five devices at the same time, but you can install the app on all your devices and log in and out as you wish – you don't have to commit to a set five.
Overall, there isn’t a service that can beat ExpressVPN’s performance today, and that’s why it’s the best India VPN on the market right now. Plus, the 30-day money-back guarantee means you can try before you commit.
If you want the cheapest India VPN on the market, Surfshark could be the one for you. With premium performance at a fraction of the price of some of its rivals, we really rated the service in our Surfshark review and highly recommend it.
Surfshark has a healthy 3,200 servers worldwide, with three locations in India – Mumbai, Chennai, and Indore. That means that wherever you are in India, you'll be able to get connected to a server that's fairly close and will deliver excellent speeds.
Surfshark is also great for streaming, and has the power to unblock Netflix, iPlayer, Hulu and more within India, and can access Hotstar and other Indian networks from elsewhere.
While the apps aren't quite as in-depth as ExpressVPN or IPVanish's, there's still a lot to like about Surfshark, especially the fact that it delivers a functional kill switch, split tunneling and a good selection protocols over a wide range of operating systems.
For the price, Surfshark is huge value, and is definitely worth considering.
Sign up now on the Surfshark website
We've liked NordVPN for a long time – as evidenced in our NordVPN review. As the most famous and one of the most secure VPN services on the market, it delivers an excellent privacy-focused experience, and is excellent in India as well as pretty much everywhere else.
With powerful encryption, interesting speciality servers including Onion over VPN and Double VPN, and a useful kill switch, you can browse and stream safe in the knowledge that your personal data is safe.
However, if you're a mobile user and you're going to switching locations a lot, be aware that Nord's apps can be a bit awkward on smaller screens. They use a map-based interface which is great on a PC but is tricky on mobile.
Otherwise, though, there's very little we can complain about with Nord – it's only at 3rd because the competition is so strong!
Sign up now on the NordVPN website
Well-known as one of the most private VPN provider on the market, Proton VPN has come on leaps and bound in the last year or so – in our Proton VPN review it seriously impressed us.
A huge improvement is Proton's streaming performance – it's now one of the best streaming VPNs, just behind ExpressVPN. That means you'll be able to stream from multiple Netflix locations, plus BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and more.
Proton VPN also offers some unique features that help keep its users protected. Most eye-catching of these is the Secure Core feature, which routes your traffic through an impenetrable server in either Switzerland, Sweden or Iceland, and then on to your chosen country. This is great if you're planning on connecting to a vulnerable server location like India or Turkey.
While the apps may seem quite complex to beginners, overall Proton VPN is hugely powerful, great for streaming, and sure to keep you safe as your surf.
Sign up now on the ProtonVPN website
As soon as you open IPVanish you can tell it means business – the black and green scheme looks exactly as you'd expect it to, and you're treated to tons of rolling graphs and changing data – you can find out more in our comprehensive IPVanish review.
However, it's not just a looker. IPVanish has two dedicated server locations in India (New Delhi and Mumbai), meaning wherever you are, you should be able to get great connections.
IPVanish used to be one of the go-to VPNs for streaming, but in our latest testing we noticed that it had trouble with both Disney+ and Amazon Prime. However, it works perfectly well for US Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and for many, that'll be all you need.
On the whole, IPVanish is a powerful India VPN that can do just about everything you need at a great price.
Sign up now on the IPVanish website
India VPN FAQ
What's the best India VPN?
Overall, we rate ExpressVPN as the best India VPN available. You'll get plenty of servers (with some in India), it's great for streaming, and it's super secure so you can browse the web in safety.
If you're looking for something cheaper, Surfshark is a great VPN that's very affordable. For less than $2.50 a month you'll get premium cover, and it's almost as good as ExpressVPN.
Is an India VPN legal?
Thankfully, there are no laws regarding VPN use in India, so you're free to use one wherever you go.
However, a VPN doesn't make downloading or accessing illegal software or files legal though, so make sure you still stay within the law when using a your India VPN.
Check out our guide to the best VPN uses to see what you can do with a VPN absolutely legally.
Does a VPN slow down Internet connections?
The short answer is 'yes, very slightly', but there's more to it than that.
If you're gaming, streaming or torrenting without a VPN, you may find that your Internet speeds fluctuate from fast to slow. That may be because of 'throttling', which means your Internet provider is slowing down your connection because of your activity.
A VPN hides your activity. That means your ISP can't see what you're doing, and can't choose to throttle you.
On games like PUBG Mobile and when torrenting, you're going to want the absolute fastest speeds, so a gaming VPN can help you get that.
- Want to cover your iPhone? Read about the best iOS VPN
- Save some cash with a good free VPN
- If you share P2P, check out the best torrenting VPN services
