Virtual private networks, or VPNs, are commonly used to dodge regional restrictions on streaming services. Say you live in the U.S. and want to watch a new episode of Love Island before it hits Hulu. If you connect to a VPN server in the UK, where the free streaming platform ITVX has distribution rights for the show, you'll get a new British IP address that lets you skirt the geolock. (Suddenly you're the hot new bombshell entering the villa, so to speak.)
Sounds simple, right? It can be, if you have a VPN that's up to the task. Streaming services don't take kindly to VPNs because they let people evade their content licensing restrictions, and many of them have gotten really good at detecting VPN usage. Some VPN services can't bypass their blocking methods.
As Mashable's resident VPN expert, I also think it's important to recognize that accessing international streaming services is actually a secondary use case for VPNs. The main purpose of having a VPN is to add an extra layer of privacy to your internet connection so your ISP, advertisers, and other prying eyes can't see everything you're doing online. A VPN gets exclusive access to your traffic when you're connected to it, so it needs to abide by strict privacy practices and maintain a clean track record. If a VPN is good at unblocking international shows but shoddy in the way it handles your data, that's not a good deal.
With that in mind, the only VPN I recommend for streaming is also the only one I consider exceptionally trustworthy, reliable, and good for streaming. That's Proton VPN.
Why Proton VPN?
I should preface this by clarifying that this isn't sponsored content — it's the result of Mashable's ultra-picky VPN testing process, which we've refined over the years based on extensive research and interviews with cybersecurity experts. It mainly revolves around specific privacy indicators, but we also check to see if VPNs can unblock streaming services because, frankly, it matters to a lot of people (including Mashable readers).
Out of all the premium VPN services I've tried, Proton VPN is my top pick for streaming because it ticks the right boxes in the right order. It's good at the main thing a VPN should be good at doing, which is keeping its users safe without a shred of a doubt: It has a no-logs policy that's regularly verified by third-party audits, open sources its apps, issues a transparency report about any legal requests it gets, and offers advanced features like doubly encrypted multi-hop servers. It also just so happens to be good at getting around streaming services' georestrictions, which I think of as a nice added bonus.
Proton VPN posits itself as a streaming-friendly service, publishing access guides for nearly 100 streaming services worldwide. In practice, it successfully got me watching Love Island on ITVX from my home in Chicago via one of its London servers. I like that it displays a load percentage indicator for every server so users can see how busy they are at any given time. The more people on a given server, the slower it'll be. Being able to identify uncrowded servers means you won't have to deal with frequent connection slowdowns, which is important when you're trying to load videos.
Proton VPN now has more than 13,600 servers in over 120 countries as of June 2025, which is the biggest and most geographically diverse VPN server network I've encountered. You should never have trouble finding a speedy server in a country where your favorite shows and movies are available. (In testing, my connection speed took a mere 13% hit when I used a British Proton VPN server. That's pretty great, considering my traffic had to travel across an entire ocean.)
Proton VPN also has streaming appeal because it offers a custom Stealth protocol that's specifically designed to get around VPN blocking methods. It was purpose-built for users in counties where authoritarian governments impede VPN usage, and it should make your connection undetectable to streaming services, too.
Proton VPN supports up to 10 simultaneous connections and has apps for myriad platforms (including Android TV, Apple TV, and Firestick), so you can tune in from your smartphone, computer, or TV.
The catch here is that you have to pay for a Proton VPN subscription if you want city-level access to its entire server network, zero speed restrictions, live chat support, and the ability to use it on more than one device. (In other words, its free tier won't cut it.) If it helps, I think its Plus plan is very fairly priced for all that it offers. Read my full Proton VPN review for more info.
Disclaimer: Proton VPN doesn't condone violating copyright regulations, and neither does Mashable.
