Best VPNs for Germany in 2026
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In the past few years, Germany has been having net neutrality issues and increasingly concerning measures on the freedom of the Internet. To add to it, the country belongs to the 14-Eyes alliance, an agreement between countries allowing the sharing of citizens’ data. Besides, the rising number of cyber threats doesn’t add to one’s online privacy and security.
Luckily, there’s a solution to bypass these threats and ensure your privacy – getting a reliable VPN for Germany. It changes your virtual location by giving you a new IP address, so your traffic is secured, anonymous, and encrypted. Plus, a Germany VPN can help you bypass P2P sharing restrictions, geo-restrictions to stream your favorite local or international content.
We have tested a number of VPNs for Germany to get the safest, all-rounded option for you, whether you’d use it for streaming, torrenting, or safely browsing. The best VPNs we picked will have the best performance, versatile functionalities, many servers in Germany, and more – everything you need to stay safe online.
Top 5 best Germany VPNs
- NordVPN – best VPN for Germany overall
- Surfshark – highly versatile and cheap VPN option for Germany
- IPVanish – great VPN choice for torrenting with advanced encryption
- ExpressVPN – reliable and ideal for streaming VPN
- PureVPN – feature-packed VPN for Germany with unlimited bandwidth
What to look for in a VPN for Germany?
- Strong encryption. This ensures that your data is secured and cannot be visible to others on your network, including hackers and snoopers.
- Additional features. These have a great value for the overall security of a VPN service. Features like antivirus, Threat Protection will safeguard you from any accidental data exposures.
- Specialty servers. The wider choice of specialty servers will help you bypass heavy Internet restrictions and VPN-blocking firewalls. These include obfuscated servers and P2P servers.
- Privacy. It’s important that the chosen VPN has privacy-friendly jurisdiction and audited no-logs policy, which will ensure that it doesn’t store, record or compromise your personal information in any other way.
- Unbreakable security. Features like a kill switch, split tunneling, DNS leak protection are also crucial for a VPN provider to have, as your sensitive data needs to be secured at all times.
The best VPNs for Germany – our detailed list
Choosing the best VPN for Germany can be complex, as you have to pay close attention to its level of privacy, value for money, additional features, and other determining factors. We’ve gathered a list of top 5 VPN providers for safe use in Germany, let’s take a closer look.
1. NordVPN – the best VPN for Germany
| Based in: | Panama |
| Servers/countries: | 9,500+ servers in 149 countries |
| Servers in Germany: | Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get 75% OFF NordVPN + 3 months free 🔥 |
The best VPN for Germany on our list is NordVPN. Being the leader in the market, NordVPN comes with the largest server fleet, outstanding performance, great connection speeds, and broad features suite.
NordVPN has over 9,500 servers in 149 countries and more than 240 German servers spread out in 3 locations – Berlin, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.
To provide top-class protection for your data, NordVPN uses a combo of AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption. There’a a reliable kill switch that will automatically disconnect your devices if VPN connection drops. To enhance privacy, this provider operates under a strict no-logs policy which has been independently audited six times.
In terms of performance, NordVPN employs NordLynx protocol, which provides excellent speeds in Germany or when used in another country. For different uses, it also has a selection of specialty servers, like obfuscated servers, double VPN, onion over VPN servers for extra protection.
We managed to easily unblock Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and many German channels. Therefore, NordVPN is a solid choice for streaming.
Prices start at $3.49/month for 10 simultaneous connections with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Additionally, there’s a 3-day free trial for Android users.
To read more about this VPN provider, check out our NordVPN review.
2. Surfshark – budget-friendly VPN for Germany with unlimited connections
| Based in: | The Netherlands |
| Severs/countries: | 4,500+ servers in 100 countries |
| Servers in Germany: | Berlin, Frankfurt |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Now up to 85% OFF Surfshark + 3 months FREE 🔥 |
Surfshark is a second best VPN for Germany that provides excellent security, speeds, total count of 4,500+ servers in 100 countries and local servers in Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt). Since it has an unlimited amount of simultaneous connections, you can use it on as many devices as you need. It's also known for its affordable prices, which can be even lower with our Surfshark promo code: OFFCN.
As other top providers on our list, Surfshark also employs AES-256-GCM and ChaCha algorithms for strong encryption. A strict no-logs policy is also implemented to support your privacy and the service is independently audited for compliance.
Features of Surfshark, like a kill switch, split tunneling covers the essentials a VPN must have. In addition, Surfshark has a bundle with antivirus, Camouflage Mode, and CleanWeb features that will shield your devices from harm whether you’re in Germany or abroad. MultiHop feature (a Double VPN) enables you to connect via two different VPN servers for extra layer of security.
When talking about streaming, Surfshark doesn’t cut it short either. We’ve managed to unblock Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and other popular platforms in high quality.
In terms of pricing, Surfshark has one of the best value services with prices starting at $2.49/month with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Visit our Surfshark review to learn more or contrast it against the top provider in our Surfshark vs NordVPN analysis.
3. IPVanish – speedy VPN service for torrenting in Germany
| Based in: | United States |
| Severs/countries | 3,400+ servers in 112 countries |
| Servers in Germany: | Frankfurt |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Now up to 83% OFF IPVanish 🔥 |
IPVanish is also one of the best VPN providers for Germany that fell to our list. Amongst 3,400+ servers in 112 countries, over 50 of them are located in Germany. IPVanish also offers unlimited simultaneous connections to connect all of your devices when in Germany (or offshore).
IPVanish offers a solid feature suite: traffic obfuscation to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN, a kill switch which will shut down your devices immediately if the VPN connection drops. Other features include DNS Leak Protection, split tunneling, and others.
Despite being located in the US, IPVanish has a no-logs policy which is independently audited by a third party.
You can expect overall decent speeds, especially with WireGuard protocol implemented.
If you’re going to be using IPVanish solely for streaming, it successfully unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Youtube, and other platforms. You can also conveniently access German local channels, if you’d like to watch home content from abroad.
IPVanish prices are quite high – starting from $2.19/month. Fortunately, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case you’d like to test the service risk-free or get the money back if you don’t love it.
Read IPVanish review to find out more.
4. ExpressVPN – trustworthy VPN for Germany
| Based in: | British Virgin Islands |
| Servers/countries: | Undisclosed number of servers in 105 countries |
| Servers in Germany: | Frankfurt and Nuremberg |
| Current deal: | 🔥Now up to 80% OFF ExpressVPN + 4 months FREE🔥 |
ExpressVPN is an excellent choice for users in Germany, offering secure servers in Frankfurt and Nuremberg for reliable and high-speed connections. With AES-256 encryption and the proprietary Lightway protocol, it ensures top-notch security and efficiency. Its RAM-only servers and strict no-logs policy, verified by independent audits, provide strong privacy protections.
Compatible with a wide range of devices, including desktops, smartphones, and Smart TVs, ExpressVPN delivers consistent performance. It allows up to 14 simultaneous connections, depending on the plan, so it's a flexible option.
ExpressVPN plans start at $2.49/month. There's also the 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows users to test it risk-free, making it a solid option for secure browsing in Germany.
To find out more about in-depth features, read the ExpressVPN review.
5. PureVPN – great choice VPN option for streaming in Germany
| Based in: | British Virgin Islands |
| Servers/countries: | 6,000+ servers in 65 countries |
| Servers in Germany: | Berlin, Munich, Hessen, Frankfurt, Hamburg |
| Current deal: | 🔥Now 83% OFF PureVPN + 3 FREE months🔥 |
PureVPN is also a reliable choice VPN for Germany. It offers robust protection, decent speeds and a great server fleet – 6,000+ servers in 65 countries and 42 servers in Germany.
As the rest of the top providers, PureVPN implements an independently audited no-logs policy that will ensure none of your data is being recorded, stored, or potentially compromised. For security, it also has an unbreakable AES-256-CBC encryption that protects your data from outsiders.
When talking about performance, PureVPN uses a well-known WireGuard tunneling protocol, which provides good speed results. Also, you can use a VPN on demand with which you’ll be able to auto-connect when certain domains are entered.
During our tests, PureVPN managed to unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and other major streaming services with no major issues.
Even though PureVPN doesn’t offer a broad feature suite, it does the job. Its prices start at $2.15/month for 10 simultaneous connections and has a 31-day money-back guarantee, which is a slightly longer one than other providers offer.
You can read the full PureVPN review to find out more on its features and plans.
How we selected and tested these German VPNs
When choosing the best VPN service for Germany, we tested out a series of providers, their features, and checked how they perform in the categories listed below:
- Security. First and foremost, every reputable VPN ensures it provides the top-notch security features, like a kill switch, which automatically disconnects your device if the VPN connection drops out. There's also next-gen encryption, threat protection, double VPN, DNS leak protection, and more. We tested different VPN services and their security functionalities, so your browsing experience stays anonymous.
- Privacy. We looked for every VPN service to have strict no-logs policy and for it to be regularly audited. This way you can be sure none of your personal information will ever be shared with third-parties.
- Torrenting. We checked whether our chosen providers can torrent stuff, don’t restrict P2P traffic, and have torrenting-focused servers.
- Streaming. We tried accessing different streaming platforms, like BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, different Netflix libraries, and more. Best VPN services usually unblock all major streaming platforms.
- Customer support. When you purchase a VPN, you want to make sure you’ll be provided with excellent and extensive customer support. The more quality support options (live chat, email, knowledge base) VPN provider offers, the higher chance your issues will be sorted professionally and in a timely manner.
Best Germany VPNs compared
| Brand | Rating | Price starting from | German servers | Simultaneous connections | Safety and privacy-related features | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | $3.49/month | 3 locations | 10 | ✅ Yes | Panama | |
| Surfshark | $2.49/month | 2 locations | Unlimited | ✅ Yes | The Netherlands | |
| IPVanish | $2.19/month | 1 location | Unlimited | ✅ Yes | United States | |
| ExpressVPN | $2.49/month | 2 locations | 14 | ✅ Yes | British Virgin Islands | |
| PureVPN | $2.15/month | 1 location | 10 | ✅ Yes | British Virgin Islands |
Why do you need a VPN in Germany?
Using a VPN in Germany can be beneficial for many different reasons. Here are some of them:
- Privacy and security reasons. Just like in any other country, it’s important you keep your digital life secured in Germany as well. Especially because Germany belongs to a 14-Eyes alliance – an agreement between countries enabling them to share citizens’ data. A VPN not only protects your online identity by hiding your IP address and routing your Internet traffic through an encrypted connection but also by preventing third parties from spying on your activity.
- To stream geo-blocked content. It’s no news that a VPN is a major player in today’s streaming world. It can unblock geo-restricted platforms like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and various local channels, in case you’d like to watch location-specific content.
- Torrenting. Sharing files on P2P networks requires large-scale bandwidth usage, therefore, the ISP might throttle your connection. Additionally, torrenting is heavily restricted in many EU countries, inlcuding Germany. Fortunately, a VPN can help you remain anonymous and allow torrenting in Europe without interruptions.
- Access blocked websites. Using a VPN is also a great way to access geo-blocked sites, such as betting sites. There are specific blocked sites in Germany which you can reach and use with the power of a VPN service.
- To hide your activities from ISP. Many ISPs may be throttling streaming services like Netflix or torrent downloads, slowing the connection in the process. A VPN merely masks your Internet traffic, which solves the problem.
How to get a German IP address with a VPN
Getting a German IP address is a no-brainer. You don’t need to have much technical knowledge to do it, as it’s pretty easy and straightforward. We’ve prepared you a quick step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Register with a trusted VPN provider and choose the plan. We recommend using NordVPN.
- Download the app and install it.
- Launch the app and choose the server you want to connect to
- Connect to Germany’s server.
Internet censorship in Germany
In general, there’s not much Internet censorship in Germany. Internet freedom has its downs and lows in the country, though. Despite this, the Internet in Germany remains free with some limitations that we’ll mention right below.
There are strict laws in place against propaganda, hate speech, and discrimination. Online betting sites are also allowed to operate only with proper licenses. In addition, streaming copyrighted material is illegal.
What is more, Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is known to have had connections with the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in conducting surveillance in Germany.
Torrenting in Germany
Generally, torrenting copyrighted material in Germany is illegal and punishable by law. Besides laws against it, some predatory law firms are kind of fishing and monitoring torrents for German IP addresses. We don’t encourage going against the law and support fair use only.
However, some users might want to use P2P file sharing for different legal purposes. In this instance, we recommend using NordVPN, which masks your IP address and encrypts your traffic so it cannot be monitored by the ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Germany content you can watch with a VPN
One of the many reasons users love using a VPN is because they can stream multiple shows from all over the world. You can access your home-based content or various global shows that are geo-blocked from anywhere.
Here are some of the platforms you can access with a VPN:
- Netflix
- Disney+
- Netzkino
- Kividoo
- VOX
- Deutsche Velle
- Nickelodeon
- Comedy Central
- Eurosport11
- flux.tv
- MTV Germany
- Nitro
- RTL Television
What’s also great is that while streaming with a VPN, you stay secure at all times, as your traffic is fully protected by next-gen encryption.
Final thoughts
Whether you want to enjoy streaming, torrenting, or simply secure and private browsing in Germany, a VPN is an excellent choice. It’s the best way to enhance your online presence and avoid the restrictions that might arise. With various cyber threats arising, a quality VPN will assure you’re protected from unwanted eyes at all times.
We have selected and tested a bunch of VPNs, such as NordVPN – to help you shield your devices and stream German content. It has next-gen encryption, the widest server fleet in Germany and globally, and overall great performance that won’t disappoint you.
Overall, using a VPN in Germany is a must if you want to have a smooth and risk-free experience on the Internet.
FAQ
What's the best VPN for Germany?
The best VPN service for Germany is NordVPN. It has the biggest server fleet in Germany and a very robust security and privacy-related suite. The wide selection of the features not only assures your security online but unlocks global and local content. It’s user-friendly and has attractive prices, as well as subscription plans.
Are VPNs legal in Germany?
Yes, VPNs are completely legal to use in Germany. There are no legislations against its use in the country. Just keep in mind that any illegal activity with or without a VPN counts as breaking the law.
Can I watch German TV from abroad using a VPN?
Yes, you can watch German TV from abroad with a VPN. You will need to select a German server and change your location with a VPN to encrypt your traffic and bypass the geo-restrictions. NordVPN can open most streaming services and local channels.
Will NordVPN work in Germany?
Yes, NordVPN works in Germany. It operates more than 240 servers in Germany and offers the best speeds. The servers are fast, safe, and easy to use.