Best VPNs for India in 2023

Getting a VPN for India is not only a great way to combat government surveillance, access regional content while traveling, or secure your sensitive data while browsing online. This is also a great tool to access a variety of content libraries worldwide.

With a reliable VPN, you’ll be able to securely connect to servers in India, or anywhere else in the world. Thus easily browsing local sites and broadening the content reach globally.

When it comes to streaming, you’ll be able to stream Indian and other global content libraries of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hotstar, Sony Liv, as well as other popular streaming services or India TV channels like Voot or Mood Mix. All of it – without lags or buffering to ruin your experience.

In this article, you’ll find the best India VPNs with various servers available that will help you bypass geo-restrictions and grant you access to watch Indian and global content from anywhere. We’ll also walk you through the freemium options, explain how to secure a free VPN for India and protect your online activities at all times.

Top 5 best India VPNs

1. Surfshark – best VPN for budget-friendly streaming from India
2. NordVPN – top-class India VPN for security
3. PureVPN – great VPN with many Indian servers
4. IPVanish – good VPN to use in India
5. CyberGhost – solid VPN with loads of servers

What to look for in a VPN for India?

Beware that not all VPNs are equally equipped with necessary features to work in India. In fact, many providers are closing their physical VPN servers due to government requirements to collect user information. Others circumvent the system by offering virtual servers.

So If you’re not sure which one to pick, here’s what you should consider when choosing the best India VPN:

• Indian or close-by servers. Look for VPNs that can offer Indian servers or ones in neighboring countries (e.g. Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan). This way, you can use them to not only improve your security but also unblock geo-restricted content.
• Speed and security. It’s also essential that a VPN would use strong encryption to protect your data and provide speedy services for a smooth and lag-free streaming experience. Just like providers on our lists of the most secure VPNs and fastest VPN services.
• Obfuscation. Check if the VPN offers obfuscated servers. They are designed to help you hide the fact you’re using a VPN and avoid VPN blocks. This way, you can access restricted websites in India and remain completely anonymous.
• Independently audited no-logs policy. Since the Indian government is actively monitoring users’ online activities, you should seek a VPN that doesn’t collect private information. A strict no-logs policy ensures that any personally identifiable data remains private.
• Specialty servers. Best India VPNs should also offer specialized servers, like P2P, Double VPN, and the ones optimized for streaming. They can help you to unblock streaming sites, torrent, and improve security easier.

After testing the top-rated VPNs on the market, we found Surfshark to be the best one out of all of them. Surfshark not only is a great budget-friendly tool but also meets all of our criteria for the best VPN for India.

Best for streaming from India

Surfshark is an excellent VPN for India. It has more than 50 virtual servers, unblocks all of the popular streaming sites, and has great connection speeds for lag-free streaming.

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4.7 /5

• Excellent streaming VPN
• Great security features
• 30-day money-back guarantee

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The best VPNs for India – our detailed list:

After completing thorough research, we’ve compiled a detailed list of best VPNs for India down below. They were selected according to their usability for Indian users, security features, and unblocking capabilities.

1. Surfshark – overall best VPN for India in 2023

Visit Surfshark VPN

Surfshark is the best VPN for India since it offers more than 50 virtual Indian servers. There are strong security features, excellent performance speeds, advanced tools for privacy, and it unblocks popular streaming media with no troubles.

Streaming: During our testing, we had no problems unblocking all popular streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, or India TV. This VPN not only allowed us to watch exclusive Indian content but also access libraries of other countries.

Security and privacy: To help you protect your personal information, Surfshark offers a combination of AES-256 and XChaCha20 encryption. On top of that, it follows a strict no-logs policy meaning that the VPN doesn’t collect any details that could personally identify you.

Performance: We’ve tried both mobile (iOS, Android) and desktop (Mac, Windows) VPN apps and the results are impressive. They are very user-friendly and easy to use as well as provide a fast and stable connection with WireGuard when using the Indian servers. You can use this VPN on unlimited devices.

Additional features: It’s worth mentioning that this VPN has RAM-only servers that get wiped after each reboot, meaning that even the slightest pieces of data are being continuously removed. Also, there’s obfuscation that helps hide the fact you’re using a VPN in India. If you’re interested in even more protection – there’s a Surfshark One bundle that includes antivirus software.

Pricing: Surfshark is definitely one of the cheapest VPNs for India with plans starting from just $2.30/month for unlimited simultaneous devices. You can even try it without any risk with the 30-day money-back guarantee. So if you're looking for a free VPN for India, you can enjoy temporary access completely free of charge with Surfshark.

Check out our full Surfshark VPN review for more details.

2. NordVPN – top VPN with strong security features for India

Visit NordVPN

Even though NordVPN doesn’t have Indian servers, it’s still a king of the VPN market and offers RAM-only servers located close to India – in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

Streaming: When we tried this VPN, it unblocked all popular streaming sites for us without any troubles. That includes Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+. What’s even better is that there were no buffering or other issues, so we enjoyed an amazing streaming experience.

Security and privacy: For robust data protection, NordVPN uses an advanced combination of AES-256 and XChaCha20 encryption. In simple terms, it encodes sensitive information so that it would be impossible to crack.

Performance: You can reach highly impressive speeds (it retained 90% of initial internet speeds) since this provider offers the NordLynx protocol, which is its own take on the well-known WireGuard. Also, it has super intuitive apps for all major platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, or other of your smart devices.

Additional features: With NordVPN, you also get quite a few additional features, such as obfuscated and double VPN servers, as well as Threat Protection with the CyberSec feature. Meaning that you can not only remain undetected but also stop intrusive ads and avoid potentially dangerous websites.

Pricing: NordVPN subscription starts from only $3.29/month for 6 devices with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 7-day free trial included, so you can enjoy free VPN service for over a month.

Read the full NordVPN review for more information.

3. PureVPN – great VPN option to get an Indian IP address

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PureVPN is an excellent VPN choice if you want to get an Indian IP address. It has over 45 servers virtually located in India and many more in other countries, like Malaysia, Bangladesh, and the UAE.

Streaming: During our tests, PureVPN allowed us to easily access Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, and other websites. There’s even a Proxy Control feature allowing you to turn off encryption to achieve better speeds for streaming.

Security and privacy: This provider is the very first one to have an always-on audit of its no-logs policy. Additionally, it employs the unbreakable 256-bit AES encryption to protect data from cyber threats.

Performance: As for speeds, you should expect great performance since PureVPN supports the modern WireGuard tunneling protocol. When we tested its Indian servers, there were no connectivity issues.

Additional features: When it comes to extras, this VPN offers obfuscated servers – once connected, nobody in India can detect you’re using a VPN. Also, some servers support P2P connections so you can enjoy torrenting.

Pricing: The subscription plans cost from $2.08/month for 10 simultaneous connections. What’s worth mentioning is that you get an extended money-back guarantee of 31 days.

Learn more about this provider in our detailed PureVPN review.

4. IPVanish – good India VPN for unlimited devices

Visit IPVanish

IPVanish is another good VPN for India since it allows unlimited simultaneous connections and has close-by servers in Malaysia, the UAE, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Streaming: We’ve unblocked Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, DIsney+, and a few other streaming sites. However, IPVanish didn’t manage to work with Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video for us. Despite that, I'd still consider it as a decent VPN option for streaming.

Security and privacy: In order to ensure robust data protection, this VPN employs the industry-standard AES-256 encryption and complies with a strict no-logs policy. The latter one has been independently audited as well.

Performance: The speeds of IPVanish are good since it supports WireGuard – currently the fastest available tunneling protocol on the market. Also, it has user-friendly apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

Additional features: This provider mainly covers basic security needs with features like a kill switch. The only additional extra is the ability to use obfuscated servers to prevent anyone from knowing you’re using a VPN.

Pricing: You can get a subscription for $3.33/month for unlimited devices. That also includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Look at our IPVanish review to learn more.

5. CyberGhost – good VPN with virtual Indian servers

Visit CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost is another solid VPN pick for Indian users that guarantees complete online privacy. While the service has pulled Indian servers, they still have virtual servers in Mumbai. Plus, it has servers in Malaysia and Dubai.

Streaming: If you’re in it for the streaming, you’ll find CyberGhost a great companion. With it, you’ll be able to unblock such streaming sites as Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more.

Security and privacy: CyberGhost uses the market-standard yet very secure AES-256 encryption. As for its privacy policy, you’re guaranteed a no-logs service that has already been audited. So your ISP won’t be able to peek at what you’re doing.

Performance: While testing CyberGhost, we noticed no huge speed drops that would disturb your browsing experience. Part of it is thanks to the WireGuard protocol. Other tunneling choices include IKEv2 and OpenVPN (UDP and TCP variants).

Additional features: CyberGhost protects your data from leaking with an automatic kill switch at all times. Additionally, you can make use of the ad blocker to get rid of all annoyances while browsing. There are also specialized servers for streaming, gaming, and torrenting.

Pricing: The prices of this VPN start from $2.19/month for up to 7 devices. You also get a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Get more details in our full CyberGhost review.

How we tested and selected these India VPNs

In order to compile a list of truly best VPNs for India, we’ve evaluated the offerings of over 20 VPN providers. Each of them was compared according to the following criteria:

• Availability of servers. We’ve looked at how many servers the VPN has as well as the number of Indian ones. Only the providers that offer servers in India and close-by countries were selected.
• Security measures. Top-class VPNs employ AES-256 and XChaCha20 encryption, offer obfuscated servers and a reliable kill switch. So only those VPNs that tick all the boxes were included in our list.
• Level of privacy. Since the Indian government is known to be tracking user activities, we’ve picked VPNs that can help achieve complete online anonymity. For that, they must include strict no-logs policies, operate from privacy-friendly locations, and be independently audited by third parties.
• Speed and performance. To find out whether a VPN can offer a fast and stable connection, we’ve used our own VPN speed test tool. Most of the selected providers support the well-known WireGuard tunneling protocol.
• Unblocking capabilities. Since users in India sometimes cannot access various popular social networking, streaming, and other websites, we’ve tested whether VPNs are capable of bypassing geo-restrictions. Our selected providers can easily help you change your IP address to access any site.

Why do you need a VPN in India?

If you’re unsure whether you need a VPN for India, here are the main reasons why you should get one:

• Protecting your privacy. It’s known that the Indian government is trying to monitor people’s online activities. A VPN in this case can prevent your ISP from tracking your behavior when browsing online and providing such information to the government.
• Unblocking popular social networking sites. India is trying to limit Internet freedom and is having court cases with Meta, Google, and Twitter. Some users report being unable to access such social networks for some time. Luckily, a VPN can help you change your Facebook location to unblock the platform along with many others.
• Unlocking desired games. Unfortunately, India is also prohibiting access to various games, such as PUBG, Mafia City or Rules of Survival. However, a VPN can help you bypass these restrictions. For example, get a VPN for Mobile Legends to play it in India.
• Accessing P2P and streaming sites. Since India is actively banning various websites like Streamable, Reddit, Times of India, there’s a strong chance that some of file-sharing and streaming pages can be blacklisted as well. For that, you can use a streaming VPN or a torrenting VPN to bypass any bans.

Best India VPNs compared

	Surfshark	NordVPN	PureVPN	IPVanish	CyberGhost
Brand
Rating	4.7 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.9 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.4 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆	4.5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.2 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Servers	3200+ servers in 100 countries	5700+ servers in 60 countries	6500+ servers in 78 countries	2000+ servers in 50 countries	9700+ servers in 91 countries
Servers in India	50	❌	45+	❌	29
Close-by servers	Bangladesh, Bhutan, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand	Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia	Malaysia, Bangladesh, the UAE	Malaysia, the UAE, Hong Kong, Taiwan	The UAE, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong
No-logs policy	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Independently audited	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Obfuscation	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Streaming	Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and more	Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more	Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube	Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Disney+, and more	Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+
Simultaneous connections	Unlimited	6	10	Unlimited	7
Price	2.30/month	3.29/month	2.08/month	3.33/month	$2.19/month
Free trial	7-day	7-day	7-day	7-day	Up to 7-day
Money-back guarantee	30-day	30-day	31-day	30-day	45-day

Winner

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How to get an Indian IP address with a VPN

If you want to change your location and virtually appear in India, a VPN can help you. Any VPN with Indian servers will hide your original IP address and assign you a new one. Here’s a short guide showing how to get started:

1. Choose a reliable VPN that has servers in India. We recommend Surfshark.
2. Install the VPN app and register an account.
3. Pick and connect to a server in India.
4. Now you’re all set to enjoy an Indian IP address.

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VPN data law and bans in India

According to the law, VPN services are not banned in India. However, in 2022 the government has stated that VPNs operating in India must collect and store the following information for up to 5 years:

• User names
• IP addresses
• Email addresses
• Data stamps
• Home addresses
• Other personal data

Also, if the relevant authorities ask for this information, the VPN service provider must comply. As a result, many companies have shut down their physical servers in India. Others have found a way to circumvent the system and established virtual servers to which the law cannot be applied.

All of the VPNs mentioned in our list comply with a strict no-log policy. This policy ensures that providers don’t collect or retain any user data. They do not track or log your online activities, IP addresses, or timestamps.

As an extra layer of privacy, top-class VPN providers are independently audited, such as Surfshark, NordVPN, IPVanish, and CyberGhost. Some others, like PureVPN, have an always-on audit of its no-logs policy, meaning that it’s being monitored and audited regularly.

Is it a crime to use VPN in India?

While VPN usage itself is not considered illegal in India, the government has taken measures to regulate and restrict VPN services. It has also expressed concerns over the potential misuse of VPNs, including unauthorized access to restricted content and potential security threats. However, there’s no specific legislation that sets the punishment for using VPNs in India for legitimate purposes.

Although using a VPN in India is generally legal, it’s important to note that engaging in any illegal activities while using a VPN, such as cybercrime or spreading hate speech, can still lead to legal consequences. The punishment for such unlawful activities is determined by the relevant cybercrime laws in India, and individuals found guilty may face imprisonment and fines.

Which VPN offers India-based servers?

Since the requirement for VPN providers to collect and store user-related information has been put in place by the Indian government, many of them have decided to shut down their servers in India. Luckily, there are a few top-class VPNs with Indian servers: whether they’re virtual India-based servers or physical servers in India or the neighboring countries:

Get Indian servers with Surfshark

Which VPN is best for unblocking TikTok in India?

Following its ban in 2020, TikTok, with its vast user base of 150 million in India, has left many eager users seeking ways to regain access to the popular video-sharing platform. The ban on TikTok in India was driven by concerns over data privacy, content moderation, and national security.

To unblock TikTok in India (or from anywhere) and ensure your data privacy, a powerful VPN like Surfshark is the ideal solution. A VPN not only circumvents the TikTok ban in India by bypassing internet service provider restrictions but also prioritizes the security of user data. With robust encryption, a trustworthy VPN allows users to access TikTok and other blocked services while maintaining data privacy.

Unblock TikTok in India with Surfshark

Indian content you can watch with a VPN

In case you’re visiting another country on a business trip or holiday, a VPN can help you bypass geo-restrictions and watch Indian content from anywhere. Here’s a summary of the most popular streaming services and movies you can access with the best VPN for India:

In addition to popular streaming services, India offers a wide range of local TV channels that showcase diverse and engaging content. These channels cover news, entertainment, sports, and regional programming. With the help of a VPN, you can access and enjoy local Indian TV channels from anywhere in the world.

Some of the prominent Indian TV channels and shows include:

Stream with Surfshark

Free VPNs for India

If you want to bypass geo-blocks and access content outside of India free of charge, there are several free VPN options available. Even though they might be more limited in terms of features than premium VPNs, they can do the job. We recommend checking out these free Indian VPNs:

• Atlas VPN. Provides a limited free version – you get 3 server locations (Netherlands, New York, and Los Angeles) and a 5GB data cap. On the other hand, you can use Atlas VPN for free with its 30-day money-back guarantee and access all premium features and the whole server fleet as well as streaming-optimized servers.
• Proton VPN. It has a free version that offers you 1 VPN connection, servers in 3 countries (United States, Netherlands, Japan), medium speed, and a no-logs policy. Alternatively, if you opt for a premium plan, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can enjoy all the premium benefits free of charge for over a month.

Free VPNs with Indian servers

When it comes to accessing local Indian content with a free VPN, having Indian servers is crucial. While many free VPN services are available, only a few offer reliable Indian servers to grant you an Indian IP address free of charge. Two notable providers in this category are Surfshark and PureVPN:

• Surfshark. With Surfshark's free VPN, you can enjoy a secure and unrestricted browsing experience while accessing Indian TV shows, movies, and sports events. It offers a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you can enjoy premium access for free for over a month. This way, you’re not sacrificing your privacy and are sure you’ll have 50 Indian servers to choose from.
• PureVPN. With PureVPN, you can easily obtain an Indian IP address and enjoy seamless streaming of Indian TV channels and other content for free with its 31-day money-back guarantee. With over 45 Indian servers and a big server fleet worldwide, you’ll be able to bypass censorship and geo-block successfully.

If you're a frequent user or require higher performance, upgrading to a paid subscription is recommended. Nonetheless, these free VPN options serve as a good starting point for accessing local Indian content with an Indian IP address.

Final thoughts

Retaining your privacy in India might be challenging since the government is actively trying to monitor users’ online activities. Fortunately, the best VPN for India, like Surfshark, can help you protect your traffic and all sensitive information.

Furthermore, you can connect to any of 3200+ servers in 100 locations to unblock global streaming libraries or get an Indian IP address and watch your regular home shows from anywhere in the world.

If you’ve already tried using a VPN for India, please share your experience with us in the comments below!

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