There is a safe and fast way to access YouTube (including YouTube TV) and other Google services. This is a Virtual Private Network (or just a VPN). In this article, you will find the most effective VPN services that are used worldwide, including countries with censorship.
In some countries, there are serious problems with the access to the services of Google, Facebook, and some other well-known ones.
YouTube, the world's largest repository of user-generated video content, may be fully or partially unavailable in the following countries:
Iran
Pakistan
China
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka
United Arab Emirates
Turkmenistan
Côte d’Ivoire
Uganda
Philippines
Malaysia
India
The information in this article will be useful for those who are looking for a solution to the problem of access, as well as those whose ISPs set speed limits for streaming data (used on YouTube)
We will discuss the ways to bypass lockout and how to do it easily, quickly, and safely. Also, you will learn what are the features of using a VPN for YouTube, and why not every VPN is suitable.
VPN services tested for YouTube
Surfshark: A really cheap and very powerful VPN provider at the same time. From $2.49 per month, it provides not only YouTube unlocking but also hides traces of the use of the virtual network.
NordVPN: A provider with hundreds of positive user reviews. Effectively copes with censorship, supports WireGuard advanced VPN protocol.
ExpressVPN: Premium service with incredible confidentiality due to the use of diskless servers (they cannot store user activity logs). It is also one of the fastest VPNs.
CyberGhost VPN: Record-breaking 6200+ servers in 90 countries. It was successfully tested by me in the UAE.
PIA: Support of Shadowsocks, WireGuard, many connection settings. Suitable for the most advanced users.
The five free VPNs for YouTube
ProtonVPN: The best of free VPNs but without obfuscation.
Windscribe: It has secure VPN protocols, but I wasn't able to use them because of too low speed for a free plan. Conventional protocols work but it has limitations.
TunnelBear: Supports obfuscation but offers only 1500 MB per month for free.
Hide.me: 10GB per month without obfuscation. Connection failure.
Turbo VPN: Meant for advanced users. VPN servers are located mainly in Asia.
Recommendation:Provided that YouTube unlock is in demand primarily in countries where the use of a foreign VPN may be prohibited, extreme caution must be observed. Using only trusted services that don’t keep logs, aren’t subject to political or financial pressure and provide a high level of protection. These services are listed in the top five. Free VPNs don’t always provide a sufficient level of security.
VPN to unblock YouTube TV
If you want to access blocked sites, there are top 3 most often used methods:
VPN
Proxy
TOR
Which one is more efficient and safe?
All of them are safe in approximately the same way, but the first two methods are easier to implement and much more universal. It is especially convenient to use a VPN, since it can be installed on almost any device, including a router or TV.
As an example, for TV platforms, there are two ways to ensure confidentiality and bypass the restrictions of YouTube TV – installing a VPN directly on TV (this is possible with Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV) or installing it on a router that will distribute secure Internet for all devices in your network.I tried to pick up all services that support the popular platforms.
Read more about using a VPN with YouTube TV in the FAQ.
In this article, we will study VPN and proxies thoroughly since they are more universal. TOR is suitable for more delicate tasks as you can read about it in The Onion Router instruction for use.
100% private VPNs with YouTube
When we bypass the lockout, we may break some rules or requirements. In this regard, we take responsibility for this.
How to minimize risk? Is it possible to view all YouTube channels absolutely safe?
Millions of people have been using VPNs and proxies for many years. However, not everyone pays enough attention to their safety. Most users don’t even know about the existence of modern technologies that can reduce the risk to almost zero.
Use only the apps of those providers that pay a lot of attention to security and user protection.
How to find them?
They are presented in this article (first 5).
What VPN features are important to use when you need to circumvent censorship?
Obfuscation. This is the most effective and safe function that will hide the use of VPN from the Internet provider and any other node in the path of traffic in your country or corporate network.
Custom or invisible protocols. VPN technology involves creating a virtual channel from your device to a special server. Data can be transmitted and encrypted in a variety of ways. WireGuard protocol and AES-256 encryption standards are considered as the most progressive ones in 2022.
It is advisable to choose services that don’t keep logs and don’t provide third parties with user data.
A few words about proxy
There is a lot of information about the differences between proxies and VPNs on the web. However, they are not so significant when unblocking sites. Despite the general advantage of a virtual private network, proxies can be more convenient to install on laptops and desktops. But for mobile platforms such as Android or iOS, the VPN app is better.
But it doesn’t mean that if you want a swift solution with installing a proxy in your web browser, then you need to return to the search again and understand something.
Not at all!
All the services presented in this article provide VPN add-ons for Chrome, Firefox, and some for Opera.
Best VPN for YouTube (test results)
Surfshark VPN service showed the best results regarding its price and characteristics. This is undoubtedly the best option with the lowest price of the tested services, current features and good user reviews.
Other services that will be discussed later, are also great for YouTube, but each of them has its own unique features, which can be relevant in cases where the virtual network will be used for a wider range of tasks than accessing movies on YouTube. For example, ExpressVPN is ideal for circumventing Netflix geo-restrictions.
Comparison of the main features of VPN services for Fire TV Stick
Not so long time ago, Surfshark has become one of the leading VPN services. Until mid-2019, few people had heard of it, and even experts rarely turned their attention to it. However, over the past year, it is simply surprised at the pace of his development. In 2022, it offers not only the quality of services at the level of services that have been working for 7-10 years but also surpasses many of them, offering a truly sought-after functionality.
At the same time, it kept a low price, which proved that professional-grade security and confidentiality are available to everyone.
The most popular VPN in the world (based on Google Trends)
TV platforms and routers support
Obfuscation
A huge number of positive reviews
Overview
I recommend NordVPN to those who choose a service with a lot of positive reviews, a clean and long history, powerful functionality, and easy to use app.
It is unlikely that there will be a task that it can’t handle. I say it with confidence, as NordVPN is one of the most tested services I have. At least 6 times a year I check all the basic and additional features, give them an assessment in the special review.
The service is ideal for YouTube and YouTube TV. It offers apps for all OS and detailed instructions for setting up TV and routers, for which it is impossible to install additional software.
If you prefer the highest quality software, high-quality 24/7 support and flexible terms of use, then ExpressVPN is the best choice.
The software of this provider can be considered the standard among competitors. I put ExpressVPN in third place only because of the lack of tariff plans with a subscription duration of more than 1 year, on which other services allow a decent save.
The CyberGhost VPN service also offers a tools to circumvent censorship. First of all, these are incredible 6,200+ servers in 90 countries. Even if many VPN servers are blocked in your network or country, it will be easier to find a working IP address with CyberGhost than with most competitors.
At the same time, the service does not offer obfuscation, so in some cases, the Internet provider will be able to detect that you are using a VPN.
I also note that CyberGhost has a proxy add-on for low-quality browsers.
Price
The table enlists the CyberGhost VPN plans
1 month
1 year
3 years
Monthly price
$12.99
$3.99
$2.25
Money-back guarantee (days)
-
45
45
The provider also allows you to rent your IP address (extra $ 5 per month).
Conclusion
Large selection of locations
Good test results (except the versions for Chrome and Firefox)
Convenient unlock of streaming services
Up to 7 devices per subscription
Doesn’t keep logs and it’s based in Romania (although it belongs to an international company with representative offices in the UK, US, IL, and other countries)
Private Internet Access (PIA) may be called the most technologically advanced service. It supports the latest technologies and allows you to change the characteristics that cannot be changed for other VPNs (DHCP, disabling encryption, choosing the type of client-server authentication, and others).
It successfully bypasses YouTube blocking in cases where IP addresses aren't blocked.
Price
The table enlists the plans for Private Internet Access
Before moving on to the lists of free VPNs and proxies, I want to draw your attention to the important issues of such solutions:
Warning:Free VPN services and proxies have significant disadvantages. As for YouTube, it is primarily the unavailability of servers in countries where VPNs are prohibited. They also have low speed, connection failures aren’t uncommon, server congestion, as a rule, there is limited monthly traffic. If you are in doubt whether a virtual network will help you, then I recommend using a VPN from the top five. In case of failure, they will give your money back without any problems.
If you still want to use a free service, I recommend you to choose one that has a good paid plan, since the possibility of a free subscription may not be enough.
10GB per month. VPN protocols are also announced that are poorly monitored by VPN providers, but free version tests showed that it is possible to use only conventional protocols. This problem disappears in the paid version.
The service has good additional functionality and many features.
This provider offers a good quality connection with the high speed for free, but its 1500 MB traffic limit per month. It can be slightly expanded by tweeting the service.
TunnelBear is the only one that offers access to 20+ countries with a free subscription.
Suitable only for those who use Android or iPhone. There is no traffic restriction, but a lot of intrusive ads, a poor choice of locations, frequent crashes and a weak paid version.
FAQ
How to choose a VPN for YouTube online?
If you want to access youtube.com, then use one of the services that I talked about. They solve the following problems:
YouTube is blocked
The right piece of content is blocked
No access to any other Google service, Facebook, Twitter and other resources
What is the best VPN for YouTube TV?
Not all VPNs support TV platforms. The best is the service that supports Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV and routers.
At the same time, it should not have restrictions on the amount of traffic, it should have high speed, confidently bypass modern types of blocking and be easy to install and use.
In which countries does a VPN cope with restrictions?
The services I have selected have technologies that can neutralize censorship in any country. This is also confirmed by reviews on Reddit and my testing in Dubai, where Internet service providers block many popular news and entertainment venues.
Senior Researcher
Dean Chester
Cybersecurity and online privacy expert and researcher. He's been published on OpenVPN, EC-Council Blog, DevSecOps, AT-T Business, SAP Community, etc. Dean has been testing VPNs for 8 years.
