Best Overall

4.6

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On ExpressVPN's website

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ExpressVPN

• Premium VPN offering strong security and ultra-fast speeds
• Strict no-logs policy with independent audit
• In-house Lightway protocol for more speed and security
• More expensive than NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost

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Best for affordability

4.9

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On NordVPN's website

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NordVPN

• High-quality VPN offering safety and speed
• Loads of servers for multiple connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix
• Too many confusing plans

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Best for privacy

4.9

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On Proton VPN's website

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Proton VPN

• Easy to use
• A strict no-logs policy that’s been tested in court
• More expensive than NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost

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Virtual private networks (VPNs) are powerful tools for privacy, and this holds true regardless of the country you’re in — or the country you want to look like you’re in. If you need a VPN to encrypt your traffic in Australia, the best choices are ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Proton VPN.

ExpressVPN provides a great (albeit pricey) all-around package, NordVPN offers a more affordable alternative, and Proton VPN is best for privacy-minded users. Any of these three will serve you well, whether you want to access geo-restricted Aussie streaming content or just browse privately.

The best VPNs for Australia 2024

• ExpressVPN: Best overall
• NordVPN: Best for affordability
• Proton VPN: Best for privacy

Top 3 VPN services for Australia compared

VPN	ExpressVPN	NordVPN	Proton VPN
Starting price	Starts at $6.67/mo	Starts at $2.99/mo	Starts at $4.99/mo
Free version
Streaming support	Yes — Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and more	Yes — Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and more	Yes — Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+
Learn more	Get ExpressVPN Read Our ExpressVPN Review	Get NordVPN Read Our NordVPN Review	Get Proton VPN Read Our Proton VPN Review

ExpressVPN: Best overall

4.6

Save 49% on 12 months + 3 months free

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On ExpressVPN's website

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ExpressVPN

• Premium VPN offering strong security and ultra-fast speeds
• Strict no-logs policy with independent audit
• In-house Lightway protocol for more speed and security
• More expensive than NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost

Who it’s best for

ExpressVPN is our pick for the best overall VPN for use in Australia. It’s an all-around fantastic VPN with great performance, compatibility with a large number of devices and operating systems, and a robust feature set.

What we liked

ExpressVPN offers compatibility with a tremendous number of devices, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, as well as Linux, router software, and smart devices. It also comes with the MediaStreamer smart DNS feature, which enables you to connect to the service on devices that aren’t otherwise compatible with VPNs, like smart TVs. This makes ExpressVPN ideal for users who need cross-platform capabilities.

ExpressVPN did well on our performance tests. We run each VPN we review through a series of speed tests and compare the results to our plain internet connection (without a VPN) to see how the service impacts speeds and latency. ExpressVPN saw relatively little change compared to other VPNs.

ExpressVPN’s privacy and no-logs policies are solid as well. It supports streaming from a wide variety of platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Overall, it’s just a solid VPN with few major faults.

Finally, ExpressVPN offers very good customer support — something that’s a top priority for many customers. In our testing, we received a quick and helpful response to our questions, and the agent seemed to go out of their way to help us out. Additionally, the support site is thorough and easy to use.

What we didn’t like

Our biggest complaint with ExpressVPN is the price. It’s one of the more expensive options on the market. Now, while the price is high, the upshot is that you only need to agree to a one-year plan, whereas most other VPN providers with lower prices require two (or even three) year commitments to get that price. In fact, if you compare the monthly or even one-year options from other VPN providers, the price difference is a lot less pronounced.

Our other main complaint with ExpressVPN is that it doesn’t publish an official server count — only that it has VPN servers in 94 countries. While this isn’t a huge problem in practice, we would appreciate the additional transparency.

ExpressVPN specs

NordVPN: Best for affordability

4.9

Limited-time offer: 69% off + 3 extra months

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On NordVPN's website

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NordVPN

• High-quality VPN offering safety and speed
• Loads of servers for multiple connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix
• Too many confusing plans

Who it’s best for

NordVPN is a great option for users who want a strong VPN but don’t want to pay a lot for it. It’s very affordable, but it still packs enough features and performance that you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing for the price.

What we liked

There’s a lot to like about NordVPN, starting with the price — you can get plans as low as $2.99/mo, which is excellent. NordVPN also packs a lot of useful features, such as comprehensive streaming support, AES-256 encryption and VPN protocols, and several advanced tools.

• Kill switch: This is a tool that automatically cuts your internet connection when you disconnect from the VPN. This ensures you don’t accidentally leak your online activities through an unencrypted connection.
• Ad blocker: NordVPN’s built-in ad blocker can help remove ads from sites around the web. This doesn't just keep your annoyance level down — ads can be vectors for malware and scams, so it’s also about safety.
• Multi-hop: Multi-hop, also known as double VPN, is a feature that routes your connection through two VPN servers. This enhances your online privacy in a few ways. It encrypts your data twice, hides your IP address, and provides extra masking of your activity. Even if someone sees your activity at the destination, all it’ll be able to determine is that you’re using a VPN.

NordVPN is also user-friendly, which is a “feature” that’s easy to overlook. It’s not something that’ll necessarily top a feature list, but it makes a huge difference when you use a VPN daily.

Finally, NordVPN has a solid number of Australian servers, which gives users a variety of location choices for the VPN, including Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. NordVPN can also unblock Australian Netflix, making it ideal for streaming.

What we didn’t like

While NordVPN is very affordable, it’s not the lowest price you’ll find for a VPN service provider. Surfshark, for example, is about a dollar per month cheaper. NordVPN also has the most limited count for simultaneous connections compared to the other VPNs listed. You can only connect six devices at a time, which can be limiting for large households. Finally, while there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, there’s no free plan with NordVPN, which would obviously be nice to see.

NordVPN specs

Proton VPN: Best for privacy

4.9

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On Proton VPN's website

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Proton VPN

• Easy to use
• A strict no-logs policy that’s been tested in court
• More expensive than NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost

Who it’s best for

Proton VPN is ideal for users who put privacy above other features. Proton is based out of Switzerland, a country that’s not part of any of the global information-sharing alliances. The company is also known for its focus on privacy — it’s the maker of the highly secure Proton Mail. Although VPNs are legal, the whole goal is to hide your activity, so maximum privacy and a neutral headquarters location are ideal.

What we liked

We appreciate the heavy privacy focus of Proton VPN. From the neutral home base in Switzerland to the strict no-logs policy, Proton is designed from the ground up to keep your browsing secure.

In fact, Proton’s no-logs policy has actually been tested in court. It’s also subject to regular audits, which it passes with flying colors. The headquarters in Switzerland doesn’t hurt—Swiss privacy laws are among the best in the world from a user’s perspective.

Proton VPN also offers a custom VPN protocol that’s geared specifically towards privacy, aptly named Stealth. The Stealth protocol is designed to overcome internet censorship and VPN blocks so that you can surf privately no matter where you’re located.

Finally, on the security feature front, Proton offers a built-in kill switch, Always-on VPN (automatically reconnects if the VPN connection drops), and Tor over VPN, which enables you to connect to the Tor network without installing additional browsers or other software.

Proton VPN isn’t a one-trick pony, though. It’s got excellent streaming support, several Australian servers, and even a free plan with no data limit. None of the other options offer free plans — just free trials. The Proton VPN free plan lets you use the VPN on a single device with servers in the Netherlands, the U.S., and Japan. Best of all, the free plan has no data limit, so you can use it as much as you like.

What we didn’t like

The biggest downside of Proton VPN is the cost — it’s definitely on the pricier side, especially compared to NordVPN.

Proton VPN also has a smaller server network than many of its competitors. This isn’t a huge deal in day-to-day usage, but it does mean that during congested times you may see reduced performance.

Proton VPN specs

Honorable mentions

While we’re only featuring three main VPNs in this article, that doesn’t mean these are all that are worth using. The VPN market is packed, and there are a ton of excellent options. Here are three more VPNs for Australia that you might want to consider.

• CyberGhost: CyberGhost is one of the most affordable VPN options on the market. It offers a no-logs policy, a huge server network (over 7,000 in 90-plus countries), and it performs well on our speed and performance tests.
  Get CyberGhost | Read Our CyberGhost Review
• Private Internet Access: Private Internet Access, or PIA, is an affordable VPN (cheaper than Nord, in fact!) that offers an impressive feature set for security, streaming, and surfing. The main reason PIA didn’t make the top three is that it’s headquartered in the U.S., which can be problematic because it is a Five Eyes Alliance country. 
  Get Private Internet Access | Read Our Private Internet Access Review

• Atlas VPN: Atlas VPN is another extremely affordable option. It uses the WireGuard protocol for fast performance, and it’s one of the few VPNs with a usable free plan. Unfortunately, Atlas doesn’t support all of the major streaming services, which may leave users wanting.
  Get Atlas VPN | Read Our Atlas VPN Review

Best VPNs for Australia FAQs

Bottom line: The best VPNs for Australia

Our picks for the best VPNs for Australia are ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Proton VPN. ExpressVPN offers a fantastic all-around experience, NordVPN is better for the budget-conscious, and Proton VPN is for those who value privacy above all else. Any of these three will make for an excellent day-to-day VPN experience in Australia (and anywhere else too).

If none of these options work for you, you can also consider our runners-up: CyberGhost, Atlas VPN, and Private Internet Access. Although they didn’t make the top three, they still have a lot to offer.

3 best VPNs for Australia 2024

	Starting price	Best for	Learn more
ExpressVPN	Starts at $6.67/mo	Best overall	Get ExpressVPN Read Our ExpressVPN Review
NordVPN	Starts at $2.99/mo	Best for affordability	Get NordVPN Read Our NordVPN Review
Proton VPN	Starts at $4.99/mo	Best for privacy	Get Proton VPN Read Our Proton VPN Review

How we tested the best VPNs for Australia

When choosing the best VPN services, we considered several factors, including price, performance, privacy, and features. We then selected an overall winner that we felt offered the best balance of these, plus a budget pick and a privacy pick (VPNs are all about privacy, after all).

• Price: Budget is obviously a major factor for most users. We considered the monthly cost of each VPN, as well as the duration of the plan (some require multi-year commitments to get a low price).
• Performance: Since VPNs work by routing your traffic through additional servers that may be quite far from your physical location, some performance loss is to be expected. However, some VPNs are much better about this than others, depending on which protocols they use and where their servers are located.
• Privacy: A VPN is all about protecting your private information. Therefore, we consider the logs policy, encryption, VPN protocols, and the location of a VPN’s headquarters when evaluating each one.
• Features: Finally, features like streaming support, a kill switch, split tunneling (the ability to route only some traffic through the VPN rather than all), and other bells and whistles are considered. These can all make a substantial difference in the day-to-day use of the VPN.

How to use a VPN in Australia

Using a VPN in Australia is as simple as using one in most countries.

1. Install and launch the VPN of your choice.
2. Head to the server selection screen in the VPN app and select one of the Australian servers.
3. Click the connect button and enjoy.

It really doesn’t get much simpler than that!

4.6

Save 49% on 12 months + 3 months free

Learn More

On ExpressVPN's website

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ExpressVPN

• Premium VPN offering strong security and ultra-fast speeds
• Strict no-logs policy with independent audit
• In-house Lightway protocol for more speed and security
• More expensive than NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost

Author Details

Dave Schafer

About the Author

Dave Schafer is a freelance writer with a passion for making technical concepts easy for anyone to understand. He’s been covering the world of gadgets, tech, and the internet for nearly 10 years, and his writing has been featured in a variety of print and digital publications. When he’s not writing, Dave can be found playing guitar or camping with his family and golden retriever, Rosie.