Best VPNs for Mexico

1. NordVPN - Best Mexico VPN overall

SecurityScore:

9.7 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Obfuscated Servers	Yes
Kill Switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to NordVPN

If you know anything about VPNs, you’ve probably heard of NordVPN. Despite its notoriety in the industry, NordVPN’s pricing is pretty reasonable. It also has a reputation for iron-clad security and useful features, but how useful are those features in Mexico? And do NordVPN’s security claims hold up outside the U.S.? Here’s what I found.

Server Coverage

Internet privacy is important, but so is your personal digital security and online safety. Cybercrime has risen sharply since the pandemic began, and we can get really bent out of shape when we find mysterious Amazon charges on our Visa card. Multihop technology, which routes our internet traffic through two different servers instead of one, is one way VPNs help keep our data extra secure. NordVPN offers multihop technology, but the feature didn’t work in Mexico. On the other hand, I found 30 servers to choose from in Mexico, as well as a few more in Costa Rica. When I compared NordVPN to Surfshark, a close competitor with only one server location in Mexico, that was plenty of coverage. As a result, connecting to secure servers in Mexico was not only possible, but also faster than I expected.

Streaming Performance

There are plenty of great reasons to use a VPN, but one of my favorites is that some of them allow me to stream any version of Netflix’s programming wherever I happen to be. The trick in this case was getting my VPN to fool Netflix into thinking I was still in the U.S. while I was hanging out in Mexico City. In test after test, NordVPN’s Mexican servers snuck past Netflix’s VPN sentries so I was binge watching “Pain Killer” from the 23rd parallel.

Security and Privacy

NordVPN is headquartered in Panama, just south of Mexico’s southern border. More important, though, is that Panama isn’t a member of Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or 14 Eyes, the world’s largest and grabbiest data-sharing networks. Surprisingly, not every VPN is outside of those data-sharing networks. While comparing TunnelBear vs NordVPN, I was surprised to learn that TunnelBear was headquartered in Canada, part of the Five Eyes alliance.

When I dug a little deeper, I found out that NordVPN owns and operates its servers in its own data centers. That is arguably more important for my day-to-day privacy than Mexico’s data-sharing status. It means I could check my Twitter (excuse me, X) in Mexico securely without having to go through Mexican telecommunications companies, which may have been squeaky clean by the time I visited, but have a complicated history with the Mexican government, journalists pointedly included.4

2. Surfshark - Best Mexico VPN for Streaming

SecurityScore:

9.5 /10

View Plans Links to Surfshark

How We Review

Product Specs

Multi-hop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to Surfshark

We think Surfshark really stands out when it comes to streaming. It’s compatible with tons of streaming platforms, including many sites from Mexico. Plus, it provides fast speeds for watching HD and 4K videos. On top of that, it’s also very easy to use, it allows unlimited simultaneous connections, and it offers very strong privacy and security.

Server Coverage

When I used Surfshark’s apps, I noticed there’s only one Mexican server location. Surfshark doesn’t share exactly how many servers it has in Mexico, but all in all, the VPN has over 3,200 servers in the world – not as big as NordVPN’s network, but still larger than VPNs like Norton. I’m confident it has enough servers in Mexico to prevent server overcrowding (which can cause slowdowns).

Plus, Surfshark has servers in 99 other countries. The list includes many locations near Mexico, such as the US, Panama, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Belize. So, you can get IPs from many other countries in North and Central America, while also enjoying fast speeds.

Streaming Performance

Surfshark provides excellent streaming performance. It’s compatible with tons of popular streaming services, such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Prime Video, Max, and Crunchyroll. Plus, my tests also show that the VPN can access the Mexican libraries of Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and Disney+.

I also believe that Surfshark is an especially good pick for streaming on Android. That’s because it has a feature that matches your device’s GPS data to your VPN IP address. By doing that, it makes it harder for mobile streaming apps to detect and block your VPN connection.

Security and Privacy

Surfshark offers excellent security and privacy. It provides built-in access to tons of privacy tools. For instance, it has double VPN servers, which route your traffic through two VPN servers instead of just one. This way, you secure your data with an extra layer of encryption. And Surfshark lets you create custom double VPN connections — for example, I set up a double VPN connection that used Panama as the entry server and Mexico as the exit server. That’s unlike the double VPN feature I saw from NordVPN, which has pre-set server pairs only.

Surfshark also has CleanWeb, which is an ad-blocker. It stops ads from loading on websites, prevents ad trackers from spying on you, and blocks connections to malicious websites. I also like the Alternative ID feature, which you can use to create an alternative email address or persona. I recommend doing that to sign up on websites you don’t fully trust with your privacy.

3. Private Internet Access - VPN with the most servers in Mexico

SecurityScore:

9.4 /10

View Plans Links to Private Internet Access

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Obfuscated Servers	Yes
Kill Switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is based just across the border from Mexico in Texas, making it the only VPN on my top-five list so far that’s subject to 14 Eyes online surveillance agreements. That might give you cause for concern, but the company has taken extraordinary steps to make sure it logs no identifying data — at least on paper. (More on this below.) But that wasn’t a pressing concern in Mexico City. What I needed ASAP were secure servers to stream the last two episodes of “Mindhunter”! And PIA delivered. Sort of.

Server Coverage

Private Internet Access maintains a humongous 127 of its over 35,000 servers in Mexico alone — the most of any VPN on this list. More servers means I should have had more choices and better connections when I went online. I didn’t have any trouble connecting in Mexico, but that server number sounded a little high. (It was two and half times as many servers as CyberGhost had in Mexico and four times as many as NordVPN.) After a little poking around, I realized why PIA boasted so many Mexican servers: It uses virtual servers. That isn’t the end of the world, but it means the servers I thought I was connecting to in Mexico could have been anywhere in the world. If you’re curious, my head-to-head comparison between Private Internet Access and NordVPN gives you all the details you need on how their server infrastructure compares.

Streaming Performance

Spoiler: I managed to tune in to “Mindhunter” in Mexico, as well as catch the news back home on YouTube TV. But there was no double-hop tech or obfuscated servers to choose from if my VPN traffic was ever detected. It wasn’t an issue specifically with Mexico, like with NordVPN. PIA just doesn’t offer those features. What did it mean for my VPN experience in Mexico City?

It meant that for the days I was streaming south of the border, PIA had me covered. But I couldn’t guarantee PIA would keep unblocking Netflix, which is good at sussing out crowded VPN servers. If I wanted, I could have bought a dedicated IP, which can foil streaming services easily because they give you a unique IP address. But I didn’t find any Mexico-based IPs on PIA’s list — only U.S. IPs.

» Read more: How To Get A US IP Address

The final verdict? I probably would have been fine streaming “Mindhunter” in Mexico with one of PIA’s dedicated IPs, but I wouldn’t have been able to stream Azteca Uno or Canal 5 securely.

Logging Policy

Private Internet Access has one of the strictest privacy policies in the business. You can see for yourself.5 In its expanded privacy statement, the company notes that it maintains email addresses, cookie identifiers, and state or territory of origin, but it’s hard to see how it could conduct payment transactions without at least some of that data. More importantly, it backs up its policy with military-grade AES-256 encryption and operates diskless servers. Diskless RAM servers wipe themselves clean upon reboot, so there’s nothing to steal.

4. CyberGhost VPN - Best Mexico VPN for torrenting

SecurityScore:

8.9 /10

View Plans Links to CyberGhost VPN

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Obfuscated Servers	No
Kill Switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost, a budget alternative to NordVPN, was good at unblocking Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in Mexico with above-average streaming quality. But, just because it’s budget-friendly doesn’t mean it lacks any critical features as you’ll see in my CyberGhost vs NordVPN comparison. When I went off the beaten track to search for some Mexican films with subtitles, CyberGhost also delivered with specialized peer-to-peer servers and a torrent button built right into the app. Torrenting, which, for the record, is technically illegal north of the border, takes hundreds of devices, links them together in a sort of hive, and zaps files to all of them simultaneously.

Server Coverage

CyberGhost has 50 servers in Mexico, which is nearly double the amount NordVPN has south of the border. It was certainly more than I expected, but when I looked a little closer, I found that all the servers were in Mexico City. To put that into perspective, Mexico is 2,000 miles long. If I’d been in the south — say, in Cozumel — that would have been like living in Ohio and using a server in New York City to access the internet. Not ideal, but I found a pretty decent workaround. CyberGhost also has 24 servers in Costa Rica and 25 in Panama, so, all in all, it had me covered in Mexico.

Streaming Performance

CyberGhost’s torrenting button took me directly to uTorrent and siphoned my Mexican VPN connection through its special torrenting servers. CyberGhost also unblocked Netflix (Mexican and U.S.), Hulu, and ESPN+. My internet speed was slower than what I was used to at home, but I didn’t have any issues with laggy playback.

Security and Privacy

CyberGhost employs AES-256 encryption, a military-grade encryption method that’s used by, well, the military. A closer look at CyberGhost’s privacy statement also revealed that the company is based in Romania, which is outside the reach of the 14 Eyes. So far, so good.

» Further Reading: Guide to Using Private Browsers

In addition to iron-clad encryption, CyberGhost also ratcheted up my online security in Mexico with a feature called Smart Rules. Smart Rules automated my VPN process, which was just what I needed in the morning before I’d had my first café de olla. As soon as I sat down at the neighborhood café and fired up my laptop, CyberGhost walled off my internet connection from the café router so I could check my bank balance in total privacy. I mention that because it’s really easy to forget to flip on your VPN when you’re in a foreign country — or just out and about — and the consequences can be quick and dire.

5. PureVPN - Best Mexico VPN for families

SecurityScore:

8.9 /10

View Plans Links to PureVPN

How We Review

Product Specs

Multi-hop	No
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to PureVPN

Day two of my Mexican sojourn was family day. I’d paid for a monthly PureVPN family plan, and it was time to test it. Quick warning: Month to month, a PureVPN family plan is prohibitively expensive. I paid $39.95 for five users, which is not a cheap VPN by any stretch. If I had been doing it permanently, I would have gone with a two-year plan, which costs a totally reasonable $8.33 per month for 10 devices each. Let’s see how PureVPN helped me stay connected in Mexico.

Server Coverage

Pure VPN gave me a pretty measly six servers to choose from in Mexico. That wasn’t great, and the number fluctuated depending on who you asked. If I’d been staying in Mexico City long-term, I’d probably have considered a VPN with more physical servers in Mexico, such as CyberGhost or NordVPN (see above). But PureVPN’s family plan helped me in another way that was arguably more important than vegging out on American Netflix: It protected my whole family while I was traveling.

Secure video calls with my 10-year-old on her iPad? Check on both sides of the border. Chatting with my wife snoop-free before bed while she’s on her Samsung? Check. Reading the latest Jason Starr novel on my Kindle? Check again. In other words, what PureVPN didn’t have in server reach, it made up for in user (five) and device (10 each) numbers and platform compatibility.

Streaming Performance

I spent most of my time testing PureVPN for cross-border connections with the family. I didn’t run into any problems with video quality with the VPN running in the background. As I reported when I tested PureVPN in the U.S., my internet speeds only took a 20 percent hit.

In terms of streaming Netflix, it was hit or miss with PureVPN. I could access American Netflix in Mexico — the VPN was working — but the selection of programs it gave me wasn’t complete. You win some, you lose some. On balance, I’ll take family security over an episode of “Fubar” in Mexico.

Security and Privacy

PureVPN passed all my security tests in Mexico. That wasn’t a surprise, since I had the same results stateside. As an aside, PureVPN gave me a kill switch on my Pixel 7. Not all VPNs offer that security feature on Android devices, which would have dropped my internet connection if my VPN ever cut out unexpectedly. Likewise, DNS leak tests in Mexico City showed the same results I got while testing PureVPN on the East Coast: water-tight connections.

Another check in PureVPN’s plus column is its location. The company has its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, so international data-sharing agreements don’t hold water there. I wasn’t able to make heads or tails of PureVPN’s muddy privacy policy though. Do they log or don’t they? I had no idea. That’s one area of service I’d like to see PureVPN fix pronto.