The Best VPN for India in 2024

1. NordVPN - Best Privacy-Focused VPN

Editors Rating:

9.7 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

Status of Indian Servers

NordVPN now offers virtual servers in India, but it took its sweet time. Those virtual servers were added in January 2024 – a year and a half after the law was passed. Before that, NordVPN simply removed its India servers from the list. Well, all is well now, so let’s continue.

As for servers near and around India, NordVPN has servers in Singapore, Malaysia, the UAE, Georgia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, just to name a few. That makes NordVPN a great VPN for traveling in East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Europe, which is where most of NordVPN’s servers are located. And on that note, NordVPN now also offers the most locations worldwide, with servers in 111 countries. That’s six countries more than ExpressVPN’s 105 locations (former top 1 in server locations).

NordVPN connected to India on iPhone

Speed Performance

Speaking of fast servers, we tested the VPN speed of NordVPN. To make our results more accurate, we connected to a server in Utah roughly 2,000 miles away from where we live. That’s the same distance between New Delhi and Singapore, the location of NordVPN’s India virtual server.

We’re happy to report that even at that distance, we got an average download speed of 227 Mbps on our 250 Mbps internet connection. That’s a nine percent decrease. The average fixed broadband internet speed in India is 62 Mbps4, so if we apply the same percentage decrease, we get 56 Mbps, which is still a great speed for downloads and streaming.

>> Check Out: The Best VPNs for Streaming

Ability to Unblock Websites

India is a democracy, but according to the reputable nonprofit organization, Freedom House, it’s only partly free in terms of online freedom.5 In particular, the organization mentions recent instances of internet filtering and censorship.

We don’t encourage breaking the law, but if you want unrestricted access to any content — even the ones blocked in your country — NordVPN is a service you can turn to. We know this ourselves because on our recent trip to China, we were able to use NordVPN to bypass content restrictions. It was one of the three VPNs we tested that worked in China.

Let’s talk about the more technical aspect of NordVPN and why it’s one of the best and most privacy-friendly VPNs right now. A NordVPN subscription, which starts at $3.79 per month, gives you access to all NordVPN apps on up to 10 devices, and all NordVPN features.

One of our favorite VPN features for privacy is multihop, also known as Double VPN. This is for those who want absolute privacy, whether for work or for activism. Essentially, Double VPN connected us to two VPN servers, each adding a layer of encryption to make our traffic uncrackable. We often use it when we’re doing investigative journalism, and with the Indian government stepping up internet surveillance, it may prove useful for some users.

Bear in mind that using Double VPN will most likely slow down your internet further. That’s because your traffic will have to travel farther distances (from your home network to Switzerland and then Hong Kong, for example). When we connected to a Double VPN, even though the final destination was in New York (our home base), our network speed dropped by nearly 70 percent. Of the Double VPN locations offered by NordVPN, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the closest.

>> Read More: The Best VPNs for Hong Kong

2. Surfshark - Best for Hiding VPN Activity

Editors Rating:

9.5 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

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

Status of Indian Servers

Surfshark took a quick and immediate stand when the new data logging law in India was passed. It immediately announced the closure of its servers in the country, and also, that the company will be setting up virtual servers with Indian IP addresses.6

Currently, Surfshark’s virtual servers in India offer IP addresses in Mumbai and Delhi. The servers are physically located in either Singapore, London, or the Netherlands, but if you use Surfshark’s quick connect feature (which has always connected us to the nearest available server), it’ll most likely connect you to the one in Singapore.

>> Related: How to Change Your IP Address

Speed Performance

Since there’s no way to actually control which virtually-located server you’ll be connected to when getting an India IP address, we used the quick connect feature to test out Surfshark’s speed. It was actually pretty nifty; we just clicked the Fastest Location button and it connected us to the best available server based on our VPN settings and location. We ended up on a New York server.

Our upload speed averaged 209 Mbps while the download speed remained around 217 Mbps, a drop of about 16 and 13 percent of our network speed, respectively. The drop in speed caused by Surfshark was more dramatic than that of NordVPN, but it was still one of the fastest VPNs we tested. For example, Ivacy, another VPN we tested, caused a speed drop of over 20 percent.

>> Compare: Surfshark vs. Ivacy

Ability to Unblock Websites

Surfshark showed impressive ability to unblock censored websites. Like NordVPN, it was able to work in China and give us back access to our social media pages. Back here at home, Surfshark is one of our go-to VPNs for changing Netflix regions to unblock geo-restricted content.

Part of what makes Surfshark great for unblocking websites is its ability to hide from websites. It has this feature called Camouflage mode, which we’ll discuss in greater detail later, but basically, it obscures the fact that you’re using a VPN. And if a website doesn’t know that you’re using a VPN, it won’t be able to block your access.

We got our one-month Surfshark subscription for $15.45, although cheaper plans are available if you’re willing to sign up for at least one whole year. Still, we thought it was worth it because of Surfshark’s many impressive features, including Camouflage Mode.

Normally, when you connect to a VPN, your network will see your traffic as gibberish because of encryption. It won’t know what you’re doing, so your browsing activity and history is safe. However, the network can still see that you’re using a VPN, and if the owner of the network decides to block all VPN access, they can do so using a firewall.

VPNs are not illegal in India, but again, there are speculations that the Indian government is ramping up internet surveillance. Whether or not that’s true, the best way you can protect yourself and your privacy is to use a VPN that’s hard to detect. Camouflage Mode makes VPN traffic less obvious by taking the usual routes of non-VPN traffic. As such, it can bypass strong VPN blocks. We saw this in practice when we tested the best VPNs for school and found that Surfshark was able to stay hidden from a firewall rule we set up to block VPN traffic.

3. Private Internet Access VPN - Best for Content Unblocking

Editors Rating:

9.4 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

Status of Indian Servers

Like Surfshark, Private Internet Access has set up virtual VPN servers for India to replace its physical servers there. The virtual servers are located in Singapore, and since it’s near India and has one of the best internet infrastructures in the region, the virtual servers are likely going to be fast for you. It was fast even for us connecting from the U.S.

Another advantage of Private Internet Access is that it has a ton of servers in the U.S., which makes it a great VPN for unblocking content that’s only available in that region. For example, you could get a U.S. IP address to access Netflix U.S. or Hulu.

>> Read More: The Best VPNs for Accessing Hulu

Speed Performance

Private Internet Access’ strong server network gives the VPN some of the fastest speeds we’ve seen. On the closest server, our VPN speed averaged 233 Mbps for downloads and 219 Mbps for uploads. That’s a seven percent drop in download speed for us, so if we were to apply that to the average internet speed in India (62 Mbps), we’d get 58 Mbps. That’s more than decent for, let’s say, streaming Netflix with a VPN.

Ability to Unblock Websites

Much like in real estate, a VPN’s ability to unblock websites is usually all about location, location, location. Let’s say, for example, that you’re trying to access a website that only allows traffic coming from the U.S., like YouTube TV. If you’re connecting from India, you’ll need a VPN that offers U.S. IP addresses.

Private Internet Access just so happens to have the largest server network in the U.S. It has servers in each U.S. state — not just the major hubs. That’s why whenever we’re traveling abroad, it’s our go-to VPN to get access to websites we use back home.

>> See More: How to Change Your Location on YouTube TV

Another reason why Private Internet Access is great for unblocking content? It’s affordable. Our Private Internet Access plan cost us $79 for the whole three years, which averages out to only $2.19 per month. It’s one of the cheapest VPNs out there, giving users the extra budget to sign up for streaming services.

Once we activated our PIA subscription, we gained access to all its features, including its 91 server locations that can be used to unblock websites in any country. But it’s more than just for getting access to content; PIA is also a secure VPN.

One of Private Internet Access’ special features is its colocated servers. Most VPNs rent their servers from data centers, which means other than the VPN, the actual owners of the servers have physical access to them. With PIA, although the servers are located in data centers, the hardware (i.e., the physical servers) are owned, operated, and maintained by the company itself. No other third party can access them, making them safer from data breaches.

4. Proton VPN - Best VPN for India with dedicated IP addresses

Editors Rating:

8.8 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

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

Status of Indian Servers

Proton has always been fully prepared for situations where they might have to move their physical servers out of a country due to regulations. It has had Smart Routing (the company’s term for virtual servers) for some time, so when India passed the CERT-In law, it was able to act fast.

The virtual servers in India route to Singapore, which again, is a great location for virtual servers in the region. Other Proton VPN virtual servers — like the ones that offer IP addresses in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Malta — route their traffic to physical servers in either Miami, Romania, or Spain.

>> Further Reading: The Best VPNs in Spain

Speed Performance

The speed we got from Proton VPN was decent, but not super fast. It averaged 219 Mbps for downloads and 211 Mbps for uploads, which is a 12 and 15 percent decrease, respectively. Still, those are respectable speeds. We actually consider it one of the fastest gaming VPNs because, while it didn’t have great upload and download speeds, the connections were lag-free and consistent. Also, when we connected to more distant servers like the India virtual server, the upload and download speeds didn’t drop off that much compared to when we were connected to the nearest server.

Ability to Unblock Websites

We saw the same reliability from Proton VPN’s ability to unblock content and websites, and actually, it has a special feature for users in countries with strong censorship. It’s called Alternative Routing.

Remember how we said earlier that some countries block VPN traffic? That can happen to any VPN, even the best ones out there. However, Proton VPN has a nifty way of sidestepping those blocks. When the VPN app notices that it can’t connect to a Proton VPN server because of a network block, it redirects traffic to a third-party server that’s less likely to have been blocked. That server then forwards the traffic to Proton VPN. That way, your device won’t connect directly to Proton VPN, but your traffic will still receive encryption.

>> Related: Are All VPNs Encrypted?

Proton VPN has always been focused on privacy, so if you’re concerned that your government might be spying on you, it’s a smart choice for a VPN. One particular feature we like about it is its Secure Core servers.

In the VPN industry, it’s a well-known fact that servers can be compromised. The CERT-In law is an example; your traffic may be encrypted, but the government can monitor you by requiring servers to log data.

To protect against such things, Secure Core servers utilize some sort of multihop. If you’re connecting to a high-risk country, Proton VPN routes your traffic through a Secure Core server in a privacy-friendly location (like Sweden or Switzerland). That way, if the server in the high-risk country is compromised, the government can only track traffic back to the Secure Core server and not to you.

Proton VPN’s strong server security, however, comes at a steeper price. A two-year Proton VPN subscription costs $4.99 per month. It’s still within average VPN costs, but it’s pricier than even NordVPN.

>> Compare: Proton VPN vs. NordVPN

5. ExpressVPN - Best for Streaming

Editors Rating:

9.1 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	No
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

Status of Indian Servers

ExpressVPN’s speedy response to the CERT-In law shows its commitment to privacy. It pulled out all of its data centers in India as soon as the law was passed, and in the same month, it activated India virtual servers with physical locations in Singapore and the U.K. ExpressVPN surely moved faster than NordVPN, and ExpressVPN’s virtual servers might be better too.

You see, you can pick between the Singapore-based and the London-based virtual servers when trying to get an India IP address. The server in Singapore is most likely to offer better speed since it’s closer to India, but if you ever find it slow, you can connect to the U.K. server at will.

>> See Also: How to Get a U.K. IP Address

Speed Performance

We saw impressive speeds from ExpressVPN, which is why we think it’s the best VPN for streaming, downloading, and other bandwidth-heavy tasks. The download speed we got on the nearest server was almost equal to our Private Internet Access speed of 231 Mbps. That’s only eight percent lower than our normal network speed, so we didn’t have any problems with buffering or lag while using ExpressVPN.

>> Learn More: Private Internet Access vs. ExpressVPN

Ability to Unblock Websites

While ExpressVPN didn’t offer any special features for unblocking websites, we found it consistently capable of giving access to geo-restricted content. It consistently ranks as one of the top options for streaming services, like in our roundup of the top Netflix VPNs and best Disney Plus VPNs.

We really liked that the apps were easy to use, too. ExpressVPN’s mobile and desktop apps have similar interfaces, and they are really simple to navigate — just click on the large power button at the center to connect. The apps you frequently use after connecting to ExpressVPN (like Netflix and Chrome, for example) also appear in the interface, so you can click or tap on them for quick access.

One of ExpressVPN’s strongest features is the Lightway protocol. All VPNs use a VPN protocol, which is a compilation of rules that decide how your traffic is handled during tunneling. It tells the VPN which network port to use, how to encrypt your data packets, how to authenticate connections, and so on. As such, the VPN protocol has a hand in how secure and fast a VPN can be.

Most VPNs use OpenVPN and WireGuard. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, opts to use a self-designed protocol called Lightway. In our testing, we found that Lightway is a speedy option. It’s what we used when we got the 231 Mbps reading from ExpressVPN. When we switched to OpenVPN, which ExpressVPN also offers, the download speed dropped to below 210 Mbps.

Now, ExpressVPN isn’t the only option that has its own VPN protocol, but of all the self-designed protocols we tested, it’s certainly in the top three. The other two are NordLynx from our top-pick NordVPN, and Catapult Hydra from Hotspot Shield.

>> Learn More: Hotspot Shield Review