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Our experts have reviewed 53 VPN providers, which were put through extensive rounds of testing. To learn more about that process, here’s how we review VPNs, where we explain our criteria and our policy of being fully transparent.
With each passing year, Internet freedom seems to be declining. According to the latest 'Freedom on the Net' reports, things are getting worse as they state that none of the 8 Southeast Asian countries excel in Internet freedom. So, if you’re a resident or plan on traveling to Asia, you'll want to secure your privacy, ensure you're not tracked online, and bypass geo-blocks and Internet restrictions.
To overcome Internet restrictions, you need a VPN to connect to the Internet safely. Moreover, each government has policies that block various sites. Also, some Asian countries arrest online commentators, and you also need a VPN to bypass China’s Great Firewall. And then, you need to consider the diverse Internet infrastructure across Asia, making a fast VPN necessary for an optimal browsing experience.
In this article, we'll talk about the best VPNs for Asia, show you how to use one, and explain the reasons why you need a VPN for Asia. We'll answer some useful FAQs as well.
Using the Internet across Asia can sometimes be tricky due to local restrictions and slow speeds. Under such circumstances, a reliable VPN helps you stay secure and access global content without issues. Apart from this, it also improves privacy and lets you browse freely. Hence, here are the 5 best VPNs for users in Asia:
NordVPN has 7,400+ servers in 118 countries, including India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Japan. In Asia alone, NordVPN offers close to 500 servers. However, it lacks servers in China.
Moreover, you get impressive speeds thanks to blazing-fast servers that support P2P. In fact, NordVPN is among the fastest VPN services available right now. On top of that, it works great for unblocking sites and digital platforms. It has no issue unblocking various Asian versions of Netflix, Hotstar U-Next, YouKu, Vie, iQIYI, and countless more.
There's also obfuscation on a select group of servers, as well as a VPN kill switch across all its supported platforms. Next, NordVPN implements a no-logs policy and the best protocols, including NordLynx, NordWhisper, IKEv2/IPsec, and OpenVPN (NordLynx- an in-house ultra-fast protocol built on top of WireGuard).
For complete data protection, all data sent through this VPN’s tunnel is secured via AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption. And guess what? NordVPN is now future-proof as it has recently launched its post-quantum encryption for all devices.
It supports 10 simultaneous connections and installing on routers (manual install). Let's not forget to mention that NordVPN works on practically any device out there, which includes computers, phones, tablets, streaming devices, and more.
Right now, NordVPN is priced at $3.39 per month for its 24 months plan. Also, you don’t have to worry as they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, before you decide to get a refund, you can try to solve your issues via their 24/7 customer service (which includes live chat as well).
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Surfshark offers 3,200+ servers in 100 countries, with quite a few servers in Asia. You'll find hundreds of servers scattered across countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and more. Unfortunately, there are no servers in China.
With this VPN, you get blazing-fast speeds, suitable even for the most bandwidth-hungry tasks. It also works great for bypassing censorship and unblocking online content. If you wish to unblock U-Next, YouKu, various Netflix Asian libraries, or perhaps iQIYI or Vie, you won't encounter any issues.
This VPN also supports obfuscation, which you can enable on-demand. There's also a kill switch, in addition to an independently audited no-logs policy. Moreover, they use RAM-only servers, which means your data is never logged or stored. Surfshark also has protocols like WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN, combined with AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption ciphers. Not only this, Surfshark has filed a patent for a new encryption method aimed at reducing metadata exposure for its users.
Additionally, you get unlimited simultaneous connections and support for any platform - Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS/iPadOS, routers, and more. As noted in our full analysis of Surfshark, this is a fully automated VPN, which makes it suitable for any type of user.
Surfshark costs $2.19 per month (24 months plan). It also offers a no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee. Surfshark also offers excellent customer service. You can connect with them through 24/7 live chat, and there are tons of useful installation guides, explainers, and similar.
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ExpressVPN offers an undisclosed number of servers in 105 countries, and when it comes to Asia, ExpressVPN has a good server presence. This provider includes servers in prominent Asian locations, such as India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Japan, among others.
This is also one of the fastest providers overall and offers blazing-fast servers. We also have to praise ExpressVPN's stellar content-unblocking capabilities. You'll manage to unblock any site, including U-Next, Netflix, YouKu, iQIYI, and dozens more. With a privacy-focused approach, ExpressVPN comes with a kill switch (cutting off the Internet if your VPN connection drops) and obfuscation across the board.
There's also a strict no-logs policy, as well as protocols like OpenVPN, Lightway, and IKEv2, as well as military-grade AES-256 and ChaCha20/Poly1305 encryption to facilitate such excellence in security. The latest upgrade to ExpressVPN’s Lightway Turbo protocol promises significantly faster and more stable Internet connections.
You'll be glad to know that ExpressVPN is now shaping the future of privacy, focusing on Rust-based protocols, zero-knowledge tech, and embeddable VPN features.
Your subscription to ExpressVPN supports 8 simultaneous connections. Plus, you'll find apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS/iPadOS, dedicated streaming devices, and even routers. Additionally, ExpressVPN has just rolled out AircoveOS v5.3, bringing a range of upgrades aimed at better speed and usability.
This VPN's lowest price is $4.99 per month (24 months plan). It also comes with the standard 30-day money-back guarantee, applicable to all its subscription plans. Moreover, ExpressVPN offers 24/7 live chat to ensure complete customer satisfaction, in addition to email support, support tickets, installation guides, and more.
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If you’re looking for a budget VPN without compromising on speed and features, then meet CyberGhost. It offers an undisclosed number of servers in 100 countries. CyberGhost is the only VPN on our list that has servers in China. It also has servers in India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Bangladesh, among many other countries and locations across Asia.
However, CyberGhost’s servers may lack compared to its competitors. That said, you will get a stable performance suitable for various different online activities. This VPN has specialized servers for unblocking sites, so it's no surprise that it works with Netflix, YouKu, iQIYI, U-Next, Vie, and more.
This VPN doesn't offer obfuscation, but there is a capable kill switch set to work in the background. Also, CyberGhost takes users’ privacy very seriously. That’s why they implement a strict no-logs policy, which has been audited just recently. It creates a secure VPN tunnel using OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard, paired with AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption.
You get 7 simultaneous connections, which is generous enough. Speaking of device support, CyberGhost works on any popular platform and device. You can set it up on a computer, phone, tablet, streaming device, smart TV, and router, as explained in our full review of CyberGhost VPN.
CyberGhost's current price is $2.19 per month (24 months plan), and it offers a 45-day money-back guarantee. If you ever need help, you can connect to its 24/7 customer live chat support. There's also email support, plenty of installation guides and explainers, support tickets, and more.
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Private Internet Access is a popular VPN provider based on an open-source project that instills trust among its users. Moreover, they have an undisclosed number of servers in 91 countries. There are servers across Asia, including India, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
PIA offers medium-fast connection speeds out of the box. That said, PIA is known for its high level of customization, so reaching faster speeds is possible. Plus, this provider will help you unblock tons of different sites, including many Asian Netflix libraries, YouKu, iQIYI, and plenty more.
You can opt for obfuscation, which comes as an optional feature. There are also several types of kill switches that keep accidental data leaks away. In addition to an audited no-logs policy, each connection uses one of 3 strong VPN protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IPsec (IKEv2). It encrypts data with the military-grade AES-128-GCM, AES-256-GCM, AES-128-CBC, AES-256-CBC, and ChaCha20 encrytpions to stop data snooping.
You'll also like that PIA supports unlimited simultaneous connections. This provider offers software for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS/iPadOS, and more. Of course, it also supports dedicated streaming devices and routers as well.
This VPN's current lower price is $2.19 per month, which is the cost of its 24 months plan. It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all its plans. Moreover, PIA excels at its customer support. Their 24/7 live chat support is responsive, and you can also get help via their email support.
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Upon signing up for a suitable VPN, you'll need to download its software on your device(s). Then, connect to a server in an Asian country to obtain a local IP address - like so:
You can select a VPN server within Asia or outside. It depends on where you are and what you want to get unblocked. For example, if you’re in China and want to access local Indian content, you need to connect to an Indian VPN server. To access local Asian content from another part of the world, ensure you use a VPN with lots of Asian servers.
You need a VPN for Asia to bypass Internet restrictions, visit blocked websites, ensure you're not tracked online, as well as to bypass bandwidth throttling, and get a better torrenting and gaming experience. Let's take a closer look at all those reasons:
When choosing a VPN for Asia, there are a few important things to keep in mind. These features will help you stay safe online, unblock content, and enjoy a smooth Internet experience no matter where you are.
Given that Asia is a massive continent, the right VPN for your needs will depend on which country you're located in or trying to unlock content from. Here are a variety of guides that will help you find the best VPNs for different Asian regions.
You could use a free VPN provider for Asia - but we don't recommend doing that. That's because free VPNs come with tons of limitations that will restrict what you can do on the Internet. Let's have a look at it:
What you can do instead is pick a trial of a premium VPN, giving you access to high-end features for a limited period. For example, there's a NordVPN free trial available for 7 days on Android (and there are 30-day money-back guarantees for other platforms).
Once you're ready to make the final call, here are our top-rated VPN providers. They all come risk-free, as they all have no-questions-asked money-back policies.
There is no doubt that you can always browse the Internet without a VPN. But, doing so leaves you as a target to hackers and government snooping. Also, know that some governments in Asia are strict when it comes to content restrictions. You can bypass all those issues with a VPN - letting you unblock content, preserve your privacy, bypass bandwidth throttling, and more.
The most effective option is NordVPN, which comes with an army of Asian VPN servers, letting you bypass even the strictest Internet blocks. It's the best VPN for Asia because it's suitable for any use, delivers ultra-fast speeds, works on any device, and follows a strict no-logs policy.
Surfshark is a great budget-friendly option, offering unlimited device connections and reliable performance across Asia. If you’re after ultra-fast speeds with a simple interface, ExpressVPN delivers consistent quality, especially for streaming and browsing. For users who want dedicated servers for gaming and torrenting, CyberGhost is a solid pick with user-friendly apps. And if you’re looking for deep customization and privacy control, Private Internet Access (PIA) gives you powerful settings with strong encryption and global server coverage.
That’s all when it comes to choosing the best VPN for users in Asia. If you have any questions, let us know via the comments section below. Thank you for reading!