The best India VPN in 2024 (2024)

VPNs (or Virtual Private Networks) are handy security tools that route your internet connection through a secure server, where it's encrypted, boosting your digital privacy and anonymity. As you can imagine, with India tightening internet regulations and imposing data surveillance, VPNs have become must-have solutions for citizens looking for a way to safeguard their sensitive information.

I've been putting the best VPNs to the test for three years, testing big-name providers and promising newcomers. The unfortunate truth is that some VPNs just don't have the features you need to reclaim control of your digital safety in India (or elsewhere).

So, to help you find a reliable VPN, I've compared the security tools, performance, unblocking power, and price of the most reliable services around to curate this list of the best India VPNs in 2024.

Top three best India VPNs at glance

In a hurry? Here are my top 3 VPNs for India in 2024:

The best India VPNs for 2024:

See how our top picks VPN for India compare in the following analysis and reviews as we discuss reasons to subscribe, reasons to avoid, our test results, what we liked most about each provider, and how they compare with the competition.

The best VPN overall

NordVPNis perhaps the biggest name out there, and for good reasons.

It's a dream for streamers, is a doddle to use, includes a suite of clients and apps for pretty much every platform, and a network of over 5,600 servers. It recently terminated its operations in India as well, but, contrary to its competitors, Nord is confident to be able to meet its customers' needs without usingfake locationsfor now.

▶ Try NordVPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Perhaps the biggest feather in NordVPN's cap is its extra, unique security features. Along the usual protocols and 256-bit AES encryption, it also throws in Double VPN (so that your traffic goes through its encrypted servers not once, but twice), Onion Over VPN to send all your data through the super secure Onion network, and a built-in ad and malware block system.

Its new additionMeshnet—now free to use—is then perfect for those looking to secure their workflow across several devices.

On top of all that, NordVPN now calls in PricewaterhouseCoopers every year to carry out a full independent audit on its no-logging policy. This makes Nord one of themost secure VPNservices around, too. So by all measures, your datashouldbe in excellent hands.

Outside of security, this provider can supply dedicated IP addresses that should again help defeat any potential slow down, and its Quick Connect tool helps you get started on the most optimal server for you. Plus, its impressive unlocking power confirmed the provider once again as one of the beststreaming VPNservices on the market.

Take advantage of NordVPN's special offer and get up to 64% off when you subscribe to their 2-year plan, with prices starting from just $3.99 per month. Again, you have a 30-day money-back guarantee if you feel it isn't the best service for you.

The best VPN for beginners

ExpressVPN offers a wide range of user-friendly apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux with support for up to 5 simultaneous connections at once. Its ExpressVPN Aircove is also the world's first high-powered Wi-Fi 6 router with a built-in VPN. Customer support is available 24/7 through live chat and email, too.

Despite being one of the providers pulling the plug to its Indian servers amid new logging requirements, ExpressVPN set up two secure virtual locations passing via Singapore and the UK. It also boasts a 3000+ servers network spread across 160 locations in 94 countries, with many located around India (Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all covered). Plus, its obfuscated servers should make your traffic undetectable even under the strictest restrictions.

►Try ExpressVPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Express operates a strict no-logs policy, meaning it does not collect or store user activity data. While, security features include AES-256 encryption, multiple VPN protocols (including its very own WireGuard-inspired Lightway), kill switch, DNS leak protection, split tunneling, built in password manager and Threat Manager to keep you secure at ease,

The best cheap VPN service

Surfsharkis undoubtedly the rising (Hot)star of the VPN world. It's probably fair to say that its clean and friendly interface and branding are a tad less intimidating than some of the competition.

Surfshark's pricing is great, too—earning it the top spot on ourcheap VPNcountdown. You can even use it on as many devices as you can handle in your household on the same, low-priced account, thanks to its unlimited device connections policy.

▶ Try Surfshark with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

AES-256 encryption, several protocols to choose from, DNS protection,split tunneling, CleanWeb to block ads and malware,and even an extra protection layer with a Double VPN hop: these are some of the security features you will get with Surfshark. The provider nowoffers a Dedicated IP, too, for an additional fee. It is worth noting that we experienced some kill switch issues, but only on Windows and in extreme situations.

Like Express, Surfshark went virtual to protect users' privacy, meaning you can still securely browse locally. Or, opt for one of its 3,200+ international servers.It even offers some anti-censorship dedicated features such as itsobfuscation technology— called "Camouflage mode"—that hides your VPN usage. There's also a "No Borders" option that connects you to the servers performing the best under network restrictions by default.

From Netflix and Hulu to iPlayer and Disney+, Surfshark will allow you to access your favorite content at great speeds. And despite its peaks being below average when connected to OpenVPN, it confirmed itself as thefastest VPNwhen used with WireGuard with peaks of 950+ Mbps last time we checked.

You can always try it out risk-free for 30 days and decide for yourself if it's the right service for your needs.

Other VPNs I've tested and recommend

A highly customizable VPN software, Private Internet Access VPN (PIA) offers a comprehensive package with over 35,000 PIA VPN serversin 84+ countries—like its competitors, it now has only virtual locations in India.

Overall, users can enjoy safe and reliable connections for browsing, streaming, and torrenting thanks to many security options, advanced features and a strict no-logs policy.

▶Try Private Internet Access on unlimited devices.

The provider employs strong AES-256 encryption and a wealth of great security features like its exceptional kill switch, Smart DNS, P2P across all its servers, and MACE (its built-in ad, tracker, and malware blocker).

It offers a mix of very capable browser extensions and dedicated apps for all major operating systems. Among all, PIA's Linux VPN app is perhaps the best we have seen so far.

PIA's recently added SmartDNS feature will help you to smoothly bypass online censorship and other geo-restrictions, too. We saw an improvement in itsstreaming VPNcapabilities during our last testing, in fact, managing to access everything we tried last time (it even managed to do so with 10Play, which failed during the previous round of testing).

PIA isn't yet among the fastest services, either, dropping its top speeds from 510 to 360Mbps when using WireGuard and from 440 to 310Mbps with OpenVPN. On a more positive note, though, the provider finally carried on an independent audit on its no-logs claims and a more detailed security audit is underway.

A 10 device allowance and many additional features might be great for some users. However, for newbies and those who need assistance via the live chat option in customer support, we recommend utilizing Express or Nord VPN.

The same Swiss-based provider behind Proton Mail, Proton Drive and Proton Pass, Proton VPNoffers plenty of nifty features, a sleek interface,andimpeccable performance overall.

Proton VPN also comes with an unlimited-bandwidthfree VPN, which—while stripped back in terms of the provider's full package—is great for those new to the VPN world. Its free coverage has even recently gone up from only 29 to over 100 servers.

Also Proton shut off its physical servers in India. However, you can still get an Indian IP, picking one of its Smart Routing servers located in Singapore.

If you upgrade to its Plus plan, you can even connect through one of itsSecure Coreservers for an extra layer of security. By doing so, your traffic will be routed through multiple ultra-secure servers based in Switzerland, Iceland, and Sweden.

The Plus plan is advantageous to put to work Proton's streaming unblocking prowess, with the ability to access the likes of foreign Netflix libraries, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus as well as many Indian platforms like Hotstar, JioTV, Hooq, Voot, and SonyLIV when overseas. Plus users can also take advantage of an extra layer of protection with itsTorover VPN option.

When it comes to speed, we have experienced some slower speeds this time around, with its WireGuard peaks dropping from 670 to 510Mpbs. However, this is unlikely to be a problem for most users.

The only real downside here is that, even if Proton has now added a live chat support, this is not 24/7 yet. This might be a problem for some Indian-based users.

How to choose the best India VPN

Opt for a VPN provider with servers in the countries you need to access or bypass geo-restrictions. Ensure strong encryption protocols like AES-256 and support for secure VPN protocols such as OpenVPN or WireGuard. Look for a strict no-logs policy.

Choose a VPN with a fast and stable connection for smooth browsing, streaming, and downloading. Verify if the VPN can bypass geo-restrictions and offers optimized servers for streaming and torrenting.

Look for VPNs with easy-to-use apps and compatibility across devices for convenient usage.

Prioritize VPNs with fast and helpful customer support via live chat or email. Consider flexible plans that suit your needs, including monthly, yearly, or longer-term subscriptions.

FAQs