VPN Blocking and How to Bypass It — Netflix, Disney+, and Others in 2026

VPN Blocking and How to Bypass It — Netflix, Disney+, and Others in 2026

You've connected your VPN, switched your location to the US, opened Netflix — and you're still seeing the same library you always do. Or worse, you get that grey error screen telling you to turn off your "unblocker or proxy." It's infuriating, especially when you're paying for the VPN specifically to solve this problem.

Here's the thing: not all VPNs are equal when it comes to streaming. Most of them get blocked. A few don't. And figuring out which is which means actually testing them — which is exactly what we've done.

Quick Verdict

NordVPN is the best VPN for streaming in 2026, and it's not particularly close. It unblocks more services more reliably than anything else we tested, the speeds are fast enough that you won't notice you're using one, and the apps are actually pleasant to use. That said, it's not cheap, and it occasionally hits a wall with specific regional libraries — particularly some of the smaller Disney+ markets. Score: 8.5/10.

What We Tested and How

We ran tests across five VPN providers over several weeks, using real subscriber accounts for each streaming service — not free trials, not shared credentials. We wanted to replicate what you'd actually experience at home.

Our testing locations covered US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Japan. We checked each service multiple times per week, at different times of day, to account for the fact that streaming blocks aren't always consistent. A VPN that works on a Tuesday evening might fail on a Saturday afternoon when server loads spike.

The services we tested against:

• Netflix (US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan libraries)
• Disney+ (US, UK, Australia, Germany)
• BBC iPlayer
• Amazon Prime Video
• Hulu
• ESPN+ and DAZN
• Channel 4 and ITVX (UK)

We also tested speeds using multiple servers in each region, using a baseline 500Mbps connection so we could see real-world throttling rather than just bottlenecks from a slow home setup.

The five VPNs we put through this were: NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access (PIA). A couple of smaller services also got brief trials when readers asked about them specifically.

Streaming Performance — Which Services It Actually Unblocks

Let's be direct: this is the section that matters most to you, so we're not going to bury it in caveats.

Netflix

NordVPN reliably unlocks the US Netflix library — the one most people are after, because it has the most content. UK, Canada, and Australia also worked without issues in our testing. Japan was more hit-and-miss: it worked about 70% of the time, which is honestly better than most competitors managed.

ExpressVPN was a close second here, and occasionally edged ahead on Japan and Germany. But its price premium is hard to justify when the gap is that small.

Surfshark surprised us. It's cheaper than both and handled US Netflix well. The catch is that its server network in smaller markets is thinner, so you're more likely to hit a dead end if you're after something obscure.

CyberGhost and PIA both struggled more than we'd like. CyberGhost has "streaming-optimised" servers that sound good in marketing and are fine in practice — until they're not. We hit blocks with Netflix UK and Disney+ Germany multiple times across both.

Disney+

Disney+ has become more aggressive about VPN blocking over the past couple of years. US and UK libraries opened up fine with NordVPN. Germany was mostly fine. But Australian Disney+ blocked us more often than not, and that held true across almost every VPN we tested — it seems particularly trigger-happy at the moment.

If Disney+ is your main reason for getting a VPN, NordVPN is still your best bet, but go in knowing that some regional libraries will occasionally push back.

BBC iPlayer

This one's specifically for people outside the UK who want access to British TV without paying for a cable package. NordVPN nailed it — consistent access, no proxy errors, good speeds even on HD streams. It's one of the more reliable unblocks in the whole test.

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon's regional libraries are genuinely different, and some of the best content is locked to specific countries. NordVPN handled US and UK without problems. Germany was reliable. This is one area where Surfshark also performed well and costs less — worth considering if Prime is your primary use case.

Hulu

Hulu is US-only and notoriously difficult to access from outside the country because you also need a US payment method to sign up. Assuming you've already got an account sorted, NordVPN worked cleanly in our tests. But Hulu's blocks can be aggressive, and this is one where you may occasionally need to switch servers.

Sports Streaming — ESPN+, DAZN, and Others

If you're a sports fan living abroad and just want to watch your team, this is actually where a VPN earns its keep most obviously. NordVPN worked with ESPN+ and DAZN reliably. The important caveat: some live sports rights are geo-blocked at a level that even good VPNs struggle with during peak events. We'd recommend testing before the match you actually care about, not during it.

UK Catch-Up — Channel 4 and ITVX

Both worked well with NordVPN. ITVX in particular was solid, which matters because it's where a lot of ITV drama lives. Channel 4 occasionally required a server switch, but we never went more than one attempt before it opened up.

Speed and Reliability

A VPN that unblocks Netflix but buffers every 30 seconds is worse than useless. Speed matters.

NordVPN's NordLynx protocol (built on WireGuard) is fast. On a 500Mbps base connection, we typically saw 380–440Mbps on nearby servers and 200–280Mbps connecting to the US from Europe. That's more than enough for 4K streaming, which needs around 25Mbps at most. You won't notice you're using a VPN.

ExpressVPN was also fast, and in some geographic routes — particularly Asia-Pacific — it edged ahead of Nord. But you pay more for it.

Surfshark was surprisingly quick on its better servers and sluggish on its worse ones. The variance was the problem — you never quite knew which you'd get.

PIA had the most consistent mid-tier speeds, but "consistent" and "mid-tier" isn't what you want when you're trying to stream 4K content with a buffer margin.

One reliability note: no VPN has 100% uptime, and all of them have servers that occasionally go down or get blocked. The difference between good and mediocre VPNs isn't whether this happens — it's how quickly they fix it and how easy it is to switch servers when it does.

Privacy and Security

For most people reading this, streaming is the priority and privacy is a secondary concern. That's fine — but you should still know what you're getting.

NordVPN is based in Panama, which sits outside the intelligence-sharing agreements that affect US and EU-based companies. It has a no-logs policy that's been independently audited multiple times, most recently by Deloitte. That audit found no evidence of activity logs being stored. That's about as close to "verified" as this industry gets.

It also has a kill switch (which cuts your internet if the VPN drops, so your real IP never leaks), DNS leak protection, and the option to use obfuscated servers — which disguise the fact that you're using a VPN at all. That last feature matters if you're in a country where VPN use is restricted, or if you're on a network that actively blocks VPN traffic.

ExpressVPN is similarly strong on privacy and runs on its own proprietary Lightway protocol. Surfshark has also passed audits. PIA is open-source, which is a legitimate privacy advantage — anyone can inspect the code.

One honest note: the VPN industry is full of marketing claims about "military-grade encryption" and "zero logs" that don't always hold up to scrutiny. NordVPN's audits give it more credibility than most, but no VPN can guarantee complete anonymity. Don't use one to do anything illegal and expect to be untraceable.

Apps and Ease of Use

This used to be where VPNs fell flat. Clunky interfaces, confusing settings, manual configuration files. Most of that's changed.

NordVPN's apps — on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and even smart TVs — are clean and straightforward. The map interface divides opinion (some people love clicking a location; others find it annoying and just want a list). Either way, it takes about 30 seconds to connect the first time you use it, and after that it mostly just runs in the background.

The "Specialty Servers" section is useful: it has dedicated P2P servers, obfuscated servers, and double-VPN options. You don't need to know what any of that means to use it — the labels explain enough.

ExpressVPN has arguably the slickest app design in the category. It's extremely hard to get wrong. Surfshark is also good, though slightly more cluttered. PIA's apps feel functional rather than pleasant — they work, but you feel like you're using software made by engineers rather than designers.

Browser extensions are available for Chrome and Firefox across all the major providers — useful if you want to switch regions just for a specific tab without routing all your traffic through the VPN.

Smart TV and streaming device support is worth checking before you buy. NordVPN has a native Fire TV app, Apple TV app, and Android TV app. If you want to use it on a device that doesn't support VPN apps directly, you'll need to set it up on your router, which is more involved — but doable, and NordVPN has good guides for it.

Pricing and Value

Here's where VPNs get a little tricky to compare, because the pricing structures are designed to make the monthly rate look low if you commit to a long plan.

NordVPN: Around $3.99/month (about £3.15 / €3.65) on a two-year plan. The monthly plan is $12.99/month (about £10.25 / €11.90) — which is fine for a short-term trial but poor value long-term. The two-year plan includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there's no real risk in trying it.

ExpressVPN: More expensive — around $8.32/month (about £6.55 / €7.65) on a yearly plan. There's no two-year option. You're paying a premium for a service that is good, but not meaningfully better than NordVPN for most use cases.

Surfshark: The cheapest of the serious options — around $2.49/month (about £1.95 / €2.30) on a two-year plan. It also allows unlimited simultaneous connections, which means one subscription covers your whole household. That's a genuine advantage.

CyberGhost: Cheap on long plans but less reliable where it matters. Not the trade-off we'd make.

PIA: Similarly priced to Surfshark, open-source, good for privacy purists, but it underperforms on streaming consistently enough that we can't recommend it as a primary streaming tool.

Bottom line: NordVPN's two-year plan is the best value for streaming specifically. If you want the cheapest option that still does the job, Surfshark is worth a serious look. If you need to cover multiple family members, Surfshark's unlimited device policy might tip the balance.

Who It's Best For — and Who Should Look Elsewhere

NordVPN is best for you if you want a streaming VPN that you can set up once and largely forget about. It's also a solid choice if you travel frequently and want to access your home country's streaming libraries from abroad, or if you're abroad permanently and homesick for content you've been paying for your whole life.

It's a particularly good fit if you're after US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, or Amazon Prime — the three libraries it handles most consistently.

You should look elsewhere if:

• You're on a tight budget and primarily want Amazon Prime — Surfshark does this well at a lower price.
• You have lots of devices to cover — Surfshark's unlimited connections make more sense for families.
• You're primarily a privacy-first user rather than a streaming user — PIA's open-source model may appeal more than NordVPN's audited-but-closed approach.
• You're in a country with active VPN restrictions — ExpressVPN's obfuscation has a slightly better track record in places like China and UAE, though this is a fast-moving situation.

And honestly, if you're just testing the waters: any of the top three (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark) offer 30-day money-back guarantees. There's no reason not to try one and see how it performs on your specific setup before committing.

Final Verdict

VPN blocking is a real and ongoing arms race. Streaming services have gotten better at detecting VPNs, and the VPN providers have had to get better at staying ahead of them. Most VPNs are losing that race. A handful are winning it — and NordVPN is consistently in that handful.

It's not flawless. No VPN is. You'll hit occasional blocks, especially on smaller regional Disney+ libraries and live sports. You'll sometimes need to switch servers. That's the reality of how this technology works, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

But if you want a single subscription that reliably opens up Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, Disney+, and most other major services — and does it without making you feel like you need a computer science degree — NordVPN is the answer. It's priced fairly on a long plan, the apps are good, and the privacy credentials are among the most verified in the industry.

Final score: 8.5/10. A VPN you can actually rely on, with honest limitations.