The Best VPN Australia for PC, Android, iPhone & Mac
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) comprehensively hides your online activities from the prying eyes of hackers, identity thieves, and other cyber terrorists.
This is one of the main reasons why people are using the best VPN services in Australia in huge numbers.
In reality, the advantages of a VPN service are numerous, as you can safeguard your privacy while using unprotected public Wi-Fi connections.
Apart from this, you can access various live or video-on-demand streaming services depending on your choice on multiple devices of your choice using the best VPN service in Australia securely and anonymously.
For the sake of your convenience, we have selected some impressive VPN services you can use in Australia based on different factors like server spread, security, and privacy features, compatibility, multi-logins, etc.
If you are short on time, here are these 10 Australian VPN services that allow you to surf the web anonymously and perform all your desired online tasks hassle-free:
Best VPN Australia Services – TL;DR
Read what matters the most in this quick summary of the best VPN Australia services:
- ExpressVPN Our #1 recommended VPN for Australia. Offers connections in 94 countries, all optimized for security and speed. Excellent for torrenting and watching Netflix. Protected by a 30-day refund guarantee. It is the Fastest VPN Australia too.
- Surfshark The best cheap VPN for Australia. Costs only $2.30/mo . Runs over 3200+ servers in 69 countries. Great for streaming and offers unlimited simultaneous connections. No logs policy. Includes an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee. In short, best value VPN Australia.
- NordVPN The best VPN for torrenting in Australia. Offers 1500+ specialized P2P servers, spread across 45 countries. Keeps no activity records and supports up to six multi-logins. Protects your web traffic using the latest NordLynx tunneling protocol. Protected by a 30-day refund guarantee.
- CyberGhost The best user-friendly VPN for Australia. Offers an intuitive interface, with streaming and torrenting servers marked to help with easy navigation. Supports up to 7 multi-logins and comes with an exclusive 45-day money-back guarantee.
- Private Internet Access An affordable VPN for Australian users. Provides reliable connection speeds suitable for a seamless streaming experience. Offers P2P support, kill switch, dedicated IP address, and other crucial features coupled with a 30-day refund policy.
- PureVPN The best streaming-friendly VPN for Australia. Features a dedicated streaming mode that unblocks 40+ streaming services. Works with Netflix USA, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, etc. Slower than ExpressVPN and NordVPN but offers decent speed nevertheless. Includes a generous 31-day money-back guarantee.
- SaferVPN Easy to use VPN in Australia. Offers budget-friendly pricing plans overall. Supports P2P activities of its users, provides 5 simultaneous connections feature alongside a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- IPVanish Another reliable VPN performance-wise for Australia. Offers unlimited simultaneous connections along with other features like kill switch, OpenVPN protocol, SOCKS5 proxy server, etc. Provides a reasonable 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Hotspot Shield A premier VPN for users in Australia. Provides 256-bit encryption, kill switch, P2P assistance, 5 multi-logins alongside a 45-day refund policy.
- Zenmate A feature-packed VPN service for Australia. Ideal for torrenting activities and protecting multiple devices at a time due to its impressive unlimited multi-logins feature well supported by a 30-day refund policy.
VPNs are the new standards in the internet world. They have become tremendously popular among both casual and hardcore internet users, especially here in Australia as it is quite evident that many Aussies are looking for the Best VPN Australia.
A look at the search volume data confirms this.
More than 100k searches for the keyword “VPN” are made every month in Australia [source: Ahrefs]. These are pretty big numbers. Interestingly, they only make up a fraction of the actual searches performed—information that search engines like to keep to themselves.
How many active VPN users are there in Australia?
Just in case if you need a detailed refresher on VPNs, we’d suggest that you take a look at our comprehensive VPN guide written here.
So, with hundreds of VPN providers pitching their services to the Australian market, which ones should you even trust (and which ones should you avoid)? In other words, you are looking for the Best VPN Australia that helps you circumvent geo-restrictions while at the same time ensuring your cybersecurity.
Best VPNs in Australia (May 2022 In-Depth Analysis)
It was important whatever information we provided in this guide could be genuinely helpful (and actionable) for internet users in Australia. Therefore, we came up with an intense testing scheme.
We extensively evaluated a set of over 70 VPN services, all operating live servers in Australia, by putting them through more than 200+ tests.
We assessed their ability to download torrents and unblock popular streaming services from Down Under, whether they maintained privacy over the web, and how many operational servers they had in Australia compared to what they claimed.
Based on the above-mentioned criteria, we compiled our ultimate list of the ten best VPN services for Australia for May 2022. All these ten (10) VPN services come with genuine money-back guarantees or fully-loaded free trials.
1) ExpressVPN
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Excellent
Key Features:
- Automatic Kill Switch
- Supports 5 devices
- 3000+ servers
- TrustedServer Technology
We found ExpressVPN to be the best VPN Australia overall. It is equipped with fast, stable, and reliable servers and works great with online streaming services. It is also a safe VPN to use.
ExpressVPN is our top choice VPN service for Australia. It hails from the British Virgin Island and operates 3000+ VPN servers in 94 countries, including Australia. It employs OpenVPN, IKEv2, and IPsec tunneling protocols to protect users and their data from man-in-the-middle attacks.
ExpressVPN maintains a strict zero-log policy, supports unlimited bandwidth, runs across multiple devices, and offers five simultaneous connections on a single account. The service is well known for its speed.
ExpressVPN Test Findings
ExpressVPN also provided a smooth streaming experience for services like US Netflix, HBO Now, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer. When streaming, we found the following servers as stand-out performers:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | New York, Washington DC, Dallas, Miami, and Denver |
Hulu | New York, Miami, New Jersey – 1 and Washington DC – 2 |
HBO Now | New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica |
BBC iPlayer | Docklands and London |
Not only this, ExpressVPN is great at unblocking Australian streaming services like Kayo Sports, Foxtel, Stan, and Australian sports events like NRL, along with the Australian Libraries of international streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, and Prime Video if you are an Aussie residing abroad for work or studies.
We randomly picked four VPN servers in the US and Italy for the leak tests. ExpressVPN did not report any IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks on any of the tested servers, thus keeping our online anonymity intact.
Connected to ExpressVPN US server; no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks found
In terms of Australian servers, ExpressVPN provides five VPN server locations, including Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney – 2. During the test, we found all five server locations to be working.
ExpressVPN offers five live server locations in Australia
ExpressVPN had no problems unblocking torrents from Australia. While downloading torrent files, we did not notice any significant drop in speed, either. Based on our test, the best performing torrenting servers for the VPN service were Switzerland and Netherlands – Amsterdam.
Price (AUD)
You can subscribe to its 1-year + 3 free months plan for $6.67/mo (8.97 AUD).
2) Surfshark
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Excellent
Key Features:
- Unlimited devices
- Multi-Hop
- 3200+ servers
- CleanWeb and Camouflage mode
Surfshark is the best affordable VPN in Australia. Starting from just $2.30/mo , it supports torrenting, streaming, anonymous browsing, and a wide range of other activities.
Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark is also headquartered in the British Virgin Islands. The service operates 3200+ VPN servers in more than 60 countries, including Australia. It uses OpenVPN, IKEv2, IPsec, and Shadowshocks tunneling protocols to encrypt users’ web traffic.
Surfshark is compatible with multiple platforms and devices. It offers unlimited bandwidth support and practices an uncompromising no-log policy. You can connect as many devices as you may want on a single Surfshark account.
Surfshark Test Findings
As for unblocking streaming services, some Surfshark VPN servers performed better than the others, while some failed to bypass the respective geo-restrictions altogether.
Below, we’ve highlighted the recommended servers for watching US Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and BBC iPlayer from Australia on Surfshark.
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Denver |
Hulu | Seattle, Denver, Orlando, and New York |
HBO Now | Seattle, Latham, Boston, and Kansas City |
BBC iPlayer | Manchester and London |
Based on the random testing of four Surfshark servers, located across the UK and Canada, no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks were detected.
Connected to Surfshark servers in Canada; no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks found
In terms of support for in-land internet communications, Surfshark offers five server locations, including Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. We found all five server locations to be live, offering consistent connection speeds.
Surfshark offers five live server locations in Australia
Surfshark did an overall decent job with torrent requests. We can’t say the download speed was blazing fast, but it wasn’t slow either. US, Canada, and the Netherlands were the best performing torrenting servers for Surfshark.
Surfshark reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
On au.trustpilot.com, Surfshark was rated 4.3 and had more than 4,500 reviews. Of these 4500+ reviews, 66% were scored as excellent.
Surfshark negative(s)
Surfshark has a few incomplete servers, especially in the U.S. This is one area where we believe the VPN provider needs to improve its services.
Price (AUD)
Being the cheapest VPN Australia, its 2-year + 2 months free plan can be purchased at just $2.30/mo .
3) NordVPN
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Excellent
Key Features:
- Supports 6 devices
- No-logs policy
- 5000+ servers
- CyberSec and Onion Over VPN
- DoubleVPN
NordVPN is the best VPN for downloading torrents in Australia. It has more than 1500 P2P-optimized VPN servers.
NordVPN is based in Panama. The service operates 5000+ servers in more than 55 countries, including Australia. It uses advanced tunneling protocols like OpenVPN, IKEv2, and IPsec to keep users’ online privacy intact.
NordVPN provides several interesting features, including but not limited to six multi-logins, unlimited bandwidth support, 100% no-log policy, and adblocking. You can get NordVPN for just $3.49/mo on a 2-year plan.
NordVPN Test Findings
NordVPN handled all torrent requests superbly, without compromising our privacy. However, we’d still recommend you to turn on the app’s kill switch button when downloading torrent files. This would prevent any IP leaks if the connection breaks down in between for any reason.
You can choose from a list of over 4000 thousand P2P servers to download your favourite torrents. In our experience, we found Switzerland and US VPN servers as the most reliable.
In terms of unblocking streaming services, NordVPN didn’t disappoint either. I was able to connect to US Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and BBC iPlayer without any major problems. We’ve listed down the recommended servers for each of the tested streaming services in the table below:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | Buffalo, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Miami |
Hulu | New York, Buffalo, Manassas, and Salt Lake City |
HBO Now | New York, Buffalo, Charlotte, and Salt Lake City |
BBC iPlayer | Great Dunmow |
No IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks were detected during the random testing of NordVPN servers. The tested VPN servers were located in the US, Sweden, Spain, and France.
Connected to NordVPN US server; no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks found
In Australia, NordVPN provides five server locations that you can connect to. These include Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Brisbane. We found all five server locations to be working.
NordVPN offers five live server locations in Australia
NordVPN Trustpilot rating and reviews
On au.trustpilot.com, NordVPN was rated 4.4 and had more than 4000 reviews. Of these 4000+ reviews, 71% were scored as excellent.
NordVPN Negative(s)
NordVPN does not always support streaming on AndroidTV, NVIDIA Shield TV, and Amazon Fire Stick.
4) CyberGhost
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Excellent
Key Features:
- Supports 7 devices
- Dedicated servers for streaming, gaming, torrenting
- 7800+ servers
- Free browser extension
- Data compression feature
CyberGhost is an easy-to-use VPN for Australia, boasting an intuitive interface and a whole host of amazing features.
CyberGhost is a Romania-based VPN service. It operates 7800+ servers in more than 90 countries, including Australia. It uses robust tunneling protocols like IPsec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN to protect users from network sniffing attacks.
CyberGhost supports up to 7 multi-logins. The service offers unlimited bandwidth, ad blocking, VPN kill switch, in-built WebRTC leak protection, and a strict no-log policy.
CyberGhost test findings
We faced difficulties while connecting to torrent sites through different CyberGhost servers, especially those located in the U.S. However, the problem was resolved as soon as we switched our location to Germany. Still, we did not get fast enough download speeds to recommend the service for torrenting in Australia.
In terms of accessing geo-restricted content, CyberGhost did a decent job of unblocking popular streaming services such as US Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and BBC iPlayer. We’ve noted down the best performing servers for each tested streaming service in the table below:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | New York-S403-i39, New York-S416-i34, Seattle-S401-i01 and Dallas-S409-i19 |
Hulu | New York-S403-i39 and Seattle-S401-i08 |
HBO Now | Washington DC-S401-i02 and Atlanta-S407-i13 |
BBC iPlayer | London 84.17.51.5, London 84.17.51.143 and Manchester-S412-i05 |
There were no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks detected on the four randomly tested CyberGhost VPN servers. These servers were located in the UK and Belgium.
Connected to CyberGhost UK server; no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks found
For Australia, CyberGhost VPN offers two VPN server locations, Melbourne and Sydney. We found both server locations to be running.
CyberGhost VPN offers two live server locations in Australia
CyberGhost reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
On au.trustpilot.com, CyberGhost was rated 4.8 and had more than 10,000 reviews. Of these 10,000+ reviews, 84% were scored as excellent.
CyberGhost negative(s)
CyberGhost’s torrenting servers lack consistency and need to be optimized.
Price (AUD)
You can get its 2-year plan for AUD $2.95/mo .
5) Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access is a US-based VPN provider offering its services through 29000+ servers in 70+ countries worldwide. Besides, the service does not store its users’ information, which is a big plus considering the fact that it hails from the US.
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Good
Key Features:
- Supports 10 devices
- MACE ad, malware blocker
- 35000+ servers
- SOCKS proxy for safe torrenting
If we discuss the performance of Private Internet Access in terms of privacy and security, you can use an internet kill switch, dedicated IP address, 10 simultaneous connections, OpenVPN protocol, ad blocker, 256-bit military-grade encryption, etc.
The internet kill switch feature helps you stay safe from hackers and other cyber criminals if the VPN app suddenly stops working for any reason. Kill switch Aside, you can use a dedicated IP feature to overcome slow download and upload speeds.
The role of this impressive dedicated IP feature comes in handy if you want to bypass connectivity issues while connecting to your desired servers.
PIA test findings
As already mentioned, PIA allows you to connect to your required VPN server instantly. As a result, we did not face such a hassle when connecting to our preferred servers. Like any other good Australian VPN, the service becomes a reliable option when you want to unblock your favorite streaming services like US Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
Here is the table that includes different servers that helped us unblock US Netflix and BBC iPlayer:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | New York, Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley, Texas, Washington |
BBC iPlayer | London, Manchester, Southampton |
As expected, PIA did not expose our actual whereabouts when we tested its IP leak, DNS leak, and WebRTC leak protection features in detail.
The above image showed no sign of IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks when connected to its Singaporean server.
As far as PIA’s VPN server availability in Australia is concerned, it offers servers in distinct Australian cities such as Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne.
PIA reviews and ratings on Trustpilot Australia
Private Internet Access has received more than 6400+ reviews on Trustpilot Australia, out of which 62% of users have rated the service excellent. The service has earned a reasonable 3.9 rating overall.
Private Internet Access negative (s)
The only thing that was not up to the mark was PIA’s streaming unblocking feature. Unfortunately, you cannot unblock not many services like Hulu, HBO Max, and others through the US-based VPN provider.
Price (AUD)
You can obtain its 3-year + 3 Free Months package at the cost of $2.03/mo .
6) PureVPN
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Good
Key Features:
- Supports 10 devices
- 7-day free trial for $0.99 (AUD 1.33)
- 6500+ servers
- Dedicated streaming mode
PureVPN is the best VPN for accessing blocked streaming sites in Australia. It has a dedicated streaming mode, which unlocks 40+ OTT video platforms.
Based in Hong Kong, PureVPN claims the sixth position in our list of the Best VPNs for Australia. It operates 6500+ servers in more than 140 countries worldwide, including 70+ servers in Australia. It employs a number of tunneling protocols to encrypt users’ internet traffic data. These include PPTP, IPSec, SSTP, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.
PureVPN offers 10 multi-logins on a single account along with several advanced features like zero-log policy, ad blocking, kill switch, and unlimited bandwidth support.
PureVPN test findings
PureVPN provided a relatively slow torrent download speed compared to other VPNs on this list. So while you can use the VPN service to download torrents from Australia, if you’re buying it exclusively for torrenting alone, there are better alternatives available out there.
We found Norway and the Netherlands as the top torrenting servers for PureVPN.
Streaming was one of the strongest points of PureVPN. The VPN service offered a decent number of servers that unblocked US Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and HBO from Australia.
Furthermore, it had a dedicated streaming mode to allow users to watch shows and movies in HD quality. We’ve listed down the best performing servers for each tested streaming service in the table below:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | Chicago, Columbus, New York, and New Jersey |
Hulu | Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and New York |
HBO Now | Columbus, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington DC |
BBC iPlayer | London and Manchester |
There were no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks reported during the random testing of four PureVPN servers, located in the US and the UK.
Connected to PureVPN US server; no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks found
PureVPN provides four VPN server locations in Australia to connect to, including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. We found all four server locations to be working.
PureVPN offers four live server locations in Australia
PureVPN Trustpilot rating and reviews
On au.trustpilot.com, PureVPN was rated 4.8 and had more than 10,000 reviews. Of these 10,000+ reviews, 85% were scored as excellent.
PureVPN negative(s)
PureVPN needs to work on its incomplete servers and slow P2P connection speeds.
Price (AUD)
Its 2-year plan is available for just $3.33/mo .
7) SaferVPN
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Good
Key Features:
- IP, DNS, WebRTC leak protection
- 1300+ servers
- OpenVPN, internet kill switch
- Works with Netflix
SaferVPN is another US-based VPN service like PIA. Furthermore, the provider offers 1300+ VPN servers in 50+ countries worldwide.
Being one of the Best VPNs for Australia, SaferVPN provides numerous privacy and security features to its users that you can consider in the shape of the internet kill switch, 5 multi-logins, OpenVPN protocol, 256-bit encryption, compatibility, etc.
The best thing about this US-based VPN service is that it offers a no-logging policy, a feature that users need in an Australian VPN. It means the service does not keep a log of its users in any form be it connection or usage logs.
Apart from this, SaferVPN offers attractive apps for all the leading platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. Hence, you can protect your digital whereabouts while surfing the web on your desired devices without any difficulty.
SaferVPN test findings
SaferVPN is one of the simplest VPN services in terms of ease of use out there. Interestingly, you can connect to any server of your choice by selecting a server from the servers’ list instantly.
Moreover, the service helps you unblock famous video-on-demand streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Here is the table that consists of servers you can connect to unblock both these streaming services hassle-free:
Streaming service | Best performing servers |
US Netflix | New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta |
BBC iPlayer | London |
In addition, you can trust SaferVPN when it comes to protecting your actual IP address against various cyberattacks like hacking, phishing, malware, etc. This is because the provider offers much-needed IP leak, DNS leak, and WebRTC leak protection features. Here is the proof:
The above screenshot indicates that SaferVPN is safe to use because it does not reveal your original IP address, DNS address, and webRTC location. Fortunately, we did not face any leak issue while connected to its Los Angeles server.
Leak protection features aside, SaferVPN offers a single VPN server in Australia that helps you browse the internet securely and anonymously.
SaferVPN reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
SaferVPN has received an excellent 4.5 rating on Trustpilot Australia. It shows that the service has built a strong reputation among Australian internet users. 86% of users have described SaferVPN as an excellent VPN service in their reviews.
SaferVPN negative (s)
SaferVPN does have some cons like limited server network and average streaming unblocking capability. Compared to other VPNs like PIA, Surfshark, PureVPN, and CyberGhost, SaferVPN only offers 1300+ servers worldwide.
The US-based VPN service should improve its existing server network on an immediate basis. Likewise, SaferVPN does not unblock famous streaming services like Hulu, HBO Max, etc.
Therefore, the service needs to work on its streaming unblocking feature seriously.
Price (AUD)
You will have to bear a monthly cost of $5.49 to get its yearly package.
8) IPVanish
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Excellent
Key Features:
- Unlimited device support
- 1600+ servers
- No logs
- Fast speeds
IPVanish is a US-based VPN service that offers 1600+ VPN servers in 60+ countries worldwide. The service provides 45+ servers in different cities in Australia such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.
Apart from this, you can use a wide range of security and privacy features depending on your online privacy need.
These privacy and security features are internet kill switch, OpenVPN protocol, unlimited simultaneous connections, DNS leak protection, WebRTC leak protection, 256-bit military-grade encryption, etc.
What makes IPVanish VPN different from other VPN providers is its impressive SOCKS5 proxy server feature that secures users’ torrenting activities comprehensively.
Through this feature, the service supports famous BitTorrent clients like Vuze, deluge, and uTorrent. It means you can safely download your favorite torrent files while residing in Australia.
IPVanish reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
Regarded as one of the best Australian VPNs, IPVanish has managed an excellent 4.7 rating on Trustpilot Australia. According to 82% users, the US-based service is a reliable online privacy option for Australian netizens overall.
IPVanish negative (s)
IPVanish has to increase its current server network because most VPN services are offering servers in huge numbers to their users. Furthermore, the service does not offer a dedicated IP feature unlike PureVPN, NordVPN, and PIA.
Price (AUD)
On the pricing front, you can subscribe to its yearly pricing plan at the cost of $3.75/mo .
9) Hotspot Shield
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Good
Key Features:
- Hydra Catapult Protocol
- 1800+ servers
- Supports 5 device connections
- Free version also available
Hotspot Shield is a US-based VPN service that provides 1800+ servers in 80+ countries globally.
The provider does have a comprehensive list of privacy and security features such as internet kill switch, IP leak protection, DNS leak protection, WebRTC leak protection, 5 simultaneous connections, etc.
Apart from this, you can use an excellent 256-bit encryption feature to safeguard your sensitive data over the web from various cyber goons accordingly.
Hotspot Shield reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
On Trustpilot Australia, Hotspot Shield VPN has obtained an impressive 4.1 rating. Out of 300+ reviews, 77% of users have rated the service of this VPN service excellent.
Hotspot Shield negative (s)
Like Zenmate, Hotspot Shield exists in a limited number of countries. Furthermore, the service relies only on its own Hydra Catapult protocol and does not have other protocols like OpenVPN, SSTP, L2TP/IPsec, and others.
Price (AUD)
If you wish to use Hotspot Shield, you will have to pay $7.99/month to use its yearly plan on multiple devices.
10) Zenmate
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Speed: Good
Key Features:
- Simple apps for various devices
- 2600+ servers
- Supports 5 device connections
- Supports P2P traffic
Zenmate is a Germany-based VPN service that provides 2600+ servers in 78 countries worldwide. Besides, it offers 100+ servers in major Australian cities including Melbourne and Sydney.
Fortunately, you can get numerous privacy and security features while using Zenmate on your preferred devices. These features include an internet kill switch, IP leak protection, DNS leak protection, torrenting support, unlimited multi-logins, etc.
Besides, the service is compatible with all the famous platforms and devices such as Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Gaming Consoles, and others.
Zenmate reviews and rating on Trustpilot Australia
Zenmate has received an incredible 4.8 rating overall. Moreover, 83% of users have termed the performance of Zenmate on different fronts excellent.
Zenmate negative (s)
Compared to other VPN services, Zenmate only offers its servers in 75+ countries worldwide. This number needs to be increased drastically. Otherwise, users will prefer to subscribe to other services that offer them servers in almost every country of the world.
Price (AUD)
If you want to use Zenmate, you will need to pay $4.49/month to avail its yearly plan.
The German VPN provider offers a reasonable 30-day money-back guarantee that helps subscribers check the service’s hidden features thoroughly.
Best VPN Australia – Quick Comparison Chart (May 2022 Updated)
VPNs | Good Points | Improvement Points | Offer |
ExpressVPN | Strict zero-log policy, five simultaneous connections, unlock US Netflix, HBO, Hulu & BBC iPlayer, No IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks, 30-day money-back. | Expensive | $6.67/mo |
Surfshark | Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited simultaneous connections, strict no-log policy, unlock US Netflix, Hulu, HBO, BBC iPlayer, 30-day money-back guarantee | Fewer servers in the USA | $2.30/mo |
NordVPN | Six multi-logins, 100% no-log policy and ad blocking, No IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks, 30-day money-back guarantee. | Streaming issues on AndroidTV, NVIDIA Shield TV, and Amazon Fire Stick | $3.49/mo |
CyberGhost
| 7 multi-login, unlimited bandwidth, ad blocking, in-built WebRTC leak protection, zero log policy, 45-day money-back guarantee. | Torrenting servers lack consistency | AUD $2.95/mo |
PIA | No logs policy, 10 multi-logins, P2P support, kill switch, works with Netflix and BBC iPlayer, 30-day money-back guarantee | Does not unblock different streaming services | $2.03/mo |
PureVPN | 10 multi-logins, zero-log policy, ad blocking, kill switch, and unlimited bandwidth support, unlock US Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, BBC iPlayer, 31-day money-back guarantee. | Slow P2P connection speeds | $3.33/mo |
SaferVPN | No logs policy, 5 simultaneous connections, kill switch, unblocks Netflix and BBC iPlayer, 30-day refund policy | Limited number of servers | USD 2.50/m |
IPVanish | Kill switch, OpenVPN protocol, 256-bit encryption, SOKCS5 proxy server | Dedicated IP address feature is unavailable | $3.75/mo |
Hotspot Shield | Kill switch, 45-day refund policy, 256-bit encryption, P2P support | Does not offer an OpenVPN protocol | USD 7.99/m |
Zenmate VPN | Kill switch, allows torrenting, unlimited multi-logins, 30-day refund policy | Does not cover as many countries as other VPNs do | USD 4.99/m |
2 VPNs you should avoid using in Australia
We’ve covered the 10 best VPN Australia services in quite detail. In this next section, we’ll discuss the VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) that you should avoid using in Australia.
What makes these VPNs a no-go?
There are many things you expect a VPN to do, the most important—and essential—of them all is keeping your online privacy intact while increasing your security over the web. Unfortunately, the VPNs that we are going to list below fail to do this.
HideMyAss
HideMyAss is a UK-based VPN company and is a member of the famous Avast family. If you visit their website, they explicitly state on it the type of data they log as part of their policy. This includes bandwidth usage, time of connecting and disconnect, and total log duration.
However, what the company claims here is not entirely true.
In addition to the above details, HideMyAss also keeps your real IP address in their record. This was witnessed when the VPN provider collaborated with law enforcement agencies to get Cody Kretsinger—a LulzSec hacker—arrested by sharing with them the details of his IP address.
Now, we don’t advocate cyber-crime (or cybercriminals) at howtowatchinaustralia.com in any way. Our objection is, why was HideMyAss keeping a log of the information that they were not supposed to do?
Should you be trusting such a company with your online privacy? We’d like to rest our case here.
Hola
You have probably heard of Hola VPN. They are based in Israel. Unlike HideMyAss, they are quite clear about the information they log, and the way they reroute the traffic over the internet. Unfortunately, their privacy policy and sales level agreement make for uncomfortable reading.
…Log data may include the following information- browser type, web pages you visit, time spent on those pages, access times and dates.
And further:
The Services may improve your use of the Internet, among other means by re-routing some of your requests through other Hola users (the “Value Exchange”). Your free use of the Services will in turn enable other devices using the Services to be re-routed through your device. By using the Services you consent to the use of your device in the described manner and agree that other Hola devices may use your network connection and resources.
This last part should especially ring the alarm bells for you. With other users potentially being re-routed via your IP address, any unwanted activity can take place on your IP, and you can get in trouble.
As you might know, Australians report 164 cybercrime, including online frauds, identity theft, cyber abuse, and others daily.
In this situation, the importance of a premium Australian VPN service that does not share your IP address with other users reaches new heights.
What is a VPN?
A VPN is an online privacy tool that allows computers or networks to connect securely and anonymously over the internet. It hides your real IP address and encrypts your web traffic, keeping you safe from hackers, spoofers, and other unwanted personnel online.
How does a VPN work?
In every VPN set-up, we have a server (often located remotely) and a client app. You download the client app on your internet device and connect to the remote server.
The remote server does two things:
i) it replaces your actual IP address with that of its own – thus making your online identity, and
ii) it creates an end-to-end tunnel between your device and the web, protecting and encrypting any web traffic that passes through it.
What Makes a good VPN in Australia?
As we have already mentioned, an ideal VPN should have a blend of security and privacy features that allow you to protect your online activities from the eyes of ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and other surveillance actors.
Hence, we have compiled a list of different factors for the sake of your convenience to let you make a better decision while selecting the best VPN Australia. These factors are:
Availability of servers in different countries worldwide
Your chosen VPN service should offer a multitude of servers in all the major countries. It should be a VPN with Australian servers too. This feature will help you unblock the number of streaming services on multiple devices accordingly.
By doing so, you can bypass ISP (Internet Service Provider) throttling and other related issues that can spoil your streaming activities to a certain extent.
Compatibility
A VPN service should support all the leading operating systems and devices including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Android phones, Apple TV, Smart TVs, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Gaming Consoles.
Consequently, you can use your single VPN account on unlimited devices to perform different tasks like casual web surfing, web surfing, online shopping, etc. anonymously.
Research Methodology
As far as our research methodology is concerned, we have tested all these above-mentioned VPN services in terms of security, privacy, torrenting, simultaneous connections, unblocking capability, and money-back guarantee.
Security
All the VPN providers described above are secure and do not compromise their users’ anonymity. Moreover, you can use them within Australian territory as and when required without exposing your actual whereabouts.
Privacy
Unfortunately, Australia is one of the major partner countries of the five-eyes alliance. Therefore, you should not take your online privacy lightly while residing in Australia.
Luckily, all these VPN services explained in this guide offer their users a great mix of privacy features. Besides, they have cleared all our DNS leak tests hassle-free.
As a result, you can improve your privacy to the next level by choosing your desired VPN service from the list mentioned above.
Torrenting
Torrenting is an area where many VPN services usually do not come up to their users’ expectations. That said, our selected VPN services will not disappoint users who want to secure their privacy while performing their favourite torrenting activities.
Fortunately, you can use any VPN service of your choice from the above list to protect your P2P tasks from the prying eyes of ISPs and other surveillance agencies as they provide P2P-optimized servers.
Simultaneous connections
Multi-logins or simultaneous connections feature helps users protect their digital footprints while surfing the web on a wide range of devices.
All our chosen VPN services allow users to avail of simultaneous connections feature ideal for securing multiple devices at a time.
Unblocking capability
All the VPN services described in this guide help you unblock and watch numerous video-on-demand streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, etc., at impressive connection speeds without any hassle.
Money-back guarantee
We recommend that our users should check every particular security or privacy feature in detail before committing to any VPN service.
Fortunately, all VPNs mentioned above come with lengthy money-back guarantees that enable you to test their various features thoroughly.
All these features enable these top-notch VPN services to make it to the list of the best VPN Australia.
Speed and Stability
Speed is a major criterion to look for when you are choosing a VPN. You don’t want to end up paying for a service that offers extremely slow speeds, because it makes it useless.
A good VPN should not reduce your speeds by more than 20-25% and you should be able to get more than 70% of your actual speed at the very minimum.
Are VPNs legal in Australia?
There are currently no laws that prohibit the use of VPNs in Australia. Even bypassing geo-blocks to access restricted overseas content using a VPN has no legal ramifications in the country.
To further quote former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the subject:
The Copyright Act does not make it illegal to use a VPN to access overseas content. While content providers often have in place international commercial arrangements to protect copyright in different countries or regions, which can result in ‘geo-blocking’, circumventing this is not illegal under the Copyright Act.
There are no laws against using a VPN to bypass region-locked services and access them in Australia.
If we talk about torrenting, it is not fully illegal in Australia, however, a few years back, the government imposed a ban on various torrenting websites like PirateBay, TorrentFreak, etc.
So, if you use a VPN for torrenting, you are technically not breaking the law.
Am I completely anonymous with a VPN?
While a VPN does an excellent job at maintaining your anonymity in front of hackers and spoofers, it does not make you 100% anonymous online. For example, if you talk about VPN service providers, they can see your real IP address.
They can then use this information to log and track your online activities if they want. You must, therefore, be the only partner with a reliable VPN company that maintains a strict zero-log policy.
How much does a VPN cost per month?
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can cost anywhere between $2.49 and $15 per month depending on the provider and the plan you choose. Generally, with 1-year or longer subscriptions, you can expect discounts in the range of 30%–70%.
These savings improve further with exclusive seasonal deals, where you can save up to 88% on an original VPN plan.
All the best VPN providers in Australia mentioned above offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can give them a try risk-free.
FAQs
Why do I need a VPN?
Will a VPN reduce my connection speed?
What’s the best Netflix VPN in Australia?
Is Torrenting in Australia illegal?
Which VPN should I use for torrenting in Australia?
Do VPNs track what I do online and keep log Files?
Can you set up a VPN on a router?
Can you set up a VPN on a gaming console or Smart TV?
Are there any dangers with using a VPN?
Can a VPN make my internet faster?
Which VPN is best for watching Aussie rules footy?
Can I watch British TV in Australia?
Can a VPN be blocked?
Can you be tracked if you use a VPN?
Can I unblock betting sites with an Australian VPN?
Can I use an Australian VPN on mobile?
Why should you avoid free VPNs?
Can identity theft be stopped by using a VPN?
Will a VPN help avoid Australia's data retention law?
Are VPNs a waste of money?
Are any VPNs actually free?
Why use a VPN over Tor or Proxy?
Which free VPN is best for Australia?
Final verdict
So what do you exactly need a VPN for? If you are looking for an all-around VPN service and can afford to pay up a bit, ExpressVPN could be the best VPN Australia for you. Alternatively, you can go for Surfshark if you are short on budget.
However, if you have a special need, like downloading torrent files or watching Netflix, then we’d recommend NordVPN and PureVPN. Just a casual internet raider and will be using a VPN for the first time? Try CyberGhost; it’s user-friendly.
Overall, we have discussed the best VPN providers for Australians available right now.
Stay safe, stay anonymous, and happy VPN shopping!
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