Home VPN ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll? Try these EASY fixes! (May 2022)

ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll? Try these EASY fixes! (May 2022)

May 1, 2022

In this article, I will explain how to fix ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll.

If you’ve been watching Crunchyroll outside of the US with ExpressVPN and suddenly you cannot play any content, ExpressVPN isn’t currently able to provide any IP addresses that work with Crunchyroll.

This is happening because Crunchyroll constantly monitors for and tries to prevent VPNs from accessing its service.

To fix ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll, follow these simple steps. You can also read to the end of the article to find out why this is happening and how you can prevent it from happening again in the future.

ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll: Quick Fixes

Below are the steps you should try to fix ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll. If one method doesn’t fix the problem, move on to the next until you can watch Crunchyroll with a VPN again.

Delete Cookies

Deleting your Cookies is a great place to start when trying to fix ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll.

Cookies are used to make your online experience better. They’re small files that your browser stores. You may have noticed some websites asking you to accept them.

Crunchyroll uses Cookies a lot. Even if you don’t remember accepting Cookies, they may still be stored on your browser. While they aren’t malicious files, the problem with these Cookies is they sometimes contain information about your location.

If the location stored on your Cookies (your actual location) is different from the location selected on your VPN, Crunchyroll can see the discrepancy, and it knows you’re using a VPN to access its service. When this happens, it will block your connection.

Change to a different server on ExpressVPN

Crunchyroll may have stopped working because the IP address ExpressVPN has given you has been identified and blocked by Crunchyroll.

Crunchyroll can’t block ExpressVPN entirely; however, it can block the IP addresses it provides. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s been able to block all of ExpressVPN’s IP addresses.

Changing to a different server will provide you with a new IP address, and if that IP hasn’t been blocked, Crunchyroll will work with ExpressVPN again.

Upgrade to a more reliable VPN

If deleting your cookies and changing to a different server doesn’t fix ExpressVPN not working with Crunchyroll, then all of ExpressVPN’s current IP addresses have been blocked.

You can either wait for ExpressVPN to release new IP addresses that haven’t been blocked; however, there’s no telling how long this will take and seeing as you’ve already run into this issue, it’s clear that ExpressVPN measures to stay ahead of Crunchyroll’s VPN blocking techniques are not working. That means there’s a lot more they need to do to fix the issue than simply releasing new IP addresses. In its current state, if ExpressVPN releases new IP addresses, inevitably, these will get blocked by Crunchyroll as well.

The quickest and most effective way to fix this is to use a VPN that is still compatible with Crunchyroll. We recommend NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month). Both of these VPNs have measures in place to get around Crunchyroll’s blocks that will ensure you’ll never run into the errors you have come across with ExpressVPN

Why isn’t ExpressVPN working with Crunchyroll?

The reason ExpressVPN is no longer working with Crunchyroll is because all of its current IP addresses have been blocked by the streaming service.

Crunchyroll does not have the rights to broadcast all of its content internationally. For this reason, Crunchyroll tries to prevent users from watching content in areas where it does not have the rights to broadcast it.

If it didn’t do this, it could potentially run into content and licensing issues, and these are often met with severe fines.

Because ExpressVPN is a well-known way to watch Crunchyroll anywhere in the world, it could result in Crunchyroll being served these fines. To prevent this from happening, Crunchyroll tries to identify and block ExpressVPN connections.

How does Crunchyroll block ExpressVPN?

Crunchyroll cannot block ExpressVPN entirely, but it can block the IP addresses it provides.

It does this using three main techniques:

The most common technique is to do with the IP addresses that your VPN can provide. VPN providers have more customers than IP addresses; this means that customers are forced to share the same IP addresses. Usually, only a household with a few devices uses the same IP address. When Crunchyroll sees hundreds or even thousands of connections coming through on the same IP address, it knows that it is a VPN, and it blocks it.
Crunchyroll monitors for IP, DNS and WebRTC leaks that can tip the service off you are using a VPN.
Crunchyroll teams up with GeoIP databases like Maxmind to identify IP addresses. If the IP address your VPN provides is on one of these databases, Crunchyroll will be able to find out where in the world you are connecting to the internet from, and it will block you.

Does Crunchyroll still work with VPNs?

Although ExpressVPN has stopped working with Prime, the best VPNs won’t run into these sorts of problems.

NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month) have measures in place to get around Prime’s VPN blocking techniques. Not only do these VPNs have a large amount of IP addresses, meaning you will have less chance of sharing an IP address with other customers, they also are capable of staying ahead of Prime’s blocks.

When Crunchyroll blocks an IP address provided by NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month), these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This will allow you to watch Prime anywhere in the world reliably.

The best VPNs to watch Crunchyroll

1. NordVPN

The BEST VPN of 2022

Pro

Fast servers
No logs
Thousands of IP addresses
6-simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
Easy-to-use app

Cons

No refunds for purchases from iTunes/App store

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$3.49/month for 2-years
$6.99/month for 1-year
$11.95/month for 1 month

NordVPN is the most widely-used VPN in the world. And its easy to see why. It’s a polished app that delivers fast connections (more on this later) to a massive network of VPN servers. It’s the most reliable at unblocking popular streaming services too – US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is because NordVPN hired full-time technical team (that’s responsible for monitoring its servers connections with popular TV streaming services) and has been aggressively investing in its network of IP addresses in key locations. Another interesting thing to note is that NordVPN is an industry leader in its development of Nordlynx technology. Nordlynx is built using the WireGuard, a new VPN tunnelling protocol designed to outperform current standards (OpenVPN and IPSec). The benefits, according to NordVPN, are dramatically faster transfer speeds while connected to a VPN. My tests – New Zealand to London – confirm that Nordlynx is currently the fastest VPN on the market. However, the difference isn’t dramatic, a few Mbps is all.

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2. Ivacy

The BEST low-cost VPN

Pros

Fast servers
Thousands of IP addresses
Dedicated streaming servers
5-simultaneous connections
24/7 Live Chat
30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

Only 5 devices
Sometimes runs slow
Occasionally blocked by streaming sites

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$1.16/month for 5-years
$3.50/month for 1-year
$9.99/month for 1 month

If you’re looking for an excellent VPN, with an even better price tag, Ivacy ($1.16/month) is a great option. This VPN has all the features you need to stream BBC iPlayer, in HD, from any country in the world. I’ve been testing the app recently on Mac, PC, Android, iOS and FireStick and the results have been impressive – unlocking BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. with ease. The Ivacy app is a little different in regards to its UX (user experience). Instead of just selecting a UK server, you need to select the specific BBC iPlayer server. Don’t worry, this isn’t a bad thing – by connecting to a dedicated BBC iPlayer server, it simply means that you’re connecting to an IP address that Ivacy knows works with BBC iPlayer. For an extra $1.99/month (£1.74) you can add-on a dedicated IP. This will buy you sole access to an IP address in a country of your choice, meaning you won’t have to share your IP (and speeds) with any other use. I don’t recommend this though, using the regular Ivacy servers is enough 95 per cent of the time.

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3. ExpressVPN

A very reliable and fast VPN

Pros

Fast servers
Thousands of IP addresses
10-simultaneous connections
24/7 Live Chat
30-day money-back guarantee
Easy-to-use app

Cons

Expensive

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$6.66/month for 15 months
$9.99/month for 6 months
$12.95/month for 1 month

ExpressVPN is still one of the best VPNs you can buy. However, we’ve got it ranked in the number three spot for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s the most expensive VPN on the market. This was understandable when it was also the fastest and most reliable VPN too. But now it’s not. NordVPN is. ExpressVPN has recently been struggling to unblock some big streaming sites – BBC iPlayer and BeIN Sports – too. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video etc. ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites (apart from BBC iPlayer). Meaning, whenever one of its servers is blacklisted it creates a new one – giving its users a constant stream of servers that aren’t blocked. Needless to say, this is a valuable attribute if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock streaming sites. Its app is easy-to-use and free to download on pretty much any device you can think of. Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, FireStick, Android TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox, Linux, even Apple TV (with a workaround). It’s got it all covered. The app is another main reason this VPN is so good at unblocking TV streaming sites (that claim they block VPNs) is that its software takes a pragmatic approach to user management. While other VPNs tempt customers by promising them access to hundreds/thousands of servers in multiple countries, ExpressVPN does things differently. With ExpressVPN you only have a handful of server locations to choose from. Once you select your location the app takes care of the rest. Assigning you to the fastest available server that’s not oversubscribed. This simple technique is so important, as it keeps ExpressVPN’s servers operating at lightning-fast speeds and prevent its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.

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4. Private Internet Access

The BEST mid-range VPN for streaming!

Pros

Fast and reliable servers
Thousands of IP addresses
10-simultaneous connections
24/7 Live Chat
30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

Only 48 server locations

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30-day money-back guarantee

$2.19/month for 3-years
$3.33/month for 1-year
$11.95/month for 1-month

Private Internet Access is one of the leading no-log VPN services with over 1 million paying customers. This VPN is one of the best in the industry at beating streaming sites’ VPN bans. It provides reliable connections with US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ Amazon Prime Video, etc. It also allows 10 simultaneous devices to be connected to its servers at the same time, so you can share the account with your close friends. If, for whatever reason, you’re not happy with Private Internet Access, there’s a 24/7 live chat support available to assist you with your problem. PIA also offers the industry-standard 30-days money-back guarantee. From my tests (from New Zealand) I was able to get download speeds of 70 Mbps while connected to a UK server using the Private Internet Access VPN (my non-VPN speed is 100 Mbps).

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5. CyberGhost

Pros

1-day free trial
Reliable servers
Thousands of IP addresses
7-simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
Easy-to-use app

Cons

Expensive
Average speed scores

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30-day money-back guarantee

$2.75/month for 3 years
$3.69/month for 2 years
$5.99/month for 6 months
$12.99/month for 1 month

CyberGhost is one of the more established VPNs on the market. It has a well-established, and well-tested global network of servers that perform well. From my tests over the past several months, CyberGhost has no trouble at unblocking major streaming services – US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max etc. This VPN performed well at maintaining download speeds, well above 65 per cent of my regular (non VPN) ISP speed. That said, there’s nothing really unique about the service. Which forces you to look at its price-point. And there’s nothing special here. Its short-term $12.99/month price tag puts is well above the industry average of $10.10/month. Similarly, its long-term $2.75/month for 3 years deal isn’t much of a “deal” either. Oddly, CyberGhost’s most unique feature is its a 1-day, no obligations, free trial. This is an appealing offer to customers who are new to VPNs. However, it’s important to remember that most reputable VPNs will offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so try not to be too seduced by the offer.

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