If you’re trying to watch Showtime outside the US, the streaming service won’t work. You’ll encounter errors when accessing the platform, and you won’t be able to play any content.
This is happening because Showtime is a US-based streaming service that only has the rights to broadcast its content in the US, and it stops anyone outside the country from watching its content.
Frustratingly, even if you’re already a Showtime subscriber, the service won’t work outside the US. If you want to watch your favourite shows while on holiday or abroad, you won’t be able to.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get around Showtime’s location-based blocks. All you need to do is make Showtime think you’re inside the US when accessing the platform.
The best way to do that is with a reliable VPN.
This article will explain how to watch Showtime outside the US with a reliable VPN.
See also:
- Showtime not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes! (September 2023)
- How to watch Sling TV outside the US: The EASY method! (September 2023)
How to watch Showtime outside the US: Quick Guide
To watch Showtime outside the US, follow these simple steps:
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Create a new account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
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Download and install the new VPN app
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Select a US server
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Login to your Showtime account (if you don’t have one, read below to find out how to make one)
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Watch Showtime outside the US
How to make a Showtime account outside the US
If you already have a Showtime account, you can skip this step.
Creating a Showtime account can be tricky if you don’t live in the US. Because Showtime is a US-based streaming service, it only accepts US forms of payment.
This means you’ll need a US credit card or PayPal account. I could make an account with an American Express credit card issued in my home country, though, so it’s a good idea to try that if you have an American Express credit card.
If you have a US credit card or PayPal account
- Connect to a US server on ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
- Visit SHOWTIME – Watch Award-Winning Series, Order PPV Fights, Stream Across Your Favorite Devices
- Select sign up or create account
- It will ask you for a US address. If you don’t have one, you can use one here.
- Input your credit card details
Use an Apple gift card
If you have an Apple device, an easy way to create a Showtime account is with an Apple gift card.
Follow the steps below to create a Showtime account using an Apple gift card
- Connect to a US server on ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
- Create a new US-based Apple ID
- Sign out of your existing account
- Create a new Apple ID account with an active email address
- Input your existing phone number
- Verify your email address
- Once your account is created, go into your account and go to Payments and Delivery
- Select change region
- Click review
- When prompted change your country to the US
- Click next
- When asked for a US address you can get one here here.
- You’ll now have access to the US Apple App Store
- Download the Showtime app
- Purchase an Apple gift card, you can get one from Amazon, and redeem it
- Open up the Showtime app and select “Subscribe Now”
- Pay for the account with your Apple account funds
Use a Google Play Store gift card
The Android version of the Showtime app allows in-app purchases.
This means you don’t have to have a US credit card or PayPal account to subscribe to Showtime on Android. You can use Google Play gift cards to pay as well.
Follow the steps below to create a Showtime account using a Google Play gift card:
- Connect to a US server on ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
- Change to the US version of the Google Play Store
- Open the Play Store app
- Select General, then Account and device preferences
- Select Country and profiles and select the US
- Add your payment details, you can use any credit card
- You’ll now have access to the US version of the Google Play Store
- Purchase a Google Play gift card
- Download the Showtime app
- Click “subscribe now”
- Pay for your account using your Google Play gift card
Can I watch Showtime internationally?
Officially, you can’t watch Showtime internationally. The reason for this is because Showtime doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content outside the US.
Fortunately, a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) allows you to trick Showtime into thinking you’re inside the US by changing your IP address to a US IP address.
This will allow you to watch Showtime anywhere in the world.
How does Showtime block my connection when abroad?
This is all to do with your IP address.
An IP address is a unique code allocated to your device to form a communication link between your device and the online service you’re visiting. In this case, Showtime.
The issue here is in order for this communication to work, your IP address contains information about your physical location.
Showtime scans every IP address that connects to its service to find this geographic information. If the information shows you’re outside the US, Showtime blocks the connection, and you can’t access any of its content.
To get around this, you need to use a VPN that can provide you with a US IP address. The most reliable VPNs we’ve used are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month)
Can I watch Showtime with a VPN?
Yes, you can watch Showtime with a VPN; however you need a VPN that can get around Showtime’s VPN blocking methods.
Because VPNs potentially allow you to watch Showtime in countries where it doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content, they could be the reason Showtime faces severe financial punishments for breaching its copyright and licensing agreements. To prevent this from happening, Showtime tries to block VPNs.
The good news is the streaming service doesn’t have the ability to block a VPN entirely, however it can block the IP addresses a VPN provides.
These blocks can be hard for VPNs to get around. A lot of free and lesser VPNs can’t do this, and they often don’t work with Showtime.
To watch Showtime with a VPN, you need to use a VPN that works reliably with the streaming service and has measures in place to ensure all of its IP addresses don’t get blocked by Showtime. We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
The best VPNs to watch Showtime outside the US
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2023
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
Special Offer for you!
Get 3 extra months free when you sign up for a 12-month ExpressVPN plan. That’s 15 months in total for the price of 12.
Number of servers: 3,000+ | Speed: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 160 in 94 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $6.66/month for 15 months
- $9.99/month for 6 months
- $12.95/month for 1 month
ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is still the best VPN. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites. 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 prevents its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.
Check out our full ExpressVPN review.
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2. Private Internet Access 🥈
The BEST low-cost 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
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 25,000+ | Speed: >75% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 70 in 74 countries | Devices supported: 10 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.03/month for 3 years
- $7.50/month for 6 months
- $11.99/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-day 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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3. NordVPN 🥉
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ 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
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 5,000+ | Speeds: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 62 countries | Devices supported: 6 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $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 it’s 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 a 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 tunneling 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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4. Ivacy
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ Dedicated streaming servers
- ✅ 5-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
Cons
- ❌ Only 5 devices
- ❌ Sometimes runs slow
- ❌ Occasionally block by streaming sites for several days
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for Ivacy and enjoy a 7-day trial with no strings attached
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $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.
Special Offer – 7-day FREE trial!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
5. CyberGhost
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
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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Take advantage of CyberGhost’s 1-day FREE TRIAL!
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.75/month for 3 years
- $3.69/month for 2 years
- $5.99/month for 1 year
- $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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(30-day money-back guarantee)
