If you’re outside the UK, you won’t be able to access BBC iPlayer. You’ll come across an error saying “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues.”
This is happening because the BBC doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content internationally. It only has the rights to broadcast in the UK.
This means that if you’re overseas for work, holiday or you live overseas, you won’t be able to access any content on the BBC iPlayer platform.
Fortunately, a VPN allows you to get around these errors. The best VPNs will enable you to watch BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.
VPNs are getting increasingly popular, and the industry is booming right now. This has led to a massive influx of VPNs, some of which are good, and unfortunately, some are not so good. The not-so-good ones struggle to work with BBC iPlayer. But it can be tricky determining which VPNs will work and which won’t.
To help, we’ve constructed an expert guide on what we think are the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer. We’ve run them through stringent tests over multiple criteria, and we use them personally without issues. Here’s our list of the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer.
See also:
What makes a good BBC iPlayer VPN?
When we assess the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer, we look at four criteria: speed, servers, security and whether or not the VPN works reliably with BBC iPlayer.
On some occasions, we’ve all come across the dreaded buffering and stuttering when streaming content online. Because a VPN reroutes all of your online data through its own server, it adds a bit of latency to the connection. To cope with this, the VPN needs to be fast. If it’s not, it won’t work well with BBC iPlayer, and you’ll come across stuttering issues.
A VPN relies on the servers it has on its network. Without these servers, the VPN wouldn’t work. Not all VPNs have servers all over the world. When assessing what makes a good BBC iPlayer VPN, we look at how many servers it has, with importance on how many countries they’re located in. The more countries, the higher possibility of you being able to watch BBC iPlayer anywhere in the world.
How secure a VPN is is very important when streaming BBC iPlayer. Because VPNs allow users to watch iPlayer outside of its broadcast zone, the BBC tries to block them from accessing its content. If a VPN is secure, it makes it significantly harder for the BBC to do this. That’s why the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer need to have stringent security protocols in place.
The most important feature for a VPN to work well with BBC iPlayer is its ability to get around the BBC’s VPN blocking techniques. The best VPNs for BBC iPlayer use their speed, security and servers to ensure they’ll work reliably with BBC iPlayer, so you’ll never run into issues using the streaming service anywhere in the world.
How do we test the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer?
We test the best VPNs for Netflix over multiple criteria:
- We test how secure the VPN is: We do this by running it through DNS leak tests. If the VPN has a DNS leak issue, it has an issue with its security, as internet service providers (ISPs) can still potentially see your online data. The best VPNs don’t come across these sorts of issues.
- The number of servers: The best VPNs have thousands of servers around the world. The more servers, the better. Lesser VPNs, especially free VPNs, don’t have many servers meaning there’s less opportunity for you to surf the web anonymously.
- Speed: We measure the speed of a VPN by doing speed tests for multiple servers worldwide. We then compare this to our base internet speed with a VPN turned off.
- Compatibility with streaming services: A critical use case for VPNs is the ability to access geo-blocked streaming services. Unfortunately, these services try and prevent VPNs from accessing their platforms. The best VPNs have measures in place to get around these blocks. When testing a VPN, we try it with several geo-blocked streaming services. The best VPNs will allow you to watch all the leading streaming services worldwide.
- Price: Based on our research, the average cost of the top 20 VPNs is $4.33/month. We use this as a comparison when looking for the best-value VPNs.
- Devices: VPNs are usually compatible with more than one device simultaneously. Obviously, the more, the better.
The best VPNs for BBC iPlayer
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2022
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).
Special Offer – Save 83%
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
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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.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
Does BBC iPlayer allow VPNs?
Yes, it does. However, you need to use a VPN that has the infrastructure and the resources to ensure it remains reliable with the streaming service.
BBC iPlayer tries to block VPNs. While it can’t block a VPN entirely, it can block the IP addresses the VPN provides.
It does this by monitoring for an abnormal number of connections coming from the same IP address. Usually, only a household of devices connects to iPlayer via the same IP address.
The problem for lesser VPNs is they don’t have enough IP addresses to give each customer their own. This results in IP addresses having to be shared.
Now when hundreds or thousands of customers using the same VPN IP address connect to BBC iPlayer, it knows it’s a VPN, and it blocks the connection. This can be hard for lesser, especially free VPNs, to get around.
Fortunately, the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer, like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), have measures in place to get around this issue.
These VPNs play a game of cat and mouse with the BBC. If, on the off chance, an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) gets blocked by the BBC, these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This will allow you to watch BBC iPlayer anywhere in the world reliably.
Why do I need a BBC iPlayer VPN?
The main reason you need a BBC iPlayer VPN is so you can watch the streaming service anywhere in the world.
If you’re outside the UK, you can’t watch BBC iPlayer without a VPN. Even if you’re a UK citizen and you go on holiday abroad, you still won’t be able to access the streaming service.
This is because the BBC doesn’t have the copyright and licensing agreements to broadcast its content internationally.
With live sports, movies, TV shows and a whole lot more, BBC iPlayer is one of the best free streaming services in the world. Being able to watch it outside the UK is a massive benefit.
The best VPNs, like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), allow you to watch BBC iPlayer anywhere in the world so you can watch UK sports coverage or your favourite content anywhere you go.
BBC iPlayer not working with VPN?
If you’re trying to watch BBC iPlayer with a VPN and it’s not working. The streaming service has managed to identify, block and blacklist all of the IP addresses your VPN can provide.
This can be frustrating, but there are several fixes you can try to fix BBC iPlayer not working with VPN.
The majority of the time, the reason your VPN isn’t working with BBC iPlayer is because it isn’t fast or secure enough to work reliably with BBC iPlayer, and it doesn’t have measures in place to stay ahead of the BBC’s VPN blocks.
The best fix is to upgrade to one of the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer.
