If you’re trying to watch Hulu outside the US, the streaming service won’t work. Even if you’re a paying subscriber, if you’re on vacation or are overseas on a work trip, you won’t be able to access any content on Hulu.
The reason this is happening is because Hulu doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content internationally. It only has the rights to broadcast in the US. Because of this, Hulu blocks anyone outside the US from accessing the platform.
The good news is a VPN is a great way to get around these blocks. VPNs allow you to trick Hulu into thinking you’re accessing it from within the US, even when overseas. This will enable you to get around Hulu’s geo-based blocks.
With that said, VPNs are very popular and a massive number of them have been released. As with anything this popular, there are both good and bad VPNs, and not all of them will work with Hulu. This is because Hulu tries to stop VPNs from connecting to its service.
To help you find a VPN that will allow you to watch Hulu reliably, we’ve tried and tested several VPNs with Hulu and have created an expert guide to the best VPNs for the streaming service.
We’ve tested VPNs over multiple categories, and we’ve created a list of VPNs we use personally to stream Hulu outside the US. These VPNs will allow you to watch Hulu anywhere in the world reliably and consistently.
See also:
What makes a VPN good for Hulu?
When testing VPNs for Hulu, we look at four key criteria, speed, security, servers and the ability to get around Hulu’s VPN-blocking techniques.
If you’re looking for a VPN for Hulu, it needs to be fast. Because VPNs reroute your data through their servers, they can add latency to the connection meaning it will be a little slower than usual. If a VPN doesn’t have fast servers, the latency will cause issues like buffering and stuttering when watching the streaming service. This is why a VPN must have fast servers, so you don’t encounter these sorts of issues.
VPNs need to be secure to ensure they’ll work well with Hulu. The more secure a VPN is, the less likely the streaming service will be able to identify and block your VPN. It also means you can surf the internet anonymously and safely, which is a bonus.
When it comes to servers, not all VPNs are created equal. The best VPNs for Hulu have servers all over the world. VPNs are reliant on their network of servers as this network is what allows you to reroute your online data and watch Hulu anywhere in the world. The best VPNs for Hulu have numerous US servers. The more US VPN servers the VPN has, the higher your chance of watching Hulu reliably internationally.
The most important feature a VPN needs to have is it needs to have measures in place to ensure it works with Hulu reliably. The best VPNs for Hulu need to get around Hulu’s VPN blocking techniques. They need to use their speed, security and servers to ensure they work with the streaming service reliably. This will ensure you never run into issues trying to watch Hulu with a VPN.
How do we test the best VPNs for Hulu?
We test the best VPNs for Hulu 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 Hulu
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
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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!
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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
- $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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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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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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Does Hulu detect VPNs?
Yes, Hulu is constantly trying to detect and block VPNs.
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 the number of IP addresses they can provide; this means that customers can use the same IP addresses. Usually, only a household with a few devices uses the same IP address. When Hulu 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.
- Hulu monitors for IP, DNS and WebRTC leaks that can tip the service off you are using a VPN.
- Hulu teams up with GeoIP databases like Maxmind to identify IP addresses. If the IP address your VPN provides is on one of these databases, Hulu will be able to find out where in the world you are connecting to the internet from, and it will block you.
These techniques can be very difficult for lesser VPNs to get around. Fortunately, the best VPNs for Hulu have measures to get around these blocking techniques. These measures will ensure you can watch Hulu reliably anywhere in the world.
What VPN should I use for Hulu?
We recommend using a VPN with fast servers, secure protocols, measures in place to get around Hulu’s VPN blocking techniques, and servers all over the world.
We don’t recommend free VPNs. Free VPNs often won’t work with Hulu because they don’t have the infrastructure to ensure that they consistently work with Hulu.
From our testing, the best VPNs for Hulu are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month). Both of these VPNs work reliably with Hulu and are fast and secure enough to allow you to watch Hulu anywhere in the world.
Why do I need a VPN for Hulu?
The main reason you need a VPN for Hulu is so you can watch the streaming service anywhere in the world.
If you’re paying for Hulu and you go overseas, you won’t be able to watch Hulu. This means you’d be wasting money on a subscription that you can’t access.
A VPN allows you to watch Hulu anywhere in the world by tricking the streaming service into thinking you’re located in the US. It does this by providing you with a US IP address.
Hulu not working with VPN?
If you’re trying to watch Hulu 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 Hulu not working with VPN.
The majority of the time, the reason your VPN isn’t working with Hulu is because it isn’t fast or secure enough to work reliably with Hulu, and it doesn’t have measures in place to stay ahead of Hulu’s VPN blocks.
The best fix is to upgrade to one of the best VPNs for Hulu.
