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After testing 65 VPNs, we’ve discovered that there is only one free VPN that offers an Australian IP address, and only a few VPNs reliably unblock Australian streaming services like Kayo Sports, SBS On Demand, and Australian Netflix.
Based on our hands-on tests, our recommended VPNs for connecting to Australia are:
Our Verdict: NordVPN is the best VPN for Australia, with an overall rating of 9.6/10. It has the most VPN servers in Australia, fast connection speeds, and it’s excellent at unblocking Australian sports and streaming content.
The three VPNs we recommend all have servers in Australia. You can use them to get an Australian IP address and unblock Australian TV shows and sports abroad, including streaming AFL on Kayo Sports.
The table below compares our VPN recommendations for Australia based on the number of Australia servers they offer, which Australian streaming sites they unblock, how fast their connection speeds are, and more:
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
NordVPN is the best VPN for Australia. It has the most Australian VPN servers of any VPN, unblocks every Australian streaming service, and delivers the fastest speeds connecting into Australia from abroad.
| Cheapest Price | $3.29/mo over 2 years See all plans |
|---|---|
| Australia Servers | 190 |
| Australia Server Locations | Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney |
| Australia Netflix | Yes |
| SBS On Demand | Yes |
| Support | 24/7 Live Chat |
| Compatible with |
|
NordVPN has the largest Australian server network of any VPN, with 190 servers spread across 5 Australian cities. You can easily get IP addresses in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.
With more Australian servers than any other VPN, we didn’t encounter any server congestion, and therefore avoided connection issues and CAPTCHAs. This made using NordVPN smooth and bug-free.
NordVPN unblocked every Australian service we tested. Here are the full results of our Australian streaming tests:
| Australian Streaming Service | NordVPN Unblocks |
|---|---|
| 7Plus | Yes |
| 9Now | Yes |
| ABC iView | Yes |
| Kayo Sports | Yes |
| Netflix Australia | Yes |
| SBS On Demand | Yes |
With such easy access to Australian streaming sites, our tests found that it’s the best VPN for streaming the AFL — it was able to unblock Kayo Sports on every Australian server.
The downside is that NordVPN’s Smart DNS feature does not work with Australian streaming sites, so you’ll have to stick to using the VPN software.
We unblocked Australian streaming services like SBS On Demand with NordVPN.
We experienced excellent speeds connecting into Australia from abroad with NordVPN. After connecting to Sydney from New York, our speed loss was only 16%.
On average, NordVPN’s US to Australia download speed is 84Mbps, which is more than enough for any online activity. In fact, it is the fastest VPN for connecting into Australia.
NordVPN has user-friendly and attractive apps. You can install it on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and Android TV. You’re also allowed to establish a VPN connection on 10 devices simultaneously, which is generous compared to many similar VPNs.
Although NordVPN feels nice to use, we enjoyed using ExpressVPN slightly more. Unlike NordVPN, its features are labeled and its compact design takes up less screen size compared to NordVPN’s desktop apps.
Considering its impressive Australian performance, NordVPN is excellent value for money. It costs $3.29 per month on its best deal. This is less than half the price of ExpressVPN.
However, this price increases when your subscription is renewed, ultimately reaching the same price as ExpressVPN. Put simply, you lose the budget factor after two years of use.
NordVPN has a 7 day free trial if you download the app and sign up for a subscription on Android. All of NordVPN’s plans have a 30-day refund offer, too — you don’t even need to explain why you want your money back.
NordVPN beat ExpressVPN in our tests for Australia mainly because it has more Australian servers and accesses Kayo Sports. However, ExpressVPN is a close second, with Australian servers in five cities, reliable access to the majority of Australian streaming services, and the widest device compatibility of any VPN. If you want to get an Australian IP address on lots of different devices, ExpressVPN is a great alternative.
| Cheapest Price | $6.67/mo over 15 Months See all plans |
|---|---|
| Australia Servers | Undisclosed |
| Australia Server Locations | Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney |
| Australia Netflix | Yes |
| SBS On Demand | Yes |
| Support | 24/7 Live Chat |
| Compatible with |
|
ExpressVPN has Australian IP addresses in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. This is the same as NordVPN, but it includes the ability to manually select local Sydney servers, so you can get IP addresses in the Wooloomooloo district.
ExpressVPN doesn’t disclose exactly how many servers are in its Australian network, so it’s difficult to compare it to NordVPN like-for-like. However, the stable connections and lack of slowdowns we experienced indicate that ExpressVPN maintains quite a lot.
ExpressVPN comes with a large number of Australian city servers.
We tested ExpressVPN with every major Australian streaming site. Here are the results:
| Australian Streaming Service | NordVPN Unblocks |
|---|---|
| 7Plus | Yes |
| 9Now | Yes |
| ABC iView | Yes |
| Kayo Sports | No |
| Netflix Australia | Yes |
| SBS On Demand | Yes |
ExpressVPN successfully bypasses geo-blocks on the majority of Australian streaming services. Each site streamed quickly at maximum picture quality with little or no buffering.
The only disappointment was its failure to bypass Kayo Sports geo-blocks outside Australia. For that, use NordVPN.
ExpressVPN unblocks Australian on demand streaming services like ABC iView.
Using ExpressVPN, we connected to Sydney from the US and recorded just a 17% loss in our download speed. This is an impressive result considering a distance of 10,000 miles.
The average download speed you can expect connecting into Australia is 83Mbps, which is more than enough for streaming Australian content in Full HD and 4K without any buffering.
ExpressVPN makes getting an Australian IP address quick and easy, thanks to its intuitive and well-designed apps that quickly connect you to Australian servers.
It’s the most widely compatible VPN on the market, with apps for every major platform, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. There are also bespoke apps for Apple TV, Fire TV Stick, and Android TV, so you can stream Australian sports and TV on your home devices.
ExpressVPN is the only VPN that has an app for routers, but its Smart DNS cannot be used to unblock Australian streaming services.
ExpressVPN’s cheapest subscription works out at $6.67 per month. This is not cheap when compared to competing VPNs, including NordVPN, but we believe its reliable Australia performance justifies the cost.
You can test ExpressVPN for free by taking advantage of its 30-day money back guarantee or signing up to ExpressVPN on iOS or Android, where a 7-day free trial is available.
TunnelBear is the only free VPN with servers in Australia. By default, it’s the best free VPN for getting an Australian IP address. However, it’s limited by an inability to unblock most Australian streaming sites and a restrictive 2GB monthly data cap.
| Data Cap | 2GB |
|---|---|
| Free Australia Servers | 1 |
| Australia Server Locations | Sydney |
| Australia Netflix | No |
| Support | Email & Online Resources Only |
| Compatible with |
|
TunnelBear is the only free VPN service with an Australia server. It allows you to connect to a Sydney IP address from any country without any cost. This is useful if you want to access Australian websites from abroad.
Its server list is identical to the paid version, but we’d like to see more Australian cities added. Australia covers 3,000 square miles, so including servers on the west coast in Perth would be better for users connecting to Australia from Europe or Asia.
Using TunnelBear Free to connect to an Australian IP address.
Here are the results of TunnelBear Free’s Australian streaming tests:
| Australian Streaming Service | NordVPN Unblocks |
|---|---|
| 7Plus | Yes |
| 9Now | No |
| ABC iView | No |
| Kayo Sports | No |
| Netflix Australia | No |
| SBS On Demand | No |
Sadly, TunnelBear Free was detected and blocked by most Australian streaming services. The only exception is 7Plus.
If you want to access Australian streaming services for free, TunnelBear Free is not useful and we’d recommend signing up to a NordVPN or ExpressVPN free trial instead.
TunnelBear Free doesn’t work with most Australian streaming services.
Connecting to TunnelBear’s free Sydney server from New York, we enjoyed fast and stable internet connections into Australia. Our speed loss was only 26%.
We’re pleased that TunnelBear Free does not cap or throttle its connection speeds like other free VPNs do. Our average download speed was 74Mbps, which means smooth internet connections despite the geographical distance.
TunnelBear has some of the most user-friendly VPN apps around, and it’s available to install on popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. You can also install it as a browser extension for even quicker access to an Australian IP address.
However, TunnelBear’s apps are nowhere near as advanced as those on offer from ExpressVPN and NordVPN, and there are no bespoke clients for streaming devices like Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, or Android TV. It’s not compatible with routers, either.
That means there’s no way to stream Australian content or access Australian websites on anything other than your desktop and mobile.
TunnelBear’s free VPN requires no account or credit card details before you can install it. It makes getting an Australian IP address easy, free, and privacy-friendly.
The downsides are substantial though, including a data cap of 2GB per month. This is one of the most restrictive data caps of any free VPN service. For contrast, Windscribe Free offers 10GB per month. However, it is an improvement — TunnelBear used to only offer 500MB.
After years of testing, we have also noticed that TunnelBear’s free data no longer accumulates if you don’t use it. Previously, unused data used to pile up, but TunnelBear has removed this feature.
Using a VPN with servers in Australia is the easiest way to get an Australian IP address. In the video below, we show how easy it is to acquire an Australian IP address using a VPN.
It takes 30 seconds to get an Australian IP address using a VPN.
Here’s how to get an Australian IP address with a VPN:
Many of the VPNs we tested for Australia aren’t worth recommending. They often don’t offer enough Australian server locations, are slow connecting from overseas, or fail to unblock popular streaming services.
Here are some popular VPNs that didn’t make the cut in our testing:
Our research shows that nearly every premium VPN offers Australian servers, with the exception of AirVPN. For this reason, it’s not a useful VPN for Australia as you cannot get an Australian IP address.
Astrill VPN has servers in Sydney and Casula, but it doesn’t disclose exactly how many. Alongside this, its long-distance connections into Australia are much slower than competitors, and its streaming performance is well below our expectations. It was unable to access SBS On Demand, Netflix Australia, 7Plus, and Kayo Sports.
CyberGhost was very close to making our recommendations list. It has 213 Australia servers, most of which bypass geo-blocks. Sadly, the VPN’s connections into Australia weren’t fast enough.
Similarly to CyberGhost, IPVanish almost made the cut, but it’s slow. Even worse, it doesn’t unblock Australian streaming services, including Netflix Australia, SBS On Demand, or Kayo Sports.
PrivateVPN performed similarly to CyberGhost. It works with Australian streaming services, but its long-distance speeds are slower than other top-tier VPNs.
We think highly of Windscribe Free as a free service, but it has no Australian servers. That means you cannot get an Australian IP address or access Australian websites.
Free VPNs that do not include Australian servers and should be avoided include:
To find the best VPN for Australia, we tested and compared 65 VPNs based on five key testing categories, giving each a sub-rating that contributes to its overall rating for Australia. Here’s the breakdown:
Below you can read each VPN’s sub-rating and what we did to get them:
What We Did: Counted the number of Australian servers in each VPN’s network, including how many city locations it offers, followed by the use of IP address checker to confirm a successful Australian connection.
Why It’s Important: You need an Australian IP address to access Australian websites, and the more servers a VPN offers, the better its performance is.
Optimal Result: 100s of Australian servers spread across most Australian cities.
What We Did: Tested each VPN with six major Australian streaming sites, including SBS On Demand, Kayo Sports, 9Now, 7Play, ABC iView, and Netflix Australia.
Why It’s Important: Enables access to Australian streaming sites outside of Australia.
Optimal Result: Unblocks every Australian streaming site tested.
What We Did: Performed in-house speed tests to assess each VPN’s download speed when connecting into Australia from various global locations.
Why It’s Important: Fast speeds enable smooth browsing and buffer-free streaming in high quality resolution.
Optimal Result: Less than 20% download speed loss connecting to the VPN’s Australian servers.
What We Did: Inspected each VPNs security suite for industry-standard encryption, tested its kill switch, and checked for any IP address or DNS leaks.
Why It’s Important: IP address leaks can prevent you from unblocking Australian content abroad, and strong encryption is a necessity for any worthwhile VPN.
Optimal Result: Zero data leaks, a working kill switch, and a comprehensive security suite with up-to-date encryption.
What We Did: Reviewed each VPN’s privacy policy and assessed its logging policy in accordance with our in-house standards.
Why It’s Important: Many VPNs store identifying data, which poses a significant privacy risk.
Optimal Result: No-logs policy evidenced by a court case or third-party audit.
Most free VPNs have data caps that restrict your VPN’s performance. To account for this limitation, we apply a penalty to a free VPN’s overall rating. This is based on how severe its data cap is:
From our list of Australia VPNs, TunnelBear Free’s rating was reduced by 35% to account for its restrictive offering of 2GB of data per month.
