The Best VPNs for the UAE

What makes Astrill better than all other VPNs at unblocking is its advanced obfuscation technology.

Its proprietary protocols (StealthVPN and OpenWeb) disguise your VPN traffic as normal traffic, allowing you to access websites and VoIP services that other VPNs fail to unblock.

StealthVPN is the better option if you want the most powerful obfuscation, whereas OpenWeb is a more lighweight alternative that’s faster and better for voice calls or streaming.

But you’ve also got the option to use WireGuard and OpenVPN, which are the industry gold standard for security and privacy.

They offer strong ChaCha20 and AES-256 encryption ciphers, ensuring your web activity stays hidden from Etisalat and Du.

Astrill has a range of VPN servers suited to users in the UAE, including a VPN server inside the UAE that will assign you a UAE IP address.

It also has a good selection of server locations in nearby countries with internet freedom like Greece, South Africa, and Bulgaria.

Nearby servers can help you unblock websites and web services without losing speeds.

Astrill temporarily stores some data, like your IP address and timestamps.

We don’t see this as a dealbreaker because all of this information is permanently deleted after each VPN session.

However, it does mean it isn’t as private as ExpressVPN, which avoids logging any identifiable information at all.

We would also like to see Astrill adopt diskless servers and commission an independent audit to prove its privacy-friendly logging policy.

Astrill is the only VPN on the market that always bypasses online censorship, and its price also reflects this.

If you’re based in the UAE or plan to move there, the cheapest long-term subscription is $12.50 per month on a 2-year contract, which is around double the price of ExpressVPN on its cheapest plan.

Astrill is also one of the few VPNs that doesn’t offer a free trial or refund policy, meaning you can’t try it before you buy it.

Lastly, Astrill is slightly slower than ExpressVPN. In our speed tests, we recorded an average 25% speed loss connected to servers around the globe.

However, these speeds are more than enough to stream video in full HD or bypass censorship smoothly.

We love how simple it is to use ExpressVPN — especially on iPhone. The app comes with obfuscation enabled, so simply open the app and connect to your country of choice to get a new IP address.

ExpressVPN has a huge global server network of 3,000 in 106 countries. The VPN is constantly refreshing its IP addresses, so censors and websites are unable to detect your VPN connection.

If you’re in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, we recommend using ExpressVPN’s Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Georgia servers for access to blocked services, while also maintaining fast speeds.

Unlike Astrill, ExpressVPN doesn’t offer servers in the UAE. However, it’s a great pick for connecting out to a different country and bypassing web blocks.

With ExpressVPN, you can unblock dating websites, adult sites, gambling sites, and more within the UAE.

ExpressVPN is our fastest pick for Dubai. We recorded an international speed loss of just 15%, which is extremely impressive.

It’s fast speeds make it a great option for unblocking and holding WhatsApp or FaceTime calls.

ExpressVPN is also better than Astrill at unblocking global streaming services. It successfully bypasses geo-restrictions on almost every streaming service we’ve tested, including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer.

Every site we’ve tested with the VPN loads quickly at maximum picture quality, and without any buffering.

At just $4.99 per month on a 15-month contract, ExpressVPN is much cheaper than Astrill.

You can also opt for a monthly subscription, giving you the flexibility to cancel when you like, for just $12.95 per month.

That said, you can test out the service completely free of charge with its 7-day free trial or 30-day money-back guarantee offer.

There’s a reason why Windscribe Free is the only free VPN we recommend for the UAE: it’s the only safe free VPN that works well against online censorship.

Its two obfuscation protocols, Stealth and WStunnel, consistently unblock websites in the UAE without any issues. Usually we see VPNs paywall their obfuscation protocols or servers, so Windscribe’s user-first approach is a welcome change.

If you’re based in the UAE and want access to websites, services, or content from outside the region, you’ll have to connect to a VPN server in a different country.

Windscribe Free doesn’t offer servers in neighboring countries with less internet restrictions, like Cyprus or Bulgaria.

But we do recommend using Windscribe Free’s US and Canada VPN servers. There’s also a good selection of servers in Europe: UK, Germany, and Switzerland.

Using Windscribe Free, we experienced an average speed loss of 13% on international servers.

Considering that free VPNs are generally slower than their paid counterparts, this isn’t a bad result. Nonetheless, ExpressVPN beats its speeds by far.

Windscribe Free can unblock some streaming services, but it doesn’t perform as well as other paid VPNs. It doesn’t offer any servers in the UAE, so you aren’t able to unblock services like Starzplay or JawwyTV. It also fails to unblock US Netflix.

Windscribe Free might offer a restricted server network, but it offers the same robust security and privacy as the paid version.

With the VPN, you get access to its reliable kill switch, which prevents your real IP address from leaking should your internet connection drop, and strong AES-256 encryption, which prevents local ISPs from seeing your internet activity.

Windscribe Free’s diskless VPN servers also prevent your data from being saved onto a physical hard drive, and its open-source app code is available for all security experts to scrutinize.

We’re impressed that Windscribe recently completed a privacy and security audit, which validated its robust server infrastructure and minimal logging policy.

The audit also highlighted Windscribe’s proactive approach, with all identified issues promptly addressed and recommendations implemented effectively.

Windscribe Free doesn’t require its users to add credit card details, but you do have to register before using it.

Windsribe Free also has a restrictive data cap of 10GB per month.

Depending on whether you’re traveling to the UAE for a few days or if you’re based in the country, you might find paid alternatives more suitable for everyday use.