The Best VPNs for USA

Private Internet Access is by far the best VPN when it comes to server locations in America.

In fact, you’ll have access to server locations in every single US state, which no other VPN offers.

If you’re abroad and want to access specific region-restricted content, such as local broadcasts and news, then PIA VPN is the right choice for you.

Additionally, the VPN’s US speeds are among the fastest we’ve ever recorded. When connecting from New York, our download speeds decreased by only 5% on a local server and by 10% when connected to a server on the West Coast.

Throughout many years of testing, we’ve never experienced traffic congestion thanks to the sheer amount of servers on offer.

PIA is an effective streaming VPN, able to get around geo-blocks imposed by platforms like Netflix, YouTube TV, HBO Max, Hulu, and ESPN+.

Private Internet Access consistently works with US Netflix.

That said, PIA’s streaming compatibility isn’t as reliable across different devices as ExpressVPN or NordVPN’s.

For instance, the Fire TV Stick app only works with Hulu and Peacock, but no other major American streaming apps.

Moreover, PIA’s Smart DNS service doesn’t work with streaming apps at all, which is bizarre.

Therefore, on devices that don’t support VPN apps, like on PlayStation and Xbox, you can install PIA on your router but you won’t enjoy the ‘luxury’ of a router app like ExpressVPN’s.

Private Internet Access is a safe and trustworthy VPN with a verified no-logs policy.

Every subscription plan includes a good ad blocker called MACE, and extra features like split tunneling, port forwarding, various encryption options, and a SOCKS5 proxy as part of the VPN.

PIA’s apps are also user-friendly, which makes the service a good choice for beginners and experienced VPN users alike.

All of the above is available for just $2.03/mo over 28 months, making PIA one of the cheapest VPNs on the market.

You can also take advantage of a 7-day VPN free trial, available via the Apple and Google Play app stores.

What we love about ExpressVPN is how it easily beats US content geo-restrictions on all popular devices.

We unblocked almost all US streaming services we tested the VPN with, including US Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, Disney+, and even Peacock TV from outside USA.

There’s more, the VPN also unlocked HBO Max and bypassed Hulu’s VPN blocks, too.

ExpressVPN is the best for unblocking US streaming sites like Max.

The great thing about using ExpressVPN is that it delivers fast and unrestricted access across an incredibly wide range of devices.

On top of its standard computer and mobile apps, ExpressVPN has also developed Fire TV and Apple TV software, a Smart DNS service (MediaStreamer), and even a unique router app.

ExpressVPN provides IP addresses in 18 city-level locations, including popular cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

While the company has never disclosed how many US servers it maintains, we have rarely experienced internet slowdowns due to server congestion. Video quality has also always been optimal.

ExpressVPN performed exceptionally well in all our tests, but this high level of performance does come with a price tag to match.

At its cheapest, it costs $4.99/mo over 28 months, substantially more than Private Internet Access.

That said, there are ways for you to try ExpressVPN for free before committing.

You can either sign up to a 7-day free trial via iOS or Android, or use the provider’s 30-day money-back guarantee, which the company has always honored in our experience.

NordVPN is a great solution if you want to watch US streaming services from anywhere in the world.

You can unblock US Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and most other popular American content platforms on the VPN’s US servers.

All of NordVPN’s US servers unblocked Hulu in our tests.

You can do this on its intuitive computer and smartphone apps, via its Fire TV Stick and Apple TV app, and using its Smart DNS service, which worked well on our test PS5 and Xbox consoles.

NordVPN owns nearly 2,000 servers located in America, giving its customers access to a wide range of US IP addresses.

Using its recommended Nordlynx protocol, we only suffered a download speed loss of 14% connecting from overseas. Speeds were fast, stable and resulted in high resolution streaming.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN are almost equal, but the former is certainly cheaper when you first sign up to its service.

At $2.99/mo over 27 months, NordVPN is a slightly less expensive alternative to ExpressVPN in exchange for similar speeds and access to geo-blocked video content.

It has to be said, though, that NordVPN’s apps aren’t as well-designed. For instance, the PC and Mac app interface can’t be resized, and it displays a rather redundant map that takes up way too much screen space.

We’ve also had occasional issues using the Firestick app to unblock US streaming apps. There is no router app, either, so using NordVPN on devices like Roku will be trickier.

Windscribe lets you connect to 8 US cities in 7 different states for free. These are:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Chicago, Illinois
• Dallas, Texas
• Los Angeles, California
• Miami, Florida
• New York City, New York
• Seattle, Washington
• Washington D.C.

For a free VPN, this is a very generous amount of US servers, with options on the East Coast, West Coast, and in the South.

Windscribe gives access to eight different free server locations.

With Windscribe you can also connect into 10 other countries, with fast free VPN servers in UK and reliable Canadian VPN addresses available, for example.

While this is a small selection of countries compared to the paid version, it’s still an impressive and diverse range of free servers to connect to.

Windscribe’s free VPN can surprisingly access most major US streaming services. It’s not quite as good as PrivadoVPN in this area, but it comes very close.

We found it to be an exceptionally reliable free VPN for Amazon Prime Video as well as HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu.

We watched Thursday Night Football on US Prime Video from abroad.

Sadly, the US servers no longer work with US Netflix, though. They used to work smoothly in the past, but for quite some time now Netflix blocks all of Windscribe’s free US IP addresses.

As with any free service, Windscribe has its drawbacks. The key one being its 10GB monthly bandwidth limit, which will frustrate frequent VPN users.

The other limitation concerns the VPN’s streaming performance. Despite clocking fast internet speeds, we regularly experience fluctuations that lead to picture degradation and sometimes even buffering.

PrivadoVPN is the only free VPN that unblocks US Netflix on desktop devices.

PrivadoVPN is the only safe free VPN that unblocks US Netflix.

Almost all other free VPNs we’ve tested can’t access American Netflix from overseas, not even Windscribe’s free service.

On top of that, PrivadoVPN unblocks a variety of other major US streaming services, including HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video’s US content library.

PrivadoVPN has also fixed its previously-faulty Fire TV Stick app, so you can now use it to stream geo-restricted content on your TV.

PrivadoVPN has free servers in 4 US city locations: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington.

We always appreciate a good coast-to-coast reach, although it’d be even better if there were servers in the flyover states and in the South.

Windscribe does offer more free US server locations, but in general we’ve found PrivadoVPN’s server speeds not only faster but more stable, too.

Our speed tests data revealed an impressive average download speed of 92Mbps while connected to PrivadoVPN’s US servers, representing a speed loss of just 8%.

We connected quickly to each server location, with no noticeable page loading times.

As with Windscribe, PrivadoVPN limits free use of its service to 10GB per month. This is restrictive, but still more generous than many other free VPNs, like TunnelBear’s 2GB data allowance.

PrivadoVPN is peculiar in that it requests you manually refresh your free data each month within your online account area. This is frustrating and unnecessary.