Hulu is only available in the US, which is less than ideal for anyone travelling overseas for work or vacation, as it'll mean that some content becomes unavailable until they return to the States.
The best way to combat this is with one of today's best VPNs for Hulu. VPNs can spoof your digital location, making sites and apps think you're somewhere else in the world, so if you've left the US but want to tune back in to your favorite Hulu shows, all you need to do is connect to an American VPN server.
The TechRadar team has over 11 years of experience putting the best VPNs to the test, making sure you have the essential information you need to pick the provider that’s right for you. We don’t just look at how they work with streaming sites; we check out how easy they are to use and how fast their connections are, so you can stream without worrying about buffering.
5 best Hulu VPNs: quick overview
The 5 best Hulu VPNs in 2025
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The best Hulu VPN overall
NordVPN is our top pick, thanks to its flawless unblocking performance and near chart-topping speeds. Plus, for folks living in households with lots of gadgets, NordVPN comes with ten simultaneous connections you can share between family and friends.
Access to streaming sites like Hulu is a big reason people use a VPN, and NordVPN shines here. In our latest round of VPN tests, we found it reliably unblocks Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, the BBC iPlayer, and, of course, Hulu. NordVPN has hundreds of servers around the world, and plenty of locations to choose from in North America, so if you find that you are having issues accessing Hulu through one location, there are plenty of others.
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Download speeds are an important consideration when it comes to picking the right VPN, especially for streaming content, but you don’t need to worry with NordVPN. When testing through our 1 GB connection, download speeds averaged around 950 Mbps when connected through the WireGuard protocol, but dropped to around 170 Mbps using OpenVPN. That’s still fast enough for all but the largest of downloads and more than five times faster than the recommended speeds you need for 4K streaming.
NordVPN protects you through an impressive set of added features, too. There's Threat Protection that blocks malicious websites and checks any downloaded files to make sure they don’t contain malware. Dark web monitoring that checks the dark web for your login details and email addresses to ensure they haven't been compromised, and obfuscated servers that hide your VPN usage, which helps evade network and government VPN bans.
NordVPN has apps for pretty much every device out there, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux, making sure you can access Hulu’s content regardless of the device you’re using. These apps are easy to use but can feel a little cluttered compared to competitors like ExpressVPN.
The best budget Hulu VPN
Surfshark isn't just a great cheap VPN; it’s another strong option for anyone looking for a reliable Hulu VPN. Surfshark is also our top recommendation for anyone who has a lot of devices they want to protect and doesn't want to compromise on features, or try using one of the many free VPNs out there due to the restrictions they have on bandwidth and number of simultaneous connections.
Surfshark is no slouch in our speed tests, reaching speeds of over 950 Mbps when connected over the WireGuard protocol and an impressive 640 Mbps using OpenVPN. We found it worked with the major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+, ITV, the BBC iPlayer, and Hulu, making it a solid and cost-effective choice for streaming and gaming, with a performance that's more than fast enough for both.
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A budget price tag doesn’t mean that you need to compromise on features, however, and choosing Surfshark as your Hulu VPN gives you access to all the same functionality you’d find in more expensive offerings. There’s built-in advert and tracker blocking, a data breach notifier, and even a tool called Alternative ID that creates a brand new identity and email address you can use to fill in forms and sign up to websites, protecting you from spam or having your details harvested.
One of Surfshark’s most interesting features is Incogni. This is a service that helps automate the process of requesting the deletion of your personal data from data brokers and advertising companies that want to know everything about what you do and what you're watching online.
Surfshark’s other features include Camouflage Mode, its implementation of obfuscated servers to hide the fact you're using a VPN at all. There's also CleanWeb, its ad/tracker/malware blocking solution, and Surfshark is one of the few providers to offer unlimited simultaneous connections for busy households with lots of devices, where everyone wants to watch something different at the same time.
Like NordVPN, Surfshark’s app can seem a little busy at first glance compared to some other providers. The app gives you a lot of information and options, and is solid and reliable, offering plenty of configuration and customization options to suit even the most discerning of internet users.
The best Hulu VPN for beginners
A higher subscription price and a more limited feature set compared to some cheaper rivals mean ExpressVPN comes in third on our list of picks, but it’s still got plenty to offer, including easy-to-use apps, a wide selection of servers to pick from, and fast speeds ideal for HD and 4K streaming.
In our latest round of VPN testing, we were able to access Hulu and multiple other streaming sites, including Netflix, Disney+, Channel 4, and BBC iPlayer, making it a great choice for anyone with subscriptions to multiple different services.
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ExpressVPN did falter a little when it came to download speeds, but not enough to disrupt our experience using it to stream movies. During our testing, we got download speeds of just under 900 Mbps, which is slower than the top two choices on this list but still more than 30x faster than the recommended speed you need for 4k streaming, as well as downloading and torrenting large files.
ExpressVPN comes with a solid selection of features for users, including support for up to twelve simultaneous connections and its own bespoke version of the WireGuard protocol, called Lightway. ExpressVPN’s users also get split-tunneling, a feature that allows you to decide which apps use the VPN connection and which don't.
There’s a built-in ad-blocker and even a password manager called ExpressVPN Keys to help you remember your Hulu login. These days, when everyone has a hundred different accounts, a password manager is a handy tool that'll generate and securely store all of your logins, even auto-filling online fields.
ExpressVPN offers apps for just about any device you might stream Hulu with, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Fire TV Stick, and Android TV. ExpressVPN's mobile and desktop apps are quick to install and simple to use with a sleek, simple layout that beginner VPN users will find easy to get to grips with, though the desktop app is missing a few useful features that are included in the mobile versions.
The best privacy-friendly VPN for Hulu
Malaysian-based VPN Hide.me is one of the smaller providers on this list, but it still boasts over 2,000 servers in 91 different locations worldwide and 16 locations in the USA, so you should be able to find a location that works to allow you access to Hulu, no matter where in the world you are.
Hide.me proudly proclaims that by using its product, you'll 'avoid annoying censorship,' and the VPN that backs up those bold marketing claims. We were able to access all major streaming services, including Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. You don’t need to worry about any issues with lag or buffering with Hide.me’s surprisingly speedy connections either.
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When connected over WireGuard, we saw download speeds of just shy of 600 Mbps, and when using the older OpenVPN, we saw over 260 Mbps. What was interesting was that when we used Hide.me's Bolt, our OpenVPN speeds jumped all the way to 950 Mbps, which rivals the fastest speeds we see on WireGuard. Bolt really does seem to do what it claims. It’s just a shame it’s only available on Windows, but users on other platforms will still find Hide.me more than fast enough.
Hide.me covers all the basics that we would expect to see in any VPN provider that we recommend. The company’s no-logs claim has been audited, though this was back in 2015, and it would be nice to see something more recent. Subscribers get access to “SmartGuard”, an advert and tracker blocking tool, “StealthGuard”, which is split-tunneling with a fancy name, multi-hop connections for added security, port forwarding, which can be very useful for torrenting, and Windows desktop users get access to something called Hide.me Bolt which aims to speed up VPN connections by routing traffic over TCP rather than UDP. It works surprisingly well.
Hide.me’s mobile apps are sleek and easy to use, ensuring that even beginners will be able to get to grips with them, but the same can’t be said for the Windows app, which is a confusing mess of different windows. There’s a lot of information here, and an impressive amount of customization, but inexperienced users will probably find it overwhelming, and may be better off with ExpressVPN.
A budget-friendly and security-focused Hulu VPN
,Rounding out our list of Hulu VPNs is PureVPN, which puts a focus on security, privacy, and accessibility, and it’s no slouch when it comes to getting access to streaming sites like Hulu, either.
In terms of accessing streaming sites like Hulu and others, PureVPN isn’t a bad choice at all. We were able to access all the big streaming providers, including Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, as well as smaller sites like the BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, and ITVX.
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PureVPN isn’t particularly impressive in terms of speed, but even if its results don’t set the world on fire, they’re more than fast enough for streaming movies and shows on Hulu. When testing its WireGuard connection, we saw peak speeds of 480 Mbps, which is the slowest of the VPNs on this list, but still handily beats the 25 Mbps recommended speed for 4k streaming. The OpenVPN performance, on the other hand, is not great, with maximum speeds of 113 Mbps, four times slower than WireGuard, so if you’re stuck using OpenVPN, you’d be better off with one of the other providers on our list.
PureVPN’s features are very much targeted at protecting your personal data, whether you’re banking, browsing, or streaming, and signing up for the most expensive of the three subscription packages gets you access to a tracker blocker, a password manager, dark web monitoring, and a “remove my data” feature, which works like Surfshark's Incogni and other services like it. For those who just want the basics, the entry-level “standard” tier gets you the VPN, a tracker blocker, and that’s your lot. The cost of this standard tier means PureVPN is up against Surfshark and NordVPN in terms of cost.
PureVPN has apps for all the major operating systems we would expect from a premium VPN provider, but the user experience isn’t the greatest. The Windows app takes up a lot of your screen with both the connection button and a bunch of advertisements for other apps in the PureVPN ecosystem. The mobile versions of the app are similarly filled with adverts exhorting you to pay more money. This is the sort of thing we expect to see from a free VPN, not one you’re paying money for.
Using the VPN is straightforward enough, with the now-familiar power button style icon to get you connected, but there are too many options that take you out to other parts of the app, which should be hidden away in sub-menus, leaving PureVPN’s app feeling busy and untidy.
Best Hulu VPN FAQs
Do VPNs work with Hulu?
Not every VPN will work with every streaming site, and free VPNs rarely work with any streaming providers at all. All the VPNs we recommend in this list are ones that we have tested and have confirmed will work to access Hulu’s content. We carry out regular testing of VPN providers against all the major streaming platforms to ensure our recommendations are kept up to date.
Will Hulu work in Europe?
To access Hulu in Europe, you will need a VPN that’s connected to a US server, which will make it appear as though you are based within the USA. Hulu may block you if it detects you’re using a VPN, but you can usually get around this by changing the server you’re connected to.
Which VPN is the best for Japan?
Hulu is not officially available outside of the USA. The only way to access it is by signing up to a VPN like one of the five we recommend here, and then connecting to a location in the US.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
