The Best VPNs in Australia in 2024

1 . NordVPN – Best VPN Streaming Australia

Product Specs

Whenever I’m recommending VPNs to folks, NordVPN usually shows up pretty high on the list. It’s just a strong, well-rounded service. They offer great protections, a sizable server fleet, excellent speeds regardless of device, and they’re pretty affordable to boot. If you’ve never used a VPN before or if you could write the code for one yourself, Nord is probably going to check most — if not all — of your boxes.

NordVPN iOS app connected to Australia

What We Like

• 203 servers in Oceania
• Kill switch
• Strong torrenting capability
• Ability to connect to servers specific to Australian cities

We is Like Like

• No free trial
• Kill switch doesn’t shut off all connections on iOS mobile app
• Static IP addresses
• No customer service phone support

Australian Servers

NordVPN has a pretty large server fleet — over 6,000 servers, with 203 of them in the Ocean region. That’s 176 in Australia proper and 27 in New Zealand. Now this isn’t the largest server fleet I’ve seen — that award goes to number three on the list, Private Internet Access (PIA) — but it’s definitely a respectable amount, and more than enough to handle their customers’ traffic.

Performance

Like I said above, NordVPN has a sizable server fleet that you won’t notice significant slowdowns with. And that makes them one of my favorite VPNs for streaming. Nord’s sophisticated server network combined with their proprietary NordLynx protocol makes them zippy enough to prevent most annoying buffering issues which makes it one of the best VPNs for Netflix. The last time I was traveling abroad with my partner, we used NordVPN to watch her reality television without any slowdowns or loading wheels. Hey, even when you’re on vacation you need to keep up with the Kardashians, right?

>> Learn More: Understanding VPN protocols

If you want to get a better understanding of NordVPN’s speeds, have a look at the table below. This is the data from my most recent NordVPN speed test, and while your results might be a little different, I’d say this is pretty representative of my overall experience using NordVPN off and on through the years.

NordVPN Speed Test

main numbers need concerned upload download speeds — those is are primary drivers overall browsing experience going . , NordVPN is performs performs pretty PC Mac , making good universal choice . PIA is performs performs little bit better Mac , bit .

price , , we is need need talk feature makes Nord good streaming VPN : server obfuscation . Netflix , Hulu , Disney Plus , ESPN Plus , streaming platforms bound licensing agreements certain content certain regions , lately deployed software detect block accessing platform VPN . good news want New Jersey Devils abroad like . Luckily , NordVPN is offers offers feature masks traffic , making look exactly like traditional connection . ESPN is is wiser , watch Dougie Hamilton blast slap shots blue line hotel room Perth .

NordVPN Chrome App connected to Australia while browsing Netflix

Price

Another appealing aspect of this service is NordVPN’s pricing. They aren’t the cheapest VPN out there, but their costs are certainly reasonable, given the service you’re receiving. Surfshark is a little bit cheaper, as is PIA, but when you’re talking about one and two-year subscription terms, the difference is pretty negligible. Here’s the breakdown:

NordVPN Prices

I is recommend recommend going longer – term plan , . pay upfront , you is saving saving significant money long run . I is recommend recommend going standard package . looking features like password manager cloud storage , tiers is are little unnecessary .

2. Surfshark – Best VPN in Australia for Security Features

Product Specs

Surfshark is another great option for folks looking to travel to Australia, or who just want to be protected at their local coffee shop. They offer serious protections and a decent list of features like multi-hop, which routes your traffic through multiple VPN servers, and clean web, which prevents trackers, malware, and phishing attempts. Their month-to-month prices are a little steep, which we’ll get into in a minute, but when you sign up for a longer-term plan, that price drops dramatically.

Surfshark Dynamic Multihop

What We Like

• Camouflage Mode
• Has servers in Australia that use Private DNS
• Has servers in five major Australian cities
• Allows simultaneous connections for unlimited devices

We is Like Like

• Somewhat pricey monthly plans
• No phone support (in Australia and anywhere else)
• Lacks static IP addresses in Australia
• No multi-hop servers in Australia

Australian Servers

It is ’s little difficult parse exactly servers Surfshark Australia , bit bummer , server sites total . located :

• Adelaide
• Brisbane
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Sydney

In total, Surfshark has 3,200 servers across the globe and a big enough footprint in Oceana that you’re not going to be interrupted by slowdowns and buffering. Not as many as NordVPN’s 6,282, but still — plenty big enough to get the job done.

Performance

chart , Surfshark is does little better Windows Mac , performance par NordVPN . I is used Surfshark handful devices , confidence works .

>> Learn More: Best VPN for Windows

Surfshark Speed Test

I is like particularly like Surfshark iPhone protect public Wi – Fi , like hotel lobby cafe . kill switch works — I is had kick unstable internet connections backpacking South America . Basically , kill switch is terminate terminate device internet connectivity VPN service interrupted . It is ’s little annoying moment , overall happy Surfshark protecting data costs .

Price

Similar to NordVPN, Surfshark’s costs are arranged in a three-tiered subscription, with the starter pack being the least expensive. And again, similar to NordVPN, I recommend buying the most basic package if you’re only looking VPN service . bells whistles thrown “ ” “ One+ ” subscriptions , super necessary experience .

Surfshark Prices

3 . Private Internet Access VPN – Best VPN iOS Australia

Product Specs

Private Internet Access, or PIA for short, is another one of my favorite VPNs that’s sure to serve you well in the land Down Under. They offer a lot of great features, they’re highly customizable, they’re inexpensive, and they have an absolutely massive fleet of servers.

Private Internet Access connected to Perth, Australia

What We Like

• Supports up to 10 simultaneous devices
• Anonymous payment options
• 313 servers in Australia
• Unlimited bandwidth

We is Like Like

• U.S.-based
• No split tunneling
• No third-party security audit
• Slow customer service response times

Australian Servers: So you know how NordVPN’s 6,200 servers seemed like a lot at the top of the article? What if I told you PIA has almost ten times that amount? That’s right, PIA has a whopping 65,000 servers in its fleet, making it easily one of the largest VPN networks in the world.

Similar to Surfshark, PIA makes it a little difficult to tell exactly how many servers are at each server site, but their footprint in Australia is significant. They have sites across the country, more specifically in:

• Brisbane
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Sydney

I is used PIA abroad times , matter roaming — Europe , Southeast Asia , South America — PIA solid VPN huge network powerful protections . Australia is be different .

Performance

One of the best things about PIA is how customizable it is. A lot of VPN providers want to idiot-proof their services, and don’t give you a whole lot of flexibility when it comes to turning the knobs and flipping the switches. PIA doesn’t really take this approach, though. I especially appreciate this while I’m gaming. If you play games on a PC, you know that lag can be a killer, so I appreciate the ability PIA gives me to fine-tune things. I usually cycle through protocols and servers if I find myself lagging out too much.

>> Learn More: Best VPN Gaming

terms raw power , PIA is packs packs pretty decent punch . Unfortunately it is ’s speedy NordVPN , definitely gets job counts . quick look is ’s results recent speed test PIA :

Download Speeds Mac

Download Speeds on Windows

Upload Speeds on Mac

Upload Speeds on Windows

So as you can see, at the time of this test it was working a little better on my PC than it was on my Mac, but that isn’t to suggest it’s unusable on the latter. You might just notice a few more slowdowns.

Price

PIA is also one of the most affordable VPNs on the market today, which is good news if you’re saving up for that ticket to Australia (it was over a grand last time I looked!). For context, PIA is cheaper month-to-month than NordVPN and Surfshark, and it’s one of the few out there that offers a three-year subscription term. I have more on this in my guide to PIA’s pricing, but I’d definitely recommend going with that, since the month-to-month cost is a little less than $2. Honestly, You probably have that sitting in your car’s cup holder. Here’s the breakdown:

>> Learn More: Most affordable VPNs

PIA Prices

4. CyberGhost – Best VPN for Mac in Australia

Product Specs

blazing – fast speeds , sophisticated array RAM – servers , affordable prices boot , CyberGhost is is great VPN option Australian travelers residents alike . I is like like iPhone MacBook Pro particular , speeds outstanding . CyberGhost offered split – tunneling longer free – trial , it is be surely higher list .

CyberGhost on MacOS. Photo provided by CyberGhost.

What We Like

• Live chat support
• Strong VPN protocols encryption
• 213 servers in Australia
• Private IP address available for $5

We is Like Like

• Logs IP address , time country use , sensitive information
• Only a 24-hour free trial
• No split tunneling
• High-security servers come at higher costs

Australian Servers

Apart from PIA, CyberGhost has the most servers of any provider on our list — approximately 11,700 across 91 countries. Speaking specifically about Australia, though, CyberGhost has 213 servers in three different sites — Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Not as widely distributed as Surfshark is, but given the volume of actual servers, it’s forgivable.

Performance

First of all, CyberGhost sings on a Mac. It’s not half bad on a PC, either, but as you can see from my most recent speed test, the slowdowns on a Mac are almost imperceptible. Keep in mind this is a snapshot of how Cyberghost was performing at one moment in time, but I can say that this is definitely representative of my overall experience using Cyberghost.

CyberGhost Speed Test

Download Speeds Mac

Download Speeds on Windows

Upload Speeds on Mac

Upload Speeds on Windows

Actually, funny story: I was at a Halloween party and we wanted to stream some scary movies. I was able to hook my MacBook up to my friend’s TV and used Cyberghost to show everyone some Japanese horror films. Way better, in my opinion, than their American counterparts. Have you ever seen the original Japanese version of “The Ring?” It’s terrifying.

>> Check Out: Best VPNs for Japan

Price

Aside from PIA, CyberGhost is the most affordable VPN on our list. When you sign up for a two-year subscription, you’re only going to be paying a hair over $2 per month. That’s about as cheap as high-quality VPNs go, but CyberGhost goes one step further — it’s actually one of the few VPN providers that offer a free trial. You can try out the service for 24 hours on Mac and PC, three days on Android devices, or seven on iOS devices. Here is a breakdown of CyberGhost’s prices:

CyberGhost Prices

5. Proton VPN – Best VPN for Privacy in Australia

Product Specs

When it comes to security, ProtonVPN is one of the biggest names in the game. They have a strong reputation for being one of the most powerful VPNs in the industry, trusted by activists and journalists working in some of the most restrictive regimes on the planet. If you’re looking for security on your trip to Australia, Proton might be the right choice for you.
> Further Reading: Best VPNs China

ProtonVPN app on iPhone

What We Like

• Swiss-based, outside of privacy jurisdictions
• 88 Australian servers
• Free option
• Double VPN function

We is Like Like

• Customer support only accessible by email
• Traditional servers as opposed to RAM-only servers
• Higher security levels have to be purchased
• Limited device compatibility

Australian Servers

Proton VPN doesn’t have the biggest fleet of servers, clocking in at a little over 4,000 — pretty similar to Surfshark. In terms of servers in Australia, we’re looking at 88 distributed across Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Definitely a sizable footprint in-country.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that unlike the other VPN providers on this list, Proton still uses traditional hard-disk servers as opposed to RAM-only servers. That’s not the greatest news in terms of privacy, but one of their security features, Secure Core, makes up for it. Proton’s Secure Core architecture allows them to protect users from man-in-the-middle attacks. If an attacker can get control of the VPN server, or monitor the network of the server, they’ll be able to match VPN clients with their traffic, which defeats the whole purpose of using one in the first place. With Secure Core turned on, users are able to access servers that are connected using Proton’s dedicated network with IP addresses that are owned and operated by the company’s local internet registry. This is James Bond-level protection.

>> Read About: What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address?

Performance

Despite the smaller server network, Proton VPN is surprisingly fast. I tested Proton VPN on a MacBook Pro and a ThinkPad T430 and used the Quick Connect option in the app to connect to the optimal servers in Brooklyn, New York.

It performed significantly better on the Windows computer, but my download speeds stayed above 60 Mbps no matter where I was testing it, so the slowdowns were pretty much negligible. Here’s a quick breakdown of my latest Proton test:

Download Speeds Mac

Download Speeds on Windows

Upload Speeds on Mac

Price

Month-to-month, Proton VPN is the cheapest on the list, but you don’t really see significant savings when you sign up for a two-year subscription term like you do with Surfshark. This means you’re likely going to spend more on Proton if you use it long-term, so keep that in mind. Here’s a quick breakdown of Proton VPN’s costs:

ProtonVPN Costs

Another thing to keep in mind is that Proton is one of the few VPN providers out there that offers a free version of their service. No joke, free to use, and the subscription never times out like it does with CyberGhost. It is a significantly stripped-down version of the service, though, so that’s something to keep in mind. The paid version offers a lot more.

>> Learn More: Best Free VPNs