Best VPNs for Hulu

Today we are going to take a look at the best VPNs for Hulu. You may already have seen our more general review of the best VPNs for streaming. That review does a good job of covering the overall streaming media market. But as one of the top streaming content services, we felt that Hulu (like Netflix) deserves its own detailed report.

Hulu has some excellent content, and now that we find ourselves locked-down, working from home, and streaming online content, the service is more popular than ever. But for reasons we needn’t describe here, Hulu is only available to users in the United States and Japan. If you are physically outside of those areas, you will need a VPN to access Hulu, otherwise you’ll be blocked.

This geo-blocking takes place, even if you are a paying subscriber and a resident of the USA or Japan. If you are not physically located in the geographic region covered by your Hulu description, you aren’t allowed to use the service that you are paying for.

To stream Hulu from anywhere in the world, you’ll need a good VPN. VPNs have the ability to make it appear that you are connecting from a different geographic location than where you are physically located.

WARNING: Hulu can detect and block most VPN services. Only a few VPNs are capable of consistently defeating the Hulu geo-blocking technology to give you access to the content you pay for. To save you a ton of time and effort, we’ve done the testing and narrowed the field down to the four (4) VPN services that we think are your best options for connecting reliably and enjoyably to Hulu from anywhere on earth.

Let’s dive right in by looking at the criteria we used to select these 4 winners.

Hulu VPN ranking criteria

Here are the criteria we used when deciding which VPNs make the grade:

1. The ability to defeat Hulu’s geo-blocking tech.
2. A global server network that can deliver streaming content in HD without interruptions worldwide.
3. Easy-to-use apps that work across the range of devices where you might want to stream Hulu content.
4. The ability to serve as a great general-purpose VPN, not simply stream Hulu content.
5. A strong technical support team that can help you get connected to Hulu if you have issues and also help with any general problems you might have.

Now that we’ve covered the ranking criteria, let’s examine the top performers.

Here are the best VPNs for Hulu:

1. NordVPN – Top VPN for Hulu

NordVPN is a well-known VPN service that consistently ranks as one of the best in the world. In our testing, NordVPN also ranks as the best choice for Hulu users. With over 5,400 fast VPN servers spread across 59 countries, this Panama-based service can definitely deliver the goods when it comes to streaming Hulu (and virtually any other service as well).

While testing out NordVPN with Hulu, we were impressed with the service’s ability to deliver movies without a hiccup, despite the fact that we were connecting from 2,000 miles away.

NordVPN is consistently one of the fastest VPNs with the NordLynx VPN protocol. NordLynx is a custom implementation of the new, super-fast WireGuard VPN protocol. This protocol delivers the fastest speeds possible, instant connections, and cutting edge encryption. To say we are big fans of WireGuard would be an understatement.

How fast is NordVPN with the NordLynx (WireGuard) protocol? Below is the result we got on a recent speed test using a NordVPN server in Seattle, WA. At 445 Mbps, this makes NordVPN the fastest VPN for Hulu:

NordVPN supports a wide range of devices beyond computers and smartphones. If you want to watch Hulu on some particular device, NordVPN probably has an app for it. To see the full list of supported devices, visit the NordVPN Download page.

Note: If your particular interest is watching Hulu or do other VPN-ish activitiess on Amazon devices, you’ll want to check out our guide to VPNs for Firestick and Fire TV. NordVPN of course makes that list too.

NordVPN ticks all the boxes for a general-purpose VPN too. They are a no-logs VPN, a fact which has been verified by PWC AG. Their VPN servers all run on dedicated hardware in RAM-disk mode. This type of diskless operation is a major privacy boost as it secures your privacy against the threat of someone physically removing a VPN server or disk drives to get user data. An audit by VerSprite confirmed that their network really is secure.

Additional NordVPN privacy features include CyberSec, Double-VPN servers, Tor-over-VPN servers, and Obfuscated servers. For more details on any of these features, check out our complete NordVPN review.

NordVPN support is excellent, offering users 24/7 live chat support, and a  30 day money-back guarantee that will give you plenty of time to test-drive the VPN with any streaming service.

Non-Hulu streaming services unblocked: Netflix (US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Australia, India, Italy, and possibly other regions), BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, HBO, and many more.

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Want to learn more? Check out our full NordVPN review.

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2. ExpressVPN – A user-friendly VPN for Hulu

ExpressVPN is an excellent VPN service that just barely lost to NordVPN in the battle for the top Hulu VPN. ExpressVPN is fast, polished, and excellent at everything it does. They don’t push the VPN technology envelope quite as hard as NordVPN, but it remains an excellent all-around VPN that just works well.

ExpressVPN has a large global network, with over 3,000 servers in 94 countries. While all that really matters for Hulu is that ExpressVPN has servers in the United States and Japan, this wide geographic distribution could come in handy if you also use your VPN to access resources located in places like Ecuador or Egypt, which are not supported by most other VPNs.

What’s more important for us in this Hulu VPN guide is that ExpressVPN’s servers do an excellent job of connecting to Hulu, they keep no logs, and offer excellent performance.

Having a wide range of user-friendly apps is another important characteristic of a quality Hulu VPN. ExpressVPN has a wide range of apps, including Smart TVs through their MediaStreamer smart DNS service.

ExpressVPN can connect you to far more streaming services than just Hulu. With it, you can unblock all the major Netflix libraries worldwide. Beyond that, ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs for Amazon Prime Video and gives you access to a large number of other streaming services.

ExpressVPN excels at all the tasks you might expect of your VPN. This BVI (British Virgin Islands) based service is fast, secure, and private. They also have a solid no-logs policy, which has been confirmed by an independent security audits. This no-logs VPN led the industry in the use of disk-free (RAM) servers, and is best-of-class when it comes to privacy and security.

And like Surfshark and NordVPN, ExpressVPN also offers 24/7 live chat support. Additionally, they have lots of guides and videos on their website to help you get the VPN set up correctly for Hulu. You can feel safe giving ExpressVPN a good, thorough trial since they offer you a 30 day money-back guarantee.

Non-Hulu streaming services unblocked: Netflix (US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Japan, and Germany, along with other non-English-speaking regions), Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, ESPN, HBO, SlingTV, and many more.

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Want to learn more? Check out our full ExpressVPN review.

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3. Surfshark – A strong streaming VPN with a low price tag

Surfshark is #3 on our list of the best VPNs for Hulu. As a relative newcomer in the VPN world, Surfshark is something of a prodigy. That’s because it has quickly vaulted to near the top of the pack among VPNs across a wide range of use cases. Defeating Hulu’s geo-blocking is just one of this VPN’s skills.

Only about two years old, the service already boasts as network of more than 1,700+ servers spread across 63 countries. That’s great, but more importantly for this review, they have servers in the USA and Japan, and their network is plenty fast enough to stream Hulu video.

Surfshark offers quality apps for all the popular devices and operating systems, and their mobile device browser extensions scored high during a security audit by Cure53.

As you would expect for any service that made this list, Surfshark handles regular VPN tasks with ease. They use industry-standard encryption to ensure that your activities are secure. Like ExpressVPN, they are based in the British Virgin Islands, a safe and privacy-friendly jurisdiction. And like all their peers on this list, they keep no logs of your activities, ensuring your privacy.

These guys also offer advanced VPN tech similar to that provided by NordVPN. This includes:

• CleanWeb, a feature that blocks ads, trackers, and malware domains
• Double-VPN servers, which provide additional security by encrypting your traffic through two of their servers
• Obfuscation, a tech that makes your VPN traffic look like regular HTTPS traffic, so no one knows you are using a VPN

If you have a lot of devices to connect to Hulu (or the internet in general), you’ll be interested to know that each Surfshark account supports an unlimited number of simultaneous internet connections in a single account. No need to fight over who gets to use the last connection when you have Surfshark.

Surfshark Support won’t let you down either. They have 24/7 live chat support and a 30 day money-back guarantee if for some reason the service doesn’t meet your needs.

Non-Hulu streaming services unblocked: Netflix (US, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Italy, South Korea, Germany, Japan, Norway and working on more), Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, HBO, SlingTV, and more.

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Want more information about Surfshark? Read our full Surfshark review.

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4. VyprVPN – Reliability and affordability in a solid Hulu VPN

VyprVPN is an up and coming service based in Switzerland. In the past year they’ve made a big push to support all types of streaming services, from Hulu to Netflix.

VyprVPN doesn’t have thousands of servers like the other members of this list, but their 700+ servers get the job done. They’ve expanded the footprint of their network to 64 countries, including those all-important Hulu countries of Japan and the United States. VyprVPN owns all their servers (most VPNs rent at least some of theirs from third parties) and has recently integrated WireGuard support into their network.

While they aren’t quite as fast as NordVPN, they are now quite speedy and can easily deliver Hulu content without interruption. Regular VPN-type activities pose no problems for VyprVPN. They have their own DNS servers like the big boys, their own Chameleon protocol for disguising your internet traffic and getting around VPN blocks. This is a useful feature if you need a VPN for UAE, China, or work and school networks that block VPNs.

Like the rest of our recommendations, VyprVPN offers 24/7 customer support and a 30 day money-back guarantee.

Non-Hulu streaming services unblocked: Netflix (US, UK, and Germany), Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO.

Website: https://VyprVPN.com

Want to learn more? Check out our full VyprVPN review.

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Best VPNs for Hulu FAQs

We’ve just talked a lot about the best VPNs for Hulu. But people often have more general questions. Here are the most common questions we’ve heard and the answers to them.

Here are the questions we’ll answer:

• Do I need a VPN for Hulu?
• Which VPN is best for Hulu?
• How do I access Hulu from another country?
• Why does Hulu block VPN users?

Do you need a VPN for Hulu?

If you are in the USA or Japan and want to access Hulu, you may not need to use a VPN. Online snoops will be able to see what you are watching, but if you don’t mind that, you should be fine.

That said, you may still want to use a VPN even in this situation. Believe it or not, some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) throttle streaming content. When they detect that you are streaming Hulu (or other streaming services) they automatically slow down your connection. Why? Because it is cheaper for them to slow down everyone who is streaming content than it is to upgrade their system to support the demand on it. If you use a VPN with such an ISP, they can’t tell that you are watching Hulu so won’t know that they “need to” cripple your connection.

Another reason to use a VPN with Hulu is to protect your privacy. No one else (except I guess Hulu) has a right to know what you are watching. Using a VPN prevents anyone from spying on your connection to see what you are watching. This would be especially important if you are using your VPN for torrenting as well as for watching Hulu content.

The most common reason people use a VPN with Hulu is because they are physically located in a region that Hulu doesn’t support. Hulu checks your physical location (represented by your IP address) and other characteristics to see if you are located within their service area. If not, they block you from accessing their content, even though you might be a paid customer.

The four VPNs we cover in this guide let you change your IP address and apparent physical location by connecting to a VPN server located in Hulu territory (the United State or Japan). Because Hulu sees the IP address and other data for the VPN server instead of your device, Hulu thinks you are physically at the location provided by the VPN server, and lets you connect normally.

Which VPN is best for Hulu?

Based on our tests, the best VPN for Hulu is NordVPN with its NordLynx protocol.

However, all four of the VPNs profiled in this article are good choices for viewing Hulu. We suggest you take advantage of the 30 day money-back guarantees offered by these services. Try the VPN that looks best to you. Don’t like it or having problems, try one of the other three. Any one of these VPNs is a good choice, so you can’t really lose.

How do I access Hulu from another country?

If you need to access Hulu from another country, you will need to invest in one of the VPN services profiled in this article. Here are the steps you need to follow.

Step 1: Get a VPN that works with Hulu

Sign up for one of the four quality Hulu VPNs profiled in this article:

1. NordVPN
2. ExpressVPN
3. Surfshark
4. VyprVPN

Step 2: Install the VPN on the device(s) you will stream to

Unless you are doing something very exotic, you should be able to find a VPN app that works with whichever device you plan to use to view Hulu.

Step 3: Connect to one of the VPN’s servers

Launch the VPN app device. Select a server in the USA or Japan (whichever country you have your Hulu account). If you are using the USA version of Hulu, try to use the VPN server that is closest to you, while still being in the United States. This should give you the best performance.

Step 4: Enjoy streaming Hulu content regardless of where you are physically located

Once you are connected to the right server in the target country, just log in to the streaming service normally. Assuming the VPN you are using knows how to unblock the service you want to stream, that service will think you are just another local user.

Does Hulu block VPNs?

Hulu and other major streaming services (Netflix in particular) make a major effort to block VPN users from accessing their services.

This doesn’t seem to make any sense, since you have to be a paying customer to log into Hulu anyway. But what makes sense to us doesn’t matter to the people who own the rights to the content on Hulu.

By dividing the world into regions and licensing content to each region based on its value in that region, the copyright holders can maximize profits from their content. While Hulu only has the two regions to worry about, our guess is that the content owners license their stuff to different streaming services in the regions that Hulu doesn’t handle.

Many people find these kinds of restrictions to be, well, unnecessarily restrictive, and make the small investment in a VPN necessary to circumvent the geo-blocking.

Best VPNs for Hulu conclusion

If you love your Hulu shows, finding the best VPN for Hulu is extra important today. Invest in one of the four winners we’ve identified for you and you will be able to:

• Stream Hulu content no matter where in the world you happen to be working, stationed, or locked-down
• Stream great content from other services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer, and who knows how many of the little services that are popping up everywhere
• Protect your online privacy in a world where even visiting the “wrong” website can cost you your job and deliver a mob of screaming crazies to your front door

And remember, while we confirmed that each of your recommended VPNs can unblock Hulu today, this is an ongoing battle. The particular VPN servers we tested with today all worked. But they may not work tomorrow.

However, each of the VPNs we recommend has major incentives to maintain their reputations as the best VPNs for unblocking Hulu. If you can’t connect to Hulu, contact customer support immediately. They are available 24/7 and will be able to help you quickly get connected again.

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