You can use a VPN to keep your browsing details private as you explore your online world, but you may run into obstacles when trying to watch your favorite movies or television shows. Streaming services and VPNs don’t work well together, and streaming companies are constantly updating and changing their policies regarding blocking or restricting access for VPN users. At the same time, VPN services work to keep streaming content available to their subscribers.
Why Streaming Services Block VPN
Many streaming services have licensing agreements with their content holders that state that certain content is only available in certain countries or geographic areas. When a customer uses a VPN and tries to watch or listen to content that is not available in their area, they are most likely violating the license agreement.
Another reason streaming services block traffic coming from VPN servers is to comply with local laws. Some governments block certain content from users in their countries.
This is a difficult situation for all parties as customers may feel they should be able to access their entire content library regardless of their location. Streaming services must please their rights holders (and not harm the government). VPN services have to find a way to keep streaming services unblocked to please their customers. As a result, streaming services and VPNs engage in an almost constant cat-and-mouse battle when it comes to blocking and unblocking IP addresses.
What You Can Watch
Some streaming services, such as Netflix, allow customers using VPNs to watch original content and select licensed content. So if you are in Atlanta using a VPN server located in the Netherlands, you can still watch popular series like Stranger Things or k-drama like Vincent.
Some VPN services manage to evade detection and allow access to the entire Netflix library for the VPN server region. Other streaming sites block VPN users from their service completely, even if the user’s region matches their home region.
VPNs vs. Streaming Site
If you want to watch videos using well-known streaming platforms, we’ve compiled a chart of VPN services and their capabilities to log into some of our top-rated streaming sites. We haven’t tested how much content you can see from region to region. This chart only records which services are VPNs completely blocked and which VPNs can access streaming programming.
- Open: Content plays normally
- Blocked: Content not playing
- Limited: Subset of content available and playing normally
