Popular VPNs for Brits Living Abroad
Five VPNs tested from outside the UK. We take a look at UK server depth, device limits, transparent pricing, and verified privacy claims.
Martin
Editor
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With the new UK Online Safety Act, Brits have become very familiar with VPNs recently, but not for reasons that we’ll be venturing into in this post!
If you're a British expat, there’s a good chance you’ve already discovered the many benefits of using a VPN.
Simply put, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) lets you access UK services that wouldn’t normally be available if you tried to use them overseas.
They also handle the boring stuff - keeping your logins safer on dodgy Wi-Fi, and reducing the chances of yet another "we've noticed unusual activity" text while you're just trying to move money between accounts.
So which VPNs are best suited to Brits on the move?
We’ve tested several of these, from all over the world. But for this guide, we’ll be focusing on what matters to Brits abroad: UK server depth, device limits for a real household, pricing (of course), and the authenticity of those privacy claims.
#1 — Best Overall for Expats
NordVPN
From £2.29/mo (2-year plan)
It's hard to look past trusty NordVPN as the best all-rounder for most Brit expats.
NordVPN gives you a massive 440+ UK servers with city-level choice (London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Glasgow). The London option has double VPN encryption and is fully obfuscated. Ultimately, the coverage means less fiddling when one server gets blocked or overloaded.
You can get 10 devices on one account - possibly overkill, and easily enough for a household without sharing passwords on sticky notes. The no-logs policy has been independently verified by Deloitte six times (most recently in 2025).
Pricing starts at £2.29/month on a 2-year plan, but be aware that paying monthly will increase the cost significantly (it's £8.89 for a rolling monthly plan).
NordVPN has been around for a while now and it has become our go-to. If you want one VPN that handles UK streaming, public Wi-Fi security, and general expat internet life, this is a great performer at a great price.
What We Love
- ✓440+ UK servers with London and Manchester city options - less server-hopping
- ✓Deloitte-audited no-logs policy (sixth verification, late 2025)
- ✓10 devices per account - covers the whole house
- ✓30-day money-back guarantee
- ✓9,200+ servers across 135 countries for non-UK use too
Watch Out For
- ✗UK streaming access is never guaranteed; ITVX and others actively block VPN traffic
- ✗London has double VPN coverage - the other UK cities do not
- ✗Price goes up considerably for the rolling monthly plan (+300%)
#2 — Best for Simplicity
ExpressVPN
From £2.49/mo (2-year Basic plan)
If you’re the type who doesn’t want to tinker with settings at midnight just to get iPlayer working, ExpressVPN takes all the hassle out of running a VPN.
It's one of the easiest to run - quick install, then just select your country/city, and within seconds you are connected.
The apps are clean and consistent across devices, with a simple one-click connect and minimal setup. It performs particularly well for streaming setups. There are dedicated apps for Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV, plus a Smart DNS feature (great if you have devices that don’t support VPN apps).
In practice, that means you can get UK services running on a proper TV rather than relying on a laptop workaround.
Speeds are consistently strong, so streaming, video calls, and general browsing feel normal rather than throttled. It’s also stable - fewer random disconnects compared to cheaper providers, although some of the cities with less servers are noticeably spottier than major hubs like London.
Device limits scale with tier: 10, 12, or 14 simultaneous connections, depending on which plan you go with. The cheapest deal in town is £2.49/month, with the caveat that you'll be signing up for 28 months(!). Paid monthly, it's £9.99.
What We Love
- ✓Fixed GBP pricing for UK customers - from £2.49/month
- ✓Security audited by KPMG, PwC, and Cure53
- ✓Up to 14 devices on the Pro tier - generous for larger households
- ✓RAM-only TrustedServer architecture
Watch Out For
- ✗Tiered plans are more confusing than the old single-plan model
- ✗Some spottiness on servers in smaller Tier 3 regions
- ✗Still subject to streaming crackdowns - ITVX and others actively detect VPN traffic
#3 — Best Value for Families
Surfshark
From ~$1.99/mo (promo, 2-year Starter)
Next we have SurfShark, a popular budget pick for expat households drowning in devices.
SurfShark's killer feature is the unlimited simultaneous connections - handy if your setup includes phones, laptops, TVs, and whatever else you’ve accumulated abroad - you don't need to worry about capping out on the connections limit. Very generous.
On the network side, it runs 4,500+ servers globally with 440+ in the UK across multiple cities (London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh). Each of the servers is suitable for high-speed streaming and downloads.
Other cool extras include CleanWeb - which blocks ads, trackers, and malicious sites at network level (not just a browser extension). And a rotating IP that changes your IP every few minutes - without disconnecting. There's also the Dynamic MultiHop (double VPN) which routes traffic through two countries for extra privacy.
SurfShark claims to offer both long-term 2 year subscriptions (starting at £1.49/month for 2 year) and rolling monthly subscriptions - unfortunately, we saw no sign of the monthly-only deal on their website.
What We Love
- ✓Unlimited simultaneous connections - every device in the household, no limits
- ✓Deloitte-verified no-logs policy (2023 and 2025)
- ✓Very cheap starting at just £1.49/month
- ✓UK servers including London for expat access needs
- ✓Effective CleanWeb safety tool
Watch Out For
- ✗Pricing is heavily promotional - renewals higher than the intro rate
- ✗What happened to the rolling monthly deal?!
- ✗Streaming is always a moving target; expect occasional disruption
#4 — Best Free Option
Proton VPN
Free tier available; Plus from €2.99/mo (2-year)
This is a really interesting option if you're looking for a free (albeit limited) solution. It's the only free tier here worth taking seriously.
Proton VPN is based in Switzerland (which they fall back on heavily as a privacy argument), and the free plan exists without the usual data monetisation catch: so there is no credit card required, though you're limited to one device and servers in 10 randomly selected countries.
That's obviously a bit of a pain if you were really hoping to tune into iPlayer and the UK has gone missing from the list!
Still, you can always make the jump to the paid Plus plan, which opens up 10 devices, all server locations, and full speeds at £2.39/month on a 2-year plan. Refunds are pro-rated for unused time rather than the unconditional 30-day window some competitors offer. If you want to try a VPN before committing any money at all - Proton is a great way to test the waters.
What We Love
- ✓A free tier - no credit card, no data selling
- ✓Switzerland-based with strong privacy positioning
- ✓Plus plan supports 10 devices
- ✓Open-source apps add transparency beyond just audit claims
Watch Out For
- ✗Refunds are pro-rated for unused time, not an unconditional full money-back
- ✗Free plan servers are randomly selected across 10 countries - not a reliable "always UK" solution
- ✗Some locations are dragged down by poor connection speeds
#5 — Best for Privacy Maximalists
Mullvad
€5/month flat (VAT included)
This is what you might call the privacy maximalist's VPN.
No email, no name, it's about as anonymous as a VPN gets. You don’t sign up with an email... you get a random account number instead, so there’s no personal data tied to your login.
Mullvad gives you fewer features, but a tighter, more stripped-back product that prioritises control and anonymity. That carries through the whole product: simple apps, minimal tracking, and no unnecessary extras bolted on.
On the feature side, it still covers the essentials well with WireGuard-only setup, optional Multihop connections and handy split tunnelling for choosing which apps use the VPN (if you want to really customise your experience).
Coverage is not as comprehensive as the other major players on this list - but it's not exactly small fish either - 700 servers across 50+ countries. Including, importantly for us, the UK. Mullvad has UK servers in both London and Manchester. We've seen a few reports of patchiness in 2024/25, but it looks like things have been running smoothly for a while now.
From the package we tested (in Europe), the connection was smooth and we didn't have any issues routing through the UK.
Pricing is in Euros and it's beautifully transparent: $5 per month - for however long you use it. 1 month, 1 year or 1 decade. Nice touch!
What We Love
- ✓Anon numbered accounts - no email, no personal info required to sign up
- ✓Flat €5/month with VAT included - no sales tricks
- ✓Built for maximum privacy on every level
- ✓Month-to-month commitment - leave any time without losing a multi-year prepayment
- ✓Multihop connections for routing traffic through two servers
Watch Out For
- ✗14-day refund window is shorter than the 30 days most competitors offer
- ✗Only 5 devices - tight for a multi-person household
- ✗Privacy-first model isn't optimised for streaming unblocking
- ✗A few historical reports of connectivity issues on the UK servers
Why Brits abroad actually need a VPN
It’s hard to say who needs a VPN more these days - Brits in Britain… or Brits overseas!
Both have certain use cases.
The most common expat use-cases are fairly unglamorous - so let’s take a look at what you might actually get out of using these VPN services.
“I want to watch UK telly”
Most UK streaming is geolocked to the UK.
It’s annoying, but content licensing requirements are extremely complex and just because YOU are British… doesn’t mean that you can watch British TV from outside the country.
Broadcasters don’t actually own global rights to most of what they show, so they’re contractually required to block access outside the UK.
ITVX explicitly says you can't stream live or on-demand shows when you're outside the UK, and warns that VPN or proxy use is a common reason it blocks playback.
If it does, you’ll inevitably be greeted with something like this:
NOW says the same. And the BBC's Terms of Use tell you not to stream or download iPlayer TV shows outside the UK… and not to use "technical trickery" to get around restrictions.
As if we’d try, right?!
Which ever way you cut it, if UK catch-up is a key reason you want a VPN, you're playing on a pitch where the broadcasters actively don't want you doing it.
It can work - but expect occasional fiddling, server-switching, and the odd day where a stream may be liable to cut out at the worst possible moment.
Public Wi-Fi security
This use case is much more clear cut and easy to justify.
Shared Wi-Fi in airports, hotels, and cafés is convenient, sure, but it's also where you're most exposed.
UK cyber security guidance recommends using a VPN on public or shared Wi-Fi to reduce the risk of interception: it encrypts your traffic even if the network itself isn’t trustworthy.
That said, a VPN is one layer, it’s not a magic shield.
Most sensitive browsing already uses HTTPS/TLS encryption in transit.
The ICO's guidance on data transfer strongly encourages using encrypted communications - and HTTPS is the everyday example.
If you go to a website that is HTTP rather than HTTPS, you will often see a warning on your web browser. This is why.
Still, a VPN adds protection on the network level, which makes a difference when the network itself is dodgy.
Keeping UK banking functional
Banks' fraud systems are designed to flag unusual patterns… which is good, until you're the unusual pattern.
Nationwide explicitly says its fraud detection monitors accounts 24/7 and may contact you if it spots something uncertain. Elsewhere, NatWest notes that registering travel plans can reduce the likelihood of card transactions being blocked abroad.
In reality, most banks these days have progressed beyond the point where accessing from a foreign IP = insta-account suspended.
But still, we know many expats choose to use a VPN (connected in the UK) when banking online.
A quick reality check
Please keep in mind:
A VPN is not foolproof for streaming. If your main goal is UK streaming, we have to understand the difference between "possible", "allowed", and "reliable". The BBC, ITVX, and NOW are all explicit about their restrictions. Are they enforced in practice? Not very well. Nope. But it’s worth keeping this in mind before committing to a 24 month VPN package!
Pricing is all over the place. VPN providers change their deals constantly. The market is full of promos and random sales - especially post UK Online Safety Act! Every price in this guide was accurate at the time of writing, but promo rates expire and renewal costs are often higher. On the bright side, this usually means that the next great deal is never too far away.
"No logs" means nothing without verification. Any VPN can claim it doesn't log your activity. The ones worth trusting are the ones that pay independent auditors to verify it. We’ve made sure that every provider in this guide has some form of third-party verification… but the depth and transparency of those audits varies.