Geoblocking help
Website blocked in your country? How to access it safely
Some websites block visitors from certain countries. Here is how to tell that apart from an outage, what you can do for free, and how VPN providers compare on checkable facts.
Quick answer
Geoblocking means a website decides by your internet address (IP address) which country you are in and refuses some countries. Try the free steps first: the official version for your country, your EU travel rights for paid subscriptions, or asking the website. A VPN (a service that routes your traffic through a server in another country) can help, but it may break the service's terms and is restricted in some countries.
Regional block or outage?
- HTTP 451: a legal demand blocks the page. What 451 means
- Cloudflare error 1009: the owner banned your country or region. What error 1009 means
- 403 Forbidden: access refused. Usually bot protection or permissions, only sometimes a country block. What 403 means
- No answer, DNS or certificate errors, 5xx errors: a technical problem. A VPN does not fix these. All error messages
Our checks run from one location (single-self-hosted-probe). If we see a block, it applies to that location; your country can differ. We only call it a suspicion.
Check the blocked website
One measurement point. Results explain what we saw, not a worldwide verdict.
What kind of website is blocked?
Choose one. We show the free steps that fit and what matters for this kind of website. The order of the providers stays the same, because it comes from documented facts only.
Free solutions first
- Check where the service is offered Look at the official help or availability page of the website or service. Many list the countries they serve. If your country is missing, the block is intended and a VPN may break their terms.
- Use the official version for your country Many websites and apps run a separate edition, domain or app-store listing per country. The local edition is free and allowed.
- Travelling in the EU with a paid subscription? If you pay for an online content service in your EU home country and are only temporarily in another EU country, the provider must give you the same content at no extra cost (Regulation (EU) 2017/1128). Contact their support and mention it. Source
- Ask the website Write to the website through another channel, such as email or social media. Send the full address, the time with your time zone, your country and the exact message. Owners sometimes block countries by mistake.
- Wait if it may be temporary Some blocks are temporary, for example during licence changes or maintenance. Try again later before you pay for anything.
- Read the block notice A page with HTTP 451 should explain the legal demand and may name who asked for the block. The notice often tells you whether the block is regional or worldwide. Source
- Look for another legitimate source News is often reported by several outlets and news agencies. Another outlet may be available in your country without any tool.
Compare VPN providers
Right now none of these links earns us money. If that changes, paid links are marked "Ad" and the order stays the same, because it is calculated without commission.
Points come only from the facts in the table. Prices are first-term offers, change often and differ by country; they are not scored. Open "Details" for all criteria, sources and incidents.
| Provider | Points (of 100) | Facts verified | Independent no-logs audit | Money-back period | Price from (not scored) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Proton VPNVisit Proton VPN | 100 | 100% (6 of 6 criteria) | Securitum, 2026 (35 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | unknown |
Details for Proton VPN: why 100 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 100% of the criteria weight; 100 of 100 possible points earned on them.
Incident history not researched yet. | |||||
| 2. CyberGhostVisit CyberGhost | 93 | 75% (4 of 6 criteria) | Deloitte, 2025 (35 of 35 points) | 45 days (15 of 15 points) | CHF 2.11/month (as shown to our research location in Switzerland, checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for CyberGhost: why 93 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 75% of the criteria weight; 70 of 75 possible points earned on them.
Incident history not researched yet. | |||||
| 3. SurfsharkVisit Surfshark | 88 | 85% (5 of 6 criteria) | Deloitte, 2025 (35 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | CHF 2.49/month (as shown to our research location in Switzerland, checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for Surfshark: why 88 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 85% of the criteria weight; 75 of 85 possible points earned on them.
Incident history not researched yet. | |||||
| 4. IPVanishVisit IPVanish | 80 | 75% (4 of 6 criteria) | Schellman, 2025 (35 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | unknown |
Details for IPVanish: why 80 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 75% of the criteria weight; 60 of 75 possible points earned on them.
Documented incidents:
| |||||
| 5. ExpressVPNVisit ExpressVPN | 78 | 85% (5 of 6 criteria) | KPMG, 2025 (35 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | CHF 2.90/month (as shown to our research location in Switzerland, checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for ExpressVPN: why 78 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 85% of the criteria weight; 75 of 85 possible points earned on them.
Documented incidents: | |||||
| 6. Private Internet AccessVisit Private Internet Access | 70 | 90% (5 of 6 criteria) | Deloitte Audit Romania, 2022 (8 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | USD 2.03/month (as shown to our research location (country unknown), checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for Private Internet Access: why 70 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 90% of the criteria weight; 63 of 90 possible points earned on them.
Incident history not researched yet. | |||||
| 7. NordVPNVisit NordVPN | 67 | 100% (6 of 6 criteria) | Deloitte, 2024 (20 of 35 points) | 30 days (15 of 15 points) | unknown |
Details for NordVPN: why 67 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 100% of the criteria weight; 67 of 100 possible points earned on them.
Documented incidents: | |||||
| 8. PureVPNVisit PureVPN | 59 | 75% (4 of 6 criteria) | auditor not named, 2023 (10 of 35 points) | 31 days (15 of 15 points) | USD 2.15/month (as shown to our research location (country unknown), checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for PureVPN: why 59 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 75% of the criteria weight; 44 of 75 possible points earned on them.
Incident history not researched yet. | |||||
| 9. Mullvad VPNVisit Mullvad VPN | 37 | 100% (6 of 6 criteria) | none found (0 of 35 points) | 14 days (8 of 15 points) | EUR 5.00/month (as shown to our research location (country unknown), checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for Mullvad VPN: why 37 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 100% of the criteria weight; 37 of 100 possible points earned on them.
Documented incidents:
| |||||
| 10. WindscribeVisit Windscribe | 36 | 100% (6 of 6 criteria) | none found (0 of 35 points) | 7 days (0 of 15 points) | USD 5.75/month (as shown to our research location (country unknown), checked 2026-10-06; prices vary by country) |
Details for Windscribe: why 36 points, all facts and sourcesVerified facts cover 100% of the criteria weight; 36 of 100 possible points earned on them.
Documented incidents: | |||||
How we compare
A checklist with points from public documents. No stars, no own speed or unblocking tests, no claim that one provider is the winner. Points are earned only on criteria with a verified fact and then scaled to 100 (points earned / weight of verified criteria x 100, rounded half up); unknown criteria neither add nor subtract. A provider is ranked only when verified criteria carry at least 70% of the weight (coverage); otherwise it is listed under 'Not enough verified facts yet' without score or place. The incident deduction is applied after scaling. The order is the point total; ties are broken alphabetically by name. Affiliate commission and affiliate status are excluded from the score and from the order.
- no logs audit: 35 points. Newest independent no-logs audit with a named auditor: audit year at most 1 year before the data date = 35 points, 2 to 3 years = 20, 4 years or older = 8. Auditor not named = half of these points. No no-logs audit found = 0; this always counts as a verified fact, because providers publish their audits themselves. Infrastructure or app audits are listed but not counted.
- money back: 15 points. Money-back period of the shown plan: 30 days or more = 15 points, 14 to 29 days = 8, shorter = 0. Unknown = left out of the score.
- open source apps: 15 points. Source code of the client apps public: all platforms = 15 points, some platforms = 7, none = 0. Unknown = left out of the score.
- server countries: 15 points. Countries with servers, as stated by the provider: 100 or more = 15 points, 50 to 99 = 9, fewer = 4. Unknown = left out of the score. More countries make it more likely that the country you need is covered; check the provider's server list for your country.
- free plan: 10 points. A free plan exists = 10 points, no free plan = 0. Unknown = left out of the score.
- devices: 10 points. Devices at the same time on the shown plan: unlimited or 10 and more = 10 points, 5 to 9 = 5, fewer = 0. Unknown = left out of the score.
- jurisdiction: 0 points. Shown for information, not scored: the country of the company alone does not prove how well your data is protected.
- price: 0 points. Shown with date, not scored: prices were seen in different currencies and as first-term offers, so they are not fairly comparable.
- affiliate commission: 0 points. Never scored. Whether we earn money from a provider does not change its points or its place.
- Incidents: Minus 10 points for each serious documented security incident in the last 5 years (data year and the 4 years before), at most minus 20. Incidents that ended in the user's favour, for example a seizure that found no customer data, are listed but cost nothing. Missing incident research costs nothing either and is shown as 'not researched'.
- Coverage: Coverage = weight of criteria with a verified fact divided by 100. Below 0.7 the provider gets no score and no place.
Limits:
- Facts are provider statements or secondary sources with the date shown; we ran no speed or unblocking tests.
- Audits are point-in-time checks with a limited scope.
- Unknown criteria are left out and the score is scaled to 100 over verified facts; a provider with gaps can therefore score higher than its verified facts alone suggest. Check the coverage column.
- Providers with less than 70% of the criteria weight verified get no score or place; missing data is not evidence of a problem.
- Streaming claims are untested provider statements and are never scored.
Data checked: .
Is using a VPN legal?
In Germany and the EU we found no ban on using a VPN; the German BSI lists getting around geoblocking while travelling as a normal VPN use. We know of no ban in Switzerland or the US, but did not check a primary legal source there. Many services forbid getting around country blocks in their terms and can close or limit your account. In some countries using or advertising a VPN is restricted or punishable.
- Germany and the EU: No ban found. The BSI warns that choosing a provider is a matter of trust and that free VPNs are often paid with personal data. Source
- Russia: A 2017 law bans circumvention software; a 2025 law fines advertising VPN services and treats VPN use in a crime as aggravating. Source
- China: VPNs are heavily restricted; unauthorised use can be fined or prosecuted. Source
- Iran: Unauthorised VPNs have been blocked since 2013. Source
- United Arab Emirates: Using a VPN together with an illegal act can lead to additional charges. Source
- India, Pakistan, Turkey: India requires VPN providers to keep logs (2022 rule); Pakistan requires VPN registration; Turkey discussed a ban in 2020. Source
Netflix: content is offered primarily in the country where you set up your account, and getting around content protections is not allowed. Source
Regulation (EU) 2018/302 excludes audiovisual and copyright-content services, so streaming country blocks are lawful for providers. Source
Not legal advice. Check the rules of your country and the terms of the service.
Common questions
Will a VPN fix every blocked website?
No. A VPN can only help with a regional block. It does not fix an outage, DNS or certificate errors, or server errors. Streaming services often detect VPNs.
Is a free VPN good enough?
Sometimes, for a short test. The German BSI warns that free VPNs are often paid for with personal data. Prefer a free plan from a provider whose no-logs claim was independently audited.
Why is a website blocked in my country?
Common reasons are licence deals for films and sport, laws such as data-protection rules that some sites avoid by blocking a region, or a decision by the owner.
Do you earn money from this page?
Right now none of these links earns us money. If that changes, paid links are marked "Ad" and the order stays the same, because it is calculated without commission.
Why do you only say "suspected"?
We check from one location. A block we see applies there; your country can differ, and a block page can be worded in many ways.
Sources
- https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7725.html
- https://corpus.lantern.io/findings/2018-tschantz-bestiary__gdpr-triggered-eu-blocking-news-sites/
- https://developers.cloudflare.com/support/troubleshooting/http-status-codes/cloudflare-1xxx-errors/error-1009/
- https://developers.cloudflare.com/support/troubleshooting/http-status-codes/cloudflare-1xxx-errors/
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/georestrictions.html
- https://docs.sucuri.net/website-firewall/whitelist-and-blacklist/country-blocking/
- https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/92571
- https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/many-eu-visitors-shut-out-us-sites-response-gdpr-never-came-back
- https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-challenges/challenge-types/challenge-pages/detect-response/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/access-denied-visit-website-hosted-akamai-cdn
- https://help.netflix.com/en/node/53047
- https://help.netflix.com/legal/termsofuse
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/1128/oj
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/302/oj
Last reviewed: