Best VPN for Iran

Best VPN for Iran in 2021

Last updated on May 11, 2021 Comments: 9

Iran has some of the strictest censorship laws in the world. In fact, almost 50% of the top 500 websites are banned there. This includes Facebook, YouTube, and Skype as well as unbiased news sites.

Why Do You Need a VPN In Iran?

A VPN helps work around these bans and censorship rules. Here, we look at the best Iran VPNs, so that users can access these geo-restricted sites as well as snapchat and other VOIP applications.

We recommend ExpressVPN as the best VPN for Iran.

If you don’t want to read the whole article, here’s our list of the best VPNs for Iran:

  1. ExpressVPN Great for Speed, top-notch security, large server network and keeps your anonymity and privacy.
  2. NordVPN Has double VPN, six simultaneous connections, above-average privacy features.

Best VPN for Iran

Below, are 3 popular VPN providers and we’ll let you know how they stack up to each other.

#1 Express VPN – Most secure VPN for Iran with fast speeds.

When trying to stream content in Iran, ExpressVPN gets our vote, hands down. It has everything a VPN provider needs to – and more.

  • Quick, reliable connection – Lets users stream and view content with little issue – just if they were accessing blocked content elsewhere in the world.
  • Watertight encryption techniques – An OpenVPN protocol hides all traffic by users along with 256 bit encryption software. Customers can feel as secure as possible when using the best VPN in Iran.
  • Easy to use – While not necessary to be a brilliant VPN, it is great when providers make their software easy to use. ExpressVPN does just that with its logical application.
  • 24/7 support is available if needed – users can get problems solved fast if they find they have any issues with ExpressVPN. The company has live chat to make the process even quicker.
  • Unlimited bandwidth – ExpressVPN does not throttle capacity so users can surf the internet as much as they like without seeing a drop in speed.

Price:

  • $12.95 a month
  • $9.99 a month for a six-month plan
  • $6.67 a month for a 15-month plan (including three months free!)
  • 30-day money back guarantee

To avoid being tracked online and to securely bypass geo-restrictions in Iran, we recommend using ExpressVPN right away.

Click here for our extensive ExpressVPN review


#2 NordVPN – High Speed with military-grade encryption.

NordVPN provides military-grade encryption, making it perfect for use in Iran. NordVPN also has Middle Eastern servers, located in UAE, Turkey, and Egypt.

  • One of the most secure connections – Customers can stream content privately without any fear that they will reveal their identity. NordVPN employs a double data encryption method in conjunction with a Kill Switch that cuts the internet connection entirely should the VPN drop out.
  • No logs policy – To further increase customer security, NordVPN maintains no logs of its customers’ online traffic.
  • Huge, far reaching network – With over 60 locations, NordVPN not only has one of the widest reaching networks it also has one of the largest in terms of number. Customers in Iran can be sure of a connection that lets them see any content they want.
  • Straightforward – accessing blocked content from Iran is quick and painless with this VPN provider – regardless of how good customers are on a computer.
  • Excellent customer service – By having a live chat feature available, problem solving with NordVPN is incredibly easy.

Price:

  • $11.95 a month
  • $9.00 a month for a six-month plan
  • $6.99 a month for a 12-month plan
  • Special deal: $3.99 a month for a 24-month plan
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

Sign up with NordVPN here

Pay For Your VPN with Cryptocurrency and Stay Completely Anonymous in Iran

Staying anonymous in Iran is essential, especially with the recent Iran internet blackout that happened recently. There is no telling as to the lengths that the Iranian government will go to keep citizens quiet.

A VPN is the perfect way to keep your online movements your own, however, paying for your subscription with a credit card or PayPal account means that your bank is able to see and track your transaction.

Whenever you purchase something with your credit card, information such as your name and your billing address are released. You can circumvent this by using cryptocurrency to buy your VPN plan.

When you use bitcoin to pay for your VPN address, you will only have details verifying the payment and how to access funds. Bitcoins are not like any other currency that people are familiar with. There are no bitcoin banks, nor physical currency as well as no centralized authority which maintains the bitcoin ecosphere.

Everything is verified via a distributed network of both bitcoin users and miners which deploy complicated cryptography.

Whenever you make a transaction to purchase a VPN subscription, for example, you send the bitcoins to your chosen VPN provider. That transition is broadcast to the bitcoin network and then miners, which are ordinarily regular people with ordinary computers process the transaction to create a block.

The computers solve a crypto puzzle and submit proof of work to the public network where other miners verify the block’s integrity. This system of checks and balances ensures integrity, making bitcoin a reliable as well as a self-sustaining system that anyone in the world is able to use.

If privacy is a big factor in purchasing and using a VPN, your best bet is to purchase your VPN subscription with your bitcoin wallet, especially in a country like Iran.

How Does A VPN Work In Iran?

A VPN works by giving a user who is trying to access content (that is deemed illegal by the Iranian government) the illusion of a being in a different location. It does so by connecting users to a server that has an IP address that will allow them to open all social media sites or other banned material.

Source: https://rsf.org/en/ranking

For the VPN to work as a bypass for accessing geo restricted content, it needs to give users a new IP address. If the user’s IP address shows them as being in Iran, a site will be blocked by the ISP.

VPNs do more than this, however. Most importantly, they also provide a secure way of accessing content in Iran that is deemed illegal: encryption. While different providers have different levels of security encryption, in the main, the best VPNs for Iran provide an untraceable means of surfing the web.

Choosing the Best VPN for Iran

When browsing the internet in Iran and surfing the web for blocked content, a VPN needs to have the following features to be rated in our top picks for an Iranian VPN.

  • Military Grade Encryption Techniques – it is a very grey area using a VPN to access illegal content in Iran. If you are trying to access it using a VPN, then it is wise to use a provider that has top of the range encryption techniques so your connection and online activity cannot be traced.
  • User Friendly Privacy Policies – the best VPN providers do not keep logs of their users’ online traffic or their personal data. By doing so, they cannot hand over any information when asked by invasive government authorities. This is obviously key when accessing content in Iran that the local government deems illegal.
  • Large Number of Servers – while all users need to protect themselves when using a VPN, they also still need to be able to access the very content they aren’t allowed to with ease. By having a large amount of servers, VPN providers are able to give lightning fast connections that allow for quick surfing sessions.
  • Wide Number of Server Locations – for users to be able to access the content they want, they need to connect to a server that is located in a country where that content is not blocked. With a wide number of server locations, VPN providers are able to open up as much of the internet as possible to its customers.

Here’s a quick guide that will take you through how to download a VPN in Iran in a few short steps.

  1. Go to the providers’ website and sign up.
  2. Download the VPN client app for the platform of your choice. (ie Mac, iOS, Android, or Windows.)
  3. Once your Iran VPN download is complete, open the client and sign in.
  4. Choose the server location to get a corresponding IP.
  5. Open the website of your choice in the browser.
  6. This won’t allow you to browse with an Iranian IP address, but that’s probably a good thing.

Should You Use a Free VPN for Iran?

We never recommend using a free VPN for a whole range of reasons. These reasons are even more pronounced when trying to access banned content in Iran.

VPNs are a good way of surfing the web securely and not being traced. However, free VPNs do not provide the same level of protection that quality subscription providers do. They can’t for cost purposes, so it means that free VPN users open themselves up to being found by Iranian authorities if they are accessing banned content.

Ultimately, a streaming or surfing session through a free VPN is not enjoyable either. Owing to small, unpowerful networks, connection speeds are so slow with free VPN providers that any internet sites are so sluggish to load that it can be pointless sometimes even to try.

Considering the risks and negatives, we just don’t think it’s worth it.

Are Iran VPNs Legal?

In short, some are and some aren’t. There are a number of providers that are allowed by the government, but this naturally comes at the risk that they are compromised in some way. Speeds are often throttled if you are trying to open a site that is blocked.

This is why we rate security so highly in our must-have features for a VPN provider. It is always best to choose a trusted VPN.

How to evaluate a VPN

There are a number of ways to work out if a VPN is right for you. Evaluating the perfect VPN, you should consider its reputation. Check out user reviews and whether the VPN in question is truly safe, or it could leave you vulnerable in a risky location like Iran.

Find out whether your VPN has the right security protocols and also whether it stores user logs or it is a truly zero-knowledge VPN. Making sure that the software is compatible with your devices is also necessary because if your VPN doesn’t support your software you might be left high and dry.

Unblocking Netflix and streaming channels

Many VPNs claim to be able to get around geo-blocks, but what you don’t know is that they may not be able to connect to platforms such as Netflix. Most of the premium VPNs on the market will not have trouble connecting to streaming websites like Netflix, but you can check reviews to ensure that you can access content from all over the world when using the service in question.

Iran’s ISPs and government work together to filter content

There is filtering within Iran which comes as the ISPs and the government work together making sure that as much online content as possible is actually being monitored and filtered. There are a few ISPs that do work independently, but most of them work by filtering out specific keywords.

The government works on this by completely blocking some websites, with many HTTP hosts as well as DNS hijacking happening on a national level.

Consider Multiple VPNs

It may be a good idea to consider investing in a couple of VPNs before you make your t trip to Iran, just in case one or more of them stop working. This is a country that runs a constant and unrelenting battle with VPNs, so if you need protection it is best to have as many options as possible to keep yourself safe at all times.

The Bottom Line: The Best VPN For Iran

Many users of the internet in Iran will be contacted, at some point, by the Ministry of Intelligence due to their online activity. It can be for something that we would ordinarily think of as harmless – like trying to access Facebook.

As such, we always recommend using ExpressVPN as it mostly stops the Iranian authority’s ability to track your internet usage, so you can access any blocked content. Plus, it provides a reliable and consistent service that allows users to roam the web as they would do ordinarily – with no buffering or freezing ever experienced.

By using ExpressVPN in Iran you receive:

  • A safe way to access the internet without fear of being traced
  • Fast internet speeds to get around ISP throttling
  • An affordable way to bypass geo-restrictions on content
  • A rapid customer service team who respond in minutes

Sign up with ExpressVPN for safe, secure and fast internet browsing.

Article comments

9 comments
David Hutchison says:

I contact Express VPN directly as well as Nord and neither one has access in Iran. I will be going there next month on holiday and at the moment it appears I will be blocked out.

Jerry Hines - Cyber Security Expert says:

Hi David,
Check out this article about which VPNs work best in Iran

Ikraham Abibah says:

I like this insightful review. I would like to try Express on free trial first and then go for a monthly subscription if I like it. The review already explained a lot but seeing is believing.

Hassan says:

Nice article. I haven’t been to Iran before but was chatting with an Iranian friend on Skype that told me he uses Expressvpn and it has a great speed.

John says:

One of the most expensive VPN providers, but if you want to surf the internet anonymously without
compromising privacy then go with EpressVPN. The best quality out there.

Ilana says:

Hi John,
Thank you for your feedback. It’s quite important to note that while expensive, ExpressVPN offers the best value, so the cost-to-value is actually the best.

nothisway says:

Hi, helpful article. so is there any way I could buy it with Iran currency, I don’t have a visa card

Lyndon Seitz says:

Hello,

To my knowledge I am uncertain of this. For now I would recommend seeing what other payment options ExpressVPN has (there are quite a few, including PayPal and Bitcoin) and seeing what you can obtain. There is likely a payment method that will work for you.

Ron Long says:

Hi there, you can purchase vpn service with your credit card now.