Published on: November 4, 2024
Short on time? Here’s the best military VPN in 2024:
- 🥇 ExpressVPN : It has a huge server network, including servers near US military deployments, works with all popular streaming platforms, and can reliably bypass internet censorship in restrictive countries. Plus, it’s easy to use and backs all subscriptions with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Active military personnel may not access sites from home while deployed overseas. Your host country might block certain social media platforms or VoIP services, your banking app could flag overseas activity as suspicious, and your favorite streaming services may be entirely unavailable.
That’s why it’s essential to get a good VPN before deployment. When you connect to a VPN server, it hides your real IP address and assigns you an IP address belonging to the provider in the country that you’re connected to. This makes it possible to access sites and services as if you’re still in your home country.
After extensive testing and research, I put together a list of the best military VPNs. My top recommendation is ExpressVPN — it has a large server network, maintains super-fast speeds, and works with over 100 streaming services. Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.
Quick Summary of the Best Military VPNs
Editor’s Note: The VPNs on my list all have strict no-logs policies, meaning they don’t keep track of what you do online. This means you’re responsible for how you use a VPN. Neither I nor any of my colleagues here at SafetyDetectives endorses the use of VPNs to engage in illegal activities or copyright infringement. Please follow all relevant rules and regulations when using a VPN.
🥇1. ExpressVPN — Best Overall VPN for the Military in 2024
ExpressVPN is the #1 VPN for users in the military. It has servers in 105 countries, including 14+ server locations in the US, so it’s easy to find a nearby server to connect to for the best possible speeds — or to connect to a server back home to access sites and services that may not be available where you’re deployed.
This provider has the fastest connection speeds, thanks to its proprietary Lightway protocol, which outpaces the fastest common VPN protocol, WireGuard. In my tests, websites always loaded quickly, and I was able to stream content without any interruptions, even when I was connected to a distant server.
ExpressVPN is also the best VPN for streaming in 2024. It can consistently access 100+ streaming apps. This includes the most popular services, like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+, as well as less popular services, like ESPN+, Crunchyroll, Sling TV, and Fubo.
I like that ExpressVPN offers dedicated IP addresses for a small extra charge. These are IP addresses that are only assigned to you, rather than being shared with everyone else who uses the VPN. A dedicated IP address can be helpful to avoid being flagged for suspicious activity by websites that block VPNs, like bank sites, when you try to access them from overseas. ExpressVPN has dedicated IPs in 29+ locations, including 7+ locations in the US.
ExpressVPN’s plans start at $5.49 / month, and all of its subscriptions come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
ExpressVPN has an extensive global server network, including in the US. It offers lightning-fast speeds and supports streaming on over 100 streaming platforms. Additionally, it offers dedicated IP addresses for accessing websites that block VPN IP addresses, like bank sites. All of ExpressVPN’s plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full ExpressVPN review
🥈2. Private Internet Access — Good Military VPN With an Extensive US Network
Private Internet Access (PIA) is a great military VPN for US users. This is because it has servers in every single US state. It also has servers spread out across 91 countries, so you’ll be covered no matter where you’re deployed.
This VPN supports streaming on dedicated servers in 5+ countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, Finland, Denmark, and Italy, and it works with 30+ streaming sites, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, and Hulu. If the internet connection where you’re stationed isn’t great, PIA can also help with that. It allows you to switch from 256-bit AES to 128-bit AES encryption, which is slightly less secure but provides faster speeds. You can change the port you’re using or adjust your packet sizes to improve performance on less reliable connections.
PIA offers dedicated IP addresses for a small cost in 10+ countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, and Singapore. This is fewer countries compared to ExpressVPN, which offers dedicated IPs in 20+ countries. However, PIA provides more options in the US. PIA can get you a dedicated IP in 10+ states, while ExpressVPN only has dedicated IPs in 5+ states.
Private Internet Access has very affordable plans that start at just $2.03 / month, and all of its plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Private Internet Access is a great choice for members of the US military because it has servers in every single US state and offers a ton of options for dedicated IP addresses in the US. It also works with most popular streaming platforms and lets you customize your connections for a better online experience. PIA backs all of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Private Internet Access review
🥉3. CyberGhost VPN — Dedicated Servers for Streaming + Good Automation
CyberGhost VPN has dedicated streaming servers for a wide variety of streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, ESPN+, NBC, and more, so you can keep up with movies and shows while in the military. These servers are checked frequently by the provider’s staff to ensure that they can access the service — they’re located in a separate tab and labeled with the name of the streaming platform.
This VPN comes with useful automation tools to streamline your VPN experience. For example, its Smart Rules feature lets you set things up so that the VPN auto-connects to a specific server when you launch the app. You can also have CyberGhost automatically open an app for you after you connect to a server. This can be handy if you mostly use the VPN for a specific app, like Skype to call your family.
It has servers in 100 countries, and like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, it offers dedicated IP addresses for a small extra cost. CyberGhost has dedicated IPs in 10+ countries and 6 US states.
CyberGhost’s plans start at $2.19 / month, and all of its subscriptions come with a money-back guarantee (45 days for long-term plans and 14 days for short-term plans).
Bottom Line:
CyberGhost VPN has dedicated servers for a wide variety of streaming services, so it’s easy to keep up with your favorite shows while overseas. It also provides good tools for automating your connections and dedicated IP addresses. Every CyberGhost subscription is backed by a money-back guarantee (up to 45 days for long-term plans).
Read the full CyberGhost VPN review
4. NordVPN — Access Files and Media on Your Home PC From Anywhere
NordVPN’s Meshnet feature can create a secure connection to a device back home. This unique tool allows you to remotely access files from your home PC, such as your media library. It also lets you browse the internet using the IP address of a linked device for reliable access to local sites and services from overseas.
It’s also a decent choice for streaming. It supports streaming on all of its servers in 111 countries and works consistently with 10+ popular streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Max, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and more. That said, I still prefer ExpressVPN for streaming because it works with a lot more platforms.
This provider offers dedicated IP addresses in 20+ countries, including servers in 7 different US states.
NordVPN’s plans start at $2.99 / month, and it backs every purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
NordVPN’s unique Meshnet feature lets you remotely access files from back home and browse the web with the IP address of your home device. It also supports streaming on all of its servers, works with many popular streaming services, and offers dedicated IP addresses for a small monthly charge. All of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
5. Surfshark — Highly Intuitive Apps (Good for People New to VPNs)
Surfshark is a good VPN for beginners who are deployed overseas. It comes with a lot of user-friendly features, such as a quick-connect feature that can be customized to connect to any one of its servers in 100 countries with a single click, and there’s a favoriting function, which lets you pin a server to the app’s home screen for easy accessibility.
It also has a pretty useful feature called Override GPS Location on its Android app that helps match the GPS data on your device to the location of the VPN server you connect to. This prevents sites and apps from discovering your real location.
This provider works with 50+ streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Max, and BBC iPlayer.
Surfshark plans start at a low $1.99 / month, and all of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Surfshark is a good military VPN for beginners. It has user-friendly features, like a customizable quick-connect function and favoriting. It helps hide your real location on Android devices with Override GPS Location. And it works reliably with a ton of popular streaming platforms. Plus, it backs all of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Surfshark review
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Quick Comparison Table
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Testing Methodology: Comparison & Ranking Criteria
To find the best military VPNs, I researched and tested all of the top VPNs on the market and followed our proven VPN testing methodology. I focused on providers with fast speeds, large server networks, and good streaming support. I also took into account each provider’s security, intuitiveness, affordability, and more. You can learn more about the criteria I used to rank and compare the VPNs on my list below:
- I looked for VPNs with large server networks. The VPNs I recommend have servers all over the world, so you can easily connect to a server in your home country to access sites and services from back home or in a nearby country for the best possible speeds, no matter where you’re deployed.
- I chose VPNs with good streaming support. Every VPN on my list works with popular streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and more, so you can still watch your favorite shows while abroad.
- I tested each VPN’s speeds. Using any VPN will reduce your speeds slightly due to the encryption process. However, all of the VPNs I picked maintain fast enough speeds for smooth browsing, streaming, and gaming. In my tests, ExpressVPN had the fastest speeds.
- I assessed each VPN’s security. I only recommend VPNs with industry-standard security features, such as 256-bit AES encryption, a strict no-logs policy (meaning the provider doesn’t track your online activities), and a kill switch, which disconnects you from the internet in case your VPN connection drops. This protects you from trackers, hackers, and internet surveillance in your host country.
- I picked VPNs that provide good overall value. The VPNs on my list have both monthly and yearly plans at reasonable prices, allow multiple simultaneous connections (so you can cover all of your devices), and include tons of useful extra features, like split-tunneling and an ad blocker. Plus, all of their plans come with a money-back guarantee, so you can try them out risk-free.
Top Brands That Didn’t Make the Cut
- PrivateVPN. This provider is a great choice if you’re deployed in a restrictive country that blocks VPNs thanks to its excellent obfuscation tool. However, its server network is on the small side, and it lacks useful extra features, like split-tunneling.
- Proton VPN. It has one of the best free plans out there with unlimited data and no speed throttling, which is great if all you need is a VPN for browsing the web. However, its free plan doesn’t support streaming and limits you to a small selection of servers. And I don’t like that its money-back guarantee for paid plans is prorated (you’re still charged for every day that you use it).
- VyprVPN. It works great in restrictive countries and has excellent support for streaming. That said, the VPNs on my list offer better value for their price.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best VPN for overseas deployment?
The best overall VPN for military personnel who are deployed overseas is ExpressVPN. It has an extensive server network, so you can easily access sites and services from back home as well as find a nearby server to connect to for the best possible speeds. It’s the fastest VPN on the market and works with 100+ streaming platforms.
Are there any good free military VPNs?
Generally, free VPNs aren’t very safe or reliable. Even free VPNs from trusted and reputable providers still come with too many limitations for me to recommend them. For example, most free plans put restrictions on how much data you can use per day/month, limit you to a tiny selection of servers, and don’t support streaming. You’ll save yourself a lot of time by investing in an affordable paid VPN instead.
Why do I need a military VPN?
A good military VPN ensures that you retain access to sites and services from back home while deployed overseas. Some countries block social media sites and VoIP services, like X, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Skype, which you might want to use to keep in touch with friends and family. You may find it impossible to access your banking app from another country because it flags overseas activity as suspicious. And your preferred streaming platforms may not be available in your host country.
How do I use a military VPN?
Using a VPN is very easy — just follow these 3 simple steps:
- Subscribe to a good VPN. I recommend ExpressVPN due to its large server network and blazing-fast speeds.
- Connect to a server. Choose a server in your home country to access sites and services from back home, or choose a server in your host country/nearby country for the best possible speeds.
- Start surfing the web. You can now access the free and open web and do so more securely.
