The 3 Best 100% Free & Paid VPNs for Germany in 2024 (2024)

What Is the Best VPN for Germany?

Our tests reveal that the best VPNs for Germany in 2024 are:

1. NordVPN: Best VPN for Germany Overall
2. Windscribe Free: Best Free VPN for Germany
3. CyberGhost: The Best Cheap VPN for Germany

The best VPN for Germany in 2024 is NordVPN. It operates over 200 German servers that unblock the most German streaming platforms, including German Netflix and many German TV platforms. The best free VPN for Germany is Windscribe Free. Its German servers also work with Netflix, but it’s limited by a 10GB monthly data cap.

Quick Guide: Which Germany VPN Should You Use?

• If you want to get a German IP address from outside Germany: use NordVPN.
• If you want to access geo-blocked streaming platforms: use NordVPN.
• If you want a cheap VPN with a wide range of German servers: use CyberGhost.
• If you want a free VPN for Germany, use Windscribe Free.

Why Trust Us?

We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.

We’ve been testing VPNs in-depth since 2016. That means we don’t just know which VPNs to recommend for Germany, we also know which VPNs to avoid.

Below are some popular VPNs that we tested for Germany but didn’t make the list. Whether you want a free or paid VPN for Germany, you should avoid these services:

To get a German IP address you need a VPN with servers in Germany. Fortunately, most paid VPNs include German IP addresses as part of their server network.

Follow the instructions below to change your VPN location and get a German IP address. We use NordVPN in this example, but most VPNs follow the same basic principles.

Here’s how to get a German IP address using a VPN:

1. Choose a VPN service, subscribe, and download the application for your device. For Germany, we recommend NordVPN.
2. Launch the VPN application and open the VPN’s server menu. Scroll through the list of countries until you find Germany, or use the search bar and type in ‘Germany’.

   

   Scroll the server list or use the search bar tool to find the VPN’s Germany servers.

3. You can select ‘Germany’ and the VPN will assign you a randomly-selected German server. Alternatively, you can choose a specific city-level server like Berlin or Frankfurt. Using NordVPN, you can find the city options by clicking on the three dots.



Select ‘Germany’ for a random Germany IP address, or select the three dots to access city-level server options.

4. Select the server you prefer and NordVPN will assign you an IP address that’s registered there.



You can manually select any of NordVPN’s 200 German servers.


5. Once you’ve connected to the German VPN server, you can now browse the internet with a German IP address.

In the video below, we demonstrate how easy it is to get a German IP address using a VPN:

Germany is a democratic nation with free speech, but you still may need a VPN to protect your internet privacy if you’re based there.

For more information, read our full breakdown of what a VPN can do.

Below we briefly explain a few reasons for using a VPN in Germany:

1. German Surveillance and Data Gathering

Germany has relatively good privacy protection laws, which are enforced by the German Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG) and the Federal Data Protection Act.

German firms are not required to install a backdoor into their software, and the country is not part of the Five Eyes surveillance alliance.

However, German ISPs like Deutsche Telekom, 1&1, and Telefonica are legally obliged to store your browsing data, and they have been known to threaten legal action against users caught torrenting copyrighted material.

Furthermore, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is known to record metadata and has cooperated with the American NSA.

A VPN protects your privacy online by spoofing your real location and encrypting your internet traffic, preventing some third parties from seeing what you’re doing online.

2. Traveling or Living Outside of Germany

Some apps and services are not available in certain countries. If you’re traveling and you want to retain access to geo-restricted German websites from abroad, you’ll need a VPN to spoof your location.

Similarly, a VPN enables you to access websites from your home country if you’re only visiting Germany for a short period of time. Simply connect to a VPN server in your country and navigate to the sites you need.

3. Streaming Movies & TV Shows

VPNs are excellent tools for accessing geo-restricted streaming services. With a German IP address, you can unblock German Netflix and other local services from anywhere in the world.

If you live in Germany, you can use a VPN to access US Netflix, HBO Max, and hundreds of movies that aren’t typically available in your location.

We test each VPN every week with multiple streaming services, including RTL+, ProSieben, Netflix Germany, and DAZN Germany.

We use an extensive Germany-specific testing process to evaluate the best free and paid VPNs for Germany.

See how each Germany VPN we recommend performed in our key testing categories:

Below you can see the exact methodology we used to calculate each VPN’s rating:

1. Germany Server Locations: 30%

The most important thing for a Germany VPN is a network of German servers that enable you to get a German IP address in multiple cities.

You also need lots of servers in different countries to get international IP addresses.

The more servers the better, because it avoids congestion and maintains reliable speeds.

2. Germany Streaming: 20%

Most people want a VPN for Germany to stream geo-blocked content.

That’s why we regularly test each VPN’s ability to unblock popular German streaming sites outside the country, including RTL+, ProSieben, DAZN Germany, and Netflix Germany.

3. International Streaming: 20%

We also test each VPN’s ability to unblock international streaming sites from inside Germany.

We test each VPN with 12 popular streaming services from across the globe, including US Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, Amazon Prime Video, and more.

4. Speed: 20%

The faster the speeds when connecting into and out of Germany, the better. We perform regular speed tests for each VPN connecting into Germany, from New York to Frankfurt.

We work out the average US to Germany speed performance and give the best rating to the fastest VPN.

5. Privacy & Logging Policy: 10%

Like many European countries, German ISPs monitor and record the browsing activity of their users. Put simply, it’s not a privacy-friendly nation.

For this reason, privacy protections are a big part of our VPN analysis. We examine each VPN’s logging policy to ensure it doesn’t log more of your data than necessary, and we assess its ability to encrypt and protect your sensitive data.

This informs our analysis of a VPN’s ability to keep you safe when sharing files. We look for the presence of a kill switch, a fast average bitrate, a private logging policy, and advanced tools like port forwarding.