Best VPN in NZ
There are many reasons why you might want to find the best VPN in NZ. Perhaps you’re traveling abroad, but you still want to access all your local content? Maybe you’re sick of worrying about prying eyes spying on your internet activity? Or, you could just wish to access US-based streaming libraries to watch all your favorite shows?
Regardless of your reason, you need a safe, secure, fast, and flexible VPN provider to do all of those things. Here we will be breaking down the best VPNs in New Zealand.
10 Best VPNs to Use in and Outside NZ
If you’ve decided that you want to use a New Zealand VPN, but you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got ten choices here for you. These are the ten best VPNs in NZ.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is one of the biggest names in the VPN world. They have servers in 160 locations and 94 different countries. It’s not the largest server network, but it’s certainly a solid one at that. They have one package that boasts all their features, which is also nice because we like keeping it simple.
Jurisdiction
This VPN has jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands, which is east of Puerto Rico. This country is a great location for a VPN, as we discussed previously, because they have their own legislature without any data retention laws.
It means that Express VPN is not required to forfeit any information they don’t want to. They’re allowed to decide how much information they want to keep.
Logging
Logging and jurisdiction go hand in hand because if the VPN doesn’t log any of your information, you don’t have to worry as much about their jurisdiction. ExpressVPN has a transparency rating of 88/100, and their privacy policy states that they collect some necessary metadata from their users.
They go on to state that the data collected cannot identify a person or any behaviors. This data is collected strictly to improve their service. We like the fact that ExpressVPN is open and honest about the information they collect, and we see no issues with it.
Top Features
One of the best features of ExpressVPN is its RAM-only servers. These types of servers eliminate all stored information each time they shut off. There are two upsides to using this type of storage.
One, it’s more volatile, which means it’s easier to lose important data. That’s an upside for the user because there’s less of a chance of the server storing anything.
Two, it’s much faster than secondary storage, which is what most VPNs use. This allows the servers to run faster and ultimately offer improved speeds to the consumers.
ExpressVPN also offers a kill switch. In the event that you lose connection to the VPN, your internet browsing will be exposed, and anyone who is spying on you will be able to see your true IP address.
If this happens, the kill switch shuts off your connection to the internet so no one can see what you’re doing.
One rare feature of ExpressVPN is its PrivateDNS. They host their own DNS on each VPN server, which means that your data stays there while processing. It results in faster speeds and more control over who has access to your information.
Pricing
ExpressVPN offers a free trial on their mobile devices only, and they also have a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you pay month-to-month, the subscription fee is $12.95, and that goes down to $8.32 if you pay for a whole year.
This price is a little expensive, especially for the yearly plan, but they do have an extensive server network, and the service is solid overall.
NordVPN
NordVPN is a huge name in internet security, and they offer a variety of different products to help you stay safe and private online. One of their products is their VPN so let’s see if the big name can stand up to the big reputation.
Jurisdiction
Nord holds jurisdiction in Panama, which has a few advantages. They have a variety of laws that state that companies can only collect information from users when they have their consent, that data must be stored for seven years, they need permission to transfer it, and the owner of the data has the right to remove their information.
So, at first glance, Panama seems like a great country for a VPN, and it is. All of these laws protect the user, but NordVPN mustn’t trick users into offering consent because that happens a lot as well. Make sure you read all the fine print.
Logging
NordVPN has an extensive auditing process involving third-parties. We looked through many of their audits, and everything checked out okay. One of the audits performed in 2020 by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Switzerland confirmed their no-logging policy.
Top Features
Nord offers something called NordLynx, which is very similar to WireGuard. Essentially, it’s their own VPN tunneling system, but we’re never a fan of closed-source features. WireGuard is open source, so developers can go in and find loopholes and issues with the program, whereas, with Nord’s proprietary technology, there’s no way of getting in there to see what they’re doing.
They also offer a Double VPN, which is a nice feature because it adds another layer of encryption. It’s basically a second VPN on top of the one you already have, and it has two primary features.
One, it adds a second layer of security. Two, it offers faster speeds because you can exhaust the bandwidth on your first VPN and use the second one to boost speeds.
Pricing
We know that Nord is a big name, so we expect a big price tag. Their prices are standard compared to other VPNs of this size. If you go for a month-to-month plan, you’ll pay $11.95, but if you stretch that out across 12 months, you’ll pay $5.75 per month and a fee of $69 all at once. That’s obviously much cheaper than the month-to-month, but it’s still pricey.
Surfshark
Surfshark is a newer and “lesser-known” name in the world of VPNs. It’s a nice comparison because we get to see what features smaller companies are able to offer and if they can hold their own against the big kids.
Jurisdiction
Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark holds jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands. There are no data retention laws here, and the country has a lot of procedures in place to protect the users.
Logging
As with all VPNs, they have a “no-logging policy,” but they do keep some of your information. Surfshark tracks performance data, unsuccessful connection attempts, and frequency of use. While we don’t think they could use that information to figure out who you are, you could be leaving a digital footprint with this information.
Top Features
Surfshark also offers RAM-only servers, which is an awesome feature. You get the highest data protection level because any information they keep from you is destroyed each time the server is shut off.
One thing that Surfshark offers that really stands out to us is their Camouflage mode. This helps you cross borders and access content in and out of New Zealand without the website, knowing that you’re using a VPN.
Streaming sites like Netflix have caught on and put blocks against anyone trying to access the service through a VPN. The camouflage mode uses special technology that helps make it look like you’re accessing it from a true IP.
Pricing
Surfshark offers a nice seven-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, their VPN is priced affordably with the rest of the market even though they offer a few more features than the rest.
You’ll pay $12.95 if you go month-to-month, but if you stretch it out to six months, you’ll pay $6.49 per month, which is highly affordable for a six-month contract.
ProtonVPN
Next up, we have ProtonVPN. This VPN is well known for its email service, ProtonMail. They offer a user-friendly app that makes it easy to connect to one of their servers, and they claim not to log any of your information.
Jurisdiction
Proton has jurisdiction in Switzerland, which is an excellent country for a VPN. This country has strict laws that prohibit third-parties from spying or gathering information about VPN users.
One interesting fact about this service is they use underground data centers to keep all their physical servers, making it much more difficult to access them.
Logging
They have a strict no-logging policy, and they even offer that on their free VPN. The company also provides open-source code on all their apps so you can go in and see what they’re working with and determine if there are any loopholes in the system.
They’ve all determined that ProtonVPN is a solid choice during countless third-party audits and verified their no-logging policy.
Top Features
ProtonVPN offers one unique feature that stands out amongst the competition. They have something called Perfect Forward Secrecy, which uses standard AES-256 bit encryption, but they take it to another level. Their VPN creates a new encryption key for each session, so even if someone is able to access the key, each session you create generates a new key, which makes it harder for them to keep track of you.
They also use something called Tor over VPN, which helps you if you’re using the Onion network.
Pricing
This VPN offers a free plan with limited features that allows you to access three different servers, but you’ll experience slower speeds when doing this. The free plan is a nice way to try it out, but we wouldn’t recommend it over the long-term.
Their pricing is a bit confusing because they have multiple tiered plans, which we never like because it complicates things. It looks like their pricing varies from $4 to $30 per month, depending on what type of plan and how far out you stretch the contract.
Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is another popular VPN owned by the company Pango. This company owns a whole suite of internet security products, but their reputation is a little subpar. They were involved in some issues pertaining to the spying and tracking of their users for marketing purposes, but that apparently only applies to their free plan.
Jurisdiction
Hotspot Shield holds jurisdiction in the United States, which is one of the worst locations for a VPN because of the unfriendly data retention laws.
Logging
While they have a “no logging” policy, their privacy policy clearly explains what they log, and it’s not great. They keep connection information, your IP address, and device information. The IP is encrypted and deleted when you disconnect, but that still opens the door to people who want to track you for the duration of your time connected.
When you’re using the free version, you’ll also experience advertisements that come with additional logging of mobile IDs and location information.
Top Features
The main feature of Hotspot Shield is their Hydra Protocol. This protocol is said to solve speed issues pertaining to VPNs. They’ve developed their own protocol, and it is definitely fast. Even in New Zealand, people experience fast speeds using Hotspot Shield, but there is one major downside to this protocol.
It’s a closed source protocol, which means that third-party developers cannot access it to see the code. Open-source protocols are typically recommended because anyone can go in and play with the code to improve upon shortcomings and find loopholes, and you can’t do that here.
They also offer a kill switch, DNS leak protection, and a domain bypass feature that works the same as split tunneling. Overall, they offer a lot of great features that make this a nice choice for people in New Zealand, but they do have a tainted past.
Pricing
As previously mentioned, they have a free plan, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Their paid plans start at $12.99 per month, which is relatively standard, but it can be as low as $2.99 per month if you spread the contract out across three years.
Avast VPN
Avast is a huge name in the world of cybersecurity, and they operate some of the most popular antivirus software in the world. They also provide you with a VPN to help maintain online privacy and limit the chances of anyone spying on you.
Jurisdiction
Avast holds jurisdiction in the Czech Republic with 25 offices all over the globe. Like Switzerland, the Czech Republic has strong security laws protecting consumers, and many of them state that the company is not allowed to do anything with your information without your consent first.
As we’ve said, you must read all the privacy policies and everything you sign up for because they can get you to consent to things without even knowing it.
Logging
Their company policy is transparent, and we always appreciate that. The one problem we have is the lack of third-party audits available on their website. While they have a no-logging policy and it doesn’t seem like they keep anything incriminating, we would like to see that clearly described on the website so consumers can see it.
Top Features
The top benefits of using Avast is their ability to bypass geo-restrictions, allowing you to stream and torrent to your heart’s desire. This is a huge feature for people living in New Zealand because you should have no problem streaming content from outside the country and inside the country if you want as well.
Torrenting is made possible using dedicated P2P servers, which is something we look for, and they’re available in locations throughout the US and Europe.
Pricing
Their pricing structure is simple, and it actually increases based on the number of simultaneous devices you want; this is not something we see all the time, but it’s a nice feature that reduces the amount you have to pay if you only want to use the VPN on one device. For example, if you are single and living by yourself, you may only need to encrypt one device. If that’s the case, it’ll only cost you $2.99 per month.
Hola VPN
Next up, we have the very first peer-to-peer VPN to hit the market in 2012. This service is unique because they have practices that differ from any other VPN out there, but they’re not all good.
For starters, they don’t possess their own network of services, instead, when you connect to a Hola IP, you’re connecting to the IP of another user, and a user is connecting to your IP. Instead of tunneling the IP and tossing it to the wind, you’re simply allowing someone to borrow it while you borrow theirs.
Do you see the red flag here?
If someone signs on using your IP address and engages in illegal activity, who do you think is going to have to provide some answers?
Jurisdiction
Hola holds jurisdiction in Israel, which isn’t a bad jurisdiction for a VPN, but it’s certainly not the best.
Logging
Logging is where we draw the line with Hola; if you’re in New Zealand, you might want to second guess this choice. You might be saying, “Hey, I thought this was a list of the best VPNs for New Zealanders!” We have to throw you a curveball or two so you can make a contrasting comparison.
Hola logs the following information:
- Browser type
- Web pages visited
- Time spent on pages
- Access times and dates
- IP address
- Name and email
- Screen name
- Payment and bill information
They even explain in their privacy policy that all this gathered information can be shared with third parties, affiliates, and partners. This is the most ignorant logging policy we’ve ever seen, and there’s no point in even using Hola when they’re gathering all this data about you.
Top Features
One of Hola’s best features is that you can use up to 10 devices on their Plus package, and it works on a variety of platforms, including desktop, mobile, browser extensions, routers, consoles, and Smart TVs.
They also do a great job of unblocking geo-restricted content so you can access streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and more.
So, let’s be clear here. We’re not happy with their logging policy, and we think that Hola fails when it comes to privacy. But, if you’re simply looking for a VPN to help you stream content in and outside of New Zealand, it’s not a bad choice.
Pricing
The reason why it’s not a bad choice is that it’s free. Hola VPN offers a pretty solid free plan that offers a lot of benefits without asking for much in return. They do have a premium offering, but we wouldn’t recommend it because you shouldn’t use this VPN to protect your privacy in any way.
Windscribe
Windscribe is an excellent VPN that we back quite heavily. They offer a free and premium plan, and their free offering is one of the most generous on the market to date. Both offer reliable speeds, a large server package, plenty of apps, and unlimited premium plan data.
Jurisdiction
The company holds jurisdiction in Canada, but you can’t even find a physical address online, only a PO box. This jurisdiction is certainly not the best due to the Copyright Modernization Act that says that the VPN is required to log all data for up to six months, but according to the company, they don’t do it anyway.
Logging
Windscribe offers a large transparency page where they break everything down for users. Here you’ll find information regarding DMCA requests, seized servers, and more. While it seems like they receive a lot of requests for information, they forfeit none of it, and their no-logging policy is rock solid, so we doubt they have anything to offer anyway.
Top Features
Windscribe developed their own technology and named it R.O.B.E.R.T. It’s essentially a split tunneling/ad-blocking feature that allows you to pick and choose certain things you want to see and things you don’t.
You can block sites that might have malware, place child restrictions on your computer, and block ads that are pushing potentially harmful marketing material to you. Best of all, you get this feature on their free plan.
The VPN also offers something called static IPs, which decreases your chances of getting blacklisted because you get a new IP each time you sign on.
Pricing
Windscribe is the best free VPN for New Zealanders, hands down. They provide you with a ton of free features, which allows you to really test drive the service and see how much you like it.
You get a 10GB data cap, and you can connect to servers in 10 different countries. The only downside is you can’t connect to servers in New Zealand; you can only access content outside the country.
Tunnelbear
Tunnelbear is a great VPN for those who are concerned about upload and download speeds. This factor is important for New Zealanders because you need a fast VPN since you’re likely traveling long distances to find the nearest server. Tunnelbear is a great choice for torrenting and streaming due to that reason.
Jurisdiction
Tunnelbear holds jurisdiction in Canada, which we know is not the best location for a VPN because of data retention and logging laws, but it’s unclear as to whether or not they comply with these rules anyway.
Logging
We dove into their privacy policy to see what we could find. They claim only to collect “necessary personal information,” but their privacy policy states that they keep a lot more than that.
Tunnelbear keeps information like your email address, confirmed email, operating systems, financial information, session information, and much much more that we won’t go into. The bottom line is, they capture a lot of data, but it’s unclear as to whether or not anyone could use this information to identify you or not.
Top Features
One of the best features of Tunnelbear is that it seems like you can bypass the Great Firewall in China. This feature could be the saving grace for many New Zealanders because they have servers in New Zealand.
So, if you’re trying to get New Zealand programming, sports, and streaming services, and you’re in China, you might be able to do it using Tunnelbear.
They also have a separate ad blocker that you can install using a browser extension, which is a nice feature as well. Overall, Tunnelbear might be one of the most feature-rich VPNs for New Zealanders that we’ve looked at so far.
Pricing
Best of all, they have a free plan offering as much as 500MB of monthly data. Even if you decide to jump right into their paid plan, it’s one of the most affordable options at $4.99 per month if you sign up for a yearly plan.
Keep in mind that a lot of the best features only come when you get a premium plan.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost VPN boasts itself as one of the best because they’ve spent time assembling a team of industry experts with IT and cybersecurity backgrounds. The company has offices in Romania and Germany, and both sectors seem to do a nice job of protecting its users.
Jurisdiction
The VPN holds jurisdiction in Bucharest, Romania. The company is part of the EU, and they operate under Romanian Data Laws, which is very strict and forces them into a tight corner. The VPN is responsible for forfeiting all information about its users, but thankfully, laws have been put in place to limit the chances of this happening. Out of all the EU locations, it seems that Romania tries its hardest to provide privacy to people using this VPN.
Logging
Transparency is important, and CyberGhost provides us with a lot of information about their audits, privacy, and logging. In 2019, the company faced 57.094 DMCA complaints, which is a huge number, but luckily, they’re on your side.
Even though they received that many complaints, they did not forfeit any information about their users. They have a strict no-logging policy, so even if their servers get exposed, and someone tries to dig up information on users, they wouldn’t likely be able to find anything anyway.
Top Features
CyberGhost has a lot of great features, with the main one being their “NoSpy Servers.” They’ve designed their server network in a way that makes it twice as difficult for anyone to tap into it and figure out what you’re doing. Plus, you get 256-bit AES encryption and Romanian law to protect you.
The VPN also offers something called automatic wifi protection that automatically connects you to your encrypted VPN anytime you’re on unsecured wifi. So, if you’re at a coffee shop or a library on your computer, the VPN will immediately connect to protect your identity on the public network.
Pricing
The pricing from CyberGhost is relatively standard compared to all the other VPNs we’ve looked at. If you go with a month-to-month plan, you’ll pay $12.99 per month, and that drops as low as $2.75 per month if you stretch it out across 18 months. This is an affordable price, and they also offer a password manager and dedicated IP for an additional charge.
What Is a VPN?
VPN stands for virtual private network. The main goal of these products is to help you increase your internet privacy by adding extra layers of protection, which makes it harder to track you.
VPNs route your connection through secure servers, which encrypts the connection and makes it nearly impossible for anyone else to find your original location or see what you’re doing.
Why Use a VPN in New Zealand?
Even though New Zealand is considered one of the most “free” countries globally, there have recently been plenty of controversies regarding data protection, privacy, and surveillance. There are also restrictions on what types of content New Zealanders can watch, so there are many different reasons to use a VPN in this country.
Streaming Outside Content
One of the main reasons people here lean on VPNs is because it allows them to stream content from outside their country.
When you use a VPN, you’re using an IP address from a different country; when you do that, you can access the content from that country because the streaming service thinks that’s your actual location.
For example, if you wanted access to the American library of Netflix, you would join a US server, and if everything worked properly, you’d then have access to all the Netflix shows from the US.
The same goes for any other country and additional streaming services. It’s important to remember that not all VPNs work for this, and some might offer additional benefits that make it easier for you to bypass these geo-restrictions. It’s an important feature to look for in the best VPNs.
Streaming Inside Content
On the other side of the coin, you might want to stream content from inside the country. If you live in New Zealand but are traveling abroad, you might not have access to certain things like Rugby, Cricket, and Football in other countries.
To watch those sports, you’d have to use a VPN server from within New Zealand and stream that content. So, if this is your goal, you’ll have to find a VPN that offers reliable access via servers inside the country, which isn’t always common.
Privacy
Finding the best VPN for NZ is also about privacy. There are stories all over the news about the countries illegally spying on people.
While New Zealand acts responsibly in this sense, personal user data deserves to be protected from other 3rd parties.
When you’re not using a VPN, your actual IP address is available, and everything you’re doing on the computer is out in the open. Anyone who knows what they’re doing can tap into your browsing activity and even see what information you’re entering into the computer. A VPN encrypts all of that information so the person doing that cannot see what you’re writing.
In addition, websites & apps are full of advanced tracking software nowadays.
Torrenting
Torrenting is the process of downloading files from decentralized P2P networks where anyone can go on there and upload their own files to share with others. People do this because they can share files freely and at a great speeds, but there are plenty of legal issues circling around torrenting.
Most developed countries are biased regarding torrenting. It’s often when internet service providers are not tolerating it.
Using a VPN when torrenting helps to encrypt your traffic so your torrenting will be private.
ISP Throttling
ISP throttling is when internet service providers reduce bandwidth on the internet to ensure maximum speeds in places where the extra speed is necessary. The end result could mean that you experience seriously slow internet for long periods because the provider is limiting the amount of bandwidth you can have.
Using a VPN can help prevent this from happening because the internet service provider will know much less about your connection. If you’re using a VPN server, they have limited capabilities to limit your bandwidth. If throttling is a recurring problem for you, using a NZ VPN might help.
A Good VPN for Use in NZ
Now you understand some of the reasons we might want to use a VPN; we need to discuss what features and benefits you should be looking for in your ideal VPN. These are all highly important to New Zealand residents, and remember, that you’re trusting your privacy to a VPN provider, so you want to make sure you make the right choice.
Brand
Brand reputation is critically important, and you need to scour the web to find reviews, business documentation, legal information, and anything else you can find about that VPN provider. Many of them have transparency reports that will tell you all about their audits and how they test their systems.
If you can find this information, you need to search through it and see what you can dig up because you want a VPN that is as little dirt as possible. We’ve learned from doing a ton of VPN reviews in NZ that big brands are not always better in the world of VPNs.
They might have a big reputation and many customers, but that doesn’t mean they’re handling your private data appropriately. Tread carefully when choosing. Ideally, a VPN service should have zero personal data of its customers.
Jurisdiction
The VPNs jurisdiction refers to the primary country where they operate. Certain countries have very strict data retention laws, others are loose, and others are completely gray, and we don’t know what their laws are.
Ideally, you want to find a VPN in a country where their privacy laws benefit the consumer. Certain countries like Switzerland, Seychelles or the British Virgin Islands are the best choice for VPNs because the laws lean in favor of the user. They have special protections that reduce the likelihood of third-parties spying and trying to get information.
If you choose a jurisdiction that leans against you, you’ll end up having to deal with third-parties taking servers, spying on you, and even selling your valuable information. We’re not saying that is going to happen, but it’s a possibility.
Third-Party Audits
The best way to get an idea about a VPN company’s reputation and history is to see if you can find any audits. Third-party audits are the best because they’re not internal, and you can trust the authenticity of them a little more.
These audits will check for things such as:
- DNS leaks
- Logging
- DMCA complaints
- Requests for information
- Raids
All of these factors are important because they put your privacy at risk. Whenever there are a bunch of DMCA complaints about one specific VPN provider, it increases the likelihood of them requesting information about the users.
Then, if the VPN is logging information or storing anything about users, there is the risk of personal data being exposed.
In a worst-case scenario, if a 3rd party gets physical access to servers, causing the vulnerability of private information of many people.
Native Apps
If a VPN provider has a lot of native apps, it means that their apps don’t require you to set up anything manually. This is important because it makes using the VPN much easier for people without a lot of experience. Most VPNs offer this, so it’s something you should expect.
You’ll find that most offer Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android apps, but some also take it up a notch. They offer apps for things like Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, Chromecast, Raspberry Pi, Routers, Blackberries, and more.
The amount of platforms they provide is really only significant if you’re using those devices, and you need protection on them. We recommend encrypting as many devices as you can because there’s less you have to worry about.
While most VPNs don’t offer any native development for routers, encrypting from the router is always the best way to go because it covers everything you’re using on that wifi network. There’s no need to hook up each device individually to the VPN.
Browser Extensions
Many VPNs also offer browser extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. These don’t offer the same level of protection as the app, but they add an extra layer of security, and in some cases, they’re free.
We would recommend searching for a VPN that offers browser extensions because it’s a relatively standard feature and something you should expect from the best VPNs.
Server Network
The VPNs server network is a tremendously important feature because it will determine how fast your speeds are, how easily you can access streaming services, and how easily you can torrent.
As previously mentioned, bigger isn’t always better. We’ve seen VPNs with a small server network like Astrill VPN offer great speeds with a network that is a fraction of the size of some of the bigger names.
What you want to look for is a server network that offers a wide variety of locations because it will always appeal to someone, somewhere.
Some VPNs offer 3,000 servers, but 90% of them are in the US, Canada, and Europe. That’s not ideal. You want to find a VPN that offers servers scattered worldwide because it gives you the best chance of getting what you want.
It’s also important to find a server network that has dedicated servers for P2P. Peer-to-peer networks are what you’ll use for things like torrenting, and if you have to sift through 1,000 servers to find ones that work for torrenting, you won’t get the best experience.
Servers for Streaming
When you have a large server network, you increase the likelihood of finding servers that work well for streaming. Many people turn to VPNs for streaming, so it’s certainly an important feature.
The only way to know that a VPN works for streaming is to find real reviews from people who tried the VPN for themselves. You can never trust the company’s website because they’ll always say that they work for streaming even though they don’t.
Furthermore, even if they have servers that work for streaming, how hard are they to find? Some VPNs offer streaming servers, but you have to work your way through dozens of servers until you find one that works.
Some VPNs make it simple by organizing their servers in a way that makes it easy for you to find what you want. They put all the streaming servers together in one bunch, so if you’re looking for Netflix, you go to these servers. If you’re looking for Hulu, you go to a different set of servers.
Servers for Torrenting
The same rules apply to torrenting. You need P2P servers to make it simple; otherwise, torrenting will get shut down on those servers. It’s also important that the VPN offer obfuscation or camouflage mode because service providers can tell when someone is using a VPN.
Many VPNs offer special modes that make it more difficult for the target website to identify that you’re on a VPN.
Simultaneous Connections
This feature refers to how many devices you can use with a VPN without having to purchase an additional subscription. Some VPNs offer unlimited simultaneous connections, while others only allow three connections at one time.
If you’re using a VPN for business or have many people in your house, and you want to encrypt all the devices, you’ll want to go with a VPN that offers plenty of connections.
Free Trial
We think it’s pretty obvious why you want a VPN that offers a free trial or at least a money-back guarantee. We don’t find that too many VPNs offer a free trial, but some have a “freemium” plan that allows you to try a very basic VPN level and decide if you want to upgrade.
In our experience, the ones that offer that type of feature aren’t as good, and the free plan leaves a bad taste in your mouth because the bandwidth restrictions cause it to be super slow.
When a VPN offers a free plan, they have to make sure to reserve as much of their bandwidth as they can for the people actually paying for the service; as a result, the people on the free plan get left with the scraps.
Price
You should factor price into your decision because you’ll want to keep your VPN active for as long as you can. If it’s too expensive, you might not be able to afford it and, as a result, have to cancel it before you want.
For the most part, pricing on VPNs is the same. Most are between NZD $3-18 per month, depending on which one you choose and how far out you extend your contract. There are some exceptions with highly expensive VPNs that cost as much as NZD $20 per month if you pay month-to-month.
We recommend trying out a VPN first before signing up for a long-term contract, but some do allow you to cancel, and they’ll refund you the money you paid.
A Good VPN for Use Outside NZ
In the previous section, we discussed what features New Zealanders should look for when trying to find a VPN to use inside the country. What if you’re outside and trying to access content from within the country?
First, you still want to find all the same features we discussed. You still need a VPN that’s private, with user-favored jurisdiction, solid reputation, large server network, fast speeds, and all that. Those are still all important factors. There are two other main points we must add, though.
Reliable Servers in NZ
If you’re outside the country, but you want to make services believe that you’re in New Zealand, you obviously need the VPN to offer servers inside the country, right? Some VPNs do not offer servers in New Zealand, so that’s the most important factor.
Unblocking NZ Content
In addition to needing servers inside the country, you need a VPN that will actually allow you to unblock the content from within that country. So, P2P servers inside New Zealand are critically important if you’re torrenting, and you’ll also need servers that allow streaming inside the country.
Remember, just because the VPN has servers in NZ doesn’t mean that you can stream and torrent from them. The best place to figure it out on a case to case basis is to check sites like Reddit to see if you can find any threads about streaming and torrenting in New Zealand.
3 Best Free VPN NZ Options
If you’re smitten with finding yourself a free VPN plan in NZ, you might want to check out these three options. We’ve reviewed them above, but we’ll talk a bit more specifically about each’s free benefits.
ProtonVPN
Proton offers one of the best free VPN plans because you gain access to servers in 54 countries, support for ten devices, and plenty of advanced features. They don’t put any restrictions on your data, there are no advertisements, and the Switzerland jurisdiction works in your favor. You really can’t go wrong with this VPN for free.
Windscribe
Windscribe might not offer unlimited bandwidth or 54 countries, but this is a solid choice as well. Their free plan allows up to 10GB of monthly data, unlimited connections, and servers in 10 countries. Personally, we prefer Windscribes service over Proton, but if you need additional server access and unlimited bandwidth, you might want to choose ProtonVPN.
Tunnelbear
Tunnelbear offers a free VPN, but it seems like less of a long-term solution and more of a “trial.” You only get 500MB of data, which isn’t enough to do a whole lot. You might have a hard time getting decent streaming or download speeds.
Summary
Finding a NZ VPN is not an easy task. Even some of the biggest names don’t provide servers in the country, making it difficult for users inside NZ to access content from outside the country.
You need a VPN that offers lightning-fast speeds and a huge server network so you can access nearby servers instead of having to travel to more popular locations like Europe and North America.
Thankfully, many of the VPNs recommended in this guide will not only supply you with the network and speed you need; they’ll ensure you get the privacy you want so you can stay safe and protected while browsing.
FAQ
Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions revolving around VPNs in New Zealand.