Which is the best BBC iPlayer VPN to use in 2022? Good question, TV fans. With the right VPN, you may find that you have faster load times (less buffering), and you’ll even be able to keep up with your favourite BBC shows like Doctor Who, Inside No. 9, Killing Eve, and so on when you’re travelling on your holidays.
However, we should specify that the BBC iPlayer is a service created exclusively for British citizens with a television licence. We are not advocating the use of a BBC iPlayer VPN to access the content on iPlayer if you do not live in the UK, and if you do not have a TV licence. We are only recommending the use of VPNs in order to enhance the experience of those who would have had access to the iPlayer anyway.
Your viewing habits are your own and it is reasonable that you would not want your internet service provider recording data on what you like to watch. Not every VPN is compatible with the BBC iPlayer, but we’ve chosen four of our favourites (with ExpressVPN as our top pick, more on that below) and all of them work fine with the iPlayer.
The best VPNs for BBC iPlayer are:
1. The best BBC iPlayer VPN
Our choice for the best BBC iPlayer VPN is ExpressVPN. Our reason for this is that it is a brilliant VPN all-round that is fully compatible with BBC iPlayer. In addition to more than 3,000 servers across 94 countries, it also has its own dedicated, encrypted IP for each one of these servers in order to boost your privacy levels into the stratosphere.
It may be a little bit more expensive than some of the other VPNs mentioned on this list, but it’s definitely a case of getting what you pay for. Do you worry about VPN interference with other apps or services that you use? You’ll be pleased to hear that ExpressVPN offers split-tunnelling in order to allow you to set one app to go through the VPN, while others use your native connection. It has every base covered.
| ExpressVPN features | |
| Locations | 3,000+ servers in 94 countries |
|---|---|
| Services unblocked | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | No free trial |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 5 |
| Router support | Yes |
2. The best VPN for streaming
We recommend CyberGhost as the best VPN for streaming. Confused about how this is the best for streaming, while ExpressVPN is the best for BBC iPlayer? Well, while we’d recommend ExpressVPN for anyone who does most (or all) of their streaming through BBC iPlayer, we recommend CyberGhost for anyone who enjoys all the best streaming services (including BBC iPlayer). Get the distinction?
What makes CyberGhost such a good choice then? Well, it has over 7,400 servers across 91 countries and is compatible with all the major streaming platforms.
It allows you to have a fairly generous total of seven simultaneous connections, and if you want a chance to test it with multiple services first, it even has a 45-day money-back guarantee that’ll give you more than enough to decide whether it’s worth the long-term investment.
| CyberGhost features | |
| Locations | 7,400+ servers in 91+ countries |
|---|---|
| Services unblocked | Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Hulu, Prime, YouTube |
| Free trial length | Card-free for 1 day |
| Money-back guarantee | 45 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 7 |
| Router support | Yes |
3. The best cheap VPN
A TV licence is an expensive annual fee, so you might not want to add a costly VPN to your list of yearly expenses. If you’re after a cheap VPN, then Private Internet Access is the service for you.
It works out at just £1.67 per month (or $2.19 if you’re in the US) if you go for the three years + three months free plan (two years + two months free in the US). A lot of people could afford that by just cutting out on one coffee a month, or, if you don’t drink coffee, one less ounce of truffles – in fact that’ll probably pay for the whole period.
If you’re worried that because it’s cheap, you might get a lacklustre service, you can put your worries to rest. Not only does Private Internet Access allow you to have ten simultaneous connections (more than any other provider on this list gives you), but it also has 35,000 servers spread around 78 countries around the world. It’s not to be snuffed at.
| Private Internet Access | |
| Locations | 35,000+ servers in 78+ countries |
|---|---|
| Services unblocked | Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | No free trial |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 10 |
| Router support | Yes |
4. The fastest VPN
NordVPN is very well known in the VPN sphere, and part of the reason for this is that it is the fastest VPN. Boasting connection speeds of 65.79Mbit/s, you may find that this VPN can enhance your experience with the BBC iPlayer.
If you find that it takes a while to load, or that it buffers a lot, your ISP might be artificially slowing down the connection because you’re using up a lot of bandwidth, and NordVPN can stop this.
It also has 5,308 servers across 60 countries (which isn’t bad), although it does only allow for six simultaneous connections. On top of that, NordVPN is a little bit more expensive than some other providers, so it has its pros and its cons. Nonetheless, it remains a fantastic choice for BBC iPlayer is still a generally great VPN.
| NordVPN features | |
|---|---|
| Locations | 5,308 servers in 60 countries |
| Services unblocked | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | No free trial |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 6 |
| Router support | Yes |
We hope that this is a helpful point of reference for anybody who’s keen to find a VPN for BBC iPlayer. After looking at several top providers, we decided that ExpressVPN would be the best choice, but we realise everyone has different needs, so we included CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and NordVPN in order to balance the scales somewhat and accommodate as many people as possible.
