NBC has recently muscled its way into the online streaming arena with its Peacock service – but if you don’t live in the USA you won’t be able to use it without a Peacock VPN. That’s because the best VPN will be able to virtually relocate you, tricking the geo-restrictions.
Offering one of the most generous free tiers of any streaming service, Peacock has turned out to be genuinely great, and although it is ad supported you’ll only see a maximum of five minutes of them an hour.
Drawing from NBC’s vast back catalogue and beyond, US residents and global VPN users alike will be able to watch shows like Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, SNL, Downton Abbey and many more, plus movies like Beetlejuice, American Sniper and, if you really want to, Snakes on a Plane – all for free.
While some content like the newly added WWE on Peacock is only available for premium subscribers, the free selection is comprehensive with over 13,000 hours of entertainment to choose from – plus there’s a lot on there that you can’t get for free outside the US, and it’s constantly updated.
So, if you’re not in the States but want to see what the Peacock hype is about, it’s time to get set up with a Peacock VPN that will get you access.
What makes the best Peacock VPN?
If your main priority is watching all the free content on Peacock, you’re going to want a fast, simple Peacock VPN that can actually access the service.
Currently Peacock doesn’t seem to be as troublesome as other streaming services (we’re looking at you, BBC iPlayer), but as it becomes more established we wouldn’t be surprised if it started taking a harder line on restricting access to those outside the States.
Taking all that into consideration, above all others we’d recommend ExpressVPN, which has a long track record of not only being able to reliably access pretty much any geo-restricted streaming media, but of excellent usability and privacy, too. If you’re getting anything, you may as well get the best, right?
However, there are a few different options for different tastes, so scroll on below to see the five best Peacock VPNs on the market today.
1. ExpressVPN – hands-down the best VPN available
If you’re looking for the best VPN for Peacock, look no further than ExpressVPN. With incredible speeds, great privacy and the best interface in the business, it should be your first choice as a Peacock VPN. Plus, you can now grab three months free with a 12-month plan, and you’ll have a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal
2. Surfshark – the best-value VPN on the market
If you want to save a bit of cash – Peacock itself is free, after all – then Surfshark is the best-value option. At just $2.49 a month, it’s an absolute bargain, but performs like a premium-priced product. You’ll also get unlimited connections so you can use it on as many devices as you want.View Deal
3. NordVPN – the biggest name is super secure
NordVPN is likely a name you’ve heard, and it’s a great Peacock VPN that really focuses on security. With great encryption plus excellent streaming unblocking and speeds, it’s earned its place on this list – and at $3.71 a month, it’s great value as well.View Deal
The five best Peacock VPNs today
If you’ve seen many of our other VPN guides, you’ll recognize ExpressVPN. As our top-rated VPN we consider it to be the yardstick for other services to be measured against, and for all-round capability we haven’t yet found one that can beat it.
Your Peacock VPN needs great speeds, and Express delivers. In our testing we reported a very minimal reduction of just 6-8% on a 75MB UK line, with speeds regularly heading north of 200MB on our 600MB US line. That’s more than enough to stream any level of HD video without any buffering whatsoever.
However, you might not just be satisfied with Peacock’s selection, and ExpressVPN can help out with that, too. You’ll be able to access free content on BBC iPlayer, plus a huge amount of Netflix libraries – if you pay for a subscription, that is.
Outside of entertainment, Express is also one the most capable privacy solutions on the market. With military-grade encryption, a selection of protocols to tailor your experience, plus apps for everything from your iPhone to Xbox, it’s 100% fully featured and provides pretty much anything you could ask for.
If we were to come up with one letdown it would have to be the middling five simultaneous connections. That might not be able to cover every device in your house, but you can still install Express on everything and just log in and out – that’s due to it being five simultaneous connections, not five registered devices.
Really, though, that’s just a minor quibble with what we think is the best VPN service available today. And, for peace of mind, if anything goes wrong you’ve got 24/7 live chat, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you’re not happy.
Get 49% off plus 3 free months of the best Peacock VPN
ExpressVPN is your best option for accessing all of Peacock’s excellent content no matter where you are. And, Tom’s Guide readers can claim three free months, meaning you’ll get 15 months for the price of 12. Coupled with the 30-day money-back guarantee, that’s serious value.
View Deal
Bargain Peacock VPN provider Surfshark isn’t shy about boasting about its streaming credentials, and it’s easy to see why.
As one of the top streaming VPNs it’s no surprise it can access Peacock with no fuss – you’ll also be able to get into much tougher services like Netflix and iPlayer, too. And, seeing as it’s based a lot of its marketing around this streaming power, there’s a lot riding on keeping it reliable (which we’ve always found to be the case).
However, one of the biggest benefits of Surfshark is simply the price – for $2.49 a month you’ll get a properly fully-featured VPN alongside some nifty extras. Plus, you’ll also get unlimited simultaneous connections, which means you really can cover every device in your house, even if you’ve got a dozen iPhones for some reason.
If you’re looking for a bargain way of accessing Peacock, Surfshark is an excellent proposition, and although it hasn’t got the in-depth configuration of ExpressVPN, that tradeoff might be worth it if you don’t want to spend the money to get the very best.
With a 30-day money-back guarantee you’ll be able to test-drive the service for a month without risk, but as a Peacock VPN (and pretty much everything else streaming-related) Surfshark is unbeatable value.
Sign up now on Surfshark’s website
NordVPN is probably the most famous VPN provider on the market, and it’s certainly earned its place. With a great balance of privacy and speed, it’s one of the most reliable VPNs around for a lot of tasks.
One of them is accessing Peacock, and Nord’s desktop apps make it really easy to do so. All you need to do is pick a country (in this case, the US) and connect. Head over to the Peacock site and there you go – instant access.
For other uses, NordVPN has a vast number of servers all over the globe, so wherever you want to appear to be, Nord can make that happen. That’s especially useful for other services like Netflix and iPlayer.
Just like ExpressVPN and Surfshark, Nord has an excellent live chat support team who respond promptly and helpfully. However, minor issues do arise with the mobile apps – while they’ve always been stable, the map-based layout isn’t quite as intuitive as it is on desktop. That’s a small quibble, though, as you’re not really going to be spending hours using the apps.
On the whole, NordVPN is a reliable and effective Peacock VPN that should have no trouble getting you access both now and in the future – and if anything does go wrong, you’ve got a 30-day money-back guarantee protecting you.
Sign up now on the NordVPN website
CyberGhost is a hugely popular VPN, with over 10 million users and 15 years of experience in the game. Over that time, the provider has tailored its product to provide a streaming- and torrenting-focused experience, and it’s done it well.
The feature we like the most is CyberGhost’s filtering system. On the left-hand pane of the app you’ll be able to filter out servers all over the world that are best for streaming and torrenting – which means they’ll provide excellent speeds and, importantly, be able to access the what you’re after.
Seeing as Peacock is fairly new on the scene, CyberGhost may not have updated its lists to explicitly state that certain servers are optimized for Peacock, but we can safely say that pretty much any US option will work thanks to Peacock’s currently slack VPN restrictions. And, if it gets tougher in the future, CyberGhost has proved itself with iPlayer and Netflix already.
You’ll also get a great range of supported devices, including all desktop offerings plus iOS and Android, but it also works great as a Fire Stick VPN, and functions on Android TV, Kodi, Chromebooks and more.
What lets CyberGhost down a little is its apps – they’re somewhat rough and ready, and can be a little complex. However, the provider does offer good value on longer plans and a class-leading 45-day money-back guarantee. So, if you’re after a dedicated Peacock VPN, CyberGhost is a good shout.
Sign up now on the CyberGhost website
Known as the fastest VPN on the market to date, Hotspot Shield is an excellent option for unblocking Peacock, as well as a bunch of other streaming services.
With around 1,800 servers worldwide, you won’t get quite the selection offered by some other competitors, but in practice Hotspot Shield has more than enough to choose from – and the speeds you’ll get are phenomenal, too.
The free VPN version is highly regarded and is a useful way of testing out the software to make sure you like the way that it works, bt for streaming you’ll need to opt for a paid plan. The software is easy to get to grips with, though, so there shouldn’t be any issues there.
There are a couple of sticking points. While it doesn’t log any identifiable information, Hotspot Shield does log more in terms of analytical data than its rivals, and for the truly privacy-minded that’ll be a red flag. Plus, it doesn’t offer a Smart DNS service, so on it won’t work as a Smart TV VPN if your device doesn’t natively support VPN connections.
Overall, though, it’s a decent choice if speed is your #1 priority.
Sign up now on the Hotspot Shield website
Best Peacock VPN FAQ
Why do I need a Peacock VPN?
While Peacock offers a huge amount of free content, it’s only available in the US – if you’re in Europe, Asia, or anywhere else, you won’t be able to access it without a VPN.
It’s almost unheard of that a streaming service gives away so much of its content for free, so it’s definitely worth investing in even a cheap VPN to get access to it. Plus, once you’ve got your VPN, you’ll be able to access the world’s Netflix catalogues as well as BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and tons more (if your chosen VPN is up to task).
On top of that, you’ll also have a fully-fledged privacy solution that you’ll be able to use to protect your devices both at home and when you’re out and about using public Wi-Fi.
As a package, we think that’s great value for money – especially if you’re only spending a few dollars a month.
Is it legal to use a VPN for Peacock?
Unlike Netflix and other services, Peacock doesn’t actually have any terms or conditions that restrict the use of VPNs. In fact, after looking through the Ts&Cs, all we could find was this:
“We make no representation or warranty that the Content or Peacock Services are appropriate or available for use outside the United States (including its territories and possessions). Without limiting the geographic eligibility requirements set forth in these Terms and any Additional Terms, if you choose to access the Peacock Services from other locations, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk.“
While we wouldn’t be surprised if that’s updated at some point, right now you can fill your boots without any risk of repercussions.
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