You can read a detailed explanation of how we review and rate each VPN for Netflix below:
1. Access to Netflix international catalogs (30% of global score)
The wider the range of catalogs a VPN has access to, the more likely you are to be able to connect to the content you want to watch.
According to our data, The most searched international regions on Netflix are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom.Therefore, VPNs that can unblock these regions get a higher rating than those that only access less popular regions.
How we analyze effectiveness with Netflix’s global catalogs
To test VPN performance in this category, we manually connect to a VPN server in the destination country. The core part of our testing is streaming specific titles exclusive to that particular region. For example, for Canada, we tried “Pulp Fiction”; for India, we used “The Usual Suspects”; and for the UK, we streamed “The Catch.”
We’ve tested all VPNs with Netflix in all available countries.
How we measure effectiveness with Netflix international catalogs
Here’s our system for calculating a VPN’s international Netflix access rating:
- Desired catalogs (max 7 points): VPNs earn 1 point for each major catalog (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK) they can unblock.
- Additional catalogs (max 3 points): Accessing any other international Netflix catalogue earns you an additional 0.1 VPN points.
2. Access to Netflix US (30% of global score)
Since the US is the most popular region for Netflix, it is essential that a high-quality VPN for Netflix provides stable and reliable access to this service.
How We Analyze Effectiveness with Netflix USA
We manually connect to a VPN server in the US and then try to stream “The Great British Baking Show”, a title exclusive to US Netflix. If you access it correctly, you can pass the assessment.
We repeat these tests every week, allowing us to track each VPN’s performance over time. If a VPN can’t access US Netflix for two weeks in a row, we adjust its rating.
We used The Great British Baking Show, a Netflix exclusive in the US, to check if a VPN would work in the region.
How We Evaluate Effectiveness with Netflix USA
Here’s how a VPN’s US Netflix access rating would be evaluated:
- 0.0: Unable to access Netflix US on any server.
- 0 – 9.9: Variable effectiveness with Netflix US.
- 10: Works with any US server.
3. Compatibility with streaming devices (20% of the total score)
To watch geo-blocked Netflix catalogs from different devices, a VPN must support all of them, including more complex platforms like Roku and gaming consoles.
How do we analyze compatibility with streaming devices?
We install VPN apps on devices like Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV, and we evaluate Smart DNS for devices like smart TVs and gaming consoles. We also evaluate VPN setup on routers, including ease of setup. Finally, we evaluate the VPN’s ability to access Netflix through these devices, ensuring overall compatibility.
How we evaluate compatibility with streaming devices
Here’s how to allocate points in this category:
- Fire TV App: 2 points
- Android TV App: 1.75 points
- Apple TV App: 1.5 points
- GPS location spoofing: 0.25 points
- Smart DNS (country-specific): 2 points
- Smart DNS (works with more than one country): 2.5 points
- Application for routers: 2 points
- Provides a router with a pre-installed VPN: 1.5 points
4. Speed (20% of the total score)
Watching streaming content is a data-intensive activity, so it’s essential that your VPN provides fast download speeds to avoid buffering issues. Since you’ll be using your VPN to access Netflix regions around the world, its performance at long-distance speeds is the most important factor.
How do we analyze speed?
We run speed tests using our speed test tool. We ran 12 individual speed tests on VPN servers located in eight regions: the US East and West Coasts, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, South Africa, and the UK.
The final speed rating for each VPN is obtained by averaging the 12 test results, ensuring a complete assessment of its performance.
We run all VPN speed tests manually.
How do we measure speed?
Our specialized calculator processes the raw data and produces a speed score on a scale of 10:
- Download speed: 80% (international speeds account for 30%)
- Download Speed: 10% (obtained from local connections on the US East Coast)
- Ping (latency): 10% (mainly local in the US East Coast and UK)
A VPN that maintains speeds above 95 Mbps scores the maximum score. Similarly, the lower a VPN’s average speed, the lower its score in this category. Our speed scale starts at 0.1, which indicates significant interruptions while streaming on Netflix, and goes all the way up to 10.0, which equates to a perfect streaming experience.
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