Shudder is the horror fan’s streaming service, and October is its biggest month. The catch: it only streams in six countries. Go on holiday to Spain or a work trip to Germany and your subscription suddenly shows nothing but an error screen.
A VPN fixes that by giving you an IP address back home. Here are the VPNs that hold up best for streaming in our tests, and how to set them up for Shudder in a couple of minutes.
Quick answer: the best VPNs for Shudder
- NordVPN: best overall, 4.63/5 and 5/5 on streaming
- ExpressVPN: most consistent unblocking, but the priciest
- Surfshark: best value, Very Good on every platform we test
- CyberGhost: cheapest strong option, with a 45-day refund window
- Proton VPN: best if privacy matters as much as streaming
Where Shudder works (and where it doesn’t)
Shudder’s help centre lists six countries where the service is available: the United States and its territories, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Everywhere else, including the whole of continental Europe, Latin America and most of Asia, the service is out of reach.
The catalogue also changes from one country to the next. Shudder publishes separate film lists per country, and licensing means a title in the US library may not be in the UK one. So even subscribers inside those six countries sometimes connect through another one to find a specific film.
How we picked these VPNs
Shudder isn’t one of the platforms in our streaming test grid, so we won’t pretend we have a Shudder-specific score. What we do have is a consistent test across Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, HBO Max and Peacock. A VPN that gets past those platforms’ VPN detection night after night is the best predictor we have for a smaller service like Shudder.
We also weighed server coverage in Shudder’s six countries, speed (4K horror with lag is no fun), and the money-back window, since that’s your safety net if a provider doesn’t work for you.
| VPN | Overall | Streaming | Netflix | BBC iPlayer | Servers | 1-year plan | Refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 4.63/5 | 5/5 | Excellent | Excellent | 6,274 in 104 countries | $68.85 (~$5.74/mo) | 60 days |
| ExpressVPN | 3.72/5 | 5/5 | Excellent | Excellent | 3,000+ in 94 countries | $99.95 (~$8.33/mo) | 30 days |
| Surfshark | 4.08/5 | 4.5/5 | Very Good | Good | 3,200+ in 65 countries | $59.76 (~$4.98/mo) | 30 days |
| CyberGhost | 3.58/5 | 4/5 | Very Good | Good | 6,200 in 90 countries | $47.88 (~$3.99/mo) | 45 days |
| Proton VPN | 4.24/5 | 4/5 | Very Good | Variable | 2,950 in 65 countries | $47.88 (~$3.99/mo) | 30 days |
1. NordVPN: best VPN for Shudder overall
NordVPN is the one we’d pick first. It scores 5/5 on streaming in our database, with Excellent results on Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, HBO Max and Peacock, and Very Good on Hulu. It’s also the highest-rated VPN we track at 4.63/5, so you’re not trading privacy for convenience: PwC-audited no-logs policy, RAM-only servers, Panama jurisdiction.
Speed is 5/5 too, which matters for a 4K film on hotel Wi-Fi. The 1-year plan costs $68.85, about $5.74 a month, and you get 60 days to ask for a refund. That’s the longest window in this list, which covers the whole Halloween season and then some.
2. ExpressVPN: most consistent, most expensive
ExpressVPN is the only VPN in our database rated Excellent on all seven streaming platforms we test. If you want the smallest chance of hitting an error screen, it’s the safest bet.
The downsides are price and privacy extras. The 1-year plan is $99.95 (about $8.33 a month), the most expensive here. It also has no built-in ad blocker (0/5 on that criterion), and its overall score of 3.72/5 is dragged down by ownership and ethics scores. One more thing to watch: ExpressVPN has been swapping its refund guarantee for giveaways on some plans, so check which terms apply before you pay.
3. Surfshark: best value for streaming
Surfshark scores 4.5/5 on streaming, with Very Good results on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max and Peacock, and Good on Hulu and BBC iPlayer. That’s very close to the top two for a lot less money: $59.76 for a year, about $4.98 a month.
It also allows unlimited simultaneous connections, so one subscription can cover the laptop, the TV stick and the tablet in the holiday rental. Its overall score is 4.08/5.
4. CyberGhost: cheapest strong option
CyberGhost scores 4/5 on streaming in our tests, with Very Good results on Netflix and Disney+. It has 6,200 servers across 90 countries, so there’s plenty of choice in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
At $47.88 a year (about $3.99 a month) it’s one of the cheapest good streaming VPNs, and the 45-day money-back guarantee is longer than most. The trade-off is privacy: its no-logs policy scores 3/5 in our database and its overall score is 3.58/5.
5. Proton VPN: if privacy comes first
Proton VPN is the pick if you want one VPN for everything, horror nights included. It’s rated Very Good on Netflix and Good on HBO Max and Prime Video, though only Variable on BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Peacock, which is why it gets 4/5 on streaming rather than 5/5.
Where it shines is privacy: Swiss jurisdiction, a KPMG-audited no-logs policy, RAM-only servers. At $47.88 a year (about $3.99 a month) it’s also good value. Its free plan doesn’t support streaming, so you’ll need Plus for Shudder.
Want to compare all VPNs side by side? Check our full VPN comparison table with scores across 18 criteria.
How to watch Shudder abroad with a VPN
- Pick a VPN from the list above and install the app on the device you’ll watch on (phone, laptop, Fire TV stick or Android TV).
- Connect to a server in the country where your Shudder account is registered. If you subscribed in the UK, pick a UK server.
- Clear your browser cache or force-close the Shudder app, so it doesn’t remember your real location.
- Open Shudder and press play.
If you get an error, switch to another server in the same country. Streaming services block IP addresses in batches, and the next server along usually works. Our guide to fixing “VPN detected” errors covers the other common fixes.
Is it allowed?
Using a VPN is legal in all six of Shudder’s countries and in most of the places you’d travel to. Streaming terms are another matter: services usually tie their catalogue to the country you subscribe from, so connecting from somewhere else can break the terms of use. In practice the consequence, when there is one, is a blocked stream rather than a cancelled account.
The cleanest use case is the one this guide is written for: you already pay for Shudder at home and want to keep watching while you’re away.
Why not a free VPN?
Free VPNs are a bad fit for streaming. Data caps run out within a film or two, servers are crowded, and their IP addresses are usually already on streaming blocklists. Proton VPN’s free plan is the most trustworthy free option we know, but it doesn’t support streaming. Our best cheap VPN for streaming guide shows how little a paid one costs on a long plan.
If Shudder is one of several services you watch from abroad, our best VPN for Netflix and UK TV abroad guides go further.
Shudder streams in only six countries, so a VPN is the simplest way to keep your subscription working on the road. NordVPN is our pick: 5/5 on streaming, the best overall score we track at 4.63/5, and a 60-day refund window that covers the whole spooky season. ExpressVPN is the most consistent but costs more, Surfshark is the value pick, and CyberGhost is the cheapest strong option. Start with NordVPN.