The Portuguese Republic, usually just called Portugal, is located in Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The only country it borders to the north and east is Spain. It is home to 10.2 million people and many factors draw visitors, businesses, and more to the area. If you are interested in becoming one of them, you will find plenty to do and great internet speeds. However, you won’t want to use public WiFi without first using a VPN. More about that shortly. First take a look at our list of the best VPNs for Portugal.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 76 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 110 | |
Fortunately for visitors and residents to this beautiful country, government spying is not something you need to worry about. That said, you still need to be diligent with your privacy while there. With the numbers of visitors that come all the time, there are often opportunities for cybercriminals to steal your data. That is why the biggest reason to use a VPN is to protect your privacy. Using a VPN will create a secure and encrypted connection to the server of your choice. That will make it much more difficult for those crooks to get ahold of your data.
The Portuguese government does not usually filter websites, but that does not mean you won’t run into geo-restrictions. According to Global Voices, The government shut down the bank account of the Portuguese version of Wikileaks called Tugaleaks because it deemed it as a terrorist organization in 2012. While that has been a few years now, it shows the potential is still there. If you want to access content from another region, you will normally be blocked from doing so. In this case, you would connect to a VPN server in another region to get around those blocks. Once you have, you should be able to view the content as if you were there.
What is the best VPN for Portugal?
To help determine the answer to this question, we focused on the following criteria to determine our list of the best VPNs for Portugal.
- VPN network reliability to allow for long connection times
- The ability to unblock geo-restricted content
- Speed tests performed on VPN servers inside Portugal
- Strong encryption levels for better privacy protection
- Strict no logs policy
- Mobile apps and support for Amazon Firestick devices
Without further delay, here are the best options for Portugal
1. Best VPN for Portugal: ExpressVPN
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ExpressVPN brings together fast VPN access with MediaStreamer which acts as a Smart DNS service to unblock access to geo-restricted content. The VPN service will help encrypt your connection and unblock live sporting events. You will even find a list of the latest live entertainment and sporting events on their website. Being in the British Virgin Islands puts ExpressVPN outside the 5 eyes and 14 eyes countries. They maintain a no-log policy that has been verified through high profile legal requests over the years.
ExpressVPN manages a very large VPN network. Beyond the USA, the ExpressVPN network boasts thousands of servers in key locations to help protect their user’s privacy. You can use their network to protect your privacy, unblock censorship, and watch your favorite streaming services from anywhere.
The ExpressVPN app allows you to select a server location down to the city but you can not choose a specific server. Instead, the client will select a server in your chosen location. You also need to know that some cities are not shown on the recommended tab inside the client. You may find that issue with servers in Portugal. Simply select the “All” tab, open Europe, and then open Portugal. At this point, you can select servers there. When we tested a server in Lisbon, Portugal, we got some pretty good results. As you can see, our speed test resulted in 89.98 Mbps.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of using ExpressVPN is their support for a wide range of devices. ExpressVPN offers custom VPN software for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Connect from your desktop and mobile at the same time with up to 3 simultaneous connections. You can also install the ExpressVPN web extension for Chrome or Firefox. Want to protect your entire home network with a single VPN account? If so you can use the ExpressVPN router app to get all set up. The MediaStreamer feature adds Smart DNS support to devices like game consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, etc.), media boxes (Apple TV, Roku, Nvidia Shield TV, etc.), and Smart TVs.
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ExpressVPN performed very well in our speed tests. They are a great choice for privacy and to unblock geo-restrictions. Customer support is available 24/7 to provide assistance and answer any questions. Enjoy the best VPN for less with confidence as ExpressVPN offers a 30 day money back guarantee.
2. Best VPN for Portugal: IPVanish
Sign up for 12 months for just $4.87 a month (60% discount)
Portugal is not a large country, but several VPN providers offer servers in the country’s capital of Lisbon. Of course, that includes IPVanish. You can expect fast speed in locations in multiple parts of the world as well, though. Because of that, we choose IPVanish as another one of our go-to options to use while in Portugal.
As well as quite a bit of coverage in various European regions, IPVanish hosts servers in every continent other than Antarctica. You’ll find great speeds and they perform well on our speed tests. You can select a location or an individual server from the drop-down menu.
We just mentioned that IPVanish has servers all over Europe and they are all available. If you see any servers that have the letter “a” as part of their server name, those are the fastest in the network. When we tested one of the IPVanish servers in Lisbon, we got a very respectable 59.55 Mbps as you can see below.
When it comes to value IPVanish is hard to beat. They offer unlimited access to their VPN network and custom software for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon Firestick and more for $7.50 a month or $58.49 a year. That works out to just $4.87 a month on the annual plan. A 7-day money back guarantee covers all new members.
3. Best VPN for Portugal: CyberGhost
Sign up for 36 months for just $2.75 a month (79% discount)
CyberGhost was founded in 2001 by 7 enthusiastic young team members in Bucharest, Romania. Since that time the company has grown into one of the largest VPN services in the world. The team of 50+ members is focused on protecting users privacy. Robert Knapp, co-founder and CEO, continues to lead the team even after they joined the Crossrider group in 2017. Since that time the CyberGhost network has expanded quite a bit.
CyberGhost offers a nice mix of server locations, strong encryption, and the ability to unblock popular streaming services like Netflix, YouTube Red, and Amazon Prime. Some of the channels even let you unblock geo-restrictions for multiple regions. For example, you can access Amazon Prime video content in the US, Germany, or UK. The Windows client also gives you the option to surf anonymously, protect WiFi, torrent anonymously, unblock basic websites (Google, Facebook Instagram, etc.), and choose a server.
Since we wanted to test a server in Portugal, we opened the Windows client and expanded the interface. From there, you will want to click on the “All Servers” tab if it isn’t already active. Scroll down to Portugal and click to the right of the star. This will bring up a full list of servers in the country. The CyberGhost network includes a few servers in Portugal and is fast because of available network. We connected to a server in Lisbon (Portugal) and we got a speed of 55.22 Mbps.
The CyberGhost VPN client is one of our favorites. It is very easy to use and includes a number of advanced features to help protect your online privacy. They have a development team in Germany that is continually adding features to the client and mobile apps. You can sign up for full access to the CyberGhost network from just $2.75 a month during their current promotion.
4. Best VPN for Portugal: HMA
Sign up for 36 months for just $2.99 a month (75% discount)
HideMyAss was brought to life in 2005 when Jack Cator, a 16-year-old student in England, decided that he wanted to create a service to help people avoid censorship. Specifically, Jack was unable to access social media sites and online games because they were blocked on the school network. HMA added hundreds of thousands of users the first month and has since grown into one of the largest VPN services in the world with over 350 server locations. Privax, the parent company of HMA Pro VPN, joined the AVG team in 2015.
For those that like the option of having the most server locations then HideMyAss is your best choice. Just keep in mind that HMA logs user activity which is a concern for some VPN users. HMA hosts some VPN servers in Portugal, specifically in Lisbon. To connect to a server there, you will want to go into the “Location Mode” and select “Change Location” to get started. Then click on the “Cities” tab and search for Portugal. We connected to a server there to test and found the speed to be a solid 55.83 Mbps.
In 2016 HMA and a few other leading VPN providers led the way in simplifying their custom client software. The result is a full set of custom apps that make it easy for any user to connect to the HMA network and encrypt your connection. They have software available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. You can also connect to HMA through your router. HMA offers unlimited VPN access from just $4.99 a month and offers all new users a 30-day risk-free money back guarantee.
5. Best VPN for Portugal: PureVPN
Sign up for 24 months for just $2.88 a month (74% discount)
PureVPN has been in business since 2007 making them one of the oldest VPN providers on the market. Having an early start has helped them expand and innovate. PureVPN has one of the best VPN clients available on the market. They also have free apps for both iOS and Android.
Innovation is an area that helps PureVPN stand out from the pack. They continue to add new features and add-ons to the service. You can add NAT firewall, a dedicated IP address, StealthVPN browser and a special option called dedicated streaming to help speed up your performance.
Since we wanted to test a server in Portugal, we opened the app for Windows and clicked on the “Country Selection Tool” option. From there you can expand any country and select a specific server using the “Browse All Servers” tab. The PureVPN network has several servers in the country. We connected to one of them and tested the performance. As you can see, our download speed was on the lower side at 14.68 Mbps.
PureVPN does really well in the pricing category. They have cut pricing by over 50% as the service continues to grow. You can sign up for unlimited VPN and access all their server locations from just $4.99 a month. The annual plan is a great value.
No matter why you use a VPN while in Portugal, we hope you see why it is important why it is important to use one there. For those that would prefer other options different from the ones above, you can feel free to take a look at the providers on our top 10 VPN list. While those are also good, we made our specific choices based on several factors including price, network size, stability, locations, speeds, security and more. Because our list is optimized, you can be assured of good speeds. Those are important these days regardless of what you do. By using this guide, you can make an informed decision on the best options.