Switzerland-based open-source provider with six independent audits, the best free tier on the market, and Secure Core double-VPN.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv6 audits
$3.59/mo
mo on the 24-month plan
30-day refund
Best VPNs for China
Stealth and obfuscation-capable VPNs that bypass the Great Firewall and stay connected from inside mainland China.
Panama-based market leader with five audits, owned-and-RAM infrastructure across 118 countries, and the fastest WireGuard implementation we measured in 2025.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv5 auditsFree trial
$3.49/mo
mo on the 24-month plan
30-day refund
British Virgin Islands veteran with twelve independent audits, TrustedServer RAM-only fleet, and consistently the most reliable unblocks of regional streaming catalogs.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv12 auditsFree trial
$2.99/mo
mo on the 28-month plan
30-day refund
Sweden-based privacy first provider with flat €5/month pricing, no email required to sign up, four audits, and full open-source clients.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidchrome4 audits
$5.72/mo
mo on the 1-month plan
30-day refund
Gibraltar-based privacy-hardened provider with three audits, owned-and-RAM infrastructure, multi-hop, and port forwarding.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidrouter3 auditsFree trial
$4.00/mo
mo on the 12-month plan
30-day refund
Netherlands provider that ships unlimited simultaneous devices, four audits, and the lowest introductory price of any audited VPN we tested in 2025.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv4 auditsFree trial
$2.49/mo
mo on the 24-month plan
30-day refund
Romania-based provider with the largest rented server fleet, dedicated streaming and torrenting server categories, and a 45-day refund window.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv3 auditsFree trial
$2.19/mo
mo on the 26-month plan
45-day refund
Switzerland-based provider with owned servers, two no-logs audits, and proprietary Chameleon protocol that bypasses restrictive networks in China.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidrouter2 audits
$3.33/mo
mo on the 12-month plan
30-day refund
United States-based provider with four no-logs audits, the largest rented server count, verified no-logs in real court cases, and strong torrent-friendly defaults.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv4 audits
$2.03/mo
mo on the 39-month plan
30-day refund
Canada-based build-a-plan provider with a generous free tier, port forwarding in free plan, and configurable cost-per-location pricing.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv2 auditsFree trial
$4.08/mo
mo on the 12-month plan
7-day refund
United States-based Mozilla-branded provider, white-labeled on Mullvad's WireGuard stack with three audits.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidrouter3 audits
$4.99/mo
mo on the 12-month plan
30-day refund
United States-based provider owned by Ziff Davis with two no-logs audits, unlimited device count, and a StrongDNS bonus for Fire TV users.
windowsmaclinuxiosandroidandroid-tv2 auditsFree trial
$2.19/mo
mo on the 24-month plan
30-day refund
Expert guide
The Great Firewall blocks most Western VPN protocols outright. Connections from inside mainland China to a VPN server usually fail within seconds unless the provider uses obfuscation that disguises VPN traffic as ordinary HTTPS. Our China guide ranks providers that maintain working servers in or near mainland China, with Stealth, obfuscation, or proprietary protocols designed for this exact problem.
How the Great Firewall blocks VPNs
Chinese network operators maintain deep packet inspection systems that identify OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec traffic by the signatures those protocols leave in packet headers. Standard VPN connections are blocked at the network edge within milliseconds. Obfuscated protocols wrap VPN traffic in a TLS tunnel that looks like HTTPS, which is much harder to identify and block.
What to look for in a China VPN
- Stealth, obfuscation, or proprietary protocols that disguise VPN traffic as HTTPS.
- Servers physically close to mainland China (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, US West Coast) for lower latency.
- A track record of working from inside China in the last 90 days; the situation changes constantly.
- Apps that ship with obfuscation enabled by default, not buried in settings.
- 24/7 live chat support so you can switch servers quickly when one stops working.
A note on legality
Using a VPN in mainland China operates in a legal grey area. Most travelers and expatriates use them without issue, but laws can change. This guide is informational; check the current local regulations before you travel.
for China - frequently asked questions
Which VPN is the best for china?
Our top pick for china in 2026 is ProtonVPN, based on the 18-dimension rubric we maintain and the live pricing snapshot from our most recent scrape. The full ranking below explains why.
How do you score VPNs?
Each VPN gets a 0-5 score on 18 dimensions (jurisdiction, audits, speed, protocols, encryption, leak protection, availability, owned servers, RAM servers, transparency, bug bounty, payments, pricing, bypass, support, ethics, ad-blocker, features). A weighted 5-factor composite (Privacy 30%, Price 25%, Speed 18%, Streaming 14%, Features 13%) produces the overall rating published on each review.
Do you accept payment to influence rankings?
No. Sponsored placements are clearly labelled and never affect a score. Affiliate links earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, but they never change where a provider ranks.