Best VPN for Portugal in 2024
Portugal has one of the most vibrant communities in Europe, both offline and online. It’s been ranked among the top countries with the fastest internet, but at the same time, it’s fiendishly difficult to torrent in Portugal The best way to unblock P2P file sharing is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Using a VPN also brings much wider benefits, such as protecting your personal data from hackers and advertisers, accessing geo-blocked content or buying the same goods that cost less in other countries. This article aims to help you find the best VPN for Portugal.
In deciding the best VPN for Portugal, we looked at:
- Price: a VPN doesn’t have to be expensive to be good
- Ease of use and customer support: are there apps for all major platforms and a 24/7 live chat?
- VPN security: are the encryption and privacy protection strong enough?
- Performance: will your super-fast internet speeds be affected?
- Entertainment: will the best VPN for Portugal let you access geo-restricted or blacklisted content?
Our ranking, starting from the best VPN for Portugal, is as follows.
No time to read? Here are our best VPNs:
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The best VPN for Portugal
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Forward-thinking and highly affordable
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Security-first VPN
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Simple to use and protect yourself with
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An all-around solution
1. NordVPN
Panama
7000
118
452 Mbps
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Unbeatable in terms of security and privacy
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NordLynx protocol for the best speeds without sacrificing security
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SmartPlay feature to help you bypass the geo-blocks
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No router app
NordVPN hails from Panama, which has no data retention laws and is far away from the Fourteen Eyes alliance. Combined with its strict no-logs policy and leak protection, there’s no better tool to protect your privacy.
NordVPN is one of the fastest among its competitors, offering a still unbeaten 7000+ servers in 118 countries, including Portugal. Most of the list can be used for P2P file sharing, which means you’ll be able to avoid the torrenting ban that’s still choking the country.
When it comes to pricing, NordVPN offers some of the best and most affordable plans, including long-term deals for two or even three years. But the amazing part is seeing how much you get for your money’s worth: Double VPN, Onion over VPN, a kill switch, all of the safest protocols, and more.
This VPN has a nice and easy-to-use client for all major platforms and many other devices, except for routers – these must be configured manually. And it’s not that difficult when NordVPN’s knowledge base and 24/7 live chat support are there to help you out.
For a deeper investigation of NordVPN, read our NordVPN review.
2. Surfshark VPN
Netherlands
3200
100
405 Mbps
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Packed with solid security features
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Great at geo-unblocking due Smart DNS feature
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Unlimited simultaneous connections
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Weak self-help support section
Surfshark VPN has come up in a short period and risen through the ranks quickly enough to already be considered as one of the best VPNs for Portugal. That’s largely because of the strong feature set and consumer-friendly pricing.
Surfshark offers military-grade encryption and strong tunneling protocols. It also comes with a kill switch, an adblocker, a whitelister (split tunneling), and MultiHop, which is like adding a layer of armor on top of your existing layer of armor. Surfshark’s leak protection works just fine – no IP, DNS, or WebRTC vulnerabilities for somebody to take advantage of.
Then there’s their no-logs policy, plus no obligatory data retention laws from the Netherlands. Surfshark also has a zero-knowledge DNS network. All that leads to a simple conclusion – this VPN truly protects you.
Surfshark VPN is great for streaming – it unblocks Netflix in the US, the UK, Canada, and Japan. It also allows torrenting, which is a big plus for Portugal residents looking for ways to circumvent the government’s ban on BitTorrent file sharing.
There should be enough speed from 800+ servers and 50+ countries to reap the benefits that Surfshark brings. And we wouldn’t have this VPN on this list if it didn’t have servers in Portugal. Lastly, there are no limits on the number of devices and simultaneous connections with a single Surfshark account.
The pros of Surfshark VPN far outweigh the lackluster self-help section or the absence of a free trial for Windows. With a money-back guarantee this flexible, you won’t go wrong even if you’re just trying it out.
For a deeper investigation of Surfshark VPN, read our Surfshark VPN review.
3. VyprVPN
Switzerland
700
64
357 Mbps
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Very secure
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Unblocks Netflix
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Has servers in Portugal
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Average speeds
VyprVPN is really safe to use and the only service on this list to own all of their servers. It’s based in Switzerland, a perfect country when it comes to data retention policies and running a no-logs service. While plenty of VPN companies have no way to back their no-logging claims, VyprVPN was independently audited in 2018. Its weak spot though is IPv6 address leaks, but at least this can be taken care of by disabling IPv6 or WebRTC.
Their modest server fleet of 700+ is spread over 70 countries, but the speeds are average at best. This means it should be fine for Portugal and Europe in general, but using VyprVPN in Asia or South America might be difficult.
This VPN unblocks Netflix and allows torrenting, although there’s one caveat. If you are using P2P to download and share copyrighted content, your account can be deleted. Therefore, if your main goal for finding the best VPN to use in Portugal is torrenting, we’d suggest checking other options.
VyprVPN’s pricing is not its forte either. To make matters worse, it offers a laughable three-day money-back guarantee and no option to pay anonymously, hurting its image as the “World’s most trusted VPN.” Nevertheless, we can recommend VyprVPN for Portugal if you’re not into torrenting and want a certified no-logs service.
For a deeper investigation of VyprVPN, read our VyprVPN review.
4. CyberGhost VPN
Romania
11700
100
432 Mbps
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Super secure
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7 simultaneous connections
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45-day money-back guarantee
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macOS and iOS apps have less features
Coming out of privacy-friendly Romania, CyberGhost has shown rapid growth, currently offering 5,700+ servers in more than 90 different countries, including Portugal. It allows P2P and unblocks Netflix streaming. Most importantly, CyberGhost’s speeds should be good enough for these activities.
On the security side, it offers military-grade 256-bit encryption and the most secure protocols. CyberGhost VPN has no leaks, although it’s been an issue in the past. This tool also has bonus features, such as MultiHop, Tor over VPN, and a blocker against ads, tracking, and malicious content.
What's more, CyberGhost offers one of the industry's best prices. You also get seven simultaneous connections and the super-long 45-day money-back guarantee with the option to pay anonymously.
The only concern is that CyberGhost’s no-logging claims have been challenged in the past. While they have addressed the issue and fixed it, it’s up to you to decide whether to trust this VPN service.
For a deeper investigation of CyberGhost VPN, read our CyberGhost VPN review.
5. ExpressVPN
British Virgin Islands (BVI)
3000
105
440 Mbps
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Bulletproof security features
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Super fast
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Perfect for streaming, gaming, and torrenting
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Very expensive
British Virgin Islands-based ExpressVPN has no data retention laws to comply with, together with effective no-logs policy. What’s more, this tool uses zero-knowledge DNS server and has protection against IP, DNS, and WebRTC vulnerabilities. That’s why security experts recommend – and users reap the benefit of – using their services extensively.
ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers in 90+ countries (Portugal included), which is how it can constantly rank as one of the fastest VPNs. A connection is made using 256-bit military-grade encryption and a great selection of protocols, allowing both security and top performance.
Its price is pretty steep and there’s no free trial to try the service out. This might be a deal-breaker for some, but ultimately, the features you get don’t leave anything else to be desired.
For a deeper investigation of ExpressVPN, read our ExpressVPN review.
Is it safe to use a VPN in Portugal?
VPNs are allowed in Portugal. There is no credible evidence to suggest that there are any repercussions for using a VPN, and no legal reports or history of any crackdowns on VPN. This makes Portugal ideal for connecting to a VPN and getting the most out of the web.
Free VPN for Portugal
The best VPN for Portugal, just like for any country, is never a free VPN. The reason for this is the unsustainable business model, which either means that the service will be bad, or your data will be harvested and sold to make a profit.
Regardless, there are some free versions of established paid VPN products. One of these is Windscribe, which offers you a monthly 10 GB plan for free with a limited number of servers in 10 locations. There’s no loss in speed or features compared to the paid version, and you can even increase your monthly bandwidth by tweeting for data.
If you’re in Portugal, which of these VPNs have you used before? Did we miss any great VPNs for Portugal? Let us know in the comments below.