Best VPN for California: Here Are Our Top 3 Picks for 2024

California is a place that many people associate with living the American dream. Sunny beaches, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Palm Springs are only some of the places associated with this state. No doubt, California is the beating heart of the USA, so it’s not strange many tourists are interested in it. However, we also know that plenty of people look for the best VPN for California.

If you live in this state, you’ll most likely want a VPN to get over geo-blocks and access foreign content. And if you’re abroad, you can use a VPN for California to get an IP from this state.

This way, you can access California-specific content and sites online, or perhaps, enjoy some of its numerous betting sites anywhere. Whatever the case, we got you covered! Today, we’ll discuss the best California VPNs in 2024 and see what are your options!

Why Should You Use a VPN for California?

Before divulging our list, let’s talk about why you should absolutely use a VPN in California.

Privacy and Online Security

A VPN for the United States – and of course, California, can help you regain online privacy. As you know, this service can encrypt your traffic and conceal your IP address. As such, you can get online safely and securely without your ISP or the authorities spying on your activities.

The US is a part of the 5 Eyes alliance. This means it forces its ISPs into collecting user-related data. ISPs in this country share the data with the authorities and they can trace your every step online. However, a California VPN can prevent this in an instant!

By encrypting your traffic and concealing your IP, you can go online without worries. Not only that but you’ll also get additional security on public WiFi hotspots. Hackers won’t be able to snoop around and steal your data because it’s under the VPN’s encryption.

This is especially useful when residing in one of many hotels in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and many others.

Bypassing Geo-Restrictions

Another reason to use top VPNs in California is to get over geo-blocks. Yes, if you live in California, you can watch Netflix US and all other popular American streaming platforms and TV channels. But can you watch US TV outside of California and America? No!

Or perhaps, can you enjoy UK TV channels or streaming services in the US? Once again, the answer is no. With a VPN, you can get a Californian IP address anywhere and enjoy American content online even if you’re in, let’s say, Spain.

And if you live in California and you want to access BBC iPlayer, no problem. Just get a British IP address and enjoy watching soccer live while drinking Margarita on a sunny beach in San Diego. The possibilities are truly endless.

Torrenting Anonymously

Torrenting is generally considered unsafe, especially in the United States, due to copyright trolls. In addition, P2P activities remove your anonymity by displaying your IP to the other users in the P2P network. Finally, torrent sites also note your IP and connect it to your torrent downloads, which is super alarming.

If you live in California, you can use a VPN to avoid this. Once connected to it, a VPN for California will hide your online whereabouts, allowing you to download torrents safely and anonymously. This way, you’ll remedy all the issues with privacy and become truly safe regardless of what you’re downloading.

Of course, we don’t recommend downloading copyrighted files. But hey, no more copyright trolls, DMCA notices, and other bullsh…

Gaming With No Lag

Californians love gaming and we know that because it’s the center of the USA, for God’s sake! We love playing COD Warzone with a VPN, as it prevents ISP throttling and ensures a no-lag experience. Besides, even if you’re outside of California, you can connect to a server in this state.

This way, you can try your luck against Californian players and enjoy a diverse online gaming session anytime you want. Since our VPNs offer unlimited bandwidth and uncapped speeds, you can rest assured your gaming sessions will be uninterrupted.

Best California VPN: Our Top 3 Providers in 2024

Okay, enough chit-chat. It’s time to talk about our top 3 VPNs for California in 2024. Before we do that, we’ll clarify that we made this list with a few things in mind. First, all VPNs here have servers in California, in one or more cities.

Second, all of them are great for users in and outside of California, and third, all of them are premium services. Sadly, free providers won’t satisfy your needs if you need a really great California VPN, so we focused on giving you reputable, safe, and secure providers.

Later in this article, we’ll address free services as well, but for now, let’s stick to the subject and present our top 3 choices.

1. NordVPN

NordVPN is one of the most popular VPNs for California. As expected, it’s great for users in this state but also for people abroad, as it has 6,500+ high-speed servers in 111 countries. What about California VPN servers? Well, you get plenty of them in Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco.

NordVPN doesn’t state the exact number but since it has nearly 2,000 servers in the US, our approximation is that you surely get more than 100. That’s better than any free VPN for the USA and even many of its paid competitors.

This provider focuses heavily on privacy and security, which is very important in California and the US. Thus, it offers Threat Protection Pro which includes an ad blocker, malware protection, and tracker protection. NordVPN also has a Private DNS service, accompanied by RAM-only servers to preserve your privacy.

We like NordVPN’s 256-bit encryption, as well as an automatic kill switch, split tunneling, IPv6 leak protection, and NordLynx. The latter is NordVPN’s proprietary protocol based on WireGuard, delivering 10+ Gbps speeds and the highest degree of security.

After all, this company has not one, not two, but THREE security audits from PwC and Deloitte combined. This, along with a crystal-clear no-logs policy, makes NordVPN a very trustworthy company that we gladly recommend. Now, what about streaming, torrenting, and other stuff?

Well, NordVPN is capable of all of that. It also has dedicated P2P servers, but more importantly, it offers Double VPN servers for doubling your encryption. We like its obfuscated servers too, as they obfuscate your traffic and allow you to get over censorship in any country.

If you’re interested in it, the button below will let you get its cheapest 2-year plan. With a 30-day refund policy, you have nothing to lose, as you can get your money back if you don’t like it. Test it out – it’s an amazing California VPN provider!

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2. ExpressVPN

The second most reputable VPN for California is ExpressVPN. This provider offers 3,000 servers in 105 countries and a whopping 160 locations globally. In the US alone, we found that it offers 20+ locations, many of which are exactly in California.

For instance, it has 5 server locations in Los Angeles, plus one in Santa Monica. This is the best VPN for Los Angeles that we have tested.

Not to mention servers in San Francisco, which add to the variety and make ExpressVPN much more versatile. This allows you to get a Californian IP without worries, and make yourself look like you’re from any of these cities.

Besides, ExpressVPN is extremely fast. Thanks to Lightway, an in-house protocol, it offers staggering speeds and stable performance. People use it to watch American Netflix anywhere and it’s capable of unblocking many other platforms, US, or non-US-based.

Also, ExpressVPN is P2P-capable, which means you can use it to download torrents anonymously. Above all, this is a security giant. It packs 256-bit encryption and an automatic kill switch in an easy-to-use app that even the biggest dummies can comprehend.

In addition, it has advanced features like Private DNS and RAM-only servers, ensuring you’re always anonymous and safe online. Of course, this VPN stores no logs of your online whereabouts, so even if the authorities “force” the company into handing out any info, it’ll come out with empty hands.

ExpressVPN supports all platforms. You can use it on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. To that, we should add 8 simultaneous connections that you can use to protect all your devices at the same time. ExpressVPN is a full package, as we call it, and it has no practical downsides except for the lack of Multi-hop.

Its price isn’t the most affordable but we have a solution. Use the button below to get a 49% discount and 3 free months for the annual plan. ExpressVPN will grant you a 30-day money-back guarantee even, so it’s risk-free!

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3. CyberGhost

Another VPN with super impressive features is CyberGhost. For one, it’s much larger than ExpressVPN, packing 12,000+ servers in over 100 countries. If you want to pretend you’re Californian online, you’ll like CyberGhost’s servers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In total, there are 210+ servers in California alone, which should be enough to enjoy fast speeds and stability. CyberGhost uses WireGuard by default, and much like Lightway, it’s here to improve your performance and provide stronger security.

This VPN comes with an ad blocker, which some of its competitors don’t have. Also, it has dedicated streaming/torrenting servers, which we found more than useful. Its US-based streaming servers will unblock any streaming service in the country, and torrenting servers allow for safe and secure P2P.

Another, more impressive feature, is the presence of NoSpy servers. We used them to increase our privacy and even browse the darknet in complete anonymity. CyberGhost has very advanced security features like DNS leak protection but also the ability to get a dedicated IP.

In fact, we’d like to mention that you can get a dedicated IP address in California – to be precise, in Los Angeles. On top of all that, CyberGhost is yet another service with no logs. It publishes transparency reports to back that up, plus, a recent audit by Deloitte proved that we’re talking about a genuine VPN.

CyberGhost won’t work in censored countries, but if you need a VPN for California in 2024, that’s not going to be a problem. This impressive California VPN comes at a very affordable price, especially when talking about a 2-year plan at well under $2.3 a month.

We shouldn’t forget its 45-day refund policy for all plans longer than a month. This, we think, is something special, as no other VPNs give you more than a 30-day money-back guarantee. Oh, Norton VPN gives you 60, but comparing it to CyberGhost would be an insult to the latter.

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Free VPN for California: Why We Don’t Recommend It?

With our favorite VPNs out of the way, we think it’s time to address free providers. You see, many free services actually offer servers in the United States. They know this location is the most popular, so they cash in on it to attract you.

However, a big majority of them have no servers in California. This means you won’t find server locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other popular locations. And if you ever used a free service, you know they tend to limit you in every possible way.

How?

For the start, they won’t allow for streaming. Do you want to unblock ABC while outside of California? Good luck, because it’s not going to work! And if you’re into streaming on American popular services, they’ll detect your free VPN and block your access immediately.

Even if you live in California and you aspire to unblock foreign platforms, BBC iPlayer and many others also won’t work. Free VPNs for California offer a modest server fleet of just a few servers, plus, they limit your bandwidth to a few gigabytes a month, which is all but enough.

In terms of performance, you’ll get no more than 1 Gbps, and if you do, your traffic will be limited.

Users in California will want to avoid free providers for their security – or lack thereof. They implement weaker encryption and lack the security features of premium providers.

Not to mention that many of them store logs and even sell them to third-party advertisers. Hola VPN, for example, sells its logs to Bright Data, one of the largest proxy services in the world! Our genuine advice is not to use any free VPN, at least not in the long run.

As a short-term solution, Proton VPN is a decent choice but don’t expect it to blow you away. It actually has free servers in the USA but it performs poorly and allows for no torrenting or streaming. Quite a bummer.

How Did We Choose the Best VPN for California in 2024?

The three providers we presented aren’t the only ones offering Californian VPN servers. We took into account many other factors that we presented below.

• VPN servers in California. This one was the most important factor, as all services needed to have at least one server location in this state. All of them offer servers in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Monica, and many others, so this criterion is fulfilled.
• Security. In the United States, a 5-Eyes country, online security is compromised from the get-go. Thus, we selected VPNs with outstanding features, such as military-grade encryption, modern VPN protocols, a kill switch, IP/DNS leak protection, and others. This will ensure you stay safe online no matter what you do.
• Privacy. Californian ISPs are obligated to store logs of your online activities and personal data. These VPNs will prevent them from doing so by encrypting your traffic. Not only that, but they store zero logs, so no one can ever trace your online activities or find anything about them because no data is kept on the VPN servers.
• Fast speeds. All California VPN providers offer at least 10 Gbps speeds. This allows for buttery-smooth streaming, torrenting, or simply browsing the internet. With excellent connection stability, these providers will give you the best possible experience.
• Streaming. If you’re abroad, you’ll want a Californian IP for unblocking US streaming services. Don’t worry – all of our VPNs allow you to do that and they work perfectly with all the popular platforms!
• Torrenting. Are you afraid of copyright trolls, DMCA notices, and other inconveniences in California? Don’t be. With the VPNs we presented, encrypting your traffic can be done with a single click. After that, you can download any torrent file you want 100% anonymously.
• Pricing. Yes, we took into account even this factor, as we don’t want to present expensive VPNs that won’t work. These VPNs are affordable and you can get a subscription for as low as under $2.3 a month and receive a few free months on top!

To Summarize

So, after our extensive testing and evaluation, we can conclude that NordVPN is the #1 VPN for California in 2024. It has plenty of servers in the state, followed by the fastest speeds, strongest security, and easy-to-use apps for all platforms.

Despite that, we can’t conclude the article without recommending ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. In fact, our team recently compared CyberGhost and ExpressVPN and concluded that they’re really great. While not better than NordVPN, their flexibility and overall quality are top-notch.

Either way, all of them are great for California. With servers in and out of this state, you can enjoy them wherever you are on the planet. In the end, the choice boils down to your preferences and finances, so based on these parameters, choose a VPN for California and enjoy its sweet benefits!

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FAQ

Finally, let us clarify a few more things by addressing some of the frequently asked questions.

How to get an IP address from California?

To get a Californian IP, follow these steps:

1. Subscribe to a VPN from our list. We recommend NordVPN.
2. Install the VPN app on your device.
3. Open the app and sign in.
4. Connect to a VPN server in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or San Jose.
5. To make sure you have a Californian IP, visit iplocation.net. There, you’ll see your new IP and the location associated with it, which should be the one you selected previously.

Is using a VPN for California legal?

Yes, absolutely. This state is known for a high degree of online freedom with no censorship and restrictions. Therefore, using a VPN is completely legal as long as you’re using it for “legal” purposes. Doing illegal things online with a VPN is still illegal, despite being anonymous!

Do I need a VPN if I live in California?

Yes. California is a US state, and having in mind US data-retention laws and increased surveillance, a VPN will come in handy. Thanks to added encryption and other security features, you’ll stay off the radar of your ISP and ensure an anonymous online experience.

Not to mention other benefits such as unblocking geo-restricted sites, torrenting safely, saving money on online purchases, and much more.