Best VPN for France: Our Top 5 Providers for 2024

Those who live in France and the Western world, in general, are aware of the annoying surveillance and data collection that’s going on. With the ISPs having their eyes locked firmly on your online activities and personal info, you’ll need a VPN to safeguard your privacy.

Having a VPN in France is perhaps the best solution if you live in this country. However, even if you’re abroad, you can use a France VPN to bypass geo-restrictions and watch French TV channels abroad. In addition, a good provider will let you torrent safely and unblock French online bookies.

It’s pretty clear that you need a quality provider in both cases, whether or not you call this country your home. However, finding a truly secure and safe provider can sometimes be hard, which is why we came up with a list of the top 5 VPNs for France.

Best France VPN: The 5 Best Providers in 2024

Before going deeper into my list, let us say that we’re gonna be focusing on premium providers. Besides, they offer the best performance, unlimited bandwidth, and no security compromises, which is much needed in a 9 Eyes country like France.

Don’t worry. The providers that you see below are all but expensive and they all offer special discounts that you can claim through our website. Ready? Here’s the list:

1. NordVPN

NordVPN is a provider many of you have heard about. Conversely, it’s the best VPN for France if you’re looking to secure your connection and avoid ISP surveillance. It has more than 6,300+ servers in 111+ countries, with 300+ of them on French soil.

Its servers are based only in Paris and Marseille, which is more than enough if you need a French IP. However, NordVPN’s appeal lies in its security features that would take hours to explain. For now, we’ll say it rocks 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and a proprietary NordLynx protocol.

Based on WireGuard, NordLynx promises lightning-fast speeds and performance, with impenetrable security in addition. NordVPN even includes a Threat Protection bundle where you can find an ad-blocker, tracker protection, and even malware protection.

If you live in France, you’ll be happy that it stores no logs either, so if the authorities request anything, they’ll get a handful of nothingness. This great France VPN service is known for specialty servers, such as Double VPN for doubling your encryption or P2P servers for torrenting.

Even obfuscated servers are useful here, as they’re very reliable in terms of bypassing censorship. Needless to say, NordVPN is capable of streaming too, and its servers can unblock French TV channels abroad, Netflix France, HBO Max, and other notable streaming portals.

While 10 simultaneous connections are awesome compared to its more expensive rivals, even better is its excellent device compatibility. Although, its desktop app can be a bit confusing due to the sheer number of features available in the application.

On the good side, NordVPN is relatively affordable when talking about long-term plans. It also gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee, making it easy to get a refund in the case of dissatisfaction. However, I’m sure you won’t be dissatisfied with what NordVPN has to offer – quite the opposite, actually!

Get NordVPN: The Best VPN for France

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2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is a powerful VPN with lots of servers in France, blazing-fast speeds, and uncompromising performance. It has servers in 160 locations globally, with 5 locations in this country: Alsace, Marseille, Paris (2), and Strasbourg.

No doubt, ExpressVPN is a great provider for people living in France and those abroad. The reason for that lies in the level of security it offers. It comes with 256-bit AES encryption and a reliable automatic kill switch for preventing potential IP and DNS leaks that would compromise your privacy.

Its Lightway protocol is impressive as well – the last word of technology! With it, you can enjoy the fastest speeds, all while keeping the security level at its highest. Additionally, ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is a great offshore location.

This means that it’s not obligated to store any logs, making sure your online activities remain private. What’s more, you can use ExpressVPN for streaming. Abroad, you can unblock Netflix France, France TV, or TF1 while in France, you can access a myriad of streaming platforms.

For instance, you can watch Netflix US in France or binge HBO MAX, Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar, Peacock TV, and dozens more. Avoiding the 9 Eyes’ grip on the internet is possible in terms of torrenting. In fact, you can use ExpressVPN to torrent 100% safely and anonymously in EVERY country!

ExpressVPN works on all platforms and systems, so you don’t need to worry about that. We can also mention supported platforms like Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Linux, Windows, iOS, and macOS, and also the 8 simultaneous connections that the provider gives.

Its 24/7 live chat support is among the best in the business, and so is the ease of use that ExpressVPN is known for. Finally, I’ll mention a current deal that you can get – it’s a 48% discount + 3 months free for its 1-year plan, which reduces the price quite a bit.

A 30-day money-back guarantee is here too, and you can use it to get a full refund in the first 30 days with no specific conditions.

Unblock French TV Channels With ExpressVPN

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3. CyberGhost

CyberGhost never fails to impress and it’s one of the best VPNs for France in 2024. Not only is it cheap and affordable but it also offers a HUGE server network across the entire globe. In France alone, you get 930+ servers in Marseille, Paris, and Strasbourg.

However, the entire server park covers 100 countries and brings in a whopping 12,000+ servers. This makes CyberGhost suitable for users in and out of the country, which especially rings true with torrenting and streaming servers.

Their function is pretty obvious but I like streaming servers the most. They’re made for unblocking specific platforms such as Canal+, Netflix FR, Europe1, Amazon Prime Video FR, and others, allowing you to access them wherever you’re located.

CyberGhost is plenty fast, too, and while slower than NordVPN, it’s nothing you should worry about. It’s great for 4K streaming, fast torrenting, and smooth browsing. Its security is also enough for all your needs, with WireGuard support, bank-grade encryption, and IPv6 leak protection.

CyberGhost offers a great ad-blocker as well, with the addition of an automatic kill switch and split tunneling. Based in Romania, CyberGhost is a bastion of privacy, as it stores no logs and provides even transparency reports to position the company among the most trustworthy ones.

I found CyberGhost extremely intuitive on mobile devices, while its Windows app is a bit cluttered. However, it’s good that it has 7 simultaneous connections and 24/7 multi-language support, which is a breath of fresh air.

As the cheapest France VPN on this list, it offers an affordable 2-year plan with a 45-day money-back guarantee in addition. However, even its six-month and monthly plans are incredibly affordable, which makes CyberGhost’s value for money that much higher.

Needless to say, you can get its cheapest deal through the button below – don’t hesitate to do that if you’re in dire need of a VPN for this country. After all, CyberGhost is tested and used every day by our team and we can guarantee its immense quality.

Enjoy CyberGhost in France

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4. Surfshark

If unlimited simultaneous connections and affordable prices sound good, we think you’ll like Surfshark VPN a lot. As yet another great VPN for France, Surfshark boasts an impressive set of features, one of which is a server fleet that spans 100 countries and all continents.

On French soil, the provider offers more than 100 servers in locations like Bordeaux, Marseille, and Paris, making sure the main regions of the country are covered. If you live in France, though, you’ll be happier about the 3,200+ servers that you get in many other locations abroad.

Nevertheless, Surfshark’s cheap prices don’t influence the overall level of quality. Compared to previous providers, it’s surely a bit slower, but in terms of security, it lacks nothing. Military-grade encryption aside, it comes with WireGuard and OpenVPN support, which is already a great start.

It also sports a dependable ad-blocker and the NoBorders mode for bypassing censorship. People who want enhanced security can get a Surfshark One plan. It includes antivirus, true incognito mode, and something called Alerts, which functions like the Dark Web Monitor function of NordVPN.

Its MultiHop servers add to the overall security, too, and so does the no-logging policy. which Surfshark is pretty proud of. After all, it’s based in the Netherlands and has an audit on the no-logging policy by Deloitte and Cure53. This should eliminate any worries about its privacy.

The provider is very easy to use compared to CyberGhost. And while its kill switch can have seldom issues, the apps are very reliable with no bugs or slowdowns. Mind you, this applies to all supported platforms, including iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

Overall, this is a solid VPN for France in 2024. It’s great for torrenting, streaming on Netflix or any other platform, and security in general. Make sure you grab its cheapest 2-year deal below and enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans! The latter allows you to test Surfshark for free with no commitment.

Surfshark for France: Get It Now

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5. Proton VPN

Proton VPN is the last choice for this ranking of the best VPNs you can use in France. It doesn’t mean it’s bad. However, it focuses more on security and privacy rather than blazing-fast speeds. In fact, it has 8,500+ servers in 112+ countries, which is a lot smaller than, let’s say, CyberGhost.

However, its French coverage is one of the best! It has 300 servers in Paris and Marseille, which is excellent for obtaining an IP from France. On the other hand, Proton VPN is jam-packed with features like WireGuard, VPN Accelerator, RAM-based servers, and NetShield, a full-fledged ad-blocker.

The provider is also known for its Secure Core servers that route your traffic through 2 servers, tripling your encryption in the process. A Swiss provider like this values your privacy, too, so it stores no logs of your IP, browsing history, DNS requests, or other compromising information.

For people living in France or any other 5/9/14 Eyes country, this should be extremely valuable for overall privacy. Its performance isn’t the best, though, but I still found it to be enough for streaming on Netflix US abroad or watching France TV or Canal+ outside of France.

Even better is that Proton VPN is P2P-friendly, which allows for anonymous torrenting with no legal repercussions. These servers are available in Proton VPN’s easy-to-use apps that you can utilize on 10 devices simultaneously.

Being the last VPN on this list, Proton VPN does have some issues. For example, it has no live chat support in the free plan and its router compatibility could be better. It’s also somewhat expensive compared to NordVPN, yet, it’s not better than it.

But if you want ironclad security, lots of simultaneous connections, and sublime streaming capabilities, this VPN for France should make the cut. And if the price is the issue, make sure you get its cheapest deal below, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit Proton VPN

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Why Should I Use a VPN in France?

If you live in France, you’re aware that this isn’t a censored country and the degree of internet freedom is pretty high. However, there are some privacy concerns due to the country’s participation in the 9 Eyes Alliance, a group of countries known for excessive data collection and sharing.

Having that in mind, here are a few reasons why you should absolutely use a VPN in France:

Preserving Online Privacy

France doesn’t sway from forcing its ISPs to monitor and collect your browsing history and personal information. Surveillance in this country is on the rise, and so is data collection that violates your privacy and exposes your online habits to the powers that be.

For that reason, you need a secure VPN for France with strong encryption and no-logging practices. A provider like this will safeguard your privacy and prevent your ISP, hackers, or snoopers from getting their hands on your personal info.

Even if French authorities request the provider to hand out this information, due to storing no logs, the provider will come out empty-handed. Thankfully, all VPNs on our list support this business model so you won’t have privacy issues with any of them.

Bypassing Geo-Restrictions

Do you want to watch HBO Max in France or enjoy French TV abroad? In that case, you must use a VPN! This tool lets you change your IP address to another country and bypass geo-restrictions that are a result of your true location.

In doing so, you can bet on French online bookies outside of France or watch foreign TV channels no matter your location. All you need to do is connect to a server in a particular country, which takes a few seconds, and you’ll be ready to enjoy online freedom.

Torrenting Anonymously

A Western country like France is hell-bent on stopping torrenting practices, especially if we’re talking about copyrighted material. Torrenting fines are very high and downloading without a VPN is extremely risky if you want to stay out of the government’s way.

A VPN for France will conceal your IP address, encrypt your connection, and make your activities invisible to your ISP. This way, you can download torrents anonymously without any legal consequences, even if we’re talking about copyrighted ones.

However, beware that we DO NOT condone or recommend violating copyrights, so be on the righteous side of the law. Download royalty-free stuff and buy copyrighted stuff to support the artists, developers, and those who put their effort into crafting any type of content.

Saving Money on Flights

France is one of the most developed countries in Europe. With a high living standard, it’s not the cheapest, especially when talking about flights. The good news is that you can use a provider to change your IP to a less-developed country and purchase a cheaper flight ticket!

Prices of flights and hotel rentals depend on your location among many other things. So, with the help of our top 5 providers, you can get cheaper vacations abroad and save a bit of money for new shoes or a car.

Free VPN for France: Do We Recommend Any?

When talking about free VPNs, I honestly struggle to recommend a good one, especially when talking about France. For one, free providers offer NO French servers, so they’re not a good choice if you want to get a French IP address abroad.

Second, they’re known to offer monthly bandwidth limits, which can go anywhere from 2GB to 10 GB a month. In addition to that, their poor server infrastructure promises slow speeds and unstable performance, making the overall experience all but satisfying.

Free VPNs for France are also not recommended due to heavy logging. Some providers that have servers in this country, like Hola VPN, for example, are notorious for storing logs and selling them to third parties to earn money.

However, if you live in France, you can try these two options:

1) Proton VPN

Proton VPN offers a great free version with unlimited bandwidth and rock-solid security. It stores no logs even in the free version and offers WireGuard support, 256-bit encryption, and a kill switch. However, its speeds aren’t particularly fast and it has no servers in this country.

Instead, it offers 5 locations – the US, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Japan. Despite that, it doesn’t work with Netflix, it has no P2P support, and offers no simultaneous connections. Therefore, it’s a good VPN to use in France only for anonymous browsing or watching YouTube videos in lower resolutions.

2) Hide.me

Hide.me VPN also has no French servers but it does offer 8 server locations. Two of them are in the US, while the rest of the servers are based in Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, etc. Even though it’s faster than Proton VPN and offers unlimited bandwidth, it lacks WireGuard.

The good thing is that Hide.me has 24/7 live chat support and it works with some foreign TV channels and platforms. But once you become locked to its OpenVPN protocol, you’ll notice slower speeds and longer connection times. Not good if you’re used to snappier apps.

Summary

Putting things into perspective, it’s easy to see that there are a lot of great VPNs for France in 2024. Not all of them offer the same level of performance and quality, so we recommend NordVPN as the #1 choice that has everything you need with no compromises.

If you’re looking for a budget solution, CyberGhost is perhaps the best one with its huge server network and lots of security features. ExpressVPN and Surfshark are also great if you want to enjoy lots of servers and decent performance with only a few minor issues.

And if you’d rather rely on the Swiss security of Proton VPN, that can also be a choice if you don’t mind its lack of free months. Whether you live in or outside of France, I have no doubt these providers will satisfy your needs. Now go ahead and try one of them, it’s never too late to get a good VPN!

Try NordVPN Today

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Best France VPN FAQ

Want to know more about the best VPN providers you can use in France or abroad? Let’s answer a few questions.

How to use a VPN for France?

Using the provider of your choice is pretty simple. You need to subscribe, download the app to your device, and connect to a server. If you’re in France, you’ll want a server outside of the country if bypassing geo-restrictions is what you’re looking for.

If you’re located abroad, you can connect to French servers to access local content like TV channels, streaming platforms, online bookies, and other geo-restricted websites.

Which VPNs should I avoid in France?

So far, we talked about the providers we recommend, but are there any that you should avoid? Well, technically yes, and here, I’m thinking about free providers that won’t give you the experience you want. Most notably, you should avoid Betternet, Hola VPN, and Hotspot Shield.

These 3 providers offer poor performance and they’re not capable of streaming, but above all, they DO store logs. All 3 of them are guilty of intrusive logging and selling user information to third parties to make more money.

In a country that encourages surveillance, data collection, and monitoring of online activities, you don’t want a provider that won’t respect your privacy!

How to watch French Netflix abroad?

French Netflix offers great shows and movies that you sometimes can’t find in other popular libraries. To unblock the catalog, you’ll need a French IP with a provider that works with Netflix FR. I recommend NordVPN, but ExpressVPN and Surfshark will also work fine.

Just connect to a VPN server located in France, visit Netflix and the entire library should be unblocked with no issues. If you’re having issues and the VPN isn’t working, try using another server in France. For example, NordVPN’s Paris servers worked for us when unblocking Netflix FR.

However, with NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Surfshark, and Proton VPN, you won’t have any problems in terms of streaming. They’re all capable of unblocking Netflix FR abroad.

Is France a censored country?

No, it’s not but that doesn’t mean it’s not suitable for a VPN. While there’s the highest degree of internet freedom, the country suffers from government surveillance and geo-blocks that prevent you from accessing the content you want online.

With a VPN, you’ll keep your ISP off your back and be able to unblock your favorite streaming services, bookies, and other sites in the blink of an eye.