Callum Tennent oversees how we test and review VPN services. He's a member of the IAPP, and his VPN advice has featured in Forbes and the Internet Society. Read full bio
The best VPN for Singapore we’ve reviewed is ExpressVPN. It offers three Singapore VPN server locations, 26 server locations in nearby countries, and it easily bypasses web censorship, including geo-restrictions on Singaporean streaming platforms.
We’ve tested 62 VPNs for Singapore on multiple devices and found four that truly stand out from all the rest.
These VPNs are the most effective for connecting into and out of Singapore. They’ll encrypt your web traffic, assign you a Singapore IP address, and bypass strict geo-restrictions in Singapore and around the world.
Summary: The Best VPNs for Singapore
Based on our tests, these are the VPNs we recommend the most for Singapore:
These VPNs worked reliably on all our test devices, including PC, Mac, iPhone, Android smartphones, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Why Trust Us?
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
The Best Singapore VPNs Compared
Our recommended VPNs offer multiple servers in Singapore, fast international speeds, low ping times, and easy access to geo-restricted streaming services. Here’s a table comparing them:
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Singapore, easily bypassing local as well as international geo-restrictions.
In addition to its fast speeds and very intuitive apps, ExpressVPN stands out for its compatibility with multiple devices. This extends to smart TVs and games consoles thanks to its unique router app and Smart DNS (MediaStreamer) solution.
The VPN service offers three area-specific Singapore servers to choose from: Central Business District, Jurong, and Marina Bay.
Excellent VPN for Mobile & PC Gaming
ExpressVPN is a great VPN for PC, mobile and console gaming, consistently providing low ping of 8ms and lag-free gameplay.
ExpressVPN is also one of the fastest VPNs available, with exceptional long-distance download speeds in and out of Singapore.
We recorded just 15% speed loss when connecting to a long-distance server: a superb result compared to most other VPNs.
We played PUBG Mobile with no lag while connected to a Singapore server.
Unblocks 95% of Streaming Platforms Tested
Thousands of our streaming tests confirm ExpressVPN remains the most effective VPN for streaming, unblocking 95% of services we tested it with.
Using ExpressVPN, we easily unblocked HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, Disney+ and many more platforms.
We love its phenomenal ability to bypass geo-restrictions in 106 countries, in combination with exceptional streaming speeds across a wide range of devices.
The VPN also excels at unblocking 18 Netflix regions, with an impressive 100% success rate.
ExpressVPN unblocks many Netflix regions, including Japan.
You can use ExpressVPN on Netflix to watch KDramas like The Glory, Physical 100 and King the Land, or anime like One Piece.
If you’re located outside Singapore, you can use ExpressVPN to watch meWatch from overseas by simply connecting to one of its Singapore servers.
Expensive but Worth the Price
ExpressVPN is more expensive than Windscribe, NordVPN, and many more VPNs, which may put off some people.
That said, if you want an incredibly user-friendly and reliable VPN, its advanced security, fast speeds, and effective unblocking abilities are worth the higher price in our opinion.
We recommend ExpressVPN’s free trial as a great way to try out the service before buying it.
Windscribe has one city-level server in Marina Bay, and two regular Singapore servers named Garden and SMRT.
It also has servers in 16 nearby countries across Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and more.
It’s an excellent choice for connecting into Singapore as well as the wider region. For instance, it’s our top recommendation for getting a Hong Kong IP address.
Ashley Madison and other adult websites are blocked in Singapore, but you can access it with Windscribe.
Beats Web Censorship & Streaming Geo-restrictions
Windscribe consistently circumvents aggressive web censorship, and is therefore a great option to unblock geo-restricted websites in Singapore.
With Windscribe’s widespread server coverage and obfuscation protocols, you can easily access blocked adult content and torrent sites in Singapore.
Streaming-wise, Windscribe unblocks 32 international Netflix libraries, including the US, UK, and Japan. It also unblocks meWatch, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and more.
We used Windscribe to watch geo-blocked content on meWatch.
You can install Windscribe on a variety of devices, although it’s not quite as compatible as ExpressVPN. For example, it doesn’t have a router app.
Fluctuating Speeds & No Live Support
While Windscribe is a fast VPN that challenges the likes of ExpressVPN and NordVPN for download speed, it does suffer from frustrating speed fluctuations.
On a number of occasions, we’ve had to endure blurriness while streaming with the VPN, especially during live broadcasts.
It’s a bearable flaw, but it’s something that we wished occurred less frequently.
Also, Windscribe’s customer support is below what we expect from a top-tier service. There is still no human live chat support, so you have to send an email for assistance.
In our experience, we found using Windscribe’s chat bot support to be extremely frustrating when we have a quick question.
Free Version with 10GB Data Cap
Windscribe is primarily known for its free VPN, which performs well and comes with 10GB of free data per month.
Unlike many other free VPNs, it’s fast, secure, and unblocks a good selection of geo-restricted streaming services.
However, Windscribe Free isn’t our preferred free VPN for Singapore because it annoyingly doesn’t offer a server in Singapore.
NordVPN counts the most VPN servers in Singapore, over 70 altogether. We found 48 regular servers in the macOS app plus a number of specialized torrenting and obfuscated servers ones, too.
In the macOS app you can choose an individual numbered server, whereas on NordVPN’s Windows app you don’t get the option to scroll through the servers. Instead, you can only choose by country or specialized servers.
NordVPN only gives you the option to select a specific regular server on macOS.
Fast Long-Distance Speeds & Unblocking Capabilities
Similarly to ExpressVPN, NordVPN is one of the most reliable VPNs for streaming we’ve tested.
This is because it delivers incredibly fast speeds, has a large server network, and it unblocks almost all geo-restricted streaming services.
In our tests, NordVPN easily unblocks US Netflix.
If you’re traveling to Singapore, you can use NordVPN to access all your favorite home streaming services, such as US Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max.
Where NordVPN struggles is bypassing aggressive online censorship in authoritarian countries, for example China. It used to perform quite well, but in recent years its performance has significantly worsened, as our China VPN tests prove.
27 Server Locations in Asia
We were glad NordVPN expanded its server coverage in Asia from 9 to 27 countries.
Using NordVPN on macOS, we were able to choose from over Hong Kong servers.
This is a few more than ExpressVPN, so if you want the most amount of server options possible in the region, NordVPN might be a slightly better choice for you.
Connecting to all these server locations was quick and smooth with no speed fluctuations or sudden interruptions.
Wide Range of Advanced Settings
Something that separates NordVPN from ExpressVPN is the number of additional features it makes available within its software.
The former allows for greater privacy and security while the latter lets you keep the same VPN IP address, if you so wish. Dedicated IP will cost extra each month, though.
No Fire TV or Apple TV app & no router compatibility
Leaks HTML5 geolocation data
No live chat support
Data Cap
Unlimited
Servers
5,000
Countries with Servers
47
Simultaneous Connections
5
Support
Email & Online Resources Only
Jurisdiction
Canada (Five Eyes Member)
Compatible with
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android
Linux
TunnelBear Free is the only secure and trustworthy free VPN with a server in Singapore.
It’s top choice VPN for getting a completely free Singapore IP address. It even unblocks meWatch, although it can’t unblock most other streaming platforms, sadly.
If you’re located in Singapore and want to get a foreign IP address, TunnelBear offers free IP addresses from 47 countries, including a free US VPN IP address.
TunnelBear runs free VPN servers in several countries.
Fast & Reliable Free VPN for Gaming
The free version of TunnelBear is a surprisingly good option for gaming.
Mobile gamers will appreciate that the 2GB of free data you get each month gives you more than 10 hours of free gaming time.
We tested the free VPN with PUBG and several other mobile games with positive experiences so far.
We had no issues playing PUBG with TunnelBear Free connected to Singapore.
The VPN’s connection speeds have sped up in recent times and we recorded just 15% speed loss connecting to international servers.
That said, we did experience much higher ping (128ms) compared to ExpressVPN and Windscribe.
Poor Choice for Streaming
TunnelBear Free unblocks very few streaming services around the world.
To paint the picture, the VPN fails to unblock Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and Prime Video.
But, streaming performance has slightly improved of late. In our most recent tests, TunnelBear did work with meWatch and with UK channels Channel 4 and ITVX.
Nevertheless, with only 2GB of free data per month, and limited device compatibility, we don’t recommend using TunnelBear for streaming.
Minor HTML5 Geolocation Leak
TunnelBear Free doesn’t collect any activity logs, which is much better than other free VPNs. It does collect your email address, but you can easily provide a throwaway email address.
In our tests, we also found that TunnelBear didn’t leak our IP address or DNS requests. This means that you can stay anonymous online without any of your information being leaked.
Disappointingly, it did leak our HTML5 geolocation details, which means it isn’t as effective at unblocking streaming services as ExpressVPN or NordVPN, which don’t leak your location details. This type of leak isn’t as severe as IP address or DNS leaks, but it still isn’t ideal.
Getting a Singapore IP address only takes a few minutes. Follow the video tutorial below or check out our instructions:
We used Windscribe on Android to connect to a Singapore VPN server.
Here’s how to get a Singapore IP address with a VPN:
Install a VPN app onto your device.
Open the app and create an account or login.
Check the protocol — we recommend using OpenVPN or Wireguard.
Connect to a VPN server in Singapore.
Singapore VPNs to Avoid
VPNs for Singapore to Avoid
Some popular VPNs are unsafe and log excessive amounts of data. Others just missed out on our list because they didn’t have enough server locations near Singapore.
Here is a selection of VPNs you should not use for Singapore:
SingaporeVPN - The VPN Master
Despite its popularity, you shouldn’t trust this VPN with your browsing history and personal information.
Singapore VPN’s privacy policy can be found on the Google Play Store.
We read its privacy policy and found it logs your IP address and timestamps for an unspecified amount of time. It also states that SingaporeVPN is an “Ad Supported app,” so it will regularly show you annoying ads when using the service.
Next Hour, the company behind SingaporeVPN, owns five VPNs on the Google Play Store. All of these apps seem to be based in the same location and strangely link to alphapos.shop, a payment service provider, as the official developer website.
Urban VPN
Urban VPN Free claims to be a VPN service, but it’s actually a a peer-to-peer proxy network. We found it doesn’t encrypt your data at all and collects your IP address and browsing activity.
Urban VPN’s website alludes to the fact that it’s a peer-to-peer network.
Urban VPN’s subscription supposedly opts you out of this network, but without a third-party audit, it’s impossible to know for sure.
UFO VPN
UFO VPN is not a safe or trustworthy VPN. It says its a no-logs service, but it suffered a data breach in 2020 that proved it was keeping extensive logs on its users. The breach revealed it logged: plaintext user passwords, real IP addresses and VPN servers used, timestamps, location data, and more.
UFO VPN has an extremely short terms of service and privacy policy, that doesn’t give details on ownership or its jurisdiction.
UFO VPN is also based in Hong Kong, which is no longer a safe jurisdiction for VPN services.
What Can You Do with a VPN?
If you live in Singapore or are traveling there, you’ll need a VPN to use the internet with complete freedom.
A VPN does this by replacing your IP address with a new VPN server IP address from a different country. After, you access websites that are blocked in Singapore but available in other countries.
With your internet traffic encrypted, Singaporean ISPs like Singtel, StarHub, and M1 can’t see your online activity.
1. Unblock Adult Content
In Singapore, the Films Act, Undesirable Publications Act, and the Penal Code have made it illegal to make, keep, distribute, and sell pornographic material.
Singapore maintains a symbolic 100-website ban, most of them pornographic. This online ban communicates the government’s disapproval of pornographic material and prevents children from accessing adult websites.
However, it is possible to circumvent this ban using a VPN service, Google DNS, or alternate domains.
2. Torrent
In Singapore, P2P file sharing is legal, but if the content you are sharing and downloading is copyrighted then it’s illegal. Torrenting websites such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents are blocked in Singapore.
In February 2022, the Coalition Against Piracy announced that illegal streaming websites are now also blocked in Singapore.
These include: 123Movies, DramaCool, FMovies, KissAsian, SoccerOnline, and Stream2Watch. Furthermore, alternate domains of these websites (e.g. 123movies.vu) are also now unavailable in the region unless you use a VPN.
3. Protect Travelers & Expats
Whether you’re on vacation, business trip, or relocating, you’ll need to access the internet while abroad. When traveling, you’ll often need to rely on public WiFi spots, such as airports, train stations, hotels, and cafes.
But using public WiFi can open you up to hackers. Your usernames, passwords, and banking details could be at risk. A VPN will encrypt this information and keep your personal information safe.
4. Enhance Privacy & Security
Without a VPN, ISPs, government agencies, search engines, website owners can all have access to your online activity.
For example, the government could ask your ISP to hand over your IP address, which websites you’ve visited, and which emails you’ve sent.
5. Unblock Streaming Services
If you’re traveling to Singapore, you can use a VPN to access all the movies and TV shows from home.
VPNs are a great solution if you want to keep up to date with your favorite sports matches. For example, expats from Indonesia might use a VPN to watch badminton matches and British travelers might use a VPN to catch up on soccer games.
How We Test VPNs for Singapore (Methodology)
Our experts use a scientific testing system to find out which VPNs are the best for Singapore.
In the table below, you can see how each recommended VPN performs in our key testing categories:
Here’s a more detailed explanation of what we look for in a Singapore VPN:
Singapore Servers: 30%
For each VPN, we counted the number of Singapore servers and servers in Asia overall.
VPN services with multiple server locations in Singapore received higher ratings. VPNs with one server in Singapore and more than 10 servers across Asia also received a good score. VPNs with no servers in Singapore and less than ten servers across Asia received low ratings.
Bypassing Singapore Censorship: 25%
We tested each VPN’s obfuscation to see how effective it is at bypassing Singapore’s web censorship. Singapore’s government blocks websites to communicate its disapproval of certain actions (e.g. torrenting) but these blocks are easily bypassed with a good VPN service.
VPNs with obfuscation that can unblock websites in Singapore were given higher scores. VPNs with ineffective obfuscation or have no obfuscation received lower scores.
Streaming: 20%
We manually tested each VPN to find out if they can unblock geo-restricted streaming services, including services in Singapore.
We rank the VPNs according to the amount of streaming services they unblock and the number of international libraries they work with. VPNs that receive high scores work to unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Hotstar, meWatch, and more.
Speed: 15%
We manually tested the average download speed, upload speed, and ping time of every VPN before and after connecting to servers in Singapore.
We also have automated VPN speed tests that monitor the most popular VPN’s speeds constantly. This data is updated every eight weeks to maintain up-to-date statistics.
The fastest VPNs with low ping times received the higher scores in this category. Meanwhile, VPNs that struggled to offer fast download speeds and caused buffering got lower scores.
Privacy & Logging Policy: 10%
We analyzed every VPN’s privacy policy, noting whether they store your IP address, browsing history, and connection timestamps. We also note down for how long the VPN stores this data for.
VPNs that store as little information as possible and immediately delete the information after a VPN session received higher scores. We also rewarded VPNs with a diskless server network and third-party audit. VPNs that logged excessive amount of data and based in unsafe jurisdictions received lower ratings in this category.
Data Cap Penalty
Almost every free VPN has a data cap. Being limited by a data cap massively reduces your VPN’s capabilities.
We apply a penalty to a free VPN’s overall Singapore rating based on how restrictive its data cap is:
10GB per month: -20% to the overall rating
500MB per day: -25% to the overall rating
5GB per month: -30% to the overall rating
1GB or 2GB per month: -35% to the overall rating
200MB per day: -40% to the overall rating
500MB per month: -50% to the overall rating
FAQs
Are VPNs Legal in Singapore?
Using a VPN is completely legal in Singapore. There are currently no restrictions on using a virtual private network.
Given the high number of public WiFi networks available in the country, we recommend using a VPN to protect your internet connection from hackers. The considerable degree of internet censorship in Singapore makes using a VPN necessary to access the open internet.
Which VPN Has the Most Servers in Singapore?
NordVPN has over 70 servers in Singapore, making it the VPN with the most servers in Singapore. On macOS, there are 48 regular servers to choose from that encrypt your traffic and replace your IP address. But on Windows, Android, and iOS you won’t be able to choose a specific server.
Your ISP will not be able to see what you’re doing online, what websites you visit, or how much data you’re using when connected to a VPN.
If you don’t want your ISP to know you’re using a VPN, we recommend using obfuscated servers or protocols that make your VPN connection harder to detect.
VPNs are completely legal in Singapore, though, so there aren’t any dangers to using a trustworthy VPN in Singapore.