Ranked for privacy Facts checked 17 Oct 2026 Scores recalculated live
Best VPN for Germany
In Germany the real risk is a lawyer's letter: rights holders log IP addresses on torrent networks, get a court order for the subscriber's name, and send a fee demand.
Top pick right now
Proton VPN 94/100
No-logs claims checked by Securitum (Aug 2025).
Why you'd use a VPN in Germany
Filesharing warning letters
Rights holders record the IP address and time, obtain a court order under § 101 UrhG, and the provider reveals who held that address. The legal fee for a first letter to a private person is capped on a €1,000 value (around €165–170), but damages on top are not capped. [1]
Posts can be prosecuted
Freedom House scored Germany 74/100, down from 77, citing raids and a suspended sentence in April 2025 over a manipulated meme of the interior minister. [2]
Is a VPN legal in Germany? Legal. VPNs are legal. Downloading copyrighted files is still prosecuted, VPN or not.
The top 3 for Germany
Full ranking of the 6 VPNs we track
| # | VPN | Score | Connects here | Visitor reports | Website (OONI) | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proton VPN | 94/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Blocked on some networks 868 tests | Try Proton VPN |
| 2 | ExpressVPN | 86/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Too few tests | Try ExpressVPN |
| 3 | NordVPN | 86/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Blocked on some networks 1037 tests | Try NordVPN |
| 4 | Private Internet Access | 79/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Too few tests | Try Private Internet Access |
| 5 | Surfshark | 77/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Website loads 735 tests | Try Surfshark |
| 6 | CyberGhost | 66/100 | Connects | Not enough yet | Too few tests | Try CyberGhost |
"Connects here" comes from our Germany status page. Visitor reports count the last 14 days. Website checks come from OONI measurements over 30 days, refreshed 19 Oct 2026; a blocked website doesn't mean the app is blocked, but you'll need to install the app another way.
How we scored
Nobody pays for a position here. Each VPN gets a score out of 100 from these weights, chosen because the main reason to use a VPN in Germany is privacy:
- Privacy & audits
- 55%
- Stealth / obfuscation
- 10%
- Streaming
- 10%
- Connects in this country
- 10%
- Visitor reports
- 15%
Feature ratings are our editorial scores. If a VPN has too few visitor reports, that weight is shared among the other factors. A VPN that doesn't connect here is capped at 35. How we track
Questions people ask
What is the best VPN for Germany?
On our current scores, Proton VPN (94/100), followed by ExpressVPN (86) and NordVPN (86). Scores weigh privacy most heavily for Germany and update as visitors there report what works.
Is using a VPN legal in Germany?
Legal. VPNs are legal. Downloading copyrighted files is still prosecuted, VPN or not.
Do all VPNs work in Germany?
All six VPNs we track connect normally in Germany. The differences are in streaming, privacy and speed.
Why does this ranking change?
Part of each score comes from visitor reports in the last 14 days and from whether each VPN currently connects in the country. When those change, the order changes. The formula is shown on the page.
Sources
We earn a commission if you buy a VPN through our links. It never changes what we report as blocked. How we pick