Best VPNs For ChatGPT Tried & Tested

ChatGPT has revolutionized the way we interact with AI, becoming a go-to tool for millions worldwide. However, its widespread popularity has led to increased scrutiny and restrictions in some regions. If you value privacy and want uninterrupted access to ChatGPT, you need a reliable VPN. After rigorous testing, I’ve identified the best VPNs for ChatGPT ⇣ that ensure secure and unrestricted access.

With growing concerns over AI’s impact, many governments and organizations have begun to restrict access to ChatGPT. In these cases, using a VPN isn’t just about privacy – it’s essential for accessing the service at all.

But not all VPNs are created equal when it comes to ChatGPT access. I’ve personally tested dozens of VPN services to determine which ones consistently provide reliable access to ChatGPT while maintaining top-notch security and performance. Here’s what I found:

Key Findings: After extensive testing, these VPNs proved best for ChatGPT access:

1. NordVPN ⇣ – Top overall choice for ChatGPT in 2024
2. Surfshark ⇣ – Widest range of server locations for global ChatGPT access
3. ExpressVPN ⇣ – Premium option with blazing-fast speeds
4. AtlasVPN ⇣ – Budget-friendly choice with a free tier available

All my recommended plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee so why not give them all a try and see which one you like the best? This allows you to test them risk-free and find the perfect fit for your ChatGPT needs. In the following sections, I’ll break down the pros and cons of each option based on my hands-on experience.

Should You use a VPN to access ChatGPT?

Well, ChatGPT thinks so…

Because…

ChatGPT Is Blocked in Some Countries

Yes, that’s right, some governments have taken it upon themselves to block the use of Chat GPT in their countries. Spoilsports.

The list changes quite frequently, and as Chat GPT raises more concerns, there are more countries that are considering banning it too.

Currently, the list of countries where ChatGPT is banned by their respective governments is:

• Russia
• China
• Cuba
• Iran
• Syria
• North Korea

Italy also placed a temporary ban on the software, stating that more regulation and compliance are required. However, as of now, it is currently available, but this may quickly change.

Similarly, OpenAI has its own “blacklist” of countries where it will not allow the use of ChatGPT. These include:

• Afghanistan
• Bhutan
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Eritrea
• Eswatini
• Libya
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Yemen

If you want to know whether or not OpenAI permits the use of ChatGPT in a certain country, check this list.

It doesn’t end there, either. You may be thinking your country is safe, but you may be out of luck. The countries currently considering a ban are:

• The UK
• The entire European Union
• The USA

ChatGPT Is Blocked in Some Schools

There are always going to be those that use tools and technology for nefarious purposes. Unfortunately, ChatGPT is rather good at academic work. So good, in fact, that students have been using the AI writing software to produce work on their behalf.

This has ranged from bog-standard essays to full dissertations. Professors from Illinois Tech and Michigan State College of Law even challenged ChatGPT to pass the notoriously difficult bar exam (what you need to become a qualified lawyer), and it did!

It’s little wonder then that schools and education facilities across the world are restricting its use on their premises.

ChatGPT Collects Personal Data

You know nothing is truly free, right? While you may not pay for ChatGPT with money, you pay for it in data.

Unsurprisingly, the software records everything you type into that request bar, including any personal data and your IP address. You can’t stop this, even on the paid plan. The only way to stop it is to stop using ChatGPT altogether.

But that’s not why we’re here, is it? Fortunately, a VPN encrypts your data and helps conceal it from the folks at OpenAI.

How to Choose a VPN for ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is powerful, so you need a decent VPN to be able to run it properly (and surf the web for other reasons). There are five essential criteria that a VPN must fulfill in order for it to be considered worthwhile:

• Server Network
• Speeds
• Security Features
• Privacy
• Price

Server Network

The more countries your VPN has servers in, the better chance you have of accessing ChatGPT. Most worthwhile VPNs will have servers based in a high number of countries allowing you to use ChatGPT almost anywhere.

Speeds

You want decent speeds for any type of internet browsing via a VPN. Otherwise, you can simply look forward to that frustrating buffering icon – particularly if you’re trying to stream video content.

ChatGPT doesn’t like poor or slow connections, and if it’s frequently disconnected, it won’t perform properly.

Security Features

Security features are a must for protecting your personal data and identity while preventing malicious attacks. VPNs should absolutely come with built-in security features.

Privacy

As I’ve already mentioned, ChatGPT records all your data, and the only way to keep it private is via a VPN with high privacy policies and features. Furthermore, any VPN worth its salt must also guarantee it doesn’t keep logs of your browsing activity.

Price

The best VPNs strike the right balance between affordability and value. They should provide great features and a product that performs but should still be available at a reasonable cost.

Note that I do not mention that VPNs should be free. They shouldn’t. Why? Because free VPNs often log your activity or steal your data to compensate.

The Best VPNs for ChatGPT

Now we know what makes a VPN worthwhile, let’s check out some of the top VPN providers that fulfill that criterion.

1. NordVPN (Best VPN for ChatGPT in 2024)

NordVPN is one of the top names out there and for a good reason. The provider boasts a network of 5,599 servers based in 60 countries providing that all-important coverage. All plans provide you with:

• Nordlynx tunneling protocol (for speed!)
• Malware protection without automatic file deletion if malicious code is detected
• Tracking prevention and ad-blocker software
• Meshnet private encrypted network
• Dark web monitoring and compromised account alert
• Dedicated IP
• No user tracking or logging
• Split tunneling
• SmartDNS and private DNS
• Double VPN servers
• Multiple devices with up to six simultaneous connections
• Kill switch if your VPN connection accidentally drops

Upgrading your plans also nets you:

• Password syncing and encrypted password vault
• Data breach scanner
• 1TB storage
• Next-gen file encryption

All plans allow you to install and use the VPN on up to six devices, and thanks to its huge server network, downloading, streaming, and of course, using ChatGPT are all effortless with virtually zero buffering or lag. This makes NordVPN the best ChatGPT VPN in December 2024.

NordVPN has three available plans: Standard, Plus, and Complete.

• From $3.59 on a two-year plan
• From $4.99 on a one-year plan
• From $12.99 on a monthly plan

Choosing a one or two-year plan gets you three months for free, and you get a discount for choosing a longer subscription length other than monthly. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

To learn more and sign up, check out NordVPN here. Learn more in my review of NordVPN here.

2. Surfshark (Unblock ChatGPT from Anywhere)

SurfShark has a big network of over 3,200 servers located in 100 countries. These servers can handle 1 GBps, but many have or are being upgraded to deal with 10 GBps. SurfShark provides a tonne of value with its plans since you can connect unlimited numbers of devices, and you’re not restricted by any bandwidth limits.

Subscribing to its services also gets you:

• Personal data protection with AES-256-GCM encryption
• Choose WireGuard® or OpenVPN, or IKEv2/IPsec.secure protocols (WireGuard gives you the best speeds)
• IP address changing
• No borders mode for unrestricted browsing
• Camouflage mode for ISP protection
• Private DNS & leak protection
• Kill switch
• Strict no-logs policy
• VPN bypasser permissions
• CleanWeb 2.0 for malicious traffic and threat detection and prevention and ad-blocking

SurfShark also bases its pricing on the length of subscription you choose:

• Monthly: $12.95
• Annually: $3.99
• Two years: $2.49

Opting for the two-year plan gets you an 82% discount plus one month for free. All Surfshark ChatGPT VPN plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

To give SurfShark a whirl and read more about it, head here. Check out my review of Surfshark VPN here.

3. ExpressVPN (Most Secure & Reliable ChatGPT VPN)

ExpressVPN is in the process of upgrading its servers from 1 GBps (gigabyte per second) to a massive 10 GBps. It boasts over 3,000 VPN server locations in 94 countries and is currently named the world’s best VPN service by CNET, TechRadar, The Verge, and more.

Getting Express VPN will provide you with the following benefits:

• Industry-standard AES-256 encryption
• IP address masking
• TrustedServer technology (no data is ever written to a hard drive)
• Zero activity logs kept
• VPN split tunneling
• Network lock kill switch
• Threat manager for tracking and malicious code prevention
• Private DNS
• Lightway protocol
• Use with up to five devices

To ensure the fastest speeds for your ChatGPT use, ExpressVPN has a built-in speed tester. This handy tool tells you the fastest server according to your location, meaning you don’t have to try and guess which one will be the best.

ExpressVPN keeps it simple with a single plan and three different subscription options:

• Monthly: $12.95
• Annually: $6.67

All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit the ExpressVPN homepage, or take a look at the detail and ExpressVPN’s pricing here. Also, check out my review of ExpressVPN.

4. AtlasVPN (Best Free ChatGPT VPN)

Compared with the previous two VPN providers, Atlas VPN has a much smaller network. It currently has over 750 servers located in 42 countries. But while it may not have the widest coverage, it does offer some of the lowest prices, and there’s a basic free version of the app you can use.

If you sign up for an AtlasVPN paid plan, you can look forward to:

• Malware blocking and deletion
• WireGuard protocol for seamless browsing speeds (and ChatGPT use)
• SafeBrowse prevention from third-party hackers
• Split tunneling
• MultiHop+ (use multiple rotating VPN locations)
• Data breach monitor
• Strict no-log policy
• ChaCha20 and AES-256 for data encryption
• Network kill switch

A big bonus here is that AtlasVPN lets you use its software on unlimited devices, which is perfect if you have a large family of ChatGPT fans!

Like ExpressVPN, AtlasVPN has one plan available in three different subscription lengths:

• Monthly: $10.99
• Annually: $3.29
• Three years: $1.82

AtlasVPN also has a basic free plan that you can download and use without having to input any card details.

Choosing the three-year plan nets you a massive 83% discount, while all paid plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.

To browse the info about AtlasVPN and sign up for a plan, head here. Check out my review of AtlasVPN here.

Best ChatGPT VPNs compared

Now a super-quick overview of each VPN’s key features:

Feature	NordVPN	ExpressVPN	AtlasVPN	Surfshark
Costs from	$3.59	$6.67	$1.82	$2.49
Free VPN version	No	No	Yes	No
Number of devices permitted	Six	Five	Unlimited	Unlimited
Number of servers	5,599	3,000	750	3,200
Number of countries	60	94	42	100
No-log policy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malware protection	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tracker and ad-blocker	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
24/7 live support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Current promotion	Get 68% OFF + 3 FREE months	Get 49% OFF + 3 FREE months	Get 85% OFF + 2 Months FREE	2-year plan for $1.82/mo + 3 months extra

How To Use ChatGPT With a VPN?

If you haven’t yet used ChatGPT via a VPN, here’s how you do it:

1. Get yourself one of the aforementioned VPNs (my top recommendation is NordVPN), download the software, and follow the installation instructions
2. Once your VPN is set up, switch it on by choosing a server location where ChatGPT is permitted (the USA is a good choice, for now)
3. Before you open ChatGPT, clear your browser history, cache, and cookies (you may also like to use a private browser such as TOR)
4. Head over to ChatGPT and log into your account. If you haven’t yet used ChatGPt, follow the signup instructions to access it

Note: If you’re new to ChatGPT, there may be a waiting period before it allows you to use the software. When I signed up, the wait time was a couple of weeks.

What Is ChatGPT and Why Is It So Popular?

ChatGPT is absolutely everywhere right now. From YouTubers claiming you can make millions overnight from using it (highly unlikely) to entire countries concerned about the impact the software will have on national security (well-founded concerns).

Despite the worries, ChatGPT currently has over 100 million active users and receives one billion visitors per month. Considering it was only released to the general public on November 30, 2022, those figures are staggering.

But what is it, exactly?

What better place to have this question answered than on ChatGPT itself? So, naturally, I asked it what it was, and it generated this answer:

“ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI. It uses a deep neural network to generate natural language responses to user inputs, allowing it to engage in conversation with people in a way that is often indistinguishable from human-written text.

ChatGPT has been trained on a massive amount of data, allowing it to understand and respond to a wide range of topics and questions. It can be used for a variety of applications, including customer service, chatbots, and virtual assistants.”

A bit wordy if you ask me, so the (extremely) simplified explanation is that it’s an advanced artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that uses existing data to generate a response.

You can ask it pretty much anything, and it’ll churn out text related to your request. For example, ChatGPT has been used to:

• Write college essays
• Write fiction books
• Generate marketing copy
• Generate new ideas, lists, recipes, etc.
• Write entire code scripts for software
• Create malware (yes, really!)
• And so, so much more

The AI has its limitations, though. It doesn’t know much past the year 2021, and it has been known to generate wrong information, and it sounds stiff and, well, robotic.

Understandably, people love it. After all, who doesn’t like conversing with a robot? And it’s currently free to use (although a paid version is also available).

The potential of this software is massive, and in the few short months it has been “alive,” it’s improved exponentially.

Our Verdict ⭐

The rapid advancement of AI technology has prompted governments and organizations to implement restrictions on its use. While the future of AI remains uncertain, it’s clear that access to tools like ChatGPT may become limited in various regions.

Despite valid concerns surrounding AI, it’s crucial to maintain access to these innovative tools. They offer immense potential for learning, productivity, and creative problem-solving. My experience using ChatGPT for research and content creation has been invaluable, highlighting the importance of unrestricted access.

Given the unpredictable nature of AI regulations, securing a reliable VPN now is a wise precaution. This ensures continued access to ChatGPT and similar AI tools, regardless of potential future restrictions in your area.

After extensive testing of numerous VPN services, NordVPN emerged as the top choice for ChatGPT access. Its combination of speed, security features, and consistent ability to bypass restrictions set it apart from the competition. I’ve personally used NordVPN to access ChatGPT from various locations, including countries where it’s typically blocked, with excellent results.

While the other VPNs mentioned in this article are solid options, NordVPN’s overall performance and reliability make it my go-to recommendation. To experience its capabilities firsthand, you can sign up and test it risk-free with their 30-day money-back guarantee.

How We Review VPNs: Our Methodology

Our VPN review process is thorough and based on real-world testing. Here’s a breakdown of the key factors we evaluate:

1. Features and Unique Qualities: We test each VPN’s standout features, such as NordVPN’s Double VPN or ExpressVPN’s TrustedServer technology, to assess their real-world impact on security and performance.
2. Unblocking Capabilities: We attempt to access region-locked content and services from multiple locations to verify the VPN’s effectiveness in bypassing geo-restrictions.
3. User Experience: We install and use each VPN across various devices to evaluate the ease of setup, interface design, and overall user-friendliness.
4. Performance Testing: Using both automated tools and real-world usage, we measure connection speeds, latency, and stability across different server locations and times of day.
5. Security and Privacy Audit: We analyze encryption protocols, conduct DNS leak tests, and scrutinize privacy policies to ensure the VPN truly protects user data.
6. Customer Support Evaluation: We engage with support teams through various channels, assessing response times, knowledge, and helpfulness in resolving common issues.
7. Value Assessment: We compare pricing across different plan lengths, evaluate money-back guarantees, and consider the overall feature set to determine the VPN’s value proposition.
8. Long-term Testing: We continue to use and monitor top-rated VPNs over extended periods to ensure consistent performance and reliability.

This comprehensive approach allows us to provide accurate, up-to-date recommendations based on extensive hands-on experience. For a more detailed look at our review process, check out our full methodology.