How to find the right VPN for Iran in 2025

By Joan Torres 18 Comments Last updated on December 7, 2024

As in many dictatorships around the world, in Iran, the internet is censored.

That’s because the Government wants to have all the information that flows over the network under its control so, they block many websites which are beyond their reach, like most non-Iranian social networks and many international media outlets.

Facebook is banned in Iran, we well as Twitter, some Google services, the BBC, CNN and even porn sites are blocked.

Yes, as hard as it sounds, you can’t watch porn in Iran…

On the other hand, this is kind of controversial because the ruler of Iran has an actual Twitter account and many Iranians retweet his tweets.

I know that this last thing may sound kind of funny but the fact is that, despite the censorship, everybody uses a VPN (Virtual Private Network) in Iran and the Government already knows that, but there is not much they can do about it, especially in a country of 80 million people.

In any case, if you want to use Facebook when you travel in Iran to show your friends in order to show your friends how freaking awesome Iran is, or you just want to watch some nasty movies, you will need to get a VPN.

In this article, I will help you to find the right VPN for Iran.

I don’t really want to go into many details about VPNs because, if you found this article, you already know what a VPN is used for.

Usually, most people around the world use a VPN for the following reasons:

For safety: As it prevents hackers from stealing your private information, especially when you are using a public Wi-Fi network. Most people use a VPN for this reason. 

For connecting to a different country: A VPN allows you to choose the country you want to connect from. For instance, when I am on the road, which is basically 11 months a year, I always try to connect to a Spanish server, so I always get the desired results when I search on Google or want to watch Netflix Spain. As a traveler, this is the reason why you want to use a VPN in Iran. 

By connecting to a server from a different country, you will be able to browse all the sites and services which are blocked in Iran.

For example, if you connect to a server located in Germany, you will be able to use Facebook in Iran because, in Germany, Facebook isn’t blocked. 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Netflix
• Youtube
• Some Google services
• Tinder
• And pornography sites
• Against the Compass (Yes, my website)

If you don’t have a VPN, you won’t be able to connect to the above sites. 

These are the different VPN I trust:

The fastest VPN for Iran – Express VPN

The cheapest VPN for Iran – Private Internet Access

The MOST value-for-money VPN for Iran – Cyber Ghost

Tip – You should know that, for paid apps, Google Play and Apple Store are blocked in Iran, so it would be wise to get your VPN before leaving for Iran. 

If you look at other websites, you will see that, when talking about VPNs, they use very complicated names such as DNS queries, PPTP protocols and understandable things like that. 

They want to be too professional and techy but, seriously, for traveling purposes, such as using Facebook in Iran or watching Netflix, you don’t need to know any of that. 

The fact is that I am neither a computer geek nor a computer engineer and, in any case, I don’t want to complicate your life, so that is why I have classified the different VPNs according to the following criteria, which everybody can understand:

• Price
• Security
• Speed (a VPN will slow down your connectivity)
• Number of countries and servers it can connect to

By the way, all the VPNs recommended in this blog are:

• Completely user-friendly
• For both desktop and mobile 
• For both Android and iPhone. 
• Are compatible with Netflix (Note that Netflix is really good at detecting VPNs and proxies and depending on the server you try to connect to, it may not work, but this happens with all the VPNs)
• Offer a 30-day money-back guarantee

Price for 1 month – 12.95USD

Price for 6 months – 9.99USD a month

Price for 1 year – 6.67USD a month

Express VPN is the most Premium VPProN in the market. 

Seriously, it is super fast, it can connect to an endless number of countries and geeks claim that it has the strongest encryption in order to ensure data protection at the highest levels.  

Controversially, Express VPN was the first VPN I ever paid for, and I used it for a few weeks when I was traveling in China. 

By that time, I didn’t know that it was the best one but then, I signed up for cheaper VPNs and realized that it was the fastest, so when my plan expired, I moved back to Express VPN, which is the one I am using today. 

Seriously, it is so fast, that most of the times, it doesn’t even seem you are connected to a VPN. 

By the way, you can connect to 2,000 servers from 160 cities in 94 different countries. 

Price for 1 month – from 11.99USD

Price for 6 months – from 7.50USD a month

Price for 2 years – from 2.11USD a month

Of all the trustworthy VPNs, Private Internet Access is not the fastest but it’s the cheapest in the market, so it might be the best choice for budget travelers. 

It was good, really, relatively fast, experts claim that it is also very secure, and you can connect to 83 different countries.

Nevertheless, one of the downsides was that when I was connected to a public Wi-Fi network, I really could feel that the internet was significantly slower, and for my online job, I do require fast internet, so that is why, eventually, I moved back to ExpressVPN. 

As always, you get what you pay for but, once again, at this price, you won’t find a better VPN.

Price for 1 month – 12.99USD

Price for 6 months – 6.99USD a month

Price for 2 years – 2.11USD a month

The reason why this VPN has such a good reputation is because, with over 15 years of experience and 9,000 state-of-the-art VPN servers, it offers an outstanding level of security, with strong encryption features.

Moreover, some speed tests have shown that, sometimes, it is even faster than Express VPN, due to its unlimited bandwidth and traffic.

A true value-for-money, CyberGhost VPN subscriptions secure up to 7 devices at once, protecting your identity and information across all your favorite operating systems and gadgets. Plus 24/7 customer service is available via live chat or email.

Economically, this is a very good VPN, quite faster than the average and, if you sign up for the long-term plan, the monthly price becomes very, very low. 

No, it’s not, and it could actually lead to a jail sentence.

However, don’t panic.

Everybody in Iran uses a VPN and there have not been any reports from foreigners who have gotten into trouble for using it, not even Iranians, as long as they don’t use to organize a massive demonstration against the Iranian regime.

They would never go after anyone who uses a VPN for connecting to Facebook in Iran.

Step 1 – Enter ExpressVPN website through this link and choose your plan

Step 2 – Download ExpressVPN to your desktop or get the App on Google Play or Apple Store.

Step 3 – Choose a location from the list and connect – It is so easy!

There are free VPNs, of course, but they present the following disadvantages:

• Low speed
• Usually, don’t really work on desktop, only on mobile
• They aren’t secure
• Plenty of ads
• The country or server cannot be selected but they assign one randomly
• They may be stealing your personal data

Personally, I have used a few free VPNs in the past but trust me that, eventually, you will realize that it is not a very good idea, not at all. 

However, it is completely up to you 🙂

80 Useful tips for traveling to Iran
Iran 1-month itinerary
How to get a visa for Iran
Best Hotels in Tehran

---