How to find the best VPN for Saudi Arabia in 2024

By Joan Torres Leave a comment Last updated on April 9, 2024

With the liberalization of the visa regime in 2019, more and more people are traveling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to discover the wonders of what used to be one of the most secretive countries in the world.

Saudi Arabia is, very gradually, changing for the better.

However, foreigners need to know that they can’t behave like they would do back home and, most importantly, they need to be aware of one thing:

In Saudi, there is no freedom of speech and the internet is censored, which means that some websites are blocked.

And, if you want to navigate safely and access those censored sites, you will need to have something called a VPN.

In this tutorial, I will explain to you what it is and how to find the right VPN for Saudi.

There are 2 things you need to know about Saudi Arabia and the internet:

• The internet is censored, which means that some websites are blocked.
• The Government reserves the right to control and monitor anyone accessing the net, which means that you could be spied on at any time.

This means that, in order to navigate more safely, privately and to access all blocked websites, you will need to be in possession of a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is something that allows you to connect to a server from a different location, so your connection will be completely anonymous and neither hackers nor the Saudi authorities will be able to see what you are doing.

Example:

Let’s assume you want to visit X website, which turns to be blocked in Saudi.

In Saudi, there is a firewall that prevents you from accessing the site and, since you are connecting from a server located in the country, you won’t be able to access it.

However, when you connect to a VPN in Saudi, you can select the country you want to connect from and, if you select Germany for example, you will be able to access that X website because, in Germany, it isn’t blocked.

In addition, your connection will be anonymous, hence completely safe.

Typically, anything that has to do with:

• Pornography
• Any site that may cause controversy with the regime
• Gambling
• Drug-related sites

Whereas the above sites seem obvious and, most likely, you may not even be interested in accessing them, there are other sites and internet services more commonly used which may be suddenly blocked for different reasons:

• In 2006, Google Translate was blocked because it was used to bypass the firewall by translating the content from blocked websites.
• Some Wikipedia pages may be blocked.
• VoIP websites (Voice over Internet Protocol) websites, which are free calling internet services such as Skype or WhatsApp. In 2017, they decided to block these services in fear that activists would use them.

Some of the above pages and services aren’t blocked anymore but VoIP services, for example, work terribly slow in KSA and during my journey, I wasn’t able to use WhatsApp Call until I connected to ExpressVPN.

And there are more reasons to use a VPN service in Saudi Arabia:

To access video streaming services such as Netflix or HBO.

They aren’t blocked in Saudi but, as you may know, the content in every country varies, so some TV shows and movies which are available in your home country might not be available in the Kingdom.

By connecting to a VPN, you will be able to watch the content available in your desired location.

These are the best VPNs in KSA.

Fastest VPN for Saudi – Express VPN

Cheapest VPN for Saudi – Private Internet Access

Most value-for-money VPN for Saudi – Cyber Ghost

IMPORTANT! – Remember that VPN websites may be blocked, so your wisest move would be to get your VPN before you go to the country

If you check tech-related blogs, you will see that they classify the different VPNs according to very tricky terms such as DNS queries, PPTP protocols and incomprehensible stuff like that.

Let me tell you something:

I use a VPN every day, yet, I don’t understand any of that.

I don’t because, like you, I just want it to access blocked sites and navigate safely so, for traveling purposes – or if you are just a regular expat – you don’t need to know any of that.

For regular people or travelers, the only factors that matter when choosing a VPN software for Saudi Arabia are the following:

1. Price
2. Security
3. Speed (a VPN will slow down your connectivity)
4. Number of countries and servers it can connect to

These are the main benefits I look for in a VPN and, in this article, these are the criteria I use to classify the best VPNs for KSA

On the other hand, all the VPNs I recommend are good, trustworthy and verified, so all of them have the following features as well:

• Super user-friendly – Anyone can use it
• Offer a 30-day money-back guarantee
• Can be used for both desktop and mobile 
• Are available 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 VPNs)

Price for 1 month – 12.95USD

Price for 6 months – 9.99USD a month

Price for 1 year – 6.67USD a month

ExpressVPN is the best VPN in the market.

It is extremely fast, has the strongest encryption and can connect 3,000 servers from 94 different countries.

I have used quite a few VPNs and, after trying ExpressVPN, I realized that there isn’t a better one, so this should the best VPN for Saudi.

By default, my laptop always connects to it when switching on my computer and it is so fast, that I tend not to remember that I am actually connected to a VPN.

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

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

It is definitely cheaper than ExpressVPN, especially if you get the long-term plan, but the reason why it is cheaper is that it is slower, mainly when you connect to a not very fast public Wi-Fi network.

Since I really need a powerful internet for my type of work, I thought it would be wiser to move to a faster VPN such as ExpressVPN.

Honestly, Private Internet Access is not the fastest but if you just want it for regular browsing, this might be the one for you, especially because their long-term plans are super cheap.

Price for 1 month – 12.99USD

Price for 6 months – 6.99USD a month

Price for 2 years – 2.11USD a month

With over 15 years of experience and 9,000 state-of-the-art VPN servers, CyberGhost offers an outstanding level of security, with strong encryption features.

Economically, this is a very good VPN, some speed tests have shown that, sometimes, it is even faster than Express VPN, due to its unlimited bandwidth and traffic.

Additionally, 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.

What’s more, if you sign up for the long-term plan, the monthly price becomes very, very low.

Using a VPN in KSA goes against the law but seriously, everyone and his mother use it.

Reports say that around 30% of net users in Saudi always use a VPN.

Is it safe then?

Well, as long as you are not an activist who uses it to organize protests or create content against the Government, they will not care, especially if you are a foreigner.

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

Step 2 – Download Express VPN 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!

These are the reasons why it is not recommended:

• Low speed
• Typically, won’t work on a desktop
• Not secure at all, which means less anonymity
• Plenty of ads
• You can’t select your desired country

Don’t take the risk. Premium VPNs are the way to go and I recommend ExpressVPN.

📢 In my Travel Resources Page you can find the list of all the sites and services I use to book hotels, tours, travel insurance and more.

• Saudi Arabia travel guide
• 2-week itinerary for Saudi
• Things to do in Riyadh
• Is it ethical to visit Saudi?
• Female travel in Saudi