If you’re an adult living in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, or several other states over the past year and found yourself unable to access Pornhub, you’re not alone. In 2024, several states passed age verification laws demanding adult sites check, store, and verify users’ ages and IDs. In response, Pornhub has pulled out of the affected states, blocking access for anyone who tries to connect from an IP address originating from within their borders. Fortunately, getting around this sort of geographical restriction is exactly the kind of task VPNs excel at. Below we list the best VPNs for Pornhub, followed by how they can protect you and why you should use one no matter where you’re going online.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
- Best free VPN subscription yet
- Numerous advanced privacy tools
- Strong customer privacy stance
- Large server network
- Slick, accessible client
- Excellent upload speed scores
Proton is the best VPN all around, as well as for specific use cases like porn browsing. It has an excellent free tier, which might appeal to people who are most attracted to Pornhub because it’s free. We laud it for its long list of advanced privacy tools, all contained within a completely revamped app suite on desktop and mobile.
If you’re going to be looking at Pornhub and other adult content, you’ll want the best in online privacy protection from every angle since adult sites can be packed with malware. That’s where our five-star Editors’ Choice winner and its anti-malware feature, Proton VPN, come in. Furthermore, Proton has an excellent free tier, which will doubtlessly appeal to many who use Pornhub and sites like it.
Simultaneous VPN Connections
10
Server Locations
112 countries
Free Version Data Limit
Unlimited
Learn More
Proton VPN Review
Best for Additional Security Tools
NordVPN
- Support for multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connections
- Bevy of available features and add-ons
- Good speed results
- Built-in antivirus tools
- Excellent design
- Friendly onboarding wizard
- Expensive
- Threat Protection Pro lacks full antivirus capabilities
- Deceptive annual renewal pricing
NordVPN continues to impress us with regular updates to its software package, including patches that further increase the privacy pitch with options that allow you to connect to the Tor network and more. While it’s not the least expensive option we’ve tried, you certainly get what you pay for with all sorts of extra security tools. That’s important when you’re surfing porn sites, which are famous for being jammed with malware.
Users who want to armor themselves with every kind of protection available can feel secure when browsing Pornhub or other adult services via NordVPN. Multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connections are among the looked-for features that provide security and security that will keep users feeling safe as they surf adult content.
Simultaneous VPN Connections
6
Server Locations
111 Countries
Free Version Data Limit
No Free Version
Learn More
NordVPN Review
Best Geographic Diversity
ExpressVPN
- Large, diversely distributed fleet of servers
- Strong privacy and security practices
- Split tunneling
- Stylish interface
- Expensive compared with VPNs with similar feature sets
- No multi-hop connections
ExpressVPN offers one of the largest server networks in the world, with over 3,000 options to choose from in 160 locations spread across 95 countries. ExpressVPN’s network is one of the most geographically diverse options on this list and perfect if you’re browsing Pornhub from within the United States or abroad.
For those who often travel and need a VPN that will work from (almost) anywhere, ExpressVPN’s geographic diversity is hard to beat among its competitors.
Simultaneous VPN Connections
8
Server Locations
105 Countries
Free Version Data Limit
No Free Version
Learn More
ExpressVPN Review
Best for Use While Traveling
PureVPN
- Geographically diverse servers
- Quick upload and download speeds in our testing
- Smart, snazzy client design
- Globally unblocked Netflix
- Numerous, affordable add-ons
- Transparent privacy policy
- Confusing pricing
- Unclear where virtual servers are located
- Few additional privacy features
Having geographical diversity in your server choices, and preferably a lot of it, is one of the most important factors when choosing a VPN for browsing Pornhub and similar services. That’s why PureVPN lands a spot on this list. With its super speeds in testing and additional bonuses like global Netflix compatibility, it’s one of the best picks in all-around content streaming of every type.
Anyone who travels a lot will appreciate PureVPN’s broad global distribution of servers. And those who want to view Pornhub and other adult content, no matter where they are, will appreciate PureVPN’s reasonably affordable entry point to the world of bypassing geoblocks.
Simultaneous VPN Connections
10
Server Locations
139 Countries
Free Version Data Limit
No Free Version
Learn More
PureVPN Review
Best Company Transparency
Windscribe VPN
- Industry-leading company transparency and communication
- Large number of payment options
- Best free plan of any VPN we’ve tested
- Helpful AI support bot
- Open Netflix access in all regions benchmarked
- Unlimited number of simultaneous connections and devices
- Anonymous signup allowed
Windscribe’s above-and-beyond dedication to user privacy and data transparency alone puts the service in hot contention for the top slot in this category. Add that to a stellar set of apps across all platforms you may want to browse Pornhub from, and you’ve got a winning combination for an affordable VPN that allows an unlimited number of devices to be added to one account.
For those who need the ultimate in identity protection when browsing adult content—including a completely anonymous signup process that doesn’t require an email address to get started and the option to pay for your plan in crypto—Windscribe is a top pick.
Simultaneous VPN Connections
Unlimited
Server Locations
69 Countries
Free Version Data Limit
10GB Per Month
Learn More
Windscribe VPN Review
Buying Guide: The Best VPNs for Pornhub in 2024
What Is the Pornhub Ban?
For those out of the loop, Aylo, owner of Pornhub and many other online adult properties, has been embroiled in a legal battle down in the Lone Star state. This fight first started in Louisiana in January of 2023 and has since spread to Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Texas, Florida, and potentially even more as other states consider similar laws.
For example, those in Texas who try to access Pornhub using an ISP located in the state will see this message the next time they try to log on:
“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website.
“Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’ stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”
Using a VPN will allow you to access Pornhub from your device or router while connecting from any of the states listed above.
Remember: If you don’t see your state in this list, you don’t need a VPN to access Pornhub. However, as you’ll read below, there are more reasons than just state legislation to consider using one.
Do I Really Need a VPN for Pornhub?
In short: Yes, you have to have a VPN to access Pornhub from the other states that block it. Once Pornhub pulls out of a state, there’s no way to access it other than by obfuscating the origin of your traffic requests. VPNs and proxy servers can handle this job, though proxies generally serve a more client-focused crowd, and streaming over their networks can quickly become expensive.
A VPN should also be part of a layered approach to security. It can’t replace other critical security tools, such as good antivirus software, a password manager, and multi-factor authentication enabled wherever possible. Wouldn’t want someone getting access to the History tab in your Pornhub account now, would you?
Several of the VPNs we’ve listed here have companion software packages or features that include password managers, and they can also help block ads on the site, prevent malware from getting in, and protect your privacy by anonymizing cookies and stifling trackers. Pornhub doesn’t exactly work with the most savory advertisers in the business, and if any of them hide trackers in their banner ads, those could follow you to the next site you visit after Pornhub and beyond.
Will a VPN Hide Pornhub From My ISP or the Police?
In a word, yes, a VPN can shield your online activities from your ISP. It also adds a layer of obfuscation for anyone on the web who might want to attribute particular traffic to you or a member of your household. Remember: If it comes from any device connected to a single Wi-Fi router (such as the one in your living room), everyone using it can technically be held accountable for its recorded traffic.
In some cases, though, the problem might actually be the VPN itself. A VPN may sometimes log just as much, if not more, information about you than your ISP or any law enforcement agency would ever think to. We rarely recommend VPNs that admit to any logging. Of those who do, we only review companies that are open, transparent, and forthcoming about what happens to that data over time.
Can I Access Pornhub Using My VPN?
Most VPN services are completely fine with you using Pornhub. None of our top-rated VPN services prohibit adult content. As always, we recommend reading through the terms of service for any VPN provider before you hand over your credit card information—or even sign up for a free account.
If the service explicitly disagrees with streaming or downloading adult content over its networks, that will likely be near the top or one of the more easily visible aspects of the company’s privacy policy. Again, it’s rare to find a clause like this, and no such issue has come up in any of the VPN recommendations here.
Some VPNs actually have tools that are useful for adult content. They let you designate the kind of traffic traveling through your VPN connection using a feature called split tunneling. You can use split tunneling to send your Pornhub activity through the VPN, freeing up the rest of your bandwidth for other activities.
How Will a VPN Affect My Pornhub Streaming Speeds?
Using a VPN, your web traffic usually travels more distance to new server locations. Regardless of the service you pick, you should almost always expect slower upload and download speeds and higher latency.
In our latest round of testing, we recorded the median from 10 consecutive tests with and without a VPN running and then calculated the percentage change between the two. The greater the change, the more impact the VPN has on your internet connection speeds and latency. To measure speeds, we use the Ookla Speedtest tool.
(Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com‘s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Recommended by Our Editors
You can see all the latest results from our testing in the chart below:
Networks are finicky, and we don’t claim our work to be the be-all and end-all of VPN speed testing. Instead, we offer a snapshot of how a particular service performed on a specific day, almost always from a box based in New York City running to a server also based in New York City. These are optimal conditions on optimal servers, and your experience may change depending on where you are in the world.
Do My VPN’s Server Locations Matter?
Of course! The primary way a VPN grants access to websites like Pornhub that are being specifically geo-blocked either by local governments or the company itself is by scanning the origin of your IP address.
The Pornhub block works by detecting the location of every IP that tries to connect to its servers first. Before access is granted, its filtering system blocks any addresses that originate from within the borders of any of the states mentioned in this post thus far. This isn’t as complicated as it seems, as Pornhub’s servers can usually catch 99% of traffic by registering which internet service providers are active in the area and blocking their IP addresses in huge numbers at a time.
Even if you don’t live or work in any of the states mentioned above, we still recommend using a VPN when connecting to Pornhub anyway. Adult websites are frequent targets for malware, malicious ads, and scammers. Whether you can only afford a cheap VPN or you want to dip your toe in with a free VPN, there’s a service that will allow you to access the site from any US state of your choosing.
Looking for more information about browsing adult content online safely? Read our collection of helpful tips on the subject here! Finally, if you’re concerned about the possibility of exploitation in the videos you are served, check out our sister site Mashable’s excellent article on how to find ethical porn.
