Staying connected in Bangladesh has been harder than it should be. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has blocked news sites and social media for years, and in July 2024 the country went almost completely offline. NordVPN is our top choice for getting around those blocks, because it pairs the fastest Bangladeshi server we measured with obfuscation that keeps working when a network starts filtering VPN traffic.
The scale of the 2024 blackout explains why so many people went looking for a VPN. Mobile internet was suspended during the student-led protests, and Bangladesh restored mobile internet after an 11-day blackout on July 28. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and Signal stayed blocked for 14 days. In the week starting July 22, 2024, vpnMentor measured a 5,016% rise in VPN demand in Bangladesh. Personal VPN use is legal, and we cover what the law does and does not say further down.
A VPN cannot bring back a network that has been switched off at the source. It can get you past blocked sites and apps, protect you on shared Wi-Fi, and give you a Bangladeshi IP abroad. We compared six providers on those jobs, and the table below is the place to start.
Best VPNs for Bangladesh: Quick Comparison
Every provider here lists a Bangladesh location, but none of them runs a confirmed physical server inside the country. Most route that location through Singapore, so the differences come down to speed, stealth and which local streaming apps accept the IP.
| Product | Buy | Bangladesh servers | Server countries | Obfuscation | Streaming (Netflix / Toffee / Bongo) | Devices | Free plan or refund | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Check price → | Yes, virtual (hosted in Singapore) | Roughly 130+ (total shifts as locations are added) | Obfuscated servers + NordWhisper | Yes / Yes / Blocked | 10 | 30-day refund | About $3.49/mo (2-yr promo) |
 |
Check price | Yes, 23 Dhaka servers via Singapore (paid only) | About 149 (live counter) | Stealth (also on Free) | Yes / Yes / Blocked | 10 (1 on Free) | Free plan + 30-day prorated refund | About $2.99 to $3.49/mo (2-yr) |
 |
Check price | Yes, virtual (via Singapore) | 113 | Automatic on every connection | Yes / Blocked / Blocked | 10 / 12 / 14 by tier | 30-day refund | About $2.99/mo (2-yr promo) |
 |
Check price | Yes, 4 servers in Dhaka (app labels it virtual) | 100 | Camouflage Mode + NoBorders | Yes / Yes / Blocked | Unlimited | 30-day refund | $2.49/mo (2-yr) |
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Check price | Yes, 58 Dhaka servers (virtual) | 100 | None | Yes / Not tested / Not tested | 7 | 45-day refund (14-day monthly) | About $2.19/mo (2-yr promo) |
 |
Check price | Yes, virtual (hosted in Singapore) | 112 | Shadowsocks | Streaming servers / Yes / Yes | Unlimited | 30-day refund | About $1.99 to $2.03/mo (long plan) |
How We Chose the Best VPNs for Bangladesh
We started with a simple question: does the provider list a Bangladesh location, and if so, where does that server physically sit? Every provider that offers a Bangladeshi location runs it on hardware outside the country, mostly in Singapore. When we connected and ran IP lookups, the address still placed us in Dhaka, but lookup services also flagged it as a VPN server. That flag matters later, because it is exactly what Bangladeshi streaming apps check.
From there we scored each service on six things:
- Bangladesh or nearby servers. We wanted a Dhaka location for use abroad and close Asian servers for use at home.
- Obfuscation. This disguises VPN traffic as ordinary web traffic, so a network that filters VPNs cannot easily spot it. We timed how fast the obfuscation tools from NordVPN, Proton VPN and ExpressVPN reconnected on a network that blocks VPN traffic.
- Speed. We ran our Dhaka speed checks from outside Bangladesh, so they show each server's routing cost, not local mobile speeds. Five of the six took part in that Dhaka comparison, with CyberGhost's Dhaka location left out.
- Streaming. We checked the local platforms Toffee and Bongo on the same five. We also looked at how each provider handles Netflix, whether through dedicated streaming servers or a smart DNS feature.
- Privacy. We looked for a no-logs policy (a promise not to record what you do online) that an outside auditor has checked. We also wanted a working kill switch, which cuts your internet if the VPN drops.
- Price. We weighed the long-plan rate, the renewal cost and the refund window.
Scores match our full reviews. NordVPN and Proton VPN tie at 9.0/10, and NordVPN ranks first on its Bangladesh results.
1. NordVPN: Best Overall VPN for Bangladesh
NordVPN is the most complete all-rounder for Bangladesh, and its Dhaka location was the fastest Bangladeshi server we measured. The app lists it simply as "Dhaka, Bangladesh" with no virtual label. Behind that name is a server in Singapore, and NordVPN does not disclose how many servers back it. The wider network covers roughly 130+ countries. NordVPN keeps adding virtual locations, though, so that total changes month to month.
When we connected to Dhaka, download speed fell only about 11 percent against our baseline. Repeat runs barely moved, varying by under 0.5 Mbps. Toffee played straight away on that IP. Bongo was another matter: it returned a firewall page that named "VPN use" as the reason for the block. One limit showed up quickly, too. You can choose Dhaka as a city, but you cannot pick a specific numbered server.
Obfuscation needs a small detour. The obfuscated servers only appear after you switch the protocol from NordLynx (NordVPN's WireGuard-based protocol) to OpenVPN, and that connection ran 5 to 10 percent slower in our runs. On a network that blocks VPN traffic, NordVPN took about 90 seconds to get through, the slowest of our top three. Once connected, though, it held more speed. NordWhisper, a newer protocol built to get past VPN blocking, is available on Windows, Android and Linux. Our full NordVPN review covers the rest of the app.
The privacy record is strong. When we forced the tunnel to drop mid-stream, the kill switch cut all traffic at once, and our DNS and WebRTC leak checks came back clean. Deloitte's sixth no-logs assurance engagement for NordVPN was issued December 12, 2025. Plans cover 10 devices. The 2-year Basic plan costs about $3.49 a month, a promo price that moves with sales and currency. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies.
Pros
- Fastest Dhaka server we speed-tested
- Obfuscated servers plus NordWhisper for VPN-blocking networks
- Threat Protection and Meshnet built in
Cons
- No choice of individual servers in Dhaka
- Desktop app takes some getting used to
- Double VPN cuts speed by roughly 80 percent
2. Proton VPN: Best for Privacy, With a Free Plan
Proton VPN ties NordVPN on score, and it wins on stealth and transparency rather than raw Dhaka speed. Its Bangladesh location is a Smart Routing location, which means the IP is Bangladeshi while the servers sit in Singapore. The app shows it as "Dhaka - BD#11" with a Smart Routing badge, and there are 23 Dhaka servers to choose from. Those servers are paid-only, since the Free plan offers no Bangladesh servers at all.
Stealth is the feature to know here. It is Proton's obfuscated protocol. On a network that blocks VPN traffic, it reconnected within about 10 seconds, the quickest of the three obfuscation tools we timed. It also got past office-network VPN blocks every time. The trade-off is speed: Stealth ran about 10 percent slower than OpenVPN and up to 35 percent slower than WireGuard. The Dhaka location was the weak spot, losing nearly half of our download speed, so Proton is better for privacy than for heavy downloads over a Bangladeshi IP. On nearby regular servers the drop was small, about 8 percent on downloads and 4 percent on uploads.
Each app took about two minutes to install and sign in to. We saw no IPv6, DNS or WebRTC leaks across servers in 60 countries. Secure Core, which routes traffic first through Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden, costs about 35 percent of speed. Securitum completed Proton's fourth consecutive no-logs audit in 2025, covering both free and paid users. You can read more in our Proton VPN review.
VPN Plus costs $9.99 month to month, or about $2.99 to $3.49 a month on the 2-year plan, a rate that shifts between promotions. It renews at $83.88 a year and covers 10 devices. The 30-day money-back guarantee refunds unused time pro rata rather than in full.
Pros
- Fastest stealth reconnects we timed
- Free plan includes Stealth
- Swiss jurisdiction and open-source apps
Cons
- Slowest Bangladeshi server we speed-tested
- No smart DNS for game consoles and some smart TVs
- Live chat is paid-only and runs 9 AM to midnight CET
- Long plans cost more than most rivals
3. ExpressVPN: Best for Obfuscation and Ease of Use
ExpressVPN handles stealth differently from Proton: it hides your VPN traffic on every connection automatically, with nothing to switch on. That makes it the easiest app here for anyone who does not want to think about protocols. Its Bangladesh location appears as "Bangladesh (via Singapore)", and the full network spans 113 countries and 214 server locations.
The Bangladesh location was the second fastest of the five we speed-tested, at about 24 percent below our baseline. Speeds varied by only about 4 Mbps between runs. Long sessions stayed stable. Network Lock, ExpressVPN's kill switch, stepped in when a server timed out and again when a phone switched networks. On a network that blocks VPN traffic, the app got through after about 40 seconds. The catch is control: there is no manual obfuscation setting, so you cannot force a stealth mode if a connection fails. If that happens, our guide on how to make a VPN undetectable walks through the fallbacks.
Streaming is mixed. Netflix works through ExpressVPN's apps and its MediaStreamer smart DNS, but Toffee and Bongo both block its Bangladesh IP. That makes ExpressVPN the weakest pick here for Bangladeshi streaming from abroad. Our ExpressVPN review goes deeper on the Lightway protocol and the plan tiers.
KPMG assessed ExpressVPN's TrustedServer setup, which runs on RAM-only servers, against its no-logs policy as of February 28, 2025. Basic costs about $2.99 a month on the 2-year (+4 months) plan, a promo rate ExpressVPN changes often. It renews at $99.95 a year. The Basic, Advanced and Pro tiers allow 10, 12 or 14 devices, and all plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros
- Obfuscation with nothing to configure
- Second-fastest Bangladeshi server
- 24/7 live chat
Cons
- Toffee and Bongo both block it
- No manual stealth setting
- Expensive on monthly plans
4. Surfshark: Best Budget VPN for Bangladesh
Surfshark costs less than the three picks above and removes the device limit entirely, so one plan covers every phone, laptop and TV in a household. It has 4 Bangladeshi servers in one location, Dhaka. Surfshark's website does not say whether that location is physical or virtual, while its app labels it virtual. The full network has 4,500+ servers in 100 countries.
Its Dhaka location gave us the lowest ping of the five we speed-tested and ran about 26 percent below our baseline on download. With only four servers behind it, though, you have little room to switch if one gets busy. Connecting could be slow at times. On Windows our speeds were uneven, with ping jumping sharply and uploads falling by more than half on some runs. Toffee played on the Bangladesh IP, while Bongo returned a 403 error.
For restricted networks, Surfshark has two tools. Camouflage Mode is its obfuscation. NoBorders mode detected restricted networks automatically and moved us to servers built to get past them. When we dropped the connection briefly, the kill switch fired instantly and kept our real IP hidden. Surfshark has no streaming-optimized servers, but major platforms, including several Netflix libraries, still opened. Deloitte published its second no-logs assurance for Surfshark in June 2025. More detail is in our Surfshark review.
The Starter plan costs $2.49 a month on the 2-year (+3 months) term, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros
- Unlimited devices on every plan
- NoBorders and Camouflage Mode for restricted networks
- CleanWeb ad blocking included
Cons
- Only four servers in Dhaka
- Uneven speeds on Windows
5. CyberGhost: Best for Streaming on a Budget
Where Surfshark leans on stealth tools, CyberGhost trades obfuscation away for simple apps and dedicated streaming servers. It lists Dhaka with 58 servers, marked as a virtual location. The nearby options are Mumbai, India with 60 virtual servers and Singapore with 24 physical ones. The full network has 9,500 servers in 100 countries and 125 locations.
On first launch in Windows, CyberGhost connected in under ten seconds with no configuration. Sorting servers by task, such as streaming or torrenting, makes the app easy for beginners. Its dedicated streaming servers for Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video worked on the first try. We have not confirmed Toffee or Bongo on CyberGhost's Dhaka servers, so pick a different provider if those two apps are your main reason for buying.
Distance cost CyberGhost more speed than it cost most of our picks. Nearby servers lost about 19 percent of download speed, while long-distance servers lost more than half. When we forced disconnects, the kill switch cut traffic every time, within two seconds on Android. The weak spot is obfuscation, because CyberGhost has none. Its WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 connections are detected and blocked quickly on networks that filter VPN traffic, so it suits streaming more than getting around blocks. See our CyberGhost review for the full breakdown.
Plans allow 7 devices, which is tight for a family. The 2-year (+2 months) plan showed about $2.19 a month on CyberGhost's site, though the promo rate changes between sales. Monthly costs $12.99. Long plans carry a 45-day money-back guarantee, the longest here, while the monthly plan gets 14 days. Deloitte's third no-logs assurance covers its configuration as of October 31, 2025.
Pros
- Streaming servers labeled by service
- Longest refund window of the six
- Kill switch on by default
Cons
- No obfuscation or stealth protocol
- Split tunneling missing on macOS and iOS
6. Private Internet Access: Best for Bangladesh Server Locations
Where CyberGhost's streaming servers target Netflix, Private Internet Access (PIA) is the one to choose for Bangladeshi streaming. Its Dhaka location was the only one we tested that loaded Bongo's catalog, and it unblocked Toffee too. Like most rivals, PIA runs its Dhaka location on physical servers in Singapore and does not publish the server count. As of PIA's October 15, 2026 announcement, its network spans 179 locations across 112 countries and territories.
The Bangladesh location ran about 31 percent below our baseline on download, slower than NordVPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark but quicker than Proton. Nearby servers did much better, with downloads dropping only about 5 percent on average, though uploads sometimes fell sharply. Shadowsocks, PIA's obfuscation option, requires OpenVPN, and turning it on cost about 25 percent of our speed. Both the standard and Advanced kill switch held up under forced disconnects.
Netflix and other major platforms opened on PIA's dedicated streaming servers, while its regular servers got blocked. The Windows interface looks the most dated of the major apps, and live chat sometimes failed to load. Our PIA review covers the rest.
PIA allows unlimited devices. The long plan costs about $1.99 to $2.03 a month, a range that shifts because PIA rotates its plan length and promo rate between sales. Monthly costs $11.95. You get a 30-day money-back guarantee, plus a 7-day free trial on iOS and Android. Its most recent no-logs assessment, by Deloitte, covers server configuration as of June 30, 2022, the oldest audit of our six.
Pros
- Nearby servers lost only about 5 percent on downloads
- Lowest long-plan price of the six
- Shadowsocks obfuscation
Cons
- Dated Windows interface
- Regular servers get blocked by Netflix
Why Use a VPN in Bangladesh?
A VPN encrypts your traffic and sends it through a server elsewhere, so your provider and the sites you visit see the VPN's IP address instead of yours. In Bangladesh, that helps with three practical jobs.
Getting Around Blocked Sites and Apps
BTRC blocks content mainly through informal orders to local providers, which have to comply under their licenses. A VPN gets around that kind of blocking, because your provider only sees an encrypted connection to the VPN server rather than the site you open. The harder case is a network that detects and blocks VPN traffic itself. Freedom House reports that BTRC's Cyber Threat Detection and Response project uses deep packet inspection to block content faster. That technique looks inside traffic to identify it.
That is where obfuscation earns its place. On a network that blocked VPN traffic, Proton VPN's Stealth reconnected in about 10 seconds, ExpressVPN in about 40 and NordVPN in about 90. Our guide on how to bypass a VPN blocker covers the protocol tricks in more detail.
Streaming Netflix, Toffee, Bongo and Live Cricket
Bangladeshi streaming splits into two groups. Toffee is only available in Bangladesh, and from abroad it refused to play until we had a Bangladeshi IP address. It played on the Bangladesh servers of NordVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark and PIA, but it blocked ExpressVPN's. Bongo works differently. Its catalog opens from abroad without a VPN, but it blocks IP addresses it identifies as VPN servers in any country. Only PIA's Bangladesh server loaded the catalog, while NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark got a firewall page or a 403 error. We have not tested CyberGhost on either app.
For live cricket and local shows, Chorki and T Sports opened from abroad with no VPN at all. For Netflix libraries from other countries, the streaming servers from CyberGhost and PIA matter more than any Dhaka location.
Staying Private on Public Wi-Fi
Café, hotel and airport Wi-Fi in Dhaka or anywhere else is a shared network, and anyone running it can see unencrypted traffic. A VPN keeps your logins and browsing secure and private on those connections. The kill switch is the part that protects you when the signal drops. NordVPN, Surfshark, CyberGhost and PIA all cut traffic when we forced the tunnel down.
Can You Use a Free VPN in Bangladesh?
You can, but a free VPN is a weak tool for Bangladesh. None of the common free services offers a Bangladeshi location, so a free VPN cannot help with Toffee from abroad. Free services also have to pay for their servers somehow, and some do it by selling user data. That can leave you less safe than you would be with no VPN at all. A paid service tried under a money-back guarantee is the safer way to test whether a VPN works on your network.
Proton VPN's Free plan is the exception we would trust. It has no data limits, it includes the Stealth protocol, and it was covered by the same 2025 Securitum no-logs audit as the paid plans. The limits are clear, though. Proton picks your server for you, and you can only switch a couple of times before you have to wait. The plan covers 1 device at medium speed. Free servers sit in about 10 countries, a count Proton has expanded several times since mid-2025, and Bangladesh is not one of them.
How to Get a Bangladeshi IP Address
It takes a few minutes with any of our six picks:
- Sign up for a provider that lists a Bangladesh location. NordVPN is our first choice, and PIA is the one to pick for Bongo.
- Download the app for your device and sign in.
- Search the location list for "Bangladesh" or "Dhaka" and connect.
- Check your IP on a lookup site. It should show Dhaka, even though the server is hosted elsewhere.
- Open the app or site you need. If it shows a VPN error, switch to another Dhaka server or try a different provider.
A Bangladeshi IP is only useful from abroad. Inside Bangladesh, a Dhaka server adds nothing. Connect to Singapore or India instead, where ping (the delay before data starts moving) stays lower. Gaming over a Dhaka server from abroad is a poor idea too: our pings from Europe sat around 228 to 244 ms.
How Free Is the Internet in Bangladesh?
Bangladesh's internet freedom has improved since 2024, but it is still restricted. Freedom House's Freedom on the Net index rates Bangladesh Partly Free, with a score of 45/100 in its 2025 edition, up from 40/100 in 2024. The Freedom on the Net 2025 report on Bangladesh, which covers June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025, scores it 12/25 for obstacles to access, 20/35 for limits on content and 13/40 for violations of user rights. It also records that networks were restricted, social media and websites were blocked, and users were arrested during that period.
The blocking has a long record. BTRC said 645 websites were blocked and over 8,000 social media links removed in 2022. In January 2023 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered BTRC to cancel the domains of 191 news sites. OONI later found Samakal, Jamuna Television and VOA Bangla blocked around the January 2024 general election. Facebook and Messenger were restricted in late March 2021 during protests against Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit.
Shutdowns were part of the same pattern. Mobile internet slowed during opposition rallies from October to December 2022, and BTRC directed a nine-hour shutdown during an October 2023 Naya Paltan rally. Then NetBlocks recorded a near-total national shutdown on July 18, 2024. Broadband came back in stages over the following days, so outlets date its return differently. Violence during those protests contributed to the deaths of more than a thousand people by early August 2024, and over 10,000 protesters were arrested in July.
The picture has shifted since then. Muhammad Emdad-Ul-Bari became BTRC chair in September 2024, and Freedom House says decisions under him better protected internet freedom, particularly on shutdowns. Speech laws remain strict, though. A December 2024 court ruling banned online sharing of Sheikh Hasina's speeches. Under the Digital Security Act, passed in 2018, at least 4,520 people were charged in 1,436 cases while it was in effect. In September 2023 the Cyber Security Act replaced that law. The interim government then repealed it in May 2025 in favor of a Cyber Security Ordinance that kept criminal penalties for online speech.
Is It Legal to Use a VPN in Bangladesh?
Yes, personal VPN use is legal in Bangladesh, and no statute bans it. Bangladesh has no law that names consumer VPNs, though, so legality rests on the absence of a ban. BTRC also keeps the power to block VPN traffic. Freedom House notes that people can use circumvention tools such as VPNs to bypass blocking, that encryption is not prohibited, and that no law requires anyone to hand over decryption keys.
The regulator's own rules point at businesses. BTRC's revised VPN instructions, amended in 2017, allow VPN use over IP networks on conditions that include monitoring arrangements, regulator access and internal organisational use. They also give BTRC the right to block any VPN tunnel or traffic without prior notice. It is not clear whether those instructions still apply or whether they reach individual users.
The constitution sets the wider frame. Bangladesh's constitution guarantees freedom of thought and conscience in Article 39, while making freedom of speech, expression and the press subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law, including in the interests of state security. In practice, that means a VPN is a legal privacy tool, but it does not change what you are allowed to say or share.
Final Thoughts
NordVPN is our pick for most people in Bangladesh because it combines the fastest Dhaka server we measured with obfuscation that still gets through on a VPN-blocking network. It also works with Toffee from abroad, the app most people looking for a Bangladeshi IP will want.
The others each solve a narrower problem better. Choose Proton VPN if you want the quickest stealth reconnects or a trustworthy free plan, and PIA if Bongo is the app you care about. Surfshark is the budget choice for a household full of devices, ExpressVPN suits people who want obfuscation with nothing to configure, and CyberGhost is the gentlest start for streaming.
