How to Watch Hulu Outside the US

Want to watch Hulu but unfortunately, you live outside the US? 🙁

Hulu is one of the biggest US streaming services available with tons of live programs (Hulu+ Live TV) and a huge content library that has shows like The Handmaid’s Tale and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Watch Hulu Outside the US

But here’s the cold truth: Hulu is not currently available outside the US and will not most likely ever be as it is a region-locked US-based streaming service. There, however, has been plans for international expansion [source] with Disney+ having been released since late-2019 [source] but there is uncertainty whether Hulu will follow suit with Disney+ [source].

Let’s get back to getting to watch Hulu. 😉 Even if you decide to sign up at hulu.com/welcome and sign in without using some sort of tool that allows you to indicate that your ‘residing’ in the US (take note of the single-quotes I had used there), Hulu will not allow you to play any of the content. You can still log in and view all of the content, but you will not be able to play them.

So how do you watch Hulu outside the US? Simple. Use a tool like a proxy service such as a VPN that unblocks Hulu and allows you to access the website from outside the US.

Now it’s important to be careful here that Hulu is against users using proxy tools such as VPN because Hulu is owned directly by a group of content partners. In fact, if you try to use a free VPN tool which you find online (and mind you we’ve tried this), you’ll get a screen that says:

Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the US. If you’re in the US, you’ll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu. If you think you’re receiving this message in error, please submit this form.

That’s right. The reason why free VPN tools are so susceptible to this issue is that there are a limited number of US IP addresses available to them. Since so many users opt for the free VPN over a paid VPN service, the number of IP addresses being used over multiple devices originating from a single IP address increases and in turn alerting Hulu that you’re using a proxy.

So if you want to access and watch Hulu from outside the US, you will need to make sure that you use the right services to hide your location. If you’re planning to use free alternatives to do this, then it will not work, or it will work for a limited time before you get blocked out again. For those that are available for free, it’s most likely that they are collecting and selling your data to profit from you.

The VPN services which we will be discussing are the result of hours of reviewing and testing (which we’ve had to put in the costs) to identify their performances when it comes to streaming Hulu content so that you can make the best choice. They will work, and we’ve managed to successfully stream hundreds of hours of Hulu content without any buffering or issues encountered.

:shameless plug: The links for the VPN below are affiliate links, and we earn a little tip if you purchase your VPN plan through our link. 🍺 We’ve also not enabled ads on this page because ads are just annoying.


⚠️ Steps to Follow: Once you sign up with the VPN service, download and install the VPN service’s client onto your device (computer/mobile), change your country to the US, and head over to hulu.com. From there simply log into your Hulu account (it doesn’t have to be a new account, using a previous account will work), then watch what you want! 😀


1.  ExpressVPNExpressVPN

The best all-round VPN service for streaming speed and privacy.


Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux | Streaming sites unblocked: Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ | 24/7 support: Yes | Trial period: 30 days | Number of servers: 3,000+ | Server locations: 160 | Countries: 94 | Maximum devices supported: 5


Watch Hulu Outside the US

ExpressVPN

watch disney plus outside us

ExpressVPN is the best VPN choice we recommend to unblock and watch Hulu outside the US.

The price is a little higher than that of the other VPN services in this post, but the quality of service that ExpressVPN provides is unmatched. They excel at performing fast, reliable server connection and download speeds to ensure that you can always watch your content without any buffering or issues.

Their VPN servers are available in 160 locations in over 94 countries which means you have plenty of server locations within the US and outside the US at your disposal. On top of that, they also provide excellent 24/7 live customer support as well as enterprise-level encryption to protect your browsing without ever getting your data leaked.

When we tested using ExpressVPN to stream Hulu, we had not encountered any technical issues at all. The streaming was butter-smooth, and it was by far the quickest service at allowing us to connect to a US VPN server (8 seconds) compared to the others which took longer.

Besides its performance, ExpressVPN provides independent apps for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and even Blackberry! (yes, they still do exist)

The encryption that is provided by ExpressVPN is not only capable of masking your IP address effectively, but also helps protect your online Bitcoin transactions, provides P2P support, kill switch, and even protects your DNS information from being leaked.

All of that sounds good, you may say, but what’s the catch? Aside from its rather premium pricing, ExpressVPN initially only supported 3 simultaneous connections if you wish to use it to stream content on multiple devices simultaneously. However, they’ve since eased those limits by increasing the number to 5 simultaneous connections. If you’re looking for much better alternatives for having unlimited simultaneous connections, then take a look at Surfshark below.

There’s also no free trial which we could use to find out how it performed, but they do make up for it by giving you a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t happy with the service.


Get ExpressVPN 


2. NordVPN

The most popular VPN service for streaming and gaming, as well as one of the best.


Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux | Streaming sites unblocked: Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ | 24/7 support: Yes | Trial period: 30 days | Number of servers: 5,400+ | Server locations: 80+ | Countries: 59 | Maximum devices supported: 6


Watch Hulu Outside the US

NordVPN is also one of the best and most popular VPN services that are used for gaming and streaming content.

The price is not only just lower than that of ExpressVPN but what makes NordVPN really special is their often generous 2-year plans which are heavily discounted from time-to-time.

NordVPN has around 5,400 servers in over 80 server locations in 59 countries, 2048-bit encryption, and even supports 6 simultaneous connections in which ExpressVPN only provides 5.

Perhaps one of the more underrated features we’ve experienced using NordVPN, which most VPN guides don’t pick up on is the frequent updates and improvements the service brings every other week. This makes the user experience a little better each time.

As for streaming Hulu with NordVPN, we encountered no issues whatsoever and have managed to stream Hulu from outside the US without getting blocked, experiencing buffering, or our speeds getting throttled.

However, one of the drawbacks we still face with NordVPN is the rather long time it takes to connect to a US VPN server compared to the other VPN services. It took us around 15 seconds compared to ExpressVPN, which took around 8 seconds. This can be a little frustrating if you want to instantly connect to a server and then begin streaming.

As for other drawbacks, it’s important to point out that NordVPN has undergone security breaches in the past [source]. This may bring out some uncertainty, whether it may ever happen again. Also, this is not to say that NordVPN is lacklustre when it comes to security. NordVPN does provide excellent security features such as a kill switch, DNS leak protection, and AES-256-GCM for encryption which is one of the strongest forms of encryption algorithms available often used by governments.

Initially, we also had experienced some issues with both the desktop and mobile NordVPN applications whereby it was a little complicated to identify which VPN country server you had used previously. This has since been improved.

Again like ExpressVPN, NordVPN does not provide a free trial but instead offers you a 30-day money-back guarantee.


Get NordVPN


 

3. Surfshark

The best bang for buck VPN.


Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux | Streaming sites unblocked: Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ | 24/7 support: Yes | Trial period: 30 days | Number of servers: 1700+ | Server locations: 100+ | Countries: 63 | Maximum devices supported: Unlimited


Watch Hulu Outside the US

Surfshark will be the best choice VPN if you want to get the most out of your money’s worth. Surfshark unblocks and allows you to watch Hulu outside the US and is also supported with apps on almost all platforms — Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Linux.

One of the most highlight features of Surfshark which we absolutely love is that for a similar price that of NordVPN and cheaper than ExpressVPN, you can use Surfshark VPN on unlimited devices. This means you can have as many devices as you want to be connected simultaneously with the VPN service whilst streaming, gaming, or whatever that is you want to do.

This is also an excellent option if you wish to share the costs for the VPN between your family or friends, which will allow you to continue using the VPN at a much lower price.

In terms of Surfshark’s security, they do offer OpenVPN UDP and TCP, IKEv2 security protocols, AES-256 encryption, and a kill switch to prevent your details from leaking if and when the VPN connection fails.

Another aspect of Surfshark which we find unique and sets apart from the other VPN services is their approach when it comes to simplicity. The competition in the VPN industry is fierce, and there are a lot of VPN services out there that try to offer you as many features as possible but sacrifices the simplicity of the user interface. So if you do not want many sophisticated features and menus when using a VPN, then Surfshark is the way to go. For some users, this can be a turn-off, especially if they’re looking to get as many features as possible for their money’s worth and customizability.

Are there any drawbacks? Well, we encountered some issues with the Surfshark Android app as it does often crash and have instability issues when it came to streaming Hulu. However, this issue did not occur for the iOS app.

Aside from that drawback, Surfshark does not provide a free trial like that of ExpressVPN and NordVPN, but they do instead offer you a 30-day money-back guarantee.


Get Surfshark


4. IPVanish

The most reliable VPN.


Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux | Streaming sites unblocked: Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ | 24/7 support: Yes | Trial period: 30 days | Number of servers: 1,400 | Server locations: 75 | Countries: 52 | Maximum devices supported: 10


IPVanish VPN

IPVanish is one of the most reliable VPN services around that is both priced reasonably and offers stellar performance when it comes to using streaming services such as Hulu.

Having over 1,400 servers in 75 server locations in over 52 countries around the world, IPVanish provides a great number of servers to choose from both within the US and internationally. Aside from that, they have one of the best customer services we’ve tried if something does go wrong.

Another aspect of IPVanish is that they support up to 10 maximum devices to be used simultaneously with the VPN service. This is a better option compared to that of both ExpressVPN, which only offers 5 and NordVPN, which only provides 6.

When it came to streaming Hulu from outside the US using IPVanish, there weren’t any issues with the servers, and they were relatively quick to connect to (17 seconds). IPVanish did a good job of unblocking Hulu and maintaining a consistent connection even after numerous hours of streaming content.

One of the drawbacks of IPVanish we’ve faced was that the user interface was much more complex compared to that of Surfshark. If you’re a newbie to using VPN services, it can be a little overwhelming to get started with using IPVanish and understanding the various functionalities it provides.

Another drawback which we hope gets added soon is the missing kill switch for the iOS app which we couldn’t locate.

Lastly, IPVanish does not offer a free trial, but instead, just like ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark provide you with a 30-day money-back guarantee.


Get IPVanish


5. CyberGhost

The most feature-packed for VPN customizability.


Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux | Streaming sites unblocked: Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ | 24/7 support: Yes | Trial period: 45 days | Number of servers: 6,300+ | Server locations: 110+ | Countries: 89 | Maximum devices supported: 7


CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost is a top-rated, affordable VPN service and is the most feature-packed VPN service out of the four we’ve discussed!

They have support for almost all platforms such as Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux. The coverage can be defined in one word as exceptional with over 6300 servers in around 110 server locations in 89 countries, making it into our list as one of the most widely covered VPN services you can get.

Aside from that, CyberGhost offers a maximum device limit of up to 7 devices which you can use simultaneously when with the VPN service. This is again great if you’re looking to use it with multiple devices simultaneously.

The most unique part of CyberGhost is the way you would use the app itself, which is a little different compared to how you would use other VPN services. Instead of selecting a country that you want to connect to it’s VPN servers, you can just select the platform/service that you want to unblock (e.g. Hulu), and then the application unblocks and automatically redirects you to the site to begin streaming.

This leaves much of the work to begin done by the service itself where all you have to do is just select what you want to watch. This provides you with the ease of mind that the service will choose the quickest and most reliable VPN server location that best suits your needs. 🙂

As for drawbacks, we did experience issues when trying to stream Hulu using CyberGhost. The issues happened after 1-2 hours of streaming, where the stream we were watching was experiencing constant buffering.

We tried to reach out to the customer support to report about the issue, but they weren’t that helpful and were rather unresponsive. It’s possible that we may have encountered issues due to a server site being down. The other possibility is that our speeds were being throttled in some way by the service which again we’re not so sure. Compared to the other VPN options, we only encountered streaming issues with this VPN service.

CyberGhost offers robust security options with ad blocking, as well as anti-malware security. To be honest, there are so many features with this VPN service that the price you pay for it is more than worth it. Yes, arguably, there were the issues that occurred sometimes, but this is not to say that the streaming was unbearable. If you do experience buffering and streaming issues, we always advise that you switch to another US server and see if it fixes the issues.

Lastly, one great benefit we would like to highlight is that unlike the other options in this post, CyberGhost offers a generous 45-day money-back guarantee option giving you ample time to try out the platform and what it has to offer.


Get CyberGhost


Conclusion

That’s pretty much it! We leave you to decide which VPN is the best. Our main choice would be ExpressVPN, but price-wise you can’t go wrong with either NordVPN or Surfshark. If you’re looking to get the most out of your money with as many features, then both IPVanish and CyberGhost will be the option for you.

Now take note that this was NOT a sponsored post as we never do sponsored posts on this website or are paid by another company to post such information. The thoughts and reviews that are expressed here are entirely our own and based on our results from our testing. As aforementioned, we get a little tip if you buy from any one of the affiliate links above, which helps us to keep this site running. 🙂

We hope that this guide has helped you on how to watch Hulu from outside the US. If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, and we will love to help you out.

P.S. If you have found a better VPN solution to the above, please comment down below, and we will credit you when we update this article.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

Author

  • Mako is a staff writer at Saint. He's been writing about tech for more than a decade. When he isn't reading about the latest news on Apple, he's busy studying cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, cloud computing, and other IT-related sectors. His exceptional work graces technology and Apple-related blogs like How-To Geek, VEED.io, Macgasm, onMac, PhotoWorkout, GameRant, and many more. He also has a Bachelors in Computer Science and has been writing since 2018, with over 400 posts published. LinkedIn X (Twitter)

    View all posts
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *