With the best VPN for Pakistan, you can access geo-blocked content and services, as well as escape surveillance.
Online censorship and surveillance are prevalent in Pakistan, with thousands of sites being banned every year. The government of Pakistan has tight control over what its population can and cannot access on the Internet, and that is not likely to change in the near future. Furthermore, Internet users in Pakistan are subjected to surveillance. This is especially the case for people in certain fields of work, such as journalism.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are used to both bypass censorship and escape surveillance. They are very useful tools that encrypt traffic to conceal it and spoof users’ locations to allow them access to restricted content. However, the legality of VPNs in countries like Pakistan is always a rather gray area. VPNs appear to have been made illegal in Pakistan but to what extent the law is enforced is not clear. Considering that VPNs are accessible in Pakistan at the time of writing, they may be illegal but not yet fully banned.
You may be wondering if there is a free Pakistan VPN. While you will find plenty of sites advertising free Pakistan VPNs, using them is not a good idea. First of all, free VPNs have very limited features. But more importantly, free VPNs make revenue by collecting and selling users’ data. This data collection is the biggest issue with free VPNs, especially if you intend to use a VPN in Pakistan. While premium VPNs cost money, they provide significantly better security and they do not keep logs, thus they are a better choice.
Choosing the best VPN in Pakistan can be a bit difficult because there are more things you need to consider than when choosing a regular VPN.
How to choose the best VPN in Pakistan
Security and traffic encryption
Security should be a priority when choosing a VPN that will be used in a country with strict censorship and surveillance. VPNs have to use top-level encryption to ensure users’ traffic cannot be read by any party, including the Internet Service Provider (ISP). AES-256 encryption is the encryption used by most VPNs.
Large server networks and obfuscated servers
For the best VPN experience, choose a VPN that has a wide network of servers. The more servers a VPN has, the less they will lag. VPNs with big server networks also have more location options, which is relevant for users who need servers in very specific and rare locations.
Obfuscated servers are a must for a VPN if it is to be used in a country like Pakistan. What obfuscated servers do is they conceal the fact that a VPN is used. When users connect to a regular server, the Internet Service Provider can see that a VPN is being used even if it cannot see the traffic. In countries where VPNs are legal, there is no issue with the VPN being visible. But in countries like Pakistan where VPNs are technically illegal and their traffic can be blocked, hiding VPN usage is necessary. This is what obfuscated servers are for. When users connect to an obfuscated server, the VPN removes all traces of itself from users’ data, which allows the traffic to bypass blocks.
Strict zero-logs policy
When choosing any kind of program, you should at least skim through the Privacy Policy. Data collection practices are explained in these policies. When you check a VPN’s Privacy Policy, pay particular attention to the part where it explains whether browsing data is collected.
A VPN is a privacy tool, which means it needs to protect your privacy even from itself. No good VPN will track what users are doing online, nor will it keep logs. However, most VPNs will claim to not collect browsing data but that will not necessarily be true. This is especially the case with free VPNs as they claim to not collect data but keep logs to sell to advertisers. Thus, you should not blindly trust claims of data collection and instead trust only audited VPNs. If a VPN has been audited by an independent party, there is proof of the claims.
Internet speed
VPNs also have an effect on Internet speed. If your ISP is throttling your speed, connecting to a VPN would actually increase the speed. However, most users will have to deal with slower Internet. However, how severe the slowdown will be depends on several things, including the VPN itself as well as the encryption protocol used.
Unless you have very slow Internet, connecting to a VPN should not decrease Internet speed to a very noticeable extent. However, you should aim for a VPN that can retain at least 80% of the original speed if you want the best VPN in Pakistan.
Extra features
The best VPN in Pakistan will also offer additional features. Most premium VPNs offer more or less the same features, usually an adblocker and protection against malware. You can also find VPNs with password managers and even cloud storage. If you use separate programs for these features, using a VPN that has them included would be more convenient, especially if you pay for them.
Our recommended option for the best VPN in Pakistan
NordVPN is our choice for the best VPN in Pakistan. It’s a premium VPN that provides top-level security, privacy, and access to unrestricted Internet. It’s also easy to set up, has a very user-friendly interface, and is affordable.
The encryption algorithm used by NordVPN to encrypt traffic is AES-256 military-grade encryption. Once traffic is encrypted, it will become unreadable. In case you get disconnected when online, NordVPN’s kill switch will kill your connection to the Internet to prevent your IP address and browsing data from leaking.
There are more than 5,800 servers in NordVPN’s server network, with servers in 60+ countries and hundreds of locations. When you’re connected to NordVPN, your browsing data will not be collected as the VPN does not track users nor keep logs. No data collection claims have been backed up by audits done by independent parties.
NordVPN is a fast VPN in Pakistan and is able to retain at least 80% of your original speed. This is why it’s one of the best VPN services in Pakistan. NordVPN allows you to switch encryption protocols in settings to see which one gives you the best speeds. We recommend using NordLynx because it’s why NordVPN is such a fast VPN in Pakistan.
If you want extra features, NordVPN offers an adblocker, a password manager, protection against malware, a data breach scanner, and even 1TB of cloud storage. You can choose which subscription plan to purchase depending on which extra features you need. NordVPN is a very affordable VPN, especially because it offers great discounts all year round.
If you want to use a free Pakistan VPN, NordVPN offers a free 7-day free trial. As long as you have an Android device to initiate the trial, you can use the trial on all devices. You can also use the 30-day money-back guarantee as a longer free trial as long as you request a refund within 30 days.