Best VPNs for Norway in 2026: Top 5 Options

Since 2022, Norway’s internet providers have had to record which customer used which IP address. They keep that record for 12 months. The law doesn’t cover the sites you visit, and the police can only request the records to investigate serious crime. It’s still a reminder that your connection at home is less anonymous than it looks.

A VPN changes what that record shows: your ISP sees a connection to a VPN server, and the websites you open see the server’s IP address instead of yours. The same switch works in reverse for Norwegians abroad. An Oslo server offers a Norwegian IP address for Norwegian TV and your bank.

The tricky part is choosing a VPN that’s fast, private, and reliable on both sides of the border. We offer 5 below, all tested for speed, privacy, streaming, and more.

Norway VPNs Compared

Speed loss is the average drop in download speed across our UK, US, and Japanese servers. The streaming column counts the services each VPN unblocked out of the nine we tested, including Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, and HBO Max.

VPN	Norwegian servers	Avg. speed loss	Streaming services unblocked	Devices per plan	Price on the longest plan
NordVPN	Oslo	7.8%	9 of 9	10	About $3.50/mo
Proton VPN	Oslo	10.2%	7 of 9	10	About $3/mo
ExpressVPN	Oslo	7.8%	9 of 9	10 to 14	About $3/mo
Private Internet Access	Oslo	12.7%	6 of 9	Unlimited	About $2/mo
Surfshark	Norway	9.6%	8 of 9	Unlimited	About $2.50/mo

Top 5 VPNs for Norway

These five VPNs have Norwegian servers, and each one earned its place for a different reason.

1. NordVPN: Best Overall VPN for Norway

NordVPN is our top choice for Norway because it does well at home and abroad. It has more than 90 servers in Oslo, so a Norwegian IP address is always one click away. It also unblocked all nine streaming services we tested, from Netflix US to BBC iPlayer.

That also makes it a strong option for watching foreign TV channels from Norway. Speed is the other reason. NordVPN tied with ExpressVPN for the smallest average speed loss in our tests, at 7.8%. Double VPN, which sends your traffic through two servers instead of one, cost only about 3% more in speed.

On top of that, the Complete plan adds next-gen antivirus to stop malicious downloads and phishing pages, and the no-logs policy has passed several independent audits. As for price, the two-year Basic plan costs about $3.50 a month, but the renewal price is much higher.

That’s why the two-year plan is the one to choose: it keeps the low rate for 27 months, and a 30-day money-back guarantee covers the start.

Visit NordVPN

2. Proton VPN: Best for Privacy in Norway

Proton VPN is the choice for privacy because so much of it can be verified. The company is based in Switzerland, its apps are open source, and its no-logs policy has passed independent audits several years in a row.

It also offers Secure Core, which routes your traffic through a server in a privacy-friendly country such as Switzerland before it reaches Oslo or anywhere else. In our tests, that extra step cost about 12% of speed. Beyond that, its Stealth protocol disguises VPN traffic as ordinary web traffic, which helps on hotel and office networks that block VPNs.

NetShield blocked 93% of ads and trackers in our tests. Proton VPN’s overall speed loss was 10.2%, a little behind NordVPN and ExpressVPN. Streaming is weaker, since it failed on ITV and Pluto TV, and there’s no Smart DNS for smart TVs. If you watch on a TV, install the app on an Android TV or set it up on your router.

The two-year VPN Plus plan costs about $3 a month, a little less during Proton’s occasional sales, always with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit Proton VPN

3. ExpressVPN: Best for Ease of Use

ExpressVPN is the easiest VPN in this ranking to live with. Its Lightway protocol connected in one to two seconds, the quickest result in our tests, and it tied with NordVPN for the smallest speed loss. Like NordVPN, it unblocked every service in our streaming tests.

The apps keep the settings to a minimum, with a kill switch, which cuts your internet if the VPN drops, enabled from the start. ExpressVPN also uses post-quantum encryption, built to resist future quantum computers. One subscription covers 10, 12, or 14 devices, depending on the plan. However, power users will notice what’s missing.

There are few settings to tweak and no multi-hop servers, so if you want your traffic to go through two servers, NordVPN’s Double VPN is the better choice. ExpressVPN’s Basic plan costs about $3 a month on a two-year term, and ExpressVPN’s other plans add more devices and Advanced Protection, its ad and tracker blocker.

Visit ExpressVPN

4. Private Internet Access: Best for Blocking Ads

Private Internet Access, or PIA, earns its place with MACE, its built-in blocker. MACE stopped 96% of ads and trackers, the highest score of any VPN we’ve tested, so it can replace a separate ad blocker on every device. That adds up quickly, since one subscription covers as many devices as you own.

It also suits people who like to adjust things. You can change the encryption level, the protocol, and the ports, and port forwarding works on its European servers. Speed was a step behind the top three, with a 12.7% loss. For streaming, it unblocked Netflix US and BBC iPlayer, but it couldn’t unblock Prime Video, HBO Max, or Netflix Japan.

The desktop apps are the weak spot, since the settings menus are cluttered and look dated. If that puts you off, the mobile apps are much tidier. PIA is the cheapest VPN in this ranking at around $2 a month on its longest plan.

Visit Private Internet Access

5. Surfshark: Best for Streaming on a Budget

Surfshark costs about as little as PIA but streams better. It unblocked eight of the nine streaming services we tested, missing only ITV, and its 9.6% speed loss beat PIA’s. On our UK server, it was the fastest of any VPN we tested.

Its CleanWeb ad blocker comes with every plan, and so does Alternative ID, which creates a separate email address and identity for sign-ups. Surfshark also covers unlimited devices and uses post-quantum encryption. During the current sale, the One plan, which adds antivirus, costs the same as the Starter plan.

Connections sometimes took longer than on the other four. It’s a small delay, and choosing the nearest server, Oslo, when you’re in Norway, keeps it short. The two-year plan costs about $2.50 a month, and the full Surfshark review covers the rest of its plans.

Visit Surfshark

Getting a Norwegian IP Address

Abroad, a Norwegian IP address is what Norwegian streaming services and banks expect to see. Subscribe to a VPN, install the app, and sign in. Then search for Norway in the server list and connect. NordVPN connects to Oslo in a few seconds.

Now, any IP lookup site will show a Norwegian location, as in the screenshot. The other four VPNs work the same way, with slightly different apps. Our NordVPN review covers its app in more detail.

For a step-by-step version, our tutorial on getting a Norwegian IP address covers each device.

If you want to stream NRK or TV 2 Play while traveling, the guide to watching Norwegian TV abroad covers each service.

Privacy and Website Blocking in Norway

Norway ranks among the freest countries online, and VPNs are legal to use. Still, a few rules affect what you can reach and what’s recorded:

• IP address records: internet providers keep the IP address assigned to each customer for 12 months, but not the sites they visit.
• Piracy blocks: since a 2015 court order, the major ISPs block The Pirate Bay and a list of other piracy sites at the DNS level.
• Gambling blocks: since 2025, the Norwegian Gaming Authority can order ISPs to block unlicensed gambling sites, and it has blocked more than 200 so far.
• Intelligence sharing: Norway is often listed in the “Nine Eyes” group of countries that share intelligence. The label refers to surveillance cooperation between governments, and it doesn’t mean records are kept on ordinary users.

A VPN encrypts your traffic, so your ISP can’t see which sites you visit, only that you’re connected to a VPN. That doesn’t make illegal downloading legal, however. Copyright law still applies, regardless of your IP address.

Free VPNs for Norway

Free VPNs come with limits, and many make money from your data. Two reputable free plans stand out, as long as you keep your expectations in check.

Proton VPN Free

Proton VPN’s free plan doesn’t cap your data, has the same no-logs policy as the paid plans, and offers free apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Norway is among its free countries, but you can’t choose a server.

The app assigns one at random, and changing it repeatedly makes you wait. The free plan also covers one device, doesn’t support torrenting, and isn’t suited to streaming.

Use Proton VPN for Free in Norway

Hide.me Free

Hide.me’s free plan also has no data limit and keeps no logs, with a kill switch and WireGuard support. It offers a handful of countries, but Norway isn’t one of them, so it suits privacy on public Wi-Fi but can’t offer a Norwegian IP address.

It covers one device and doesn’t allow torrenting. For more choices, our ranking of the best free VPNs compares the rest.

Summary

For most people in Norway, NordVPN is our top recommendation. It matched ExpressVPN for speed, unblocked every streaming service in our tests, and has a large server network in Oslo for Norwegians abroad.

Proton VPN suits people who put verifiable privacy first, even if a few streaming services won’t work. ExpressVPN is the simplest to use, PIA is the cheapest, and Surfshark offers the most streaming for its low price.

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