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how to watch hbo in germany

HBO Now and HBO Max offer some of the best HBO series, documentaries, award-winning specials, and new movies every week. Unfortunately, HBO is only available in the US. If you’re in Germany and you try and access either HBO Now or HBO Max, you’ll see this error message:

“HBO NOW is only supported in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories”

Or this error message:

“HBO Max is currently only supported in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories.”

But there is a way through which you can easily watch HBO in Germany. With the help of a VPN (Virtual Private Network), you can easily bypass geo-blocks and access HBO from anywhere in the world.

In this super simple guide, I’ll not only tell you which VPNs to use but I’ll also show you how to unblock HBO in just a couple of steps.

Note: HBO Go got discontinued and rebranded as HBO Now on July 31st. HBO Max is the expanded version of HBO Now. It’s important to note that both services cost $14.99/mo. Whether you subscribe to HBO Now or HBO Max, you’ll get redirected to the HBO Max website.

Besides HBO, you can also watch Netflix US, just click on how to watch American Netflix in Germany? for further details.

How to Watch HBO in Germany? – Step by Step Guide

Since HBO Go got discontinued a while back and HBO Now is slowly getting dissolved into HBO Max, in today’s guide, we’ll only talk about the steps required to watch HBO Max in Germany.

Step 1: Signup for a VPN service that offers U.S servers. I recommend subscribing to ExpressVPN that offers around 22 servers in different cities in the U.S.

ExpressVPN

Step 2: Download and install the VPN app on your preferred device.

VPN-apps-for-different-devices

Step 3: Log in to your VPN app with your username and password.

expressvpn-login-screen

Step 4: Find and connect to a U.S server from the servers list.

connecting-to-expressvpn-server

Now that you’ve connected to a U.S server, you’re all set to stream any content on HBO.

But what if you don’t have HBO account?

Since HBO is only available in the U.S, you can only signup for it using an American credit card. For anyone residing in Germany, getting a U.S credit card is impossible. But there is one way through which you can subscribe to HBO while still residing in Germany.

How?

Well, with the help of a gift card, you can pay for an HBO subscription without using a U.S credit card. Don’t worry, you can purchase a gift card from a variety of sources online.

Here’s how you can purchase a subscription to HBO from Germany using a gift card:

Step 1: First things first, go ahead and create an account by providing your First Name, Last Name, Email Address, and Password.

signup-for-hbo-max

Step 2: Once your account is created, you’ll be asked to add a payment method. But since you don’t have a U.S credit card, you’ll need to purchase a gift card from MyGiftCardSupply or from any other source you find legit.

purchase-a-gift-card-for-hbo-from-mygiftcardsupply

Note: If you typically watch movies and shows on mobile devices, you can also purchase a gift for HBO from iTunes or Amazon app store.

Step 3: Once you’re done purchasing the gift card, it’s time to redeem it. To do that, visit this link. After that, type in the gift card code and then select any U.S territory. Next, Google the zipcode of the U.S territory you selected.

redeem-hbo-gift-card

That’s it. You’ve just successfully purchased a subscription to HBO from Germany using the gift card method. Now, you can log in to your new HBO account and start streaming. Do keep in mind that you’ll need to be connected to a U.S server before logging into your HBO account.

Top VPNs to Unblock HBO in Germany

Now that you know how to unblock HBO in Germany, it’s time to check out a couple of top VPNs that you can purchase to watch HBO from anywhere in the world.

1. ExpressVPN – Offers American Servers in 25 US Locations

ExpressVPN

If you ask me which VPN I recommend the most, I would say ExpressVPN. The reason why ExpressVPN is such a great choice for HBO is that it offers servers in 25 locations in the U.S. With so many servers, unblocking HBO from anywhere in the world is super easy.

When I was testing ExpressVPN with HBO, I simply switched to the streaming mode from the ExpressVPN app and clicked on a U.S server location. Within seconds, I was able to stream “My Neighbor Totoro” in HD quality without any buffering issues.

With my 100 Mbps connection, I got a download speed of 70.12 Mbps. You can confirm its fantastic speeds through the ExpressVPN speed test.

Aside from working reliably with HBO, I also love the fact that ExpressVPN only costs $6.67/mo - Save up to 49% with exclusive 1-year plans + 3 months free and allows 5 users to use one ExpressVPN subscription simultaneously. Best of all, if you end not satisfied with the service, then you can get a full refund with ExpressVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee. All these unbelievable features make ExpressVPN the best VPN for HBO Max. We were also easily able to unblock BBC Iplayer in Germany.

Read detailed ExpressVPN review.

2. Surfshark – Offer 600+ US Servers

SurfShark

Next up, we have Surfshark. This VPN provider offers 600+ servers in 23+ U.S cities. Unlike other VPN providers, Surfshark is considerably fast. In fact, most of their servers are less congested compared to ExpressVPN.

If we talk about performance, I was able to unblock HBO quite easily. Out of some 10+ servers that I tested, the United Stated – Latham server location performed the best. I tested Surfshark by streaming a show called “Euphoria” and it managed to play it in HD quality.

According to my Surshark speed test, I managed to get 78.22 Mbps downloading speed with my 100 Mbps connection.

If we talk about pricing, Surfshark is quite affordable. It starts from just $2.49/mo - Save up to 77% with exclusive 2-year plan + 30-day money-back guarantee. While it costs slightly more than ExpressVPN, Surfshark offers unlimited simultaneous connections and a 30-day moneyback guarantee.

Read detailed Surfshark review.

Get Surfshark Watch HBO in Germany

 3. NordVPN – Offers 1970+ US Servers

NordVPN

Lastly, we have NordVPN. What’s cool about this VPN provider is that it offers 1800+ servers in 1970+ U.S locations. That’s more than what ExpressVPN and Surfshark offer combined.

Just like ExpressVPN and Surfshark, this VPN is super fast as per the NordVPN speed test. With my 100 Mbps connection, NordVPN managed to output around 73.45 Mbps download speed. When I tried playing “Succession” just to test NordVPN, I was blown away by how quickly the show started streaming.

If we talk about NordVPN’s best server to use with HBO, I would recommend connecting to Denver, Chicago, or Dallas server locations.

As for pricing, NordVPN starts from just $3.99/mo - Save up to 63% with exclusive 2-year plan + 3 months free for a friend. One more thing that you’ll love about NordVPN is that it offers 6 multi logins and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read detailed NordVPN review.

Get NordVPN Watch HBO in Germany

Wrapping up!

So there you have it, this is how easy it is to watch HBO in Germany. Even though HBO is only currently available in the U.S, you can still access it quite easily from Germany or from anywhere in the world.

If you’re still confused about which VPN to get, I would suggest getting ExpressVPN. Out of all the VPNs that I tested with HBO, ExpressVPN managed to offer the best performance with the fastest speeds.

So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a VPN today and start watching HBO in Germany or anywhere in the world.