5 Best VPNs for BBC iPlayer in Italy 2023

BBC iPlayer is the UK’s very own free streaming service that offers movies, shows, sports, and a whole lot of other British programs. Due to various licensing agreements, BBC iPlayer is officially geo-restricted to stream its content only in the UK, so you’ll need the best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy to access it.

Accessing BBC iPlayer in Italy is hard, even if you use a premium VPN to unblock it. Most VPNs that provide a UK IP address in Italy cannot bypass BBC’s strong geo-restrictions. Moreover, some VPNs demonstrate extremely slow speed, resulting in buffers and frozen screens during streaming.

However, not all VPNs can unblock BBC iPlayer in Italy because BBC uses a firewall to filter traffic associated with VPNs. You’ll need to get a UK IP address through a reliable VPN to enjoy shows like Young MasterChef, The Hairy Bikers Go Local, Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job, The Apprentice S17, and many others in Italy.

This guide brings you the 3 best VPNs for BBC iPlayer in Italy.

Side-by-Side Comparison of the Best VPNs for BBC iPlayer in Italy in 2023

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer in Italy:

VPNs
Reliability	Excellent	Good	Good	Good	Good
Streaming Video Quality	4K Ultra HD	HD and ultra 4k HD	4K UHD	4K UHD	4K UHD
Access to Streaming Platform	BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, Hulu Disney+, Netflix.	BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Netflix US, Apple TV+, and Hulu	BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Netflix	BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Netflix	BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Netflix
Compatible Devices	Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, Kodi, Roku, firestick, PS4&5, Xbox, and more	iOS, Android, Windows, Xbox, Roku, routers, etc	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Firestick, Roku, PS, etc	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Firestick, Roku, Kodi, routers, etc	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, etc
Average Speed (Base: 100 Mbps)	89.42 Mbps	81.32 Mbps	83.82 Mbps	75.47 Mbps	65.78 Mbps
Simultaneous Device Connections	5	Unlimited	6	7	10
Lowest Price	EUR 6.21/mo (US$ 6.67/mo) (Get 49% Off + 3 Months FREE on its 12-Month Plan)	EUR 2.14/mo (US$ 2.30/mo) (Get 84% + 2 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan)	EUR 3.71/mo (US$ 3.99/mo) (Get 57% Off + 3 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan)	EUR1.96/mo (US$ 2.11/mo)	EUR1.96/mo (US$ 2.11/mo)
Detailed Review	ExpressVPN Review in Italy	Surfshark Review in Italy	NordVPN Review in Italy	CyberGhost review in Italy	PIA VPN review in Italy

Why You Need a VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy

You need a VPN for BBC iPlayer because that’s the only way to access the streaming site if you’re located in Italy. Without a VPN, you cannot stream trending TV shows like Poldark, Killing Eve, and The Peaky Blinders outside of the UK due to geo-restrictions. Furthermore, BBC iPlayer implements strong VPN-detection features because of which not every VPN can bypass its geo-blocks.

Anyone who accesses BBC iPlayer in Italy will receive the following geo-restriction error:

If you access BBC iPlayer outside of the UK, you’ll receive this geo-restriction error.

Any IP address that doesn’t belong to the UK and tries to visit the iPlayer website is immediately denied access due to content distribution rights.

The easiest way to bypass BBC iPlayer’s geo-restrictions is using a VPN to get a British IP address. With a VPN, you can connect to a UK server and trick BBC iPlayer into thinking you are accessing it from somewhere within Britain.

However, just as VPNs are getting more sophisticated with time, BBC’s VPN detection mechanism is also getting more advanced. That is why most VPNs can’t unblock BBC iPlayer in Kenya or in Italy. But ExpressVPN is the best VPN to watch BBC iPlayer in Italy since it can easily bypass geo-restrictions on the streaming site – thanks to its 5 server locations in the UK.

Best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy in 2023 – Detailed Analysis

There are hundreds of VPN providers in the market today. Only a few VPN services have the capability to bypass the BBC iPlayer firewall based on our testing of many BBC VPNs. We tested over 45+ VPNs to pick the best VPN to watch BBC iPlayer in Italy so we can avoid buffering.

For your ease, we have shortlisted top 3 VPNs to choose the best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy:

1. ExpressVPN – Best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy

ExpressVPN is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy, with excellent unblocking ability and speed. It offers 3000+ servers in 94 countries, and among these, 5 are located in London, Docklands, East London, Midlands, and Wembley.

ExpressVPN unblocked BBC iPlayer in Italy for us within 7 seconds, thus allowing us to stream Great Expectations, The Warship: Tour of Duty, Handover and Allocation Draw on BBC iPlayer, many movies and TV shows in HD.

Allow us to prove that this VPN is indeed the best VPN to watch BBC iPlayer. Here you can see how we’ve utilized ExpressVPN’s UK – Docklands servers to unblock the streaming site:

ExpressVPN servers unblocked BBC iPlayer for us within seconds.

The fast speeds and stable server infrastructure allow for a seamless streaming VPN in Italy experience no matter where you are. ExpressVPN is also the best option for streaming other geo-restricted streaming platforms such as Sky TV, BFI Player, Channel 5, All4, Netflix, and many more.

When testing BBC iPlayer with ExpressVPN, it offers fast speeds to enjoy a bufferless streaming experience in HD. In our ExpressVPN speed test in Italy, it delivered a download speed of 87.18 Mbps and an upload speed of 52.13 Mbps on a 100 Mbps connection. During testing with this speed, we never experienced any lags while streaming BBC iPlayer in Brazil.

ExpressVPN UK servers provide the fastest speeds for streaming BBC iPlayer.

You can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously on a single ExpressVPN account, and it offers apps for many devices like you can stream BBC iPlayer on Android in Italy, Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, and more. With MediaStreamer, you can watch BBC iPlayer using ExpressVPN on your Samsung smart TV, Apple TV, FireStick, Xbox, and more.

With ExpressVPN, you don’t have to worry about online security as it offers an automatic kill switch, DNS leak protection, and 256-bit encryption. Also, it follows a strict no-logs policy, so whatever you do online remains anonymous.

You may also opt for ExpressVPN’s free trial in Italy if you want to test its mobile features, and if it doesn’t satisfy you, which we highly doubt, you can always cancel your ExpressVPN in Italy subscription. In case, you run into any BBC iPlayer not working with VPN issues, you can contact ExpressVPN’s customer support that’s available 24/7.

ExpressVPN is available for EUR6.21/mo (US$ 6.67/mo) (Get 49% Off + 3 Months FREE on its 12-Month Plan), and it is also offering a 30-day money-back guarantee during which you can test the service.

To learn more about this service, you can always read our ExpressVPN review in Italy.

2. Surfshark – Budget-friendly VPN for BBC iPlayer

Surfshark is a budget-friendly VPN for BBC iPlayer for viewers who are on a budget as it costs just EUR 2.14/mo (US$ 2.30/mo) (Get 84% + 2 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan). There are over 3200+ servers in 100 countries and more than 4+ server locations in the UK. These servers are located in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

Here we’ve unblocked BBC iPlayer in Mexico using Surfshark’s UK-London server to watch EastEnders, An Irish Goodbye, The Gold, and had a terrific time. Here you can see how we’ve unblocked BBC iPlayer using Surfshark’s UK – London servers:

On Surfshark’s London server, we got fast speeds and experienced no buffering.

Apart from BBC iPlayer, you can also unblock other UK-based channels, such as Channel 4, Sky Sports in Italy, and BT Sport in Italy. That’s why it’s a popular VPN that works with BBC iPlayer, according to Reddit.

Surfshark also offers reliable speeds for streaming in HD. On our Surfshark speed tests in Italy, we got a download speed of 81.32 Mbps and an upload speed of 76.12 Mbps and experienced no buffering. With this speed, you can easily stream BBC iPlayer in Thailand or anywhere outside UK.

Surfshark speed test results on its UK servers on other platforms.

Surfshark allows connecting unlimited simultaneous devices with a single account. It is compatible with operating systems like iOS, Android, Windows, and others. We tried setting up Surfshark on FireStick in Italy, Roku, and PS4 and faced no issues whatsoever.

Surfshark backs its geo-restriction bypassing capabilities with some highly encrypted security features like a kill switch, private DNS, NoBorders Mode, AES 256-bit encryption, camouflage mode, and multiple encryption protocols for users to choose from. With Surfshark, you can easily access BBC iPlayer by connecting to one of its UK servers. The user-friendly logging policy ensures that you can do so without the knowledge of your ISP.

If you’re unsure about this VPN, try Surfshark’s free trial in Italy to make up your mind about it. It also comes with a 30-day refund policy, so you can always cancel your Surfshark subscription in Italy if you don’t like the service.

To learn more about this service, you can always read our Surfshark review in Italy.

3. NordVPN – Largest Server Network VPN for BBC iPlayer

NordVPN has the largest server network across the globe for BBC iPlayer as it consists of 5500+ servers in 60 countries, including 440+ servers in the UK.

We unblocked BBC iPlayer with NordVPN in Italy servers and were able to stream Better Series 1 and Question Time in HD without any buffering to interrupt our viewing experience:

With NordVPN, you’ll be able to watch your favorite content on BBC iPlayer in HD quality.

NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs available in the market for streaming BBC iPlayer and other geo-restricted streaming services. It has a wide range of European servers, making it easy to unblock European channels like Channel 5, CNN, EuroNews, and Rai TV in Italy.

When testing NordVPN with BBC iPlayer, we experienced less than a 10-15% speed drop, which was amazing. There was no buffering or lag during streaming. Based on our NordVPN speed tests in Italy, we received a download speed of 83.82 Mbps and an upload speed of 44.64 Mbps on a 100 Mbps internet connection.

The huge variety of servers allowed us to switch to the fastest server easily.

NordVPN also offers a SmartPlay feature to unblock SkyGo on your Smart TV, Apple TV, and more. This makes it an extremely powerful service accessing BBC iPlayer on six devices simultaneously from anywhere in the world without affecting the speeds on each device. While testing, NordVPN worked well on PS4 in Italy for us and other devices. With this amazingly fast speed, you can easily watch BBC iPlayer on PS5 in Italy, on Chromecast, and many other devices.

It keeps your online activity completely encrypted with its AES 256-bit encryption and security features like a kill switch, double VPN, no logs, obfuscated servers, etc.

Besides its outstanding server infrastructure, NordVPN is also known for its excellent logging policies and extra features that boost user security. As for pricing, it costs EUR 3.71/mo (US$ 3.99/mo) (Get 57% Off + 3 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan) and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to users.

Feel free to try NordVPN’s free trial in Italy to test its features and cancel your NordVPN in Italy subscription if you feel like you’re not on the same page with the VPN, and try another VPN from this list. You may also contact customer support if you face issues like NordVPN BBC iPlayer not working.

To learn more about this service, you can always read our NordVPN review in Italy.

4. CyberGhost – User-friendly VPN for BBC iPlayer

CyberGhost is the most user-friendly VPN for watching BBC iPlayer. It offers 9700+ servers in 91 countries, including 790 servers in the United Kingdom. So, with CyberGhost, you have multiple servers that you can choose from to get a British IP address and access BBC iPlayer.

But does BBC iPlayer work with VPN? Yes, it absolutely does! What is cool about CyberGhost is that it offers optimized servers just for streaming so that you always find the most optimized servers for streaming BBC iPlayer. For example, instead of connecting to a UK BBC VPN server, you can always connect to its BBC iPlayer dedicated server to unblock it abroad.

Here you can see how we’ve used CyberGhost’s London, UK servers to unblock BBC iPlayer in Italy:

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As such, CyberGhost is a pretty good option as BBC iPlayer VPN. While conducting CyberGhost’s speed test in Italy using its UK servers, we received an average download speed of 75.47 Mbps and an upload speed of 69.34 Mbps on a 100 Mbps connection. We did not experience any extensive buffering or lags while streaming BBC iPlayer with CyberGhost in Italy.

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It allows 7 multi-logins on a single account and there are easy-to-use apps for various devices and platforms. The VPN offers native apps for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, and others. We had no issues installing CyberGhost on Roku in Italy, FireStick, and multiple other devices easily.

It also offers browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and more so you can also watch BBC iPlayer online via its website. There is a free CyberGhost browser extension with limited server access and features that you can try with BBC iPlayer.

CyberGhost offers security features like NoSpy servers, AES 256-bit encryption, OpenVPN protocol, kill switch, IP/DNS leak protection, automatic Wi-Fi protection, and other notable features which ensure you’ll be protected at all times while streaming BBC iPlayer.

You can get this VPN at a price of EUR1.96/mo (US$ 2.11/mo) on its annual plan. All its subscription plans are backed by a 45-day money-back guarantee.

To learn more about this service, you can always read our CyberGhost review in Italy.

5. Private Internet Access – Reliable VPN for BBC iPlayer

Private Internet Access is a reliable VPN for unblocking BBC iPlayer. It offers 35000+ servers in + countries and servers in the UK.

If you think VPN doesn’t work on BBC iPlayer, we’re about to prove you wrong! With PIA, you can watch BBC iPlayer from abroad without any issues as there are multiple servers in the UK. Here you can see how we’ve unblocked BBC iPlayer using PIA’s UK Manchester servers:

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PIA also works with other streaming platforms such as Netflix, Channel 4, Hulu, HBO Max, NBC, Peacock TV, and more.
PIA also offers other advanced features such as continuous file syncing, data sharing controls, advanced VPN encryption, unmetered device connections, no data transfer caps and so much more.

While using its recommended server for BBC iPlayer, on our PIA speed tests in Italy, we received an average download speed of 65.78 Mbps and an upload speed of 57.16 Mbps on our 100 Mbps connection. It was not as fast as other VPNs on this list, but we did not experience any buffering or location errors while streaming.

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Just like Surfshark, PIA also supports unlimited simultaneous device connections on a single account. So, you can connect and stream on as many devices as you want. You can even share a single PIA account with your friends and family. You can install PIA on Roku in Italy and stream BBC iPlayer. We were even successful in setting up PIA on routers to use on multiple devices at once.

PIA is quite affordable, available at a price of EUR 1.96/mo (US$ 2.11/mo) on its annual plan, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you wish to opt out of the service due to any reason.

To learn more about this service, you can always read our PIA Review in Italy.

Testing Methodology: How we chose the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer in Italy

We have tested 40+ VPNs on various performance criteria to bring you the 3 best VPNs for watching BBC iPlayer in Italy. If you are looking for a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer in Italy, make sure to look for the following things:

• Bypassing geo-restrictions for BBC iPlayer — Based on our research, unless a VPN is capable of bypassing BBC iPlayer’s geo-restrictions, it’s not worth investing in. Many VPNs are incapable of doing that; that’s why we haven’t suggested them.
• Fast speeds— The VPNs we’ve recommended are fast and unblock BBC iPlayer easily within a few minutes. With the high speeds, you also get HD-quality streaming and unlimited bandwidth to watch as many shows/movies as you’d like.
• Privacy — Each of these VPNs follows a strict no-logs policy and abides by user-client confidentiality; hence, they won’t be selling your data to third parties or even the government. Moreover, they can keep all your activities hidden by keeping your identity anonymous.
• Security — These VPNs have all successfully passed our security and privacy tests. Hence, you can watch BBC iPlayer without worrying about IP leaks or being caught for using a VPN to bypass geo-restrictions.
• Device Compatibility — Offers apps for iOS, Windows, macOS, Android, and other streaming devices. Furthermore, the VPNs we’ve recommended provide multiple simultaneous connections for your family or friends to enjoy watching together miles apart.
• Customer support — Offers 24/7 live chat support so you can get help in case you are facing issues accessing BBC iPlayer in Italy. During testing, each VPN’s customer support was extremely helpful in resolving our queries.
• Price — Most of the VPNs we have recommended have reasonable pricing based on the features they offer. So basically you’d be getting value for money. It’s better to invest in a VPN for a longer term that works with BBC iPlayer than to get a VPN that doesn’t bypass its geo-restrictions at all.

Can I use a free VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy?

Yes, you can use a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer free of cost in Italy; however, we don’t recommend free VPNs. Most of the time, even the best free VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy will not be able to bypass geo-restrictions and give you access to the British streaming service. Not only that, free VPNs often have very few servers, resulting in overcrowded, and most users have to face slow speeds.

Free VPNs are also known to implement bandwidth throttling, because of which using a VPN becomes entirely pointless. Apart from performance issues, there’s also the risk of your actual IP address being leaked and banned from the platform altogether.

We recommend you stay away from a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer free of cost for your safety and security. We’d suggest you use a premium VPN like ExpressVPN to save the day instead of relying on a free VPN to watch BBC iPlayer.

What can I watch on BBC iPlayer in Italy?

You can watch a bunch of shows and movies on BBC iPlayer in Italy. Here are some of our recommendations:

• The Apprentice
• Comic Relief.
• Emma, Oti & Ryan’s Big Red Nose Day Challenge
• Tonight with Target
• Great British Menu
• Dragons’ Den
• Go Hard or Go Home
• Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr

VPNs to Avoid for BBC iPlayer in Italy

As per the tests we conducted, the following VPN providers were not able to unblock BBC iPlayer in Italy:

• HideMyAss – Using this VPN, we could not bypass censorship and bans on other major streaming services. We couldn’t unblock BBC iPlayer. HMA also lacks the technology needed to maintain user privacy. You can read our HideMyAss review in Italy for more information.
• Hola VPN – This VPN doesn’t offer reliable UK servers because, despite our multiple tries, we could not unblock BBC iPlayer. Not only that but in the past, Hola VPN has been known to steal bandwidth from other networks. Learn more through our Hola VPN review in Italy.
• ZenMate – ZenMate offers limited tunneling protocols, because of which it is slow in terms of streaming. Apart from that, ZenMate fails to unblock Netflix and isn’t consistent in unblocking BBC iPlayer either. Check out the Zenmate review in Italy for more details.

Even though the providers mentioned above may not be able to unblock the popular streaming service in the UK, they may prove to be beneficial for other online activities.

FAQs – Best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy

Wrapping Up

The detection systems of streaming services are getting smarter by the day. This is a big concern for fans of geo-restricted streaming sites located outside their domain of availability. Thankfully, there are still a few working VPNs that will let you bypass the BBC iPlayer VPN block from anywhere in the world.

We believe the best VPN for BBC iPlayer in Italy is ExpressVPN. With ExpressVPN, you will have no issue unblocking BBC iPlayer abroad as it offers 5+ server locations in the UK, and is powerful enough to bypass geo-restrictions and firewalls.

Also if you ever change your mind you can easily delete the BBC iPlayer subscription in Italy without using a password or an email address.  It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and a limited-time offer of a 3-month FREE subscription on its 12-monthly plan in Italy.