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By country · IT · May 2026
Best VPN for Italy
Streaming, privacy, and torrenting recommendations specific to Italy — based on local laws, surveillance regime, and available streaming services.
The case
Do you need a VPN in Italy?
Italy stands out for two reasons: extremely long telecom data retention (up to 6 years under anti-terror legislation, well beyond what other EU countries do) and the Piracy Shield system rolled out in 2024, which DNS-blocks streaming sites in real time across all Italian ISPs. Italian users commonly use VPNs to bypass Piracy Shield's overzealous blocks (it has misfired and blocked legitimate sites multiple times) and to keep their ISP from logging six years of browsing history. RaiPlay and Mediaset abroad is a common secondary use case.
Country dossier
Country context
Recommended
Best VPN picks for Italy
NordVPN
Panama
Best all-round VPN — premium price, premium features.
- 6,400+ servers · 111 countries
- Audited no-logs
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Audited no-logs
- RAM-only servers
- Outside surveillance alliances
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
Proton VPN
Switzerland
Best privacy-first commercial VPN — Swiss jurisdiction, open source, free tier.
- 8,500+ servers · 110 countries
- Open-source clients
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Audited no-logs
- Open source
- RAM-only servers
- Outside surveillance alliances
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
ExpressVPN
British Virgin Islands
Fastest VPN, but you pay a premium and Kape owns it.
- 3,000+ servers · 105 countries
- Court-tested no-logs
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Court-tested · 2017
- RAM-only servers
- Outside surveillance alliances
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
Local services
Local streaming services
- RaiPlay
- Mediaset Infinity
- Sky Go IT
- DAZN IT
- Now
These services typically geo-block users outside Italy. Most major VPNs (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark) maintain IPs that keep them accessible when you travel. Mullvad and free VPNs are not optimized for streaming and won’t reliably work.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions
Can a VPN bypass Italy's Piracy Shield blocks?
Yes. Piracy Shield works at the ISP DNS level. A VPN bypasses your ISP entirely — your DNS queries resolve through the VPN, so blocked domains resolve normally.
How long do Italian ISPs keep my browsing history?
Up to 6 years under anti-terrorism data retention. This is among the longest periods in the EU. A VPN moves visibility from your ISP to your VPN provider.
Is using a VPN legal in Italy?
Yes. VPNs are fully legal.
Neighbouring
Neighbouring countries
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