I have tested more than 45 free VPNs, and none of them were reliable when trying to access Sky Go. You’re way better off using a low-cost premium VPN to access the platform. Most free VPNs don’t even have servers in the UK, and those that do usually fail to bypass Sky Go’s geo-restrictions. My team and I have still compiled a list of VPNs you can try with Sky Go at no cost. Among these VPNs, ExpressVPN is my top pick since it can unblock Sky Go reliably and consistently. Although it is not completely free, ExpressVPN offers a solid 30-day money-back guarantee. You can claim a full refund if you decide it’s not for you within this guarantee period. Watch Sky Go Today
Best Free VPNs to Watch Sky Go From Anywhere in 2023
1. ExpressVPN — Overall Best Sky Go VPN With Multiple UK Servers and Ultra-Fast Speeds
ExpressVPN has multiple UK servers spread across 5 locations. You can connect to any of these server locations and reliably unblock Sky Go from abroad to watch your favorite shows. During my testing, I was able to unblock Sky Go on its East London and Dockland servers every time I tried. The connection time itself was always under 2 seconds and I watched an entire episode of House of the Dragon without interruption. You get unlimited data and lightning-fast speeds for streaming Sky Go without any buffering. While testing its Dockland and Wembley servers, my speed consistently averaged above 37 Mbps against a base connection of 41 Mbps. With ExpressVPN, my speed loss was just under 10% which was not even noticeable while watching Sky Go. These speeds are also more than enough for streaming content in HD (only 5 Mbps is required for it). Its Lightway protocol improves performance — it’s more lightweight than traditional protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2 and puts less strain on your device, giving you better speeds overall. It also reduces your connection time considerably and was by far the fastest when I used it. Since ExpressVPN developed Lightway, you won’t find it with any other VPN service. The only minor problem I could find with ExpressVPN is that it’s not completely free. But because it’s so reliable for accessing Sky Go, it’s worth the small monthly cost. It often runs discounts and sometimes gives away months of free service, too. You can save up to 49% with its latest discount offer. You can also try ExpressVPN risk-free since it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can claim a full refund if you decide it’s not for you. I contacted support through its 24/7 live chat feature and canceled my subscription after 24 days of use. The representative approved my request after asking a couple of questions about my experience, and the money was back in my account after 3 days. Start Risk-Free With ExpressVPN
2. CyberGhost — Sky Go Optimized Server for Reliable Access and High-Quality Streams
You get super-fast streaming speeds for Sky Go with CyberGhost, too. I got an average download speed of 36.8 Mbps on the Sky Go (and regular London and Manchester) servers. This was only an 11% drop from my base speed, which is really impressive because the servers are more than 4000 miles away from my actual location. I was able to watch 2 episodes of The Flight Attendant without buffering in HD and only had to wait for about 7 seconds before the show loaded. The biggest issue with CyberGhost is that it’s not completely free. However, it offers a money-back guarantee with all plans. If you sign up monthly, then you get a 14-day refund guarantee period. For long-term plans, you get a very generous 45-day money-back guarantee. I tested this guarantee myself to ensure it’s trustworthy and it was hassle-free. I used the 24/7 live chat feature to request a refund after using CyberGhost for 38 days. The agent only asked a couple of basic questions about my experience with the service and approved my request. It only took 4 days to get all my money back, so you can trust that CyberGhost will uphold its refund promise. Start Risk-Free With CyberGhost
3. PrivateVPN — Regularly Updated Dynamic IPs For Reliable Access to Sky Go
PrivateVPN regularly updates its IPs, so Sky Go can’t block you. Since streaming services detect and blacklist VPNs based on IP addresses, constantly updating them prevents this. Moreover, it allows you to choose a dynamic dedicated IP option. This way, your assigned IP is not shared with anyone else for better speeds and also updates regularly to avoid detection. You get superfast streaming speeds with PrivateVPN. Although its speeds are not as fast as ExpressVPN, they still allow you to stream your favorite shows in HD without buffering. I consistently got more than 35.6 Mbps speeds during my testing on a base connection of 46 Mbps. I was able to stream 4 episodes of The Wire on its London server. I only had to wait a few seconds for the episodes to load, and after that had a bufferless stream. I was worried about slow speeds due to overcrowding as PrivateVPN only has 2 UK server locations and a comparatively small network. However, because it updates and adds new IPs so often, overcrowding isn’t an issue. So, it’s unlikely you’ll face any buffering issues while streaming Sky Go. However, PrivateVPN isn’t 100% free, either. But by using its money-back guarantee, you can try PrivateVPN free for 30 days. You can cancel your subscription within this period and claim a full refund (as long as you don’t stream more than 100GB). To test this claim, I contacted their 24/7 live chat support to cancel. The support representative approved my request without asking any questions, and I got the money back in 4 days. Start Risk-Free With PrivateVPN
4. Hotspot Shield — Catapult Hydra for Better Streaming Quality Over Long Distances
Hotspot Shield’s proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol provides better streaming speeds, especially for long-distance connections. I consistently averaged above 36 Mbps on a 41 Mbps connection using it. This is really impressive, considering my location is more than 3800 miles away from the UK. I was able to watch 3 episodes of Downtown Abbey in HD without any interruptions and only had to wait for 5 seconds before each episode started. Hotspot Shield’s server in Coventry can reliably unblock Sky Go. I was able to stream content without any interruptions using this server. Moreover, I did not have to wait more than a few seconds when trying to connect. Plus, it’s optimized for streaming, allowing you to access other UK and international streaming platforms with ease. Sadly, Hotspot Shield does not offer access to its UK server with the free plan, so you won’t be able to watch Sky Go with its free version. However, it does offer a 7-day free trial of its premium plan, which allows you to use the Conventry server with Sky Go with unlimited data. In case you want to test it for more than 7 days, you can also use Hotspot Shield for 45 days with its money-back guarantee. I asked for a refund after 38 days of use to test this claim. The representative approved my request over 24/7 live chat after a couple of questions, and it only took 5 days to get my money back. Start Free With Hotspot Shield
5. TunnelBear — Free UK Server to Watch Sky Go
TunnelBear’s free app has a large server network spread across 47 countries, including the UK. It worked pretty well with Sky Go during my testing in the past, but my recent test results were very unreliable. However, as TunnelBear updates its network, your results might be better. You can always download the free app and test it out with Sky Go! You also get good enough speeds, but only on servers close to your location, so if you’re located really far away from the UK, you will probably experience buffering. When I tested its long-distance UK servers, I had pretty terrible drops in speed — up to 77% slower than my base connection. If you have a superfast base connection to begin with, then it could still be suitable for HD streaming on Sky Go. However, my biggest issue with TunnelBear is the 500 MB monthly data cap. You can get an additional 1 GB of data if you tweet about the company, but that is also not enough if you plan on streaming content for more than an hour. Start Free With TunnelBear
6. Avira Phantom VPN — Good for Free Access To Sky Go On Mobile Devices
Again, I had unreliable results accessing Sky Go with Avira Phantom VPN’s free app. During my tests, its mobile apps were actually really reliable for accessing other streaming platforms (I could watch US Netflix and Hulu). If you want to test it out, you’ll only have access to its free UK server on mobile — the desktop version only connects you to your nearest server location automatically. Avira Phantom VPN offers pretty good speeds on all its servers. However, you might feel a slight slowdown on far-away servers. I got more than 25 Mbps speed on its UK server, which was about a 40% drop. These are more than enough for HD streaming, so you can watch Sky Go without buffering. Its main problem is that it only offers 500 MB of data per month. This isn’t even enough data for an hour of HD streaming. If you watch content in SD quality, then you can probably get a few hours out of it per month. Start Free With Avira Phantom VPN
7. Speedify — Channel Bonding Feature For Bufferless Streaming
Speedify’s Channel Bonding feature combines all available internet connections to boost your speeds. This feature monitors all your available networks and shifts you to the one with the best speeds so your Sky Go streams aren’t interrupted. When my speeds using mobile data dropped during testing, Speedify automatically connected me to my home network, which was faster and more reliable. It also offers access to a UK server located in London with its free plan. You can try to unblock Sky Go with this server, but as with all the free VPNs I tested, I couldn’t get reliable access to the platform. While using Speedify, keep an eye on your data usage since you only get 2GB monthly with its free plan. That’s enough for a few hours of HD streaming. Start Free With Speedify
What should I do if my Sky Go VPN isn’t working?
There are a few things you can try if your VPN stops working with Sky Go. First and foremost, make sure you’re using a VPN that’s been tried and tested to work with the platform. Not many do. If you are, then there are a couple easy things you can try to get it up and running again:
Switch servers. Maybe Sky Go has recently blocked the VPN IP you’re using. Try another UK server instead. Sometimes just disconnecting and reconnecting to the same server location will generate a new IP address, too. Make sure your VPN software is up-to-date. If you’re using an old version of the app, then it’s not going to work as well. Turn off Location/GPS. Sometimes streaming platforms can detect VPN-use if your GPS coordinates don’t match your IP location. Set your system settings to English. Also, make sure your system’s timezone is set to the UK. Contact your VPN’s support team. Another reason to go for a low-cost premium VPN is that you usually have access to 24/7 live chat support (you usually don’t get this with a free VPN). In many cases, they should be able to give you a list of servers known to be working, or help you troubleshoot the issue.
Is there a way to watch Sky Go for free?
Not really. You need to have a Sky TV subscription in order to access the free Sky Go app. If you have this already and need to access Sky Go from abroad, it’s possible a free VPN will let you access it. However, Sky Go has some of the toughest geo-restrictions in place, and I could only find a few VPNs that could reliably access the platform from abroad.
Can I use a free VPN to watch Sky Go on my Android or iPhone/iPad?
You can try, but it’s highly unlikely since most of them don’t have UK servers at all. All the VPNs in this list have apps for Android and iPhone (and iPad) and you can try them at no cost. Keep in mind, it’s best to try a low-cost premium VPN for Sky Go — even free VPNs with UK servers come with severe data limits and slow speeds, so you can’t stream in high quality, or for more than a few hours per month. These free VPNs come with fast speeds and robust security for your iPhone and iPad.
Is Sky Go different from Sky Go Extra and Sky TV?
Sky Go is Sky TV’s online platform available to Sky TV subscribers without additional cost. Sky Go Extra is the upgraded plan of Sky Go. The main differences are that Extra allows you to download shows to watch offline and lets you stream content on 4 devices as opposed to 2. All the VPNs in this list offer more than 4 simultaneous device connections, so you can set them up on all your streaming devices at once to watch Sky Go abroad. Watch Sky Go Today
Watch Sky Go Abroad With a Free VPN
Free VPNs usually lack the server infrastructure required to get past Sky Go’s VPN blocks. Most don’t even have UK servers, while the few that do have severe data caps and very slow speeds. I have listed some free options that offer UK servers and good speeds for streaming, but the truly free options were unreliable. After testing 45 free VPNs, I found ExpressVPN is the best at accessing Sky Go. It has excellent speeds and comes with multiple high-speed servers in the UK that can bypass Sky Go’s VPN blocks flawlessly. Although it’s not completely free, you can still test ExpressVPN risk-free as it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
To summarize, the best Sky Go VPNs with money-back guarantees are…
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