The Best VPN for Rai in 2024 - Watch RAI outside of Italy

ExpressVPN Demo

ExpressVPN is a firm favorite here at ProPrivacy, and for good reason too. It's easily one of the best VPNs on the market, and I think it's got one of the slickest user interfaces out there for both desktop and mobile.

It's not a very intimidating piece of software either, and you're not immediately met with tonnes of things to configure every time you log in. This means you can get down to unblocking RAI without a moment's pause! As someone who loves streaming all sorts of movies and TV shows, speed is really important to me – so it's refreshing for a VPN provider to be so consistent in that regard. 

A streamer's dream

Aside from being a bit of a speed demon, ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs for unblocking content from a broad range of regions across the globe. Whilst using ExpressVPN, I had a choice of over 3,000 servers in 94 countries. The provider services two locations in Italy, ideal for unblocking RAI from outside of the country and watching your favorite Italian shows without buffering. 

But ExpressVPN isn't just built for unblocking Europe's top TV channels, it has servers in the US and a number of countries in South America and Asia. On top of this, getting customers into different Netflix libraries is one of ExpressVPN's specialties, so you're spoiled for choice. Torrenting is not an issue either, so whatever your streaming needs, ExpressVPN will have you covered. 

Superb security 

ExpressVPN has created a super-secure and private environment for its users. The provider uses AES-256 encryption to secure your traffic when it passes through their servers, which is the most secure, readily available encryption standard around. They also only use RAM servers, which means no data is ever written to any hard disks. RAM servers require power to store things, so as soon as a reboot takes place everything is wiped. 

ExpressVPN also provides users with a kill-switch, which automatically drops your internet connection if you lose connection to your VPN server. I like this feature because it gives you real peace of mind; you know you've got the VPN protecting you if you're still streaming. Ever the pioneers, ExpressVPN is one of the few VPNs out there to have designed their own protocol, called 'Lightway' which makes for a more secure and speedier streaming experience.

If you're accessing content on RAI that might be censored in your country of residence, then it's crucial you pick a VPN with an excellent track record on privacy and features that will genuinely keep you safe. 

Pricey for a reason

Admittedly, ExpressVPN is more expensive than most VPN providers. But this provider knows that if you pay top dollar, you deserve the best possible VPN experience. If you'd like to give it a test run before you commit to a full subscription, take advantage of ExpressVPN's money-back guarantee – you can use their software for an entire month and claim your money back if you're not happy.

Nord Demo

NordVPN is based in Panama, which has great privacy laws and means the service is not beholden to any government demands to hand over user information. I love NordVPN's user interface (although not everyone does), and I find the map with all their server locations a massive help when I want to explore things like different Netflix catalogs. 

NordVPN is known for both its speed and security features, with the latter including some pretty innovative tools that set it apart from a lot of the other VPNs on this list. It also has over 60 servers in Italy, making it a shrewd choice if streaming RAI shows is your main priority. 

Cheetah-like speed 

NordVPN consistently tops the speed tests we conduct on a daily basis, which means you'll have minimum lag when accessing content from other countries, including RAI in Italy. VPNs force your data and requests to take a longer route to the internet, so getting hold of one that doesn't negatively impact your speeds is strongly advised. 

Speed is a very contentious issue in the VPN world, seeing as plenty of services tout their speeds as a major selling point... despite the fact that VPNs can actually slow your speeds, marginally. There are some cases where VPNs can improve your speed, however – including if you've been bandwidth throttled. NordVPN is, in my experience, is a consistent provider and a streamer's dream. 

Tonnes of features

NordVPN is one of the most feature-rich VPNs out there. Highlights include CyberSec, the provider's ad and malware blocker, which is one of the best of its kind in the VPN sphere, and double VPN, which provides two layers of encryption by rerouting your traffic through two servers instead of one.

For the more advanced VPN users, I think you'll like NordVPN's custom protocol NordLynx, which is built around the speedy WireGuard protocol and ensures that your safety and privacy are secured. The provider also has an Onion-over-VPN function which allows users to retain the protections of a VPN and also route their traffic through the Tor network. These kinds of features are extremely useful if you're trying to access movies and shows on RAI that have themes or scenes that are frowned upon or censored in your country of residence. 

NordVPN, on top of this, only uses diskless servers (meaning all user data is stored using volatile memory, which is wiped when the server powers down) that are all obfuscated, which essentially means even your internet service provider can't tell that you're using a VPN. 

Unblocking everything 

I feel like it would be pretty useless to have all that speed without being able to unblock any content, but luckily NordVPN doesn't disappoint. It's got a really solid track record of unblocking different regional catalogs on sites like Amazon Prime and Netflix, and I haven't noticed any issues with using it to watch shows on RAI Player. 

NordVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you're unsure about the product or what it can do for you (or you want to test it out on RAI to make sure it's the real deal when it comes to accessing your Italian content) you can just download it, test it and get a refund if you're not happy. Everyone's a winner!

Surfshark Demo

Surfshark hasn't been in the VPN game very long, but they've certainly made a splash! The provider has over 3,200 servers in more than 65 countries  – including Italy – and usually performs well on our daily speed tests. This makes Surfshark great for unblocking RAI from outside Italy and streaming Italy's best shows. 

I think Surfshark's apps are really slick and I love how they're designed; it's definitely a good VPN for beginners and those who care about streaming quality. 

Top-of-the-range features

Surfshark doesn't let its budget-friendly price tag stop it from providing more features than the average VPN. They have a camouflage mode that will stop your ISP from seeing you're using a VPN at all, and an ad/malware-blocking tool called CleanWeb that functions similarly to NordVPN's CyberSec. There's also a handy whitelist function that allows some websites to bypass the VPN (which is ideal for online banking). 

Surfshark is another VPN provider that has switched to entirely diskless servers, which is great if you're trying to watch shows on RAI that might be banned, blocked, or illegal in your country of residence and you want to be sure that no logs of your activity are taken. If security or privacy isn't your main concern, Surfshark has a Smart DNS to optimize your streaming experience by overcoming geo-blocks. 

Unlimited connections

Surfshark cuts a unique figure in the VPN market because it has absolutely no limit to how many devices you can use one account on at the same time. That means you never have to worry about logging out of your account on one device to ensure you – or the family or friends you're sharing the account with – remain fully protected. 

A lot of VPN providers only allow up to five or six simultaneous connections, which basically rules you out of account sharing if you're planning to use your VPN on more than one device. 

Excellent value for money

As I've already said, Surfshark is a speedy provider with the security features to match. However, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than competitors like ExpressVPN, making it really good value for money too. Starting from under $2 a month, it's a small price to pay for privacy whilst you're online. 

Surfshark also provides a 30-day money-back period where you can request a refund if the service isn't quite right for you. However, very few people do – when you're paying so little for such a useful service.

PIA Demo

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a US-based VPN with thousands of servers across the globe. Although its network definitely has a US focus (and if there's content from that region you'd like to unlock, then keep reading!), this by no means disqualifies PIA from being an excellent provider to access European content from countries like the UK, France and, of course, Italy. 

Security is the priority 

Private Internet Access is a very secure VPN, and is one of the few to have their no logs claim tested in court not once, but twice. In both cases, PIA was dragged into a court case due to certain activity coming from IP addresses that belong to the provider. But, in both cases, PIA wasn't able to provide any information on the activity of the user in question because – you guessed it – they keep no activity logs.

No-logs claims can be difficult to prove and some VPN companies either avoid discussing exactly what logs they keep or produce intentionally vague answers, so if you're looking for a provider that has tangible evidence to back up its claims, then PIA might be the provider for you. It also has a kill-switch, a 'PIA Mace' feature to protect against malware, and is highly customizable.  

Family and friends welcome!

PIA offer over double the number of connections allowed per account than ExpressVPN, four more than Nord, and three more than CyberGhost, so if you're buying a VPN in the knowledge that your family – or even some friends – are going to be using the same account as you, then Private Internet Access would be a good choice. 

Even if that's not your plan, if you're someone who likes to stream shows from RAI and other services on your phone, laptop and tablet and doesn't want to be restricted to just one or two more devices, PIA could come in very handy. 

Linux users, rejoice!

PIA is perhaps the best, premium VPN for Linux users. This is, in large part, due to the fact that competing providers only offer up a command-line client for the sparsely used operating system, whereas PIA actually provides full-featured clients for various popular distros. This means you can enjoy all the benefits you would if you were using any of PIA's other apps. 

PIA offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all their software, so you can test out their Linux client, or any of their other apps, for a month without incurring any real cost.

CyberGhost Demo

CyberGhost is a VPN service that's been around for years now, having seen many of its competitors come and go, and has established itself as one of the most widely-used and popular VPNs during that time.

They're based in Romania, outside the jurisdiction of the Five Eyes security alliance, and use AES-256 encryption to secure user traffic. Although CyberGhost does keep some limited connection logs for troubleshooting purposes, it doesn't hold any activity logs and they release a transparency report every three months to assure users that their data is in safe hands. 

Optimized for streaming

CyberGhost has a whopping 178 servers in Italy that are great for streaming RAI, and this reduces your risk of connecting to a congested server. These 178 servers only represent a small fraction of their large global server network, however, but are the ones you'll need for the task at hand. 

CyberGhost's network spans 91 countries and consists of over 6,000 servers in total, some of which are specifically optimized for streaming. This means you won't find yourself stuck for new content to unblock and subsequently stream. This is a much bigger server network than most VPN companies, and so CyberGhost is ideally positioned to reach countries that other providers can't. 

A slick app for whatever platform you need

CyberGhost, as VPNs go, is incredibly easy to use and I love the fact this doesn't change when you switch from your Mac to your Android phone, for example. There's a tendency amongst some VPNs to really go all-in with the settings and features, but this often just turns into a configuration nightmare that's more confusing than it is customizable to a given user's needs. 

There's nothing worse than finding out exactly when a show starts and then missing it because you're faffing around with settings, and CyberGhost avoids this by providing a no-frills service that's ideal for getting connected and streaming as quickly as you can.

Time to decide

CyberGhost, as mentioned previously, has a 45-day money-back guarantee. This is over two weeks longer than the industry standard 30-day guarantee, so if you're like me, and you struggle to make these sorts of decisions quickly, this will be massively helpful.

CyberGhost has an extensive catalog of useful troubleshooting guides on their website and a 24/7 live chat and email support service, so if you do get have any issues in that time, you can get them ironed out by a helpful staff member!