Unblock hulu: How to watch hulu from outside the US

Hulu is a popular streaming service that has remained exclusive to the USA since its inception. This means it's only available in a select few countries. All hope is not lost if you are an international resident or a local that’s on vacation, however, as you can unblock hulu using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and stream content wherever you are.

Whether you have the technical knowledge or consider yourself a bit of a technophobe, this guide is accessible to all and will walk you through the entire process. Simply follow the steps below to get set up; from purchasing a subscription outside of America to choosing the right VPN for you.

What will you need?

• A VPN service that works with hulu

• A hulu gift card or virtual card

The most important ingredient for unblocking hulu is a VPN. However, you will need to ensure you get a VPN that works with hulu, since not all providers support streaming. 

Next, in order to purchase hulu from outside the USA, you will also need to buy a hulu gift card. Getting a hulu account from outside of the US is actually pretty easy, and tens of thousands of people worldwide already do it. Gift cards remove the need to pay for hulu with a US bank card - which will save you a lot of time and effort. 

If you're new to VPNs, we recommend checking out:

• What is a VPN? A non-technical guide
• The best hulu VPNs list

How to unblock hulu from anywhere

Unblocking hulu is extremely easy. Just follow the steps below to start streaming hulu now:

1. Select a VPN with a US server that works with hulu.

   In our example below we have chosen to use PrivateVPN because they work seamlessly with hulu and have very competitive pricing - making them a solid choice.

2. Click through to your preferred VPN’s website and subscribe.

3. Download the VPN software and install it on your device.

4. Connect to a US server that works with hulu.

   Ask customer support if you aren’t sure which server to use.

5. When the VPN connects, your IP address will appear to be in the USA, and you are ready to subscribe to hulu.

6. Log in to hulu using your credentials and start streaming thanks to your VPN

Signing up and paying for a hulu account

hulu is a US-only service, which means that the firm only accepts US credit and debit cards. This can make paying a little tricky. Luckily, this isn’t a deal-breaker because there are two options available to you:

1. Pay for hulu using an online virtual card service

2. Pay for hulu with a gift voucher

Although paying with a virtual US debit card is a possibility, its costly nature and difficulty to set up make it beyond the purview of this guide. To find out more, check out our guide to using a virtual credit card service.

A gift voucher can be purchased from MyGiftCardSupply or from from Walmart, and the firm delivers the gift code to your email inbox. Despite prompting you to sign up for an account and input a legitimate US address and phone number, these are not requirements and can be bypassed easily enough. 

What’s more, Walmart accepts international card payments - which means that you can pay for your voucher with PayPal or your usual credit or debit card:

Once you have purchased your gift card, and it has arrived in your inbox, simply follow these steps to redeem it:

Can you unblock hulu for free?

No. Free VPN services are not suitable for streaming hulu because they have bandwidth limitations and download restrictions. As a result, it is not possible to stream hulu with a free VPN. 

In addition, most free VPNs do not actually provide access to hulu. This is because hulu actively blocks VPNs and free services do not have the time, money, or resources to beat these blocks. 

The good news is that you can use a clever hack to gain access to hulu for free. All the premium VPNs that we recommend for hulu provide a money-back guarantee. This means that you can enjoy hulu for between 30 and 45 days and then get a complete refund. Visit our free hulu VPN hack guide for more details!

Will I get in trouble for watching hulu outside the US?

Many jump to the conclusion that watching hulu from outside of the United States is against the law, but in actuality, you will not be punished. The provider only blocks access to its services outside of the US because it has international licensing deals to uphold. But, the reality is that you are still paying for the service and hulu wants to make more profit. Having extra subscribers sneaking in with a VPN from overseas does exactly that.

Legitimately subscribing means that you are not engaging in piracy and, therefore, not breaking any laws, but using a VPN is against hulu’s Terms of Service:

Putting it in writing helps to appease licensee partners, however, hulu has not yet closed down subscriber accounts for VPN use. Instead, they focus on blocking IP addresses that belong to VPNs. This ensures that it works to combat VPNs without restricting its own ability to profit from the extra international subscribers. If you stick to a VPN that works with hulu, you will have no problems streaming hulu from outside of the USA. 

Can I use a Proxy to unblock hulu?

Much like it does with IP addresses, hulu works hard to block as many proxies as possible, making it almost impossible to unblock the service using this method. Website and browser-based proxies are much easier to discover and block than VPNs because they do not spend time and effort staying one step ahead of hulu. So, if you want to unblock hulu, a reliable and trusted VPN is the only real option available to you in 2024.