Which VPN Works in China Now?

VPN status in China, October 2026

Each status below comes from reports dated October 2026. “Mixed” means October reports disagree. “No recent reports” means we found none from October.

VPN	October 2026	Dated evidence	Our page
Astrill	Mixed	Most users who mention it in a Reddit thread started on October 3 say it works, though some say it gets blocked at times, had an outage on September 30, or fails on their iPhone. Most who mention it in a thread started on October 11 report problems, and two say it fails on their phone but works on a computer or router. VPN Passport (affiliate links) last confirmed it working on August 11. GreatFire user tests	Astrill
Mullvad	Mixed, mostly works	Most users in Reddit threads started on October 3, October 11 and October 16 say it connects, though some find it slow. One says it’s sometimes very hard to connect to any server. Mullvad’s guide (April 2026) says China blocks all its servers in Asia.	Mullvad
LetsVPN	Mixed	Nine users in Reddit threads started on October 3, October 11 and October 15 say it works; one says it didn’t work for them. LetsVPN’s CEO wrote on May 15 that it can no longer provide VPN service for mainland China users. GreatFire user tests	LetsVPN alternatives
Proton VPN	Mixed	Reddit users say it works for them on October 1, October 3 and October 11. Others say it won’t connect: one in Beijing on October 2, another on October 16. In an October 15 thread, users were trading names of servers that still connect. GreatFire user tests	Proton VPN, with reports from after October 16
ExpressVPN	Mixed	The Food Ranger (affiliate links) says it works as of October 2. A Reddit thread started on October 11 says it doesn’t. ExpressVPN’s China notice is still dated February 4, 2026. GreatFire user tests	ExpressVPN
Surfshark	Mixed	Surfshark’s China page, updated October 2, says to connect manually with WireGuard if the app can’t connect. In the r/shanghai thread started October 3, one user called it “spotty right now” on October 4, and on October 6 one said it had worked for them for over a year while another said it didn’t work for them. One Reddit user wrote on October 16 that it worked on hotel Wi-Fi a month earlier, after trying several server locations. GreatFire user tests	Surfshark
NordVPN	Mixed	Few October reports. In the r/shanghai thread started October 3, one user said on October 3 that it worked for them, and two wrote on October 4 that it doesn’t work in China. In the r/chinalife thread started October 11, one user said they use it with NordVPN’s China instructions, and another said the setup had so many hoops that they asked for a refund. NordVPN’s help pages, still up on October 20, say its iPhone app is fully blocked in China and that its Windows app and manual setups have been blocked too. GreatFire user tests	NordVPN

Which VPN works best in China now

No VPN clearly works best in October 2026, and no source we found ranks VPNs on tests from October. Astrill has the best record in the reviews we found, while Mullvad has the most consistently positive October reports from users. Unusual Nomad (affiliate links), whose writers used five VPNs on mainland trips, the latest in spring and summer 2026, found Astrill the most consistent. In August, VPN Passport (affiliate links) listed it as the only VPN it tracks that it had verified working in China. October Reddit reports on Astrill are split, and three users say it fails on their phone but works on a computer or router. Astrill says its iPhone app only switches between UDP and TCP, while its Android app lets you pick its obfuscated StealthVPN protocol. Price and refund terms are on our Astrill page.

Mullvad has mostly positive October reports, some from users who changed its connection method, and some describe it as slow. Mullvad points users in China to US servers in its guide for restrictive locations.

Plan a backup, whichever VPN you pick. The Food Ranger’s author keeps at least three VPNs active while traveling in mainland China. For your phone, several October Reddit posters use a roaming eSIM that routes data outside mainland China instead of a VPN. See eSIM or VPN for China?

What VPN works in China now, according to Reddit

In Reddit threads from October 2026, users in mainland China most often say Mullvad and LetsVPN work for them. Reports on Astrill and Proton VPN are split, and most who mention ExpressVPN say it doesn’t work. Each comment is one person on one network, so read them as hints, not tests.

• Has anyone found a VPN that works in China in 2026 (r/shanghai, started October 3): users name Astrill, LetsVPN, Mullvad and Proton VPN as working for them, with complaints about each. One Astrill user says their first outage this year was on September 30.
• ExpressVPN does not work in China (r/chinalife, started October 11): the poster and several replies say ExpressVPN doesn’t work. Others use Mullvad, LetsVPN or Astrill. One says Astrill “isn’t doing great right now”, and two say it fails on their phone but works on a computer or router.
• What is the go-to VPN nowadays? (r/travelchina, started October 15): one user in China wrote on October 16 that LetsVPN still works, and another wrote the same day that Proton VPN won’t connect. Several others rely on a roaming eSIM.
• Just tried connecting from China (r/mullvadvpn, started October 16): Mullvad connected after the poster changed its connection method. Another user wrote on October 19 that it was still working, a bit slowly.
• It’s working in China again! (r/ProtonVPN, started October 1) and CO#49 in China (October 15): Proton VPN works for some users on some servers, and not for others.

October threads also mention smaller VPN apps and paid proxy services, which Chinese users call “airports”. We haven’t looked into them and don’t list them here.

China VPN crackdown in 2026: what changed

Reputable reports describe a crackdown that started in spring 2026 and went after VPN services and the servers they run on.

• April 12: China Digital Times published translations of documents circulating online. One, dated March 31, is a notice from a Chinese network company that cites Shaanxi Telecom. It tells business customers to block all traffic to addresses outside mainland China and bans hosting VPNs or proxies. China Digital Times said this notice appears aimed at “airport” circumvention services, not ordinary users. Another is a purported April 7 meeting notice from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom about unauthorized cross-border connections.
• April 28: China Digital Times reported that a campaign against circumvention traffic in internet data centers began on April 1, and that circumvention services relying on servers inside China were failing or shutting down. It said it could not independently verify this.
• April 28: LetsVPN, one of the most widely used commercial VPNs in mainland China according to China Digital Times, said it was ending its mainland China business. It said 20 days of near-hourly fixes had failed against ongoing network blocking. On May 15, its CEO wrote that LetsVPN can no longer provide VPN service for mainland China users. More in our LetsVPN guide.
• June 4: ABC News quoted US-based censorship analyst Eric Liu, who said a new round of VPN crackdowns began in April and that telecom carriers in parts of China were asked to block all VPN services.

China Digital Times also cited a February analysis by China Law Translate saying the new draft Cybercrime Law could put more pressure on circumvention tools. State-approved VPNs are still permitted, ABC News reported. For what the rules mean for visitors, read is using a VPN legal in China?

How to read these reports

We haven’t tested any VPN in China. Everything on this page comes from the dated sources listed below, and we check them again each month.

• Networks, cities and devices differ. Unusual Nomad says your operating system, app version, local network and chosen server can all change the result. One Proton VPN user wrote on October 2 that it worked in their current city but hadn’t in Beijing earlier that week.
• Sensitive dates matter. Eric Liu told ABC News that VPN trouble can come during sensitive political events, such as the national congress weeks in March or the June 4 anniversary. Proton VPN users reported failures from September 10, and some Mullvad users in late September said fewer servers connected, which one blamed on the October 1 holiday week. A user of proxy apps wrote on October 11: “It’s always worst in October, but this year seems especially bad.”
• Some sources earn commissions. VPN Passport, Unusual Nomad and The Food Ranger earn money when you buy through their links. VPN Passport’s China page was last verified on August 11, 2026.
• Provider pages aren’t status reports. ExpressVPN’s China notice is still dated February 4, 2026. Proton VPN’s China page has no date and says China changes its blocking methods frequently.
• GreatFire Circumvention Central collects speed tests that users in China submit. Its page for each VPN is linked in the table.

If your VPN stops working once you’re in China, see VPN not working in China.