Do you actually need a VPN in Chile?
VPNs are legal in Chile. There is no ban, no licensing and no restriction on providers, and both of our picks run servers in the country. Chile's 2010 net neutrality law stops operators from blocking or throttling applications, so WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom and Teams calls all work on Entel, Movistar, Claro and WOM. Social media, news and streaming are open.
The exception is gambling. The Supreme Court ruled in September 2025 that online gambling is illegal without specific legal authorisation, and in September 2026 Subtel gave Entel, Movistar, Claro, GTD, WOM and VTR 48 hours to DNS-block 42 sites. UK bookmakers are not authorised in Chile, so expect them to be blocked or to refuse a Chilean IP address. The orders target the ISPs, and nothing in them penalises an individual for running a VPN.
The everyday reason is Wi-Fi. Hostels in Puerto Natales, cafes in Valparaiso, Santiago coworking spaces and the long-distance bus terminals all run shared networks, and banking and work logins should not cross them unencrypted. UK bank apps also sometimes refuse logins from South America, and BBC iPlayer will not play from a Chilean address; a UK server fixes both. If the app misbehaves somewhere remote, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN or Surfshark is the quickest way to sort it.
What a VPN does and does not do in Chile
A VPN encrypts the connection between your device and the VPN server, so the hostel router, the cafe and anyone else on the network see only scrambled traffic. It also chooses where you appear to be: a London server makes UK banking, iPlayer and Netflix behave as they do at home, while a Santiago server, which both of our picks offer, keeps Chilean sites and payment pages treating you as local.
It will not add signal on the Carretera Austral, it will not speed up a lodge's satellite link in Torres del Paine, and it does not change Chile's Supreme Court ruling on gambling. Both picks carry a 30-day money-back guarantee, so test them on your actual connections: NordVPN for a two or three week trip, Surfshark if you are staying for a season or relocating.
Recommended VPNs for Chile
NordVPN, best for short trips and month-by-month plans
It is the one for you if you are covering yourself, or you and a partner, and want something simple to run and easy to forget about. One plan covers 10 devices, and the apps are quick to install and easy to switch off and on as you need. Plans run by the month, the year or over two years, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Surfshark, best for long stays and unlimited devices
It is the one for you if one subscription needs to cover everyone. Connections are unlimited, so every phone, laptop and tablet you travel with, and anyone you share a place with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. It sells the same three terms and adds bonus months on the longer two, with the same 30-day money-back guarantee.
Server networks and speeds in Chile
Both of our picks run servers in Santiago. NordVPN lists Santiago as its Chilean location and Surfshark lists Chile on its network. Chile is long and thin, so even from Punta Arenas a Santiago server is the nearest sensible choice; the alternatives are Buenos Aires or Lima. For UK services you connect to London, and that transatlantic hop is the same whichever provider you pick.
Mobile speeds are respectable for the region. Opensignal's March 2026 report, covering October to December 2025, put average downloads at 46.7 Mbps on Entel, 42.9 Mbps on Movistar, 42.4 Mbps on Claro and 38.7 Mbps on WOM, with Movistar's 5G averaging 165.5 Mbps. Coverage is good along the central corridor and thins out fast in the Atacama and Patagonia.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last two rows are there to name two promises you should not believe from anyone, us included.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 1 year plan, total upfront | $65.88 (12 months billed) | $50.85 (15 months billed) |
| 2 year plan, total upfront | $94.23 (27 months billed) | $67.23 (27 months billed) |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to any blocked site, anywhere | No | No |
| Makes slow Wi-Fi faster | No | No |
On a single month NordVPN is cheaper. Over a year or two Surfshark is. On everything else the choice is about shape rather than money: 10 devices and a simple setup on one side, unlimited devices on the other.
Setting up before you travel
Do the setup at home, on Wi-Fi you trust, before the airport. Install NordVPN or Surfshark on each device, sign in, and connect once to confirm everything works. Then turn on two settings both apps include: the kill switch, which stops your traffic travelling unprotected if the VPN drops, and auto-connect, which brings the VPN back up when your connection returns.
Install and log in before you fly, turn on the kill switch so a Wi-Fi dropout in a hostel does not leak traffic, and save a UK server for banking and iPlayer and a Santiago server for local sites. One Chilean quirk: a foreign phone works on a local SIM for 30 days, after which its IMEI must be registered on the national whitelist or it stops connecting, so longer stays need that step. Our Best eSIMs for Chile guide covers data options that avoid the SIM shop altogether.
Final recommendation
Chile is an easy country for VPN use: legal, nothing mainstream blocked, and local servers from both providers. For a two or three week trip covering Santiago, the Atacama and Patagonia, NordVPN is the pick. Its Santiago server keeps local browsing quick, its UK servers handle banking and iPlayer, and ten device connections cover a couple's phones, tablets and laptops.
If you are working remotely from Santiago or Valparaiso for a season, or moving for a contract, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers every phone, laptop and TV box in a rented flat, and its Santiago server keeps everyday latency low.
