Is a VPN legal in Jordan, and what is actually blocked?
Jordan's 2023 Cybercrime Law is the thing to understand. Freedom House's 2024 report says the law seeks to prohibit the use of VPNs, proxy servers and other anonymous communication tools such as Tor, and that the websites of ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, NordVPN and TunnelBear have been blocked since 2021. The enforcement record is about speech, not software: Freedom House documents dozens of people investigated or arrested for online content under the law, mostly over Gaza protests, and a five-year sentence for the activist Ayman Sandouqa over a post criticising the king's Israel policy. We have not found a case of a visitor prosecuted for using a VPN for banking or work. Nomadwise does not advise breaking local law; read the position, keep political comment off public platforms in Jordan, and decide for yourself.
Blocking is targeted. TikTok has been blocked since the December 2022 fuel protests and remained so in Freedom House's latest coverage, Clubhouse since March 2021, Grindr since August 2023, and twelve news outlets including Raseef22 and Middle East Eye since May 2025. In June 2024 the government blocked messaging apps for several weeks during the national Tawjihi exams. WhatsApp calls, Instagram, Facebook and streaming services work.
The everyday reason is Amman's busy hotel, cafe and mall Wi-Fi, where banking and work logins should be encrypted. If an app will not connect, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN and Surfshark is the fastest route to an obfuscated server.
What a VPN does and does not do in Jordan
A VPN encrypts the traffic between your device and the VPN server, so the hotel network, the carrier and anyone sharing the Wi-Fi see only scrambled data. It lets you choose where you appear to be: a UK server keeps your bank, iPlayer and Netflix behaving as at home, and a nearby Cyprus, Turkey or UAE server keeps browsing quick. Where Jordan blocks a platform at the network level, the major providers' obfuscated servers are designed to carry that traffic, though no provider can promise it, and the Cybercrime Law is the reason to think before you use one for that.
It will not change your legal exposure for anything you post, it will not make a congested guesthouse connection in Wadi Musa faster, and it will not help during a full local shutdown. Both picks come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so test on your own networks: NordVPN for a shorter trip, Surfshark if you are staying.
Recommended VPNs for Jordan
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 for Jordan
NordVPN lists Amman, but it is a virtual location: the hardware sits in France and hands out Jordanian IP addresses, which suits local services that check your location rather than latency. Surfshark has no Jordan location. For the lowest ping from Amman, both providers have physical servers in Cyprus, Turkey and the UAE, and for UK banking or streaming you route to London either way. Cyprus is the sensible everyday default on both networks.
Local networks are good. Freedom House's 2024 report puts internet penetration at 91 percent and mobile connections at 9.14 million across Orange, Zain and Umniah, each with roughly a third of the market, and 4G reaches the main tourist routes. A VPN is rarely the bottleneck in Amman or Aqaba.
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, because the websites of several VPN providers, including NordVPN, have been blocked in Jordan since 2021 and you may not be able to download or subscribe once you land. Confirm the obfuscated option (obfuscated servers on NordVPN, Camouflage mode on Surfshark) connects, turn on the kill switch for hotel and cafe Wi-Fi, and set a UK or Cyprus server as your default. Our Best eSIMs for Jordan guide covers getting online the moment you land; both apps work on an eSIM data plan as well as Wi-Fi.
Final recommendation
Jordan is well connected, with a cybercrime law that reaches further on paper than in practice. Install before you arrive, use a VPN for privacy and your home services, and leave political posting alone. For a week through Amman, Petra and Wadi Rum, NordVPN is the pick, with obfuscated servers for networks that block VPN traffic, a virtual Amman location when a Jordanian IP is useful, and ten device connections.
If you are posting to Amman for a contract or settling in for a longer stay, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers every phone, laptop and TV in the flat, Camouflage mode handles the filtering, and its Cyprus, Turkey and UAE servers are close enough that the missing Jordan location will not matter.
