Do you actually need a VPN in Pakistan?
Start with where you connect. A stay in Pakistan runs on shared Wi-Fi, in hotels, guesthouses, cafes and offices, and every one of those networks is shared with strangers. A VPN encrypts what you do on all of them, and it helps keep banking, email and other cautious services treating you as if you never left home. For anyone working remotely or managing money across borders, that quiet layer of protection is the part of a VPN that actually earns its subscription.
Things also break at inconvenient hours when you are abroad. Both of our picks run 24/7 support over live chat and email, so there is help at 2am: NordVPN and Surfshark both answer around the clock.
What a VPN does and does not do in Pakistan
It does three things well. It encrypts your traffic, which is the whole point on shared Wi-Fi. It lets you appear to be connecting from home, which helps home services behave as if you were still there. And it puts the devices you carry under one subscription, ten of them on NordVPN and unlimited on Surfshark.
Three things it does not do. First, it is not a promise of access: Pakistan blocks certain websites and services, X, formerly Twitter, has been blocked there since early 2024, no VPN provider guarantees a way past state filtering, and this page makes no promise about reaching any of it. Second, it is no help when the network itself is cut: the authorities have restricted internet access around protests, and when a connection is down there is no connection to protect, whatever software you carry. Third, it does not make a connection faster: encryption adds a small overhead, so if a page promises quicker Wi-Fi with a VPN, it is telling you what you want to hear.
Recommended VPNs for Pakistan
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 household with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. The same plan lengths and the same 30-day money-back guarantee apply.
Server networks and speeds
Speed for a traveller mostly comes down to distance: the closer the server, the shorter the detour your traffic takes, and the less speed you give up. In Pakistan the right default is a nearby server, and the exception is when you specifically need to appear at home, for your bank or your email, in which case you accept the longer detour for that session. Connection quality inside the country varies for reasons that have nothing to do with any VPN, so expect good days and bad days.
We publish no speed numbers, because they would tell you more about the cafe you sat in than about the VPN. The 30-day money-back guarantees on NordVPN and Surfshark are the honest way to test both on the connections you will actually use.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last row is the promise you should not believe anywhere.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 12 months, total upfront | $65.88 | $50.85 |
| 24 months, total upfront | $94.23 | $67.23 |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to blocked sites | No | No |
Priced per month, NordVPN wins only on the one-month plan. Commit for a year or two and Surfshark is the cheaper subscription, and the unlimited device allowance is the deciding factor for anyone settling in with a household of electronics.
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. In Pakistan the in-advance part carries extra weight, because the rules around these tools have shifted before and may shift again; arriving with everything installed and tested means you are ready however things stand when you land.
One more note for Pakistan specifically: both apps support mobile data as well as Wi-Fi, so if you are picking up a local SIM or an eSIM for the trip, the same setup covers it.
Final recommendation
For a trip measured in weeks, NordVPN is the pick: 10 devices covered, quick to run, and a 30-day guarantee that outlasts most holidays. For a long stay, a household, or anyone committing to a year or more, Surfshark covers unlimited devices on one subscription.
Buy either one for what it actually does in Pakistan: an encrypted connection on the shared Wi-Fi you will use constantly, and a home-country connection for the services that dislike foreign logins. It is not a promise of access to what Pakistan blocks, and it is no help when the network itself is cut. Set it up before you fly, and it can do its real job of protecting your connection from day one.
