Do you actually need a VPN in Uzbekistan, and is it legal?
There is no Uzbek law that makes using a VPN illegal, and visitors are not prosecuted for having one on their phone. The restriction works the other way round: the state blocks services it does not like, and Freedom House's 2024 report notes that in September 2019 users found NordVPN, ExpressVPN and CyberGhost blocked by Uztelecom, with the Opera browser still blocked in 2021 for its built-in proxy. Blocks come and go without notice, so assume a provider's website may not load once you are in the country.
What is blocked today is narrower than it was. TikTok has been inaccessible since July 2021 under the Law on Personal Data, which requires platforms to store Uzbek users' data on servers inside the country. Twitter, VKontakte, Skype and WeChat were blocked under the same law in 2021 and restored in August 2022. The government also removes content it classes as extremist, 1,389 items by January 2025 according to Freedom House, and it cut mobile and then fixed internet in the Karakalpakstan region during the July 2022 protests.
For most travellers the daily reason is more ordinary: guesthouse and cafe Wi-Fi in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara is shared and unencrypted, and your banking and work logins should not cross it in the clear. When a server will not connect from an Uzbek network, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN or Surfshark can switch you to one that does.
What a VPN does and does not do in Uzbekistan
A VPN encrypts your traffic between your phone and the server, so the hotel network and the carrier see only that you are connected to a VPN, not what you are doing. It also lets you pick a location: a UK server brings back iPlayer, your bank's app and the full Netflix library, while an Uzbek server (both providers list Tashkent) gives you a local IP for Uzbek sites that block foreign visitors or for keeping a Tashkent login alive from abroad.
It will not speed up a 15 Mbps 4G connection, it cannot promise access to TikTok or any other blocked service, and it does not change Uzbek law on what you publish. Both picks include a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can confirm they connect on your actual network: NordVPN for a shorter trip, Surfshark for a longer stay.
Recommended VPNs for Uzbekistan
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 Uzbekistan
Both of our picks list Uzbekistan on their published server maps: NordVPN in Tashkent, Surfshark in Uzbekistan as a country location, and both also offer Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. That gives you an Uzbek IP when you need one and a short hop to Almaty or Baku when a local server is slow or unreachable. For UK or European content you will connect to Frankfurt or London, which adds latency but is fine for streaming and calls.
Local speeds are the real limit. Opensignal's H1 2025 report measured average 4G downloads of 20.2 Mbps on Beeline, 17.9 Mbps on Uztelecom, 16.2 Mbps on Ucell and 14.2 Mbps on Mobiuz. Freedom House cites Ookla medians of 27 Mbps mobile and 59 Mbps fixed in January 2024. Expect video calls to work and 4K streaming not to.
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 at home, because VPN provider websites have been blocked by Uztelecom before and may be again. Download the app on every device, save your login details offline, and switch on the obfuscated or NoBorders server option so the connection looks like ordinary traffic on Uzbek networks. Turn on the kill switch before using guesthouse Wi-Fi. The apps run on a local Beeline or Ucell SIM's mobile data as well as on Wi-Fi.
Final recommendation
Uzbekistan is a country where the VPN has to be working before you land and where blocks change without warning. For a two-week Silk Road trip, NordVPN is the pick: a Tashkent server, obfuscated servers designed for restricted networks, and ten device connections for a couple or a small group.
If you are moving to Tashkent for work or study, or staying for months, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers a whole flat on one account, its NoBorders mode is built for exactly this kind of network, and it also lists an Uzbekistan location for a local IP.
