Best VPN for Italy 2026: RaiPlay, Mediaset Infinity, DAZN Serie A

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Which VPN to choose for Italy in 2026?

NordVPN is the best VPN for Italy in 2026: a wide network in Milan and Rome, reliable unblocking of RaiPlay, Mediaset Infinity, DAZN Serie A and NOW TV. Proton VPN is the privacy alternative: Swiss jurisdiction, audited open-source apps, from €4.49/month. Surfshark offers the best value with unlimited connections.

The honest starting point for Italy: it is a major European market, so an Italian IP is the easy part. Every big provider runs physical servers in Milan (the country’s main hub) and most add Rome. The decision therefore isn’t “who has a server” — it’s who keeps unblocking the stricter platforms, namely DAZN Serie A and NOW TV, which police VPN traffic far more than the free RaiPlay or Mediaset Infinity.

This article targets three profiles: Serie A fans abroad (following Juventus, Milan, Napoli, Inter), the Italian diaspora abroad, and travellers heading to Italy.

Why a VPN is useful for Italy

Case 1 — You’re abroad and want access to Italian content

• RaiPlay (raiplay.it) — free, Italian series (Il Commissario Montalbano, Gomorra reruns), Rai 1/2/3, documentaries, films
• Mediaset Infinity — Canale 5, Italia 1, Rete 4, Grande Fratello, Isola dei Famosi
• DAZN Serie A — every Serie A match (Juventus, Milan, Napoli, Inter)
• NOW TV (former Sky Italia streaming) — Sky Originals, cinema, football
• Discovery+ Italia — Eurosport Italia (Giro d’Italia, tennis)
• Netflix IT — Italian catalogue with exclusive series (Suburra, Baby)
• Disney+ Italia, Prime Video IT with local catalogues

Case 2 — You’re travelling or living in Italy

• Tourist public Wi-Fi (Rome/Milan airports, Venice hotels, Florence, Cinque Terre) — rarely secure
• Keep access to home streaming (Netflix US, BBC iPlayer) from anywhere in Italy
• Home banking from Italy — avoid blocks
• 2024 Piracy Shield law: Italy rapidly blocks IPs involved in illegal streaming. VPN with kill switch recommended

Case 3 — You’re an Italian expat abroad

• Access to your Italian bank (Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, BPER, Banca Popolare) which may block a foreign connection
• Shopping on Amazon.it, La Feltrinelli with Italian promotions
• Agenzia delle Entrate for your Italian taxes

The 3 criteria that matter for Italy

1. Servers in Milan and Rome

Milan is the main Italian hub, Rome secondary. NordVPN has servers in both cities, and Surfshark does too. As a major market, Italy is covered by every big name — none is missing.

2. Unblocking Italian platforms

DAZN Serie A and NOW TV have moderate-to-strong VPN detection — NordVPN and Surfshark pass. RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity are easy.

3. A kill switch (2024 Piracy Shield law)

Italy introduced the Piracy Shield law in 2024: very fast blocking (within roughly 30 minutes) of IPs involved in illegal sports streaming. If you use P2P or grey streaming, a VPN kill switch is essential.

Which VPNs really have an Italy server?

Italy is the easy case: every major provider runs physical servers in the country, so an Italian IP is never the bottleneck. The differentiator is which ones keep unblocking the stricter platforms — DAZN Serie A and NOW TV refresh their VPN blocklists far more aggressively than the free public services.

The Italian angle most guides miss: availability is solved, so don’t pick on server count. RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity wave through almost any Italian IP, but DAZN Serie A and NOW TV are the gatekeepers and update their blocklists often. On top of that, the 2024 Piracy Shield can blacklist an IP in minutes, so a trustworthy kill switch matters more here than in most countries. Streaming reliability (NordVPN’s fast rotation) plus a solid kill switch are the two real criteria.

Which fits your use case?

• Following Serie A on DAZN NordVPN. Its Milan and Rome servers plus NordLynx keep Juventus, Milan and Napoli stable in 4K, and the kill switch is the most reliable of the three under Piracy Shield.
• Maximum privacy Proton VPN. Swiss jurisdiction outside the 14 Eyes, audited open-source apps, 30-day money-back guarantee: the safest everyday pick.
• A whole household or group of expats Surfshark. Unlimited connections cover the family on RaiPlay, Mediaset Infinity and Netflix IT on one plan.

How to watch DAZN Serie A from abroad

1. Subscribe to NordVPN, install the app.
2. Connect to a Milan server.
3. Create a DAZN account at dazn.com selecting Italy (Italian address).
4. Subscribe to the DAZN Italia plan for full Serie A.
5. Stream every Serie A match live.

A point worth knowing for Italian football fans: DAZN holds the lion’s share of Serie A rights, but a handful of matches and competitions land on NOW TV (Sky Italia’s streaming brand) instead. Both are the strictest platforms in the Italian line-up for VPN detection, so if you follow a club seriously you’ll want a provider that clears both from a single Milan IP — not just whichever one you tested first. RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity, by contrast, are forgiving and will play on almost any Italian server, which is why the diaspora watching Rai dramas or Mediaset reality shows rarely hits a wall. The 4K Serie A streams are also the heaviest content here, so the speed of the Milan link matters as much as its cleanliness — another reason NordLynx comes out ahead.

Setting up the VPN for an Italy trip

1. Install the VPN before departure on every device.
2. Enable the kill switch — essential with Piracy Shield 2024.
3. Add home country and Italy as favourites.
4. On tourist public Wi-Fi: VPN active systematically.

Is a free VPN enough for Italy?

For a quick check on Venice hotel Wi-Fi, a free VPN can do. For DAZN Serie A, NOW TV or RaiPlay in HD, no. Free apps hand you an Italian IP but cap data, throttle HD speed and are blacklisted fastest by the platforms that matter. There’s a second catch unique to Italy: the 2024 Piracy Shield can block an IP in minutes, so torrenting or grey streaming without a reliable kill switch is genuinely risky — and free VPNs rarely have a good one. Proton VPN’s free tier is the honest privacy exception (no logs, no data cap), but it has no Italian server and won’t unblock DAZN. With paid plans refunding within 30-45 days, that window is the safe “free trial”.

Italy VPN on mobile (iPhone, Android, APK)

Most Italian streaming happens on phones, tablets and TV boxes, so the app matters:

• iPhone / iPad — install from the App Store, enable the VPN profile, pick Milan. The RaiPlay, Mediaset Infinity and DAZN iOS apps work once you hold an Italian IP.
• Android — get the app from Google Play, not a random APK: side-loaded VPN APKs are a known malware vector. NordVPN, Proton VPN and Surfshark all publish on Play.
• Android TV / Apple TV / Fire TV — Surfshark ships native TV apps with Italian servers; ideal for a Serie A match on the big screen abroad.
• If DAZN or NOW TV blocks — they flag datacenter IPs harder than RaiPlay; switch to another Milan or Rome server and reload to clear it.

What NOT to do

• Rely on a free VPN for DAZN Serie A — all blocked
• Stream pirated sports in Italy without a kill switch — Piracy Shield 2024 acts in minutes
• Log into your home bank without a VPN from Milan
• Disable the VPN on hotel Wi-Fi in Venice or Florence — risky tourist zones

Verdict: which VPN for Italy in 2026?

• Best overall: NordVPN — speed, kill switch, unblocks everything.
• The privacy pick: Proton VPN: rated 9.2, Swiss jurisdiction, €4.49/month, 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Best price: Surfshark — unlimited connections.

Same region: VPN Switzerland, VPN Austria, VPN Spain.

See also: our overall best VPN comparison, our streaming comparison or our NordVPN review.