Leaving in China without a VPN is possible only if you are travelling for a short period and with an eSim (in this way the Chinese firewall won't affect you), but for longer stays you will find out that having a traditional local sim with a local number is super useful, but then you won't be able to access most western apps like Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp etc...
So, if you are looking for a cheap and reliable vpn for China in 2025, here's my guide! 🙂
It's nearly impossible to recommend the perfect VPN, I have tried many and usually even the best ones, like Astrill used to be, at a certain point start having issues.
I am reading blogs and comments online still suggesting Express, all I can say is AVOID it, it stopped working years ago; a friend of mine tried to use it in October 2024 and still it was not working.
Astrill is the most recommended, I used to love it but since the end of 2024 I started having big issues, especially on my IPhone, that's why I decided to make a change.
What I have been using for more than a year now is SimpleLink, I cannot say that it was perfect, but it was ok considered the price. Sadly, I cannot use it anymore as their services are often down despite the fact that they made changes to the APP and the user center. Moreover, prices increased and that's totally another reason not to go on subscribing with them.
Anyway, if you want a FREE TRIAL and a 15 CNY starting credit just click here!
Let's VPN is another option that is often mentioned as one of the best for China, what I don't like about them is that you can only connect 2 devices at a time, while me and my husband often need to connect 4 or 5 (2 PCs, 2 phones, 1 tablet...).
Another great service for emergencies is CLASH VPN (also named Heibao or Cham), you can get one hour of free connection every day. If you want to buy a plan you have multiple choices and it's on the cheap side.
I have been also using MULLVAD for 2 weeks; what I loved about them is that you can pay a monthly fee of 5 euros and you don't need to purchase 12 or 24 months to get a good price. The problem is that the service was too slow sometimes and they don't have live customer service chat. I just switched to CLASH and it's working great!
