How to Access Pandora From Anywhere for Free (Works 2024)

Despite paying good money for your subscription, you can’t listen to your favorite songs on Pandora if you’re traveling outside the US. The music streaming service only works in the US due to licensing restrictions preventing it from working elsewhere.

That doesn’t mean you have to miss out. A top VPN is the best way to access Pandora outside the US. I tested 30+ VPNs to find the best ones for streaming Pandora from anywhere.

ExpressVPN is the #1 VPN for listening to your music on Pandora. Its proprietary Lightway protocol gives you ultra-fast speeds that are perfect for lag-free songs. Plus, you can buy ExpressVPN with confidence since it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Access Pandora with ExpressVPN

3 Easy Steps to Unblock Pandora for Free

Unblock Pandora with ExpressVPN

Why Can’t You Access Pandora?

Geo-Blocks

Pandora only works in the US due to strict copyright laws and licensing agreements. The service’s deals with music producers only allow it to play in the US. That means if you try to listen from outside the country, the app and website will identify your location via your IP address and block you.

Connecting to a VPN server in the US replaces your digital location with a US-based one. When Pandora sees a VPN IP address in the US, it lets you access all your usual music. Just remember that accessing Pandora from outside the US with a VPN violates the platform’s terms of service, and I don’t condone that. It could get your account banned even if you’re a premium subscriber.

Institutional Blocks

School and workplace networks may restrict Pandora and other entertainment platforms to keep students and employees productive. When you use a VPN, your traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel to the VPN server. This acts as a secure middleman between your device and the internet, so your online activities appear to be coming from the private VPN server instead of your usual internet connection.

As a result, anyone monitoring your internet connection such as a network administrator can’t see what websites or apps you’re using. Your connection will be routed to the internet from somewhere else, which is how a VPN can get past filters and give you rightful access to Pandora. Just keep in mind I don’t condone breaking rules at work or school to listen to music.

Using a VPN to Unblock Pandora

A reliable VPN is the best way to get around firewalls and geo-blocks. It gives you an IP address in the US, so all your internet traffic appears to be coming from there. When it sees this US-based device location, Pandora and other platforms allow use of their services.

Features All the Best Free VPNs Have in Common

Not all VPNs are equal, so you should look for the following features to access Pandora:

• Free Access — free VPNs aren’t likely reliable or safe to use, but I suggest using a paid VPN with a money-back guarantee to stream music on Pandora safely.
• Servers in the US — make sure your VPN has servers located within the US for getting an IP address that works with Pandora.
• Unlimited bandwidth — most free VPNs have data caps, so you can’t stream music on Pandora without being cut off after a few songs. Get a free VPN with no data limitations.
• Security and privacy features — free VPNs often lack security and privacy features, but some offer military-grade encryption, leak protection, and a no-logs policy.
• Compatibility — choose a VPN that has a native app for your preferred streaming device whether it’s iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, or a different one.

Quick Guide: Best VPNs to Unblock Pandora for Free in 2024

Buy ExpressVPN for Pandora

Editor’s Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

5 Best Free VPNs to Unblock Pandora

1. ExpressVPN — #1 VPN for Pandora With the Fastest Speeds for Streaming Lag-Free Music From Anywhere

Outstanding

Outstanding

📍Servers	3,000+
📱Devices	8
💰Refund	30 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

ExpressVPN is the best overall VPN for listening to music on Pandora. While not technically free, it’s more than worth the small investment to get 100% bufferless streams of all your favorite songs. Excellent unblocking capabilities allow it to access Pandora from almost any country, and its proprietary Lightway VPN protocol gives you consistently fast speeds. That means perfect streams of your favorite music, even in 192kbps quality.

Since Lightway uses fewer lines of code, it moves and protects your data faster than older protocols. My speeds only dropped 3% on ExpressVPN’s Los Angeles server, located 2,000+ miles away from my location. With such fast speeds, you can expect smooth streaming whether you’re more into Madonna or Metallica.

With multiple servers in 20+ locations in the US alone, I could instantly log in to my Pandora account with ExpressVPN’s networks in New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tampa, Washington DC, and more. I got a different IP address every time I reconnected to a network in any given location. Tests also proved that ExpressVPN can easily access other music streaming services, such as:

Listening to music on Pandora without a VPN can expose you to hackers and eavesdroppers. That’s why ExpressVPN offers the following security features to keep you safe:

• Military-grade encryption — hides your Pandora streaming traffic with a 256-bit cipher to make it invisible to third parties.
• No-logs servers — all of ExpressVPN’s servers use RAM drives that are incapable of storing your data, so information like your Pandora streaming history isn’t recorded.
• Kill switch — turns off your internet if something unexpected happens that interrupts your connection (like your PC going to sleep), so Pandora won’t block you.
• Leak protection — I ran multiple tests and ExpressVPN didn’t give me any DNS, IP, or WebRTC leaks that would have cut off my music streams on Pandora.

If you have a Pandora Premium Family account, you can access it on up to 8 devices with ExpressVPN simultaneously. Installing it on my iPhone, iPad, and Google Pixel phone took less than 5 minutes per device. If you want to listen on platforms like Roku that don’t support VPN apps directly, you can set it up on your router. This protects all the devices on your network at once.

One small issue with ExpressVPN is that it doesn’t offer phone-based customer support. However, its prompt and professional 24/7 live chat makes up for this. Connecting to a live support agent took under a minute. I asked them how to use the Lightway protocol and which US server is best for accessing Pandora and got a reply immediately.

While ExpressVPN isn’t free, it’s by far the best VPN for accessing Pandora outside the US so I still recommend it. Plus, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee that backs every purchase. You can get great value for your money with the 2-year + 4 months free plan, which offers a 61% discount at $$4.994.99 per month. To get a refund, I reached out via 24/7 live chat and was approved in under a minute. I had my money back 4 days later.

Get ExpressVPN for Pandora

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

2. CyberGhost — Huge Network in the US Give You 100% Reliable Pandora Access

Outstanding

Outstanding

📍Servers	11,676+
📱Devices	7
💰Refund	45 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

CyberGhost’s huge US-based network enables completely reliable Pandora unblocking with no connection issues or location errors. While it isn’t 100% free, its money-back guarantee lets you use it to listen for free while you travel, then get your money back. Plus, with 1,350+ servers in the US, 20+ of them instantly unblocked Pandora during tests.

While they were all fast enough for lag-free music at an average of 93Mbps, using streaming-optimized servers in the US increased my speeds. CyberGhost’s Amazon Prime Video server improved my speeds by 13%, compared to its location-based servers in the US. This is useful if you’re located far away from the US, which can cause slower performance.

A 7-connection limit like CyberGhost’s is more than enough to listen to your favorite tracks on Pandora. The music service only allows streaming on 6 devices at a time with the family plan, so I tested the VPN on my Windows laptop, Macbook, iPhone, and 2 iPads simultaneously. I got zero noticeable slowdowns. That means you get perfect performance on Pandora even if you’re listening on multiple platforms.

In addition to reliably unblocking Pandora with fast speeds, CyberGhost’s 11,670 servers in 100 countries gives you access to all your other music streaming apps like:

You have the right to use and stream music without exposing your identity or location, and my tests showed that CyberGhost has top-notch security and privacy features such as:

• Military-grade encryption — the 256-bit key is virtually impenetrable, so third parties can’t know what you’re streaming on Pandora or steal your payment details.
• Security protocols — you can choose between OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 to tweak your security and speeds for getting the best Pandora experience.
• Excellent leak protection — I tested 20 servers in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan and CyberGhost passed my DNS, IP, and WebRTC leak tests.
• Kill switch — my computer went into sleep mode while I was connected to US server and CyberGhost cut my connection to prevent my real IP address from getting exposed.

Despite its advanced safety features, one small issue with CyberGhost is that it can’t unblock Pandora in countries with national internet firewalls like China as ExpressVPN can. However, this is true for most VPNs, and doesn’t matter unless you’re visiting one of the few places where VPNs are restricted. With those few exceptions, CyberGhost unblocks Pandora from anywhere.

While not technically free, you can use CyberGhost free for 45 days with its money-back guarantee. If you decide to keep it, I recommend CyberGhost’s 2-year + 2 months plan because of its 83% discount. Its shorter-term plans also make it among the best affordable monthly VPN options. I tested the refund policy, and the 24/7 live chat agent confirmed my request immediately. I got my money back in 5 days.

Get CyberGhost for Pandora

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

3. Proton VPN — No Data Caps For Unlimited Free Pandora Music Streaming

Excellent

Excellent

📍Servers	4,690+
📱Devices	10
💰Refund	30 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	No

See Deals

Key Features:

Proton VPN’s free plan has no data limits so you can stream unlimited music on Pandora. That’s impressive, considering that most free VPNs cap your bandwidth or impose time limits on your connection. Other free VPNs don’t usually even give you enough data to stream a couple of long songs by Iron Maiden or an extended jam on one of The Grateful Dead’s epic live albums.

I connected to a server in the US and got speeds upwards of 60Mbps. That’s more than enough for lag-free music streaming. Larry the Cable Guy Weekly Roundup, The Hoda Show, and other podcasts had only 3-5 seconds of initial buffering during tests. Trying a Proton VPN paid plan gave me even faster speeds and unblocking capabilities, but even the free version can still access:

While Proton VPN offers premium features like Secure Core servers only on its paid subscriptions, the free app has these solid security and privacy features for safe music streaming on Pandora:

• Kill switch — Proton VPN will cut internet connectivity if something makes the VPN server unstable.
• Secure VPN protocols — you can choose between OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 to balance security with speeds for Pandora streaming.

If you’re using Pandora’s family subscription, Proton VPN’s 10-device limit is more than enough for most users. But if it’s not, you can set it up on your router to encrypt all your home devices at once. It’s a bit technical, but you can contact customer support for guidance.

Unfortunately, Proton VPN doesn’t offer live chat support. However, it has an online ticket system with fast response times. I asked about the VPN’s Secure Core feature and got a reply within 3 hours.

While the free plan is good for unlimited streaming on Pandora, you can upgrade to the 2-year subscription for just $2.99 per month. For a paid VPN ExpressVPN is significantly faster, but there’s no harm if you want to try Proton VPN’s premium features. Just keep in mind that you can only get a refund on the unused portion within the first 30 days of a paid plan.

Get Proton VPN for Pandora

4. Hotspot Shield — Proprietary Hydra Catapult Protocol Gives You Stable Connections for Lag-Free Streaming on Pandora

Excellent

Excellent

📍Servers	1,800+
📱Devices	10
💰Refund	45 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

Hotspot Shield’s Hydra Catapult protocol has perfectly reliable streaming connections for hassle-free Pandora listening. This proprietary protocol is also specially designed for uninterrupted high-bandwidth activities like high-quality music, online gaming, and UHD video. That meant I had no buffering while streaming Fiona Apple’s latest album.

The free plan has 1 virtual server in the US that always worked with Pandora during tests, so Hotspot Shield’s free network accesses Pandora reliably. However, speeds will vary depending on your distance from the server. There were 1 to 2 second drops during tests. However, my average of 55Mbps on Android would be more than enough for streaming any classic album like Radiohead’s OK Computer even while relying on cellular data.

I was happy to see that Hotspot Shield’s free plan doesn’t have major security or privacy limitations compared to the paid version:

• Military-grade encryption — the VPN uses the same 256-bit protocol that governments use to protect sensitive data.
• Data leak protection — I tested 5 IP addresses with Hotspot Shield’s US server on the free plan and didn’t get any DNS or IP address leaks.

Like most other free VPNs, Hotspot Shield’s free plan only supports 1 device and works on platforms including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Chrome. Regardless of your chosen platform, you can also use the VPN to access other music streaming platforms such as:

My only reservation with Hotspot Shield is that the free plan has a daily bandwidth cap of 500MB. However, it’s not a big issue since a 6-hour streaming session only uses about 85MB to 100MB of data. You can listen for even longer if you lower the audio quality.

If the free plan doesn’t suit you, consider getting Hotspot Shield’s 3-year plan since it’s only $2.99 per month. Plus, you can test Hotspot Shield risk-free with its 45-day money-back guarantee. I emailed customer support to ask for a refund. The agent emailed me back in 6 hours to ask my reason, and I said I chose a different VPN. They approved my request in 20 minutes, and I only had to wait 4 days to get my money back.

Get Hotspot Shield for Pandora

5. hide.me — Stealth Guard Ensures 100% Privacy While Using Pandora

Great VPN

Great VPN

📍Servers	2,400
📱Devices	10
💰Refund	30 days
📝Keep logs	No
🔰Kill switch
📞Support 24/7	Yes

See Deals

Key Features:

Hide.me’s Stealth Guard keeps your Pandora listening safe even on public WiFi. Since shared networks have poor security, they’re targeted by snoopers and hackers who can see your personal information. With Stealth Guard on, I could listen to all I wanted without worrying about network administrators or cyberthieves watching my activities or stealing my logins.

The free plan has some limitations but unlike most free VPNs, hide.me includes security and privacy essentials:

• Leak protection — I tested 5 US IP addresses using hide.me’s US server, and none of them revealed my actual location (which can cause Pandora to block you).
• Perfect Forward Secrecy — hide.me constantly generates new encryption keys to prevent hackers from compromising your connection while you use Pandora.

I got consistent speeds around 40Mbps on hide.me’s US server. Even if you’re far away, this gives you smooth music with no drops. It also delivers lag-free Pandora performance when you’re listening on cellular data, which is usually much slower than a WiFi connection.

With hide.me’s 10GB monthly data limit, you can stream on your Pandora account every day for a month and still have a couple of GBs left. A typical session on consumes about 20MB per hour at standard quality, which gives you about 20 days’ worth of dancing to your favorite tracks. Plus, you can also use it to listen to tunes on:

I was slightly skeptical of hide.me after learning that it temporarily stores your email address. However, its privacy policy explicitly states that hide.me doesn’t store logs. The little data it does have of you is fully encrypted. Hide.me is also based in privacy-friendly Malaysia, where there’s no online monitoring of VPNs.

If the limitations get too annoying, the premium plan gives you access to cloud storage, an extensive global network, and 10 simultaneous connections. Just subscribe to hide.me’s 2-year + 3 months plan for $2.39 per month. You can try it risk-free for 30 days using its money-back guarantee.

Get hide.me for Pandora

FAQs on Unblocking Pandora for Free

Can I listen to Pandora Radio in Mexico, the UK, Canada, and Japan?

Yes, but only using a VPN with servers in the US. All the free VPNs on my list have servers there, so they can unblock Pandora from anywhere. However, using the service from outside the US violates its terms of service and I don’t condone that. Make sure to review the user agreement before using a VPN.

For more reliable access to your music, another option is to choose one of the top premium VPNs to get an affordable premium provider with far more servers and faster speeds. These will all give you totally bufferless music streaming on Pandora.

Can I listen to Pandora Radio on multiple devices?

Yes, if you have a Pandora Premium Family account which allows 6 users to stream at once. To take advantage of it, you’ll need a top VPN like ExpressVPN that supports multiple simultaneous device connections.

Without a family subscription, you can only use Pandora on 1 device. The VPNs on my list are the best free options I found for this and other music platforms. All of them gave me fast speeds for streaming music with only rare audio skipping, even if you’re connected to other platforms at the same time.

What if I have a problem with Pandora and my VPN?

Powerful VPN blocks and institutional firewalls are the most common reasons why you can’t access Pandora even with a VPN. Yours could be incapable of getting past filters, or may be leaking data outside the encrypted tunnel. That’s why it’s critical to use a reliable VPN provider like ExpressVPN, which accesses sites dependably.

To solve issues, you can reconnect to a different US server and try logging into Pandora again. At times, free VPN servers can be down or get overcrowded and become slow. If nothing works, contact the VPN’s customer support.

Can I listen to Pandora Radio for free?

Yes, Pandora has a free ad-supported plan. Since the service works exclusively in the US, a top VPN from my list is the best way to listen to Pandora Radio for free outside the country.

Free VPNs have limited networks and overcrowded servers that slow down and cause laggy songs. Instead, use a premium VPN like CyberGhost for free with its money-back guarantee. You can just get a refund when you’re done using it by submitting a request via 24/7 live chat.

When I finished my testing I got a fast CyberGhost refund by asking a 24/7 live chat agent

Stream Pandora for free with CyberGhost

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Final Thoughts

If you’re traveling outside the US, you can’t access Pandora even though you have a legitimate account. However, this doesn’t imply you cannot enjoy your preferred music. Utilizing a VPN stands as the most effective method to reach Pandora from any location.

I tested dozens of free VPNs and picked the best ones for streaming music on Pandora. ExpressVPN topped my list because it gave me the fastest speeds even on distant servers to unblock lag-free music. While it’s not technically free, it worked the best, and you can buy ExpressVPN with confidence as it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Summary: Best VPNs to Unblock Pandora for Free in 2024

Rank

Provider name

Our score

Price

Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$4.99 / month Save 61%

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2.

9.6

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$2.19 / month Save 83%

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3.

8.5

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$2.99 / month Save 70%

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4.

7.6

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5.

7.2

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$2.39 / month Save 76%

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Editor's Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.