In this review, I will explain how to bypass Internet censorship in Indonesia (mostly targeting porn websites) by using a VPN service (Virtual Private Network). I will also give you tips on how to watch Netflix in Indonesia.

Note: The VPNs I recommend here also work well for China, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos, etc. 

Thousands of blocked websites in Indonesia
Most porn and torrent websites are blocked in Indonesia. This includes all the most famous ones like XVideos, YouPorn, PornHub, XHamster, KickAss Torrents, and The Pirate Bay. It is also not possible to visit some forums like Reddit or InternationalSexGuide. Same thing with the hook-up website Adult Friend Finder and the cam website Chaturbate.

Some regular websites have also been banned, like Vimeo. Tumblr was shut down in March 2018 after its management refused to remove porn content from the platform.

Another problem internet users are facing in Indonesia is the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Act. This vague set of laws can make you the target of a defamation suit for exposing your views online. You are not allowed, for instance, to suggest that someone might be corrupt.

Because of this law, posting a comment on Facebook, Twitter, or Path in Indonesia can land you in jail. This is what happened to Alexander Aan or Florence Sihombing.

I have been using a VPN for over 8 years already. It allows me to visit any websites I want on the internet without anyone knowing about it. It is 100% legal, secure, and safe. In fact, according to this study, Indonesia is the country with the most VPN users in the world: 23% of its Internet users have one installed.

The cost is low (fewer than USD2-4 per month on an annual plan) and it works great. If you travel a lot in Asia, it is also very useful in heavily-censored countries like Vietnam or China.

Since VPN companies usually give you a free trial from a few days up to 1 month, I tested at least 10 of them to make sure I was choosing the best. There are so many different companies that you could probably get a free VPN just by using their trial periods and switching from one to another.

However, the prices are really reasonable so once you've found one that works well, it's really easier to just pay.

Many of the VPNs I tried were similar, but I found there were 2 standing out of the crowd:

PureVPN - Best Value for Money: Perfect for anonymous web browsing, downloading torrents and streaming videos (Netflix)


PureVPN is often considered one of the best on the market because of its super-fast servers (they have over 6500 of them in 78+ countries, including one in Jakarta). If you watch a lot of videos or download movies through torrents/peer-to-peer network, I strongly recommend it.

First, because there is no bandwidth limit on your data transfers. Second, because they keep no logs of your connection (or IP) and therefore your activity is 100% anonymous.

If you are looking for a VPN that allows you to watch Netflix US, this is an excellent choice too. Just choose an American server, and it will be as if you were there. You can switch to Australian Netflix, French Netflix, or any other location as long as there is a server there. Occasionally, Netflix will flag one specific IP and you'll have to change your location again. Nothing to worry about though as it only lasts for a few hours. This happens with every VPNs.

In terms of security, they use a military-grade key with up-to-256-bit encryption to protect your communication for government spying.

They also have a great support team that will resolve any issue you may have within a few hours.

Pure VPN is the recommended choice for PCMag, Mashable, Forbes, and the Huffington Post.

Great news! PureVPN has just launched a huge offer. You can now buy a 2-year plan for only USD2.04 per month. That's 80% off from their normal price. Also, you can get an extra 10% off with the coupon code "Jakarta100bars".

To benefit from this offer, you can click on the following link: PureVPN - 30-Day Money-Back Guaranteed.

Vypr VPN - Strongest and Best VPN with 30 days money-back guarantee
VyprVPN is a slightly more expensive VPN because of one main feature: The Chameleon technology. Thanks to that, it manages to bypass the government's restrictions in China (one of the only VPN providers to do so).

When I was traveling to China last year, I used it a lot and it never let me down. Their support was really amazing, I could ask any questions and they would reply to me within just a few minutes.

I would recommend it to those who travel in countries with heavy restrictions on VPNs. Naturally, it works perfectly for Indonesia as well (they have a server in Jakarta too for faster speed).

VyprVPN was recommended by the New York Times, The Verge, and LifeHacker.

A great thing about VyprVPN is that the annual plan is actually quite cheap! It will cost you only USD3.75 per month, which is nothing for the privilege of being able to surf the web freely and anonymously.

You can purchase it using your credit card, Alipay or PayPal. It can be used on up to 5 devices (smartphone, tablet, laptop, TV, etc).

Pricing of Basic Plan:
USD3.75 per month (billed annually)
USD9.75 per month (billed monthly)

Pricing of Premium Plan:
USD5 per month (billed annually)
USD12.95 per month (billed monthly)

Update: There is currently a mega-sale at USD1.67 per month for a 2-year plan. Unbeatable price! You can get the deal here: Spring Sale VyprVPN.

How Do You Access Porn/Blocked Websites in Indonesia? Do You Use A VPN As Well?
There are a lot of new VPN providers entering the market every month. If you are using a different VPN in Indonesia or if you have another way to visit porn/blocked websites in Indonesia, please leave a comment below to share your experience!

30 comments to '' Best VPNs in Indonesia- How to Access Blocked Websites (2023) "

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  1. what about just using the opera browser with the built in free vpn? is that any good. I'm in aus now so can't really tell. i usually use HMA

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    1. Free VPNs are slower. It's ok if you are traveling a few days in Indonesia but if you live here, just pay 25$ and get Ivacy for one year.

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  2. For my mobile phone I use an app called "Betternet" which is a free download on iphone or android stores. Great app and even works in China too on the much tougher Great Firewall of China. If you're using your phone as a Wifi hotspot to your laptop this will enable you to view banned sites on your laptop too.

    For my laptop I use a Chrome browser extension called "Zenmate" which is also free and works fine in Indonesia on local Wifi networks but didn't work for me in China when using the Wifi there. You can select different locations around the world on Zenmate including the USA which may be helpful if you are online shopping and want to get to US shopping sites which are blocked for international users. The also have a Firefox browser add-on as well.

    If you're just on holiday in Indonesia for a couple of weeks I wouldn't bother with the paid VPN's. The two options I just mentioned work great and I use them all the time during my frequent travels to Indonesia.

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    1. Hi, thanks for your recommendation... I tried ZenMate following your advice and they give a free premium account for 7 days... it works very well and it's really easy to install...after a week though they will cut down the speed... the price for a yearly plan is around 7$ a month then... it's good for people who don't need a lot of speed I guess (= those who don't watch porn haha)

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  3. I've been using alternative DNS (Don't use the Google ones) and it's fine. Try and find any public Singaporean DNS and use that.

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  4. I use Ivacy VPN and I'm really happy with it. I didn't try any other options but I don't see how they could be better considering I pay only 25$ for one year. I was using some free VPNs before that but they limit the speed so you cannot watch any videos without interruption. Unless you really cannot afford a few dollars per month, go for Ivacy really.

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  5. Alternative DNSs have been blocked (if you are on Speedy or some other providers) you can use https://dnscrypt.org/ for free and that will get you around most blocks.

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  6. Opera offer free vpn in their latest dev version, also you don't need to use vpn if you only wanted to access adult website, just use Dnscrypt which will force your computer to stop using the isp dns, which will allow you to access any site that are blocked

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    1. The free VPN of Opera does not allow for P2P nor watching netflix... only 5 servers locations... and your internet connection is not totally encrypted therefore not entirely protected... It is an ok solution though for people who don't want to spend any money on a VPN...

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  7. has anyone tried routing through the tor network?

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  8. Yes ! Me ! I don't need any vpn, i just use tor network and i can access to any website

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  9. Maybe you can just respect the rule of our government and not watch porn in Indonesia? Do you know that there is a reason those websites are blocked by our government? By unlocking them and by helping people to do so, you illustrate the complete disregard foreigners have for our laws.

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    1. I wrote the message on October 15. I still use tor and I think it's one of the perfect way to surf on the web anonymously. @ msg of 30 november : give me any serious reasons to lock websites. I don't know why are youbso afraid. Jkt is the SEA's main city where the foreign's behavior is the most decent. Be lucky instead 😉

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    2. Do you agree with all laws made by the Gov't? Should the gov't be able to determine personal behavior done in my own house away from the public? we know Indonesia has one of the most corrupt government in the world, so not everything they do and say is for our personal benefit.

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    3. sounds like u made the law....freedom of choice is what is not happening in Indonesia..

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  10. Until recently, I was only relying on free VPNs because I didn't want to pay 50$ for a yearly subscription... i used Ola and a few other.. they do the job fine if you are not into watching porn or downloading torrent (limited speed)... I got an offer from one of the VPNs listed above for 3$ per month thanks to a coupon... the total bill for 2 years was 72$ and i never regretted the switch from a free to a paid VPN... you cannot compare the level of service you get once you are an actual client... they help you set it up, you can choose an unlimited number of servers to connect to, the speed limits disappear, your data is not sold to external companies, etc... the more you use a good VPN, the more you get addicted to the freedom it gives you...

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  11. PIA Private Internet Access. One of the few VPN providers that don't keep logs, therefore can't be forced to hand over any info.

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  12. hard to believe that 23% in Indo use VPN, as for sure the large majority of the population can not and do not want to afford to pay 60$ a year for such thing (I don't want to pay that either, but then again, I live in another country in Asia where not that much content is blocked)

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    1. 23% of Indonesian users, I imagine it only includes broadband users so mostly rich people...

      My Indonesian friends who have lower budgets use free VPN or just proxy extensions... but if you've tried a paid VPN honestly you can see the difference... It's not only about being able to access blocked content, but also making sure nobody can spy on your internet activities...

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    2. Yes there is none but one, the vpn server itself. They spy on you :).

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  13. So many Anonymous here.

    And the sample is a kickasstorrent page with list of The Act of Killing torrent.

    Do you all make the film, because there are so many Anonymouses in the credit title.

    Anyone has seen the film? And the second one from the diptych, The Look of Silence?

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    1. Well, they uploaded both movies on YouTube recently. So I won't bother downloading the movie.

      Even though I gotta go undercover when i tried to screen up the movie via LCD projector for my fellow classmates. Only the front seated kids got interested to it BTW. XD

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  14. Good news, Netflix is no longer blocked in Indonesia... That means you don't need a VPN to watch it (unless you want to watch the american version)

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  15. What would you recommend is the best VPN for watching porn in Indonesia? Sorry to be blunt, but let's be honest here, that's the only reason I need one.

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    1. The ones recommended above are a good start don't you think? I would say go for a 12-month plan for Vypr VPN, that's really cheap and worth it

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  16. lol i can teach you how to manually script ur dns if u want, it'll save u quite a bit

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  17. I'll second the recommendation for VYPR. It works very well out here in Europe, too. Amazing service for the price.

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  18. Download the - Opera - browser and it has free VPN built right into the browser which can be easily toggled on or off. works well for me in Indonesia whether just browsing some of the banned sites like reddit or also streaming works fine. Probably not as fast as a paid service but good enough for most people. It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as on mobile - Android & iOS.

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  19. Free VPN such as Opera doesn't allow torrenting, also, is known to log your activity and sell it to 3rd parties... so I'm not sure how you can trust something like that. I've been with two paid VPNs (I used TunnelBear before they sold themselves out and now I'm using Surfshark that has no issues with restricted content) by now and can reassure that paid ones work way smoother for quite a few reasons but the major difference has to do with the fact that there are less leaching users so you don't get noticed and don't get blocked out from Netflix, torrents, etc.

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