If you live in Pakistan and want a VPN that actually streams Netflix US smoothly, the marketing copy on the three big providers won't help. They all promise "fastest in the world." So I paid for monthly subscriptions on NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark, ran 90+ speed tests over three weeks across PTCL fibre, Jazz 4G, and Zong 4G in Karachi, and tracked which one actually worked for streaming, banking, and Zoom calls. Here are the results.
The setup
Test rig: Macbook Air M2 on the relevant ISP, 100 Mbps PTCL fibre line as baseline. Speedtest.net to a fixed server in each region (UK-London, US-Newark, Singapore, UAE-Dubai). 5 tests per server per VPN per ISP, averaged. Streaming tests done with Netflix US, Disney+ US, and Hotstar India.
Baseline (no VPN, PTCL fibre to local Karachi speedtest server): 92 Mbps down, 14 ms ping. That's the ceiling.
Speed test results — average down/ping
| Server | NordVPN | ExpressVPN | Surfshark |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE-Dubai | 78 Mbps / 38 ms | 74 Mbps / 41 ms | 71 Mbps / 45 ms |
| UK-London | 62 Mbps / 145 ms | 67 Mbps / 138 ms | 54 Mbps / 168 ms |
| US-Newark | 41 Mbps / 222 ms | 44 Mbps / 215 ms | 36 Mbps / 248 ms |
| Singapore | 69 Mbps / 92 ms | 61 Mbps / 105 ms | 58 Mbps / 118 ms |
UAE is the closest hop and all three perform fine. Where it matters — UK and US for streaming — ExpressVPN edged out for raw speed, but only by 5–10%. The gap closes once you add real-world variance.
Streaming verdicts
Netflix US: All three worked, but ExpressVPN was the most consistent — never got the "you appear to be using a VPN" block in 3 weeks. NordVPN got blocked once on the LA server (switching to Atlanta fixed it). Surfshark got blocked twice on the same week, both fixed by server-hopping.
Disney+ US: ExpressVPN and NordVPN worked. Surfshark's US servers were blocked by Disney+ on most attempts.
Hotstar India: NordVPN won here. Their Mumbai server hit Hotstar reliably. ExpressVPN had geo-block issues; Surfshark sometimes worked.
Pakistani content abroad (Geo.tv, ARY): All three have Pakistan servers and all three worked. See my separate guide on streaming Pakistani content abroad for the deep dive.
Banking and Zoom
For banking apps (Meezan, HBL Konnect, Easypaisa) — only Surfshark caused recurring "verification failed" blocks. NordVPN and ExpressVPN both worked normally on Pakistani banking apps. If you actively use banking on the same device as your VPN, Surfshark will frustrate you.
For Zoom calls — at the bandwidth levels above (40+ Mbps), all three were stable. Latency above 200 ms (US servers) caused noticeable Zoom audio lag on long calls; if you're doing client meetings, route to UAE or Singapore.
PKR pricing — May 2026
| Plan | NordVPN | ExpressVPN | Surfshark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | ~PKR 3,500 | ~PKR 3,800 | ~PKR 3,200 |
| 1 year (per month) | ~PKR 1,500 | ~PKR 1,900 | ~PKR 1,000 |
| 2 years (per month) | ~PKR 950 | ~PKR 1,400 | ~PKR 700 |
Surfshark is genuinely the cheapest. ExpressVPN charges a real premium. NordVPN sits in the middle.
From a Pakistani-payment standpoint, all three accept Pakistani cards inconsistently. Wise card or reseller pricing is reliable; we sell NordVPN at PKR pricing and Namecheap VPN as a budget option for users who don't need streaming.
My pick
For a single Pakistani user who streams a lot: ExpressVPN if budget allows, NordVPN otherwise. ExpressVPN's streaming consistency is genuinely better; you'll spend less time hopping servers when Netflix blocks you. NordVPN is a strong second and significantly cheaper on 2-year plans.
For a freelancer who wants a VPN mainly for security and occasional banking: NordVPN. It plays nicest with Pakistani banking apps and the security feature set (Threat Protection, double-VPN) is the strongest of the three.
For a budget-conscious user who doesn't stream much: Surfshark or just our Namecheap VPN at PKR ~600–900/month.
What I'd skip
Free VPNs. All of them. Especially the ones advertised on Pakistani YouTube. They sell your traffic data, inject ads, or worse — and the "free" version is so slow it's unusable for anything beyond loading a single web page.
Bottom line
The speed difference between the three at the price points Pakistani users actually pay is small (10–15% on most servers). The difference that matters is streaming consistency and banking-app compatibility. ExpressVPN wins streaming, NordVPN wins banking and value, Surfshark wins price.
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