HBO Max is the latest addition to the family of on-demand video streaming platforms, offering a huge catalog of TV shows, movies, documentaries, and even cartoons for kids. Unfortunately, though, it’s only available in the United States.
So, if you live outside the US, let’s say in Australia, you’ll need a reliable VPN service to watch HBO Max from Down Under. The problem with that is not everyone can afford to spend on a VPN, or they prefer not to. How about using a free VPN, you ask? Completely free VPNs don’t work with HBO Max, at least not consistently. Period.
However, there is a way to get a paid VPN for free and stream your favorite HBO Max content from anywhere in the world. The method 100% works and is absolutely safe. What’s the catch? You can only use it for a month.
Wondering how this hack works? Then keep reading…
Table of Contents
How to get a free VPN to watch HBO Max
Many VPN providers offer a 30-day trial with a money-back guarantee, allowing users to test their services risk-free. You can hack these offers to get a free VPN for HBO Max for a month.
Of course, you’ll need to sign up first to activate the VPN service. But worry not; you can always get your money back later. The trick is to find a VPN that unblocks HBO Max and returns your full payment without asking any questions.
Following is a list of four VPN services you can trust on. They all offer a genuine 30-day money-back guarantee and have been tested to work with HBO Max outside the United States.
1. ExpressVPN
The first VPN on the list is ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands and is one of the fastest VPNs for HBO Max. It operates twenty-three server locations in the US. Except for Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles – 2, all server locations unblock HBO Max with consistency.
ExpressVPN is a no-activity log VPN service, meaning it keeps no record of your online activities. You can connect up to five devices on one ExpressVPN account at the same time. These can be in any combination – Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Android TV, smart TV, Amazon FireStick, or more.
All refund requests are handled by the company’s live chat support, which is available 24/7. ExpressVPN typically takes seven business days to process a refund, provided you don’t violate the 30-day deadline for the trial period.
Related Read: 10 Best Business VPN Services
2. NordVPN
Next on the list is NordVPN.
NordVPN is based in Panama, a safe haven for VPN companies. It operates more than 1800 servers in the United States, spread across fifteen cities. That’s the highest US server count of any VPN service. It uses the latest NordLynx tunneling protocol to secure your web traffic.
While you can stream HBO Max on most NordVPN US server locations, if you’re looking for a smooth experience, New York, Salt Lake City, Buffalo, and Charlotte work best.
NordVPN supports a wide variety of devices, including Windows, Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, smart TV, Android TV, routers, gaming consoles, NVIDIA Shield TV, and Amazon FireStick. The latter two can sometimes have compatibility issues, though. NordVPN allows up to six simultaneous connections on a single account.
The 30-day trial from NordVPN is secured by a hassle-free money-back guarantee. You can get a refund by contacting the company through the live chat option on their website. However, make sure to cancel your subscription before the end of the 30-day deadline.
3. SurfShark
Third on the list is Surfshark.
Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark is also based in the British Virgin Islands. It’s a relatively new entrant in the VPN industry and maintains 500+ servers in 24 different US cities. All servers are RAM-operated, an excellent feature to have from a privacy standpoint.
Surfshark works quite well with HBO Max. Of the available twenty-four US server locations, nineteen unblock the streaming service effortlessly. That’s a decent success ratio. Locations that don’t connect to HBO Max include Manassas, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, and Bend.
The company lets you use an unlimited number of devices on your Surfshark subscription, which is rare and makes it stand out from the competition. It doesn’t store any activity logs and uses advanced encryption protocols to keep your online communications secure.
The money-back guarantee offered by Surfshark comes with no hidden terms. As long as you cancel your VPN subscription within thirty days of the date of your purchase, you should have no problems getting a full refund.
4. PureVPN
Last but not least is PureVPN.
PureVPN is a Hong Kong-based VPN service, operating 490 servers in 13 US cities. It uses OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, and PPTP tunneling protocols to secure your connections. That’s not bad at all. For encryption, it uses AES 256-bit cipher keys.
PureVPN is one of the few VPNs on the market that works with HBO Max. You get eleven optimized server locations to watch your favorite shows and movies. Columbus, Miami, Washington DC, and Los Angeles offer the best performance. However, the service falls a bit short in terms of speed and stability compared to the other three HBO Max VPNs on the list.
PureVPN covers up to ten devices simultaneously on a single account, providing complete protection against IP and DNS leaks on each of them. You can use PureVPN on your computer, laptop, Android phone, iPhone, iPad, Chrome browser, home router, smart TV, and more.
Unlike ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark, PureVPN offers a 31-day money-back guarantee. You can sign up for a plan, binge all you like, and cancel your subscription at the end of the month to get your money back. The company processes refunds through its live chat support.
How to use a 30-day free trial VPN to watch HBO Max
Let’s quickly set up a 30-day VPN trial and try to unblock HBO Max from outside the United States, using NordVPN as an example.
1. Purchase and download NordVPN.
2. Open the NordVPN app and enter your username and password to launch the service.
3. Connect to a NordVPN US server location.
4. Head over to play.hbomax.com.
5. Sign in to your HBO Max account.
6. Start watching your favorite shows and movies.
When you are ready to cancel your subscription, visit the NordVPN website, click on the live chat button, and ask your agent to close your account. Mention that you would like a refund. The agent will check your account details and verify your active days of subscription. If everything is in order, you’ll get your full payment back within a week.
Your HBO Max plans
So, what are you doing over the weekend? Let’s have an all-HBO-Max binge marathon. What say?