If you are sitting in the US and want German-language Swiss public television, you quickly hit a wall: Play SRF is region-locked to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and a foreign IP address is turned away at the door. The service is run by SRF, part of SRG SSR, and has streamed news and shows since 2009, but its licensing only covers home turf. Step outside those 2 territories and the player swaps your show for a “not available in your region” notice.
A VPN is the honest way around it. You connect to a server inside Switzerland, take on a Swiss IP, and the site reads you as a local. Then the Tagesschau and 10vor10 bulletins, the DOK and Einstein documentary strands, SRF bi de Lüt and Swiss Super League football all load normally. We use Surfshark for its reliable Swiss servers. The catch-up library is free and ad-free, so the VPN is the only thing you add, and it never unlocks a paid plan because there is none.
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | SRF Play | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Try it |
 ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 6 | Open |
 NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Open |
 Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 2 | Open |
 CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | July 2 | Open |
 IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | July 5 | Open |
 ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ~ Partial | July 4 | Open |
✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works~ Partial~ Partial~ PartialTakes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
SRF Play works in 2 countries, including in Liechtenstein and in Switzerland. In 190 more it is blocked, and outside available regions you will need a VPN.
SRF Play also works in Germany and in Austria, but with limited content compared to fully available countries. Surfshark unlocks full access.
SRF Play is blocked in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada and in New Zealand, plus in 185 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
Play SRF is the streaming and catch-up portal of Swiss public broadcaster SRF, part of the SRG SSR group and aimed at the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Viewers get live feeds of SRF 1, SRF zwei and SRF info, the Tagesschau news bulletins, the political debate show Arena, Swiss-made drama like Tschugger and Neumatt, and full coverage of the Alpine Ski World Cup. The service is funded through the Serafe licence fee and geo-restricted to Switzerland.
4 tips from our SRF Play testing team · Updated June 24, 2026
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