How to Watch SNL Live in 2025: Unblock Saturday Night Live With a VPN
It’s Sunday and you’ve missed Saturday Night Live. Or perhaps you’re traveling? Not to worry — we’ve done all the research on how to watch SNL live or catch up with previous episodes.
Written by Kit Copson (Writer, Briefing Editor)
Reviewed by Jackie Leavitt (Co-Chief Editor)
Last Updated:
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Key Takeaways: How to Watch Saturday Night Live
- Sign up for a 72% discounted plan on NordVPN’s website.
- Connect to a U.S. server.
- Go to Hulu and start watching SNL.
Best VPNs for Watching SNL Live:
- NordVPN — Best-in-class VPN for all use-cases. Get 72% off the first two years with NordVPN, covered by its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Surfshark — Best value VPN for multi-device households. Surfshark’s best deal is available at a 66% (plus 3 months free) discount.
- ExpressVPN — Beginner-friendly VPN with expert-level features. Sign up now to get 25% off the first two years.
What to Know About Saturday Night Live:
- You can watch SNL via livestream on Hulu + Live TV. Alternatively, you can watch episodes after they’ve streamed and past seasons with a standard Hulu subscription. You can also watch episodes on NBC’s website.
- If you’re overseas, you can use a VPN and connect to a U.S. server to stream on Hulu and NBC.
- NordVPN is our favorite VPN for streaming. It’s lightning-fast, easy to use and extremely secure. Surfshark and ExpressVPN are two other great options.
Saturday Night Live is America’s most renowned late-night live TV show. The award-winning comedy variety show premiered in 1975. Millions have been tuning in every Saturday night since, enjoying legendary comedy sketches, satirical news and musical performances. This post is all about how to watch SNL live and on demand.
Saturday Night Live has put the spotlight on a diverse group of artists over the years. Season 47’s musical guests have included Young Thug, Ed Sheeran and Brandi Carlile. Kim Kardashian West infamously roasted Kanye in her comedy debut this October.
If you’re traveling outside the U.S., you can use a VPN to watch the proceedings abroad — we recommend NordVPN.
Not available in your country?
Watch Saturday Night Live now on HBO Max and other streaming platforms.
Status checked 2025/04/16:
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01/04/2022 Facts checked
Article updated with new streaming options and VPN information.
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10/01/2024 Facts checked
We revamped this article’s how-to section and adjusted the rankings to reflect the current VPN landscape.
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02/02/2025 Facts checked
Added more information about the best VPNs for watching SNL.
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02/12/2025 Facts checked
Added PrivadoVPN as the best free VPN to watch SNL Live.
How to Watch SNL Live & On Demand for Free From Anywhere
Watching SNL live or revisiting the notorious Kim Kardashian West episode is possible on Hulu If you just want to catch up with past seasons, you can sign up for the standard or ad-free Hulu free trial.
If streaming SNL online live is more your thing, you can get a Hulu + Live TV free trial. Due to regional restrictions, viewers outside the U.S. will need a VPN.
If you don’t have a U.S. bank card, you can’t sign up for Hulu’s free trial. If you’re not a U.S. citizen, don’t click away just yet. Later on, we’ll show you some alternatives for watching SNL from overseas. For now, here’s how to watch SNL on Hulu from overseas with a VPN.
- Sign up for a Hulu Free Trial
Depending on if you want Saturday Night Live on demand or live, choose your free trial package on Hulu’s website.
- Sign up for NordVPN
Sign up for an NordVPN plan. The two-year plan is the cheapest and all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Download NordVPN
Choose the NordVPN app for your device, download it and follow the instructions in the installation wizard. The 30-day money-back guarantee ensures you don’t spend a penny on watching SNL, as long as you ask for a refund within 30 days.
- Connect to a U.S. Server
Open the NordVPN app. Then, use the map or server list to find and choose a U.S. server. Click on the “connect” button if needed.
- Stream Saturday Night Live on Hulu
Log in to Hulu. Then, search for Saturday Night Live and choose the episode you want to watch. Enjoy streaming Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and the rest of the cast in action.
Bear in mind that although you can’t get the free trial without a U.S. bank card, you can buy a Hulu gift card without a U.S. bank card. You can then use the gift card promo code to access Hulu. However, that means you’ll have to pay for at least one month of Hulu.
How to Watch the SNL Christmas Special
You can replay the Saturday Night Live Christmas special on Hulu or NBC’s website. The same steps as above apply, or you can use our guide on how to watch Hulu with a VPN.
Where to Watch SNL Online
Good news for non-U.S. citizens: If you sign up for an account with NBC and connect to a VPN, you can watch a few episodes of Saturday Night Live. Just bear in mind that some episodes are locked. New members without a U.S. TV provider only get three credits to watch locked content. Other means of watching Saturday Night Live include:
- Hulu (U.S.)
- NBC (U.S.)
- Sky (U.K.)
- Global TV (Canada)
- Binge (Australia)
- YouTube TV (U.S.)
- fuboTV (U.S.)
- Peacock Premium (U.S.)
- Amazon Prime Video (U.S.) — all seasons
Best VPNs to Watch SNL Live Online Without Cable
If you’re new to the vast world of VPNs, you might be in need of some recommendations. Here are our top VPNs for streaming.
1. NordVPN — Best VPN for Streaming
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
If there was an award for the fastest speeds, NordVPN would take it home. You don’t even need to pull up a server list to switch servers, as long as you can find your way around a map. NordVPN performed particularly well when tested out with NBC’s website. We’re happy to recommend NordVPN to stream SNL. You can find out more about it in our NordVPN review.
- **VAT may apply
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- *The prices are shown only apply for the first 12 months.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- **The prices are applicable only for the first 24 months. Secure, high-speed VPN Threat Protection Pro™: Anti-malware and advanced browsing protection Threat Protection Pro™: Ad and tracker blocker Password manager with Data Breach Scanner 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage Identity and SSN monitoring and alerts Credit monitoring services Up to $1M in identity theft insurance Up to $100K in cyber extortion insurance
- 10
2. Surfshark — Best Budget Streaming VPN
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
Surfshark is another fast and secure way to watch SNL live. The unlimited simultaneous connections mean you can protect all your devices on a single plan. It’s affordable, too, since Surfshark costs just $2.19 per month on the two-year plan. Read our Surfshark review to learn more, or try it out with the 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Unlimited GB bandwidth, Unlimited devices, Secure VPN, Ad blocker, Cookie pop-up blocker. Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
- Everything in Starter, plus Antivirus protection, Identity protection, Email Breach and Credit Card Alerts, Online Alias Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Everything in One, plus Data removal Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
3. ExpressVPN — User Friendly Streaming VPN
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
If you like high speeds, uninterrupted streaming time and an easy in-app experience, try out ExpressVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee. However, it’s quite expensive compared to other providers, even on the two-year plan. Our ExpressVPN review tells all about the service.
- Pricing for the annual and biennial plans applies only on the first year.
- Unlimited GB
- 8
- Yes
Best Free VPN for Watching SNL: PrivadoVPN
As far as free VPNs go, PrivadoVPN is one we can vouch for. We tested it with Saturday Night Live on Hulu and it worked perfectly. PrivadoVPN offers 10GB of data and 13 locations — including four in the U.S. — for free. This should be enough for a few episodes of SNL, but if you want more data, you can sign up for one of its paid plans. Read our PrivadoVPN review for more info.
Final Thoughts
If you’re feeling like a TV night this weekend, you shouldn’t have too many problems finding a way to watch SNL online. Even if you miss a livestream, you can always catch up with missed episodes later on Hulu or NBC.
If you need a VPN to access those services, we recommend NordVPN. Take NordVPN for a test drive with peace of mind, knowing you can request a full refund within 30 days if it doesn’t meet your expectations.
We hope our guide has been useful in helping you find the best way to watch SNL live. Do you watch Saturday Night Live from overseas? Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments and as always, thanks for stopping by!
FAQ: Stream SNL Live Online
Yes. There are a few ways to stream SNL online, including via Hulu or NBC’s website, though you might need a VPN if you’re not in the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia.
Yes, all seasons are on Amazon Prime Video U.S., but you have to purchase them.
No, SNL is not currently available on Netflix.