How to Watch Showmax outside South Africa

The battle of on-demand platforms is at its peak in South Africa. You see, the region has dozens of streaming channels, including Netflix. However, there’s one that’s topping the charts nowadays, Showmax. The service currently offers its 6.6 million South African viewers Hollywood, British, Kenyan, and South African content. In 2015, the service went global to reach more than 21 countries. But there’s a problem. In case you currently do not reside in these countries, you won’t be able to access the channel. Luckily, there’s an easy workaround. Let me show you how to unblock Showmax anywhere in the world in the guide below.

Showmax – The What, How, and Where!

Showmax came to South Africa back in 2015 as an online subscription on-demand service. MultiChoice owns the channel, and as a result, it is bundled with the company’s DStv Premium service. I’ll be talking about that later on since it affects the subscription (big time).

But it didn’t stop there. If you don’t know this yet, the channel rivals Netflix in the region; it’s even considered as the ultimate alternative. What people don’t know, or in fact, what Netflix doesn’t want people to know is that the subscribers base differs on a grand scale.

Statista has previously estimated Netflix subscribers in South Africa to be a bit over 232,000 subscribers in the country. That’s not a good number for the streaming giant. As for the content you get, Showmax has a lot of shows you would typically get on DStv like Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. Now, with that said, let’s find out a little bit more about Showmax.

Subscription & Price

Before I head over to the pricing, you should know that every product should include a way for users to try their service out. Luckily, Showmax has a free trial for new subscribers. The channel offers you the chance to take their service for a test drive over a course of 14 days. After that, you’re going to have to pay a monthly fee. Speaking of prices, Showmax has one subscription plan if you sign up from their website.

You can watch content on two simultaneous platforms and can register up to five devices for only “R99/month“. Do you know what that means? If not, you’ll be paying 1.37$ in exchange for full access of more than 10000 hours streamable content. What can Netflix do about that?

There’s also another way users can subscribe to the service in South Africa, which is through DStv. The absolute best BEST thing about Showmax for you, as a DStv Premium subscriber, is the fact that you’ll be getting Showmax for free. Remember, you need to create a Showmax account before you can access the channel through DStv.

As for those with valid DStv and Showmax subscriptions who just learned that they’d be getting Showmax for free, here’s what you need to do:

1. Head over to www.showmax.com and log in.
2. Next, navigate to Manage Account and click on Manage Subscription.
3. Select Cancel Subscription then Reactivate Subscription.
4. Choose “DStv add to account” as your payment method.
5. Start streaming Showmax via their website or their dedicated app for free.

Device Compatibility

In case you’re wondering if your device supports the Showmax app, I’ve provided you with a list of compatible platforms below. Just so you know, Showmax is available on a wide range of devices, so I doubt your platform is not mentioned below:

Is it Just in South Africa?

Upon its initial release, yes, it was just in South Africa (36 countries). However, back in 2015, the channel expanded to reach international coverage, making it a total of 65 regions.

But that comes with a catch. You see, the content you get in South Africa is so much different than what you’ll be getting outside of the country. In its original region, viewers can watch Hollywood, British, Kenyan, and South African content.

Those who live abroad can tap into a wide selection of movies and TV shows presented by kykNET International, M-Net, and Via (major South African providers). Hold that thought; we’ll be getting back to that in a few moments. As for now, here’s where Showmax is available:

There’s a Hitch in the Road!

If you’re wondering why you need a guide to unblock the channel, let me sum it up for you. As I mentioned, the South African library is the richest among all the countries where the channel is available. However, it’s only available to viewers residing there.

If you’re abroad, you won’t be able to get past the home screen. But why? Well, just like any streaming service, Showmax examines your IP address to determine your exact location. Once it figures out that you’re not in South Africa (not holding a South African IP address), a geo-error message will pop up. I live in the US, and this is what I got:

“Showmax is not yet available in the United States.”

Fortunately, bypassing regional restrictions is what I’m good at, and I’m here to show you exactly how I got the channel to operate in my country. Just scroll a bit further and start taking notes.

Showmax’s South African Library Anywhere!

Showmax requires a South African IP address for you to access its content. If you’re living abroad, your problem can be easily alleviated with a Virtual Private Network. A VPN is the easiest way to get yourself a South African IP address. It hides your original IP and provides you with an IP of the VPN servers in a country of your choosing.

A VPN does that by encrypting your data and rerouting it through that server. As a result, you’ll be browsing the internet anonymously and unblocking geo-restricted content as the website/service you’re visiting now think you’re accessing them from a different location.

In Showmax’s case, your destination would be a server in South Africa. All you need to do is connect to a server in the country, obtain a South African IP address, and you’ll be watching Showmax in no time wherever you might be.

It’s really an easy task. Let me help you out even more. Here’s how you can watch Showmax anywhere:

1. Pick a reliable VPN service. Based on my experience, I strongly recommend ExpressVPN for South Africa.
2. Download and install the VPN client for your device. You’ll find apps on Android, iOS, PC, Mac, as well as FireStick.
3. Sign in with your VPN account. (You might be asked to enter a verification code. Check your email for that).
4. Connect to a South African server. (Clear your browser’s history just in case).
5. Now, before you proceed, make sure that you got the new IP address by visiting this IP Checker.
6. There you have it. Now, you can stream Showmax wherever you are.

Top VPN for South Africa

When I review a VPN, I usually do it in an unbiased approach. That’s why in this part, I’m recommending what’s best based on personal experience and online ratings. You’ve already come across the provider in the steps section, ExpressVPN.

It already has South African servers, which means you can unblock not only Showmax but DStv and SuperSport as well. In fact, you can access content in over 94 countries thanks to its wide server spread (3000 servers). Streaming depends on speed, and ExpressVPN delivers blazing fast servers dedicated for streaming, torrenting, and even online gaming.

On the other hand, VPNs are supposed to keep your browsing private. So, first, I should mention that it’s based in the British Virgin Islands, a free territory that resides outside the intelligence alliance of the Five Eyes. The provider doesn’t keep logs of your activities, so you can rest assured that what you’re doing remains private.

Other security features include 256-bit AES encryption, DNS leak protection, a kill switch, and split tunneling, which makes ExpressVPN one of the most secure providers in the industry.

Now, this is an important part. I also recommended ExpressVPN since it’s one of the few providers that can unblock Showmax. The channel has a defense mechanism that blocks VPNs and any kind of unblockers. If you try to visit their website with a free VPN or unreliable one, this is what you get:

“Connection not allowed. Proxy or unblocking service detected. Please disable and try again.”

With ExpressVPN, you’ll be able to circumvent this issue with ease. As for other VPNs on the market that can do the job, yeah, there are a few. Check them out below.

What’s on Showmax

Once you get in, you’ll be able to stream more than 10,000 hours of content. You’ll even find content in different languages, including English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, isiXhosa, and Polish. Just to give you a slight idea of what’s waiting for you on the other side, here’s a couple of titles of my choosing:

Watch Showmax Anywhere – Signing Off

Once you’re done with this guide, you can watch Showmax anywhere in the world. All you need is a Virtual Private Network and any internet-connected device, and you’re good to go. Remember, a VPN bypasses geo-restrictions, it does not bypass any subscription fee required by the channel. That’s all for today. If you need any help, make sure to give me a shout out in the comments below.