Table of Contents
IPVanish
IPVanish is an easy-to-use VPN suitable for streaming and basic privacy. In our tests, IPVanish easily unblocked international Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus libraries. You can install a VPN on your router for use with a smart TV, or use it on Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, and a host of other platforms.
With servers in just 56 countries, IPVanish’s network lags behind competitors like NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, and PIA, which have about twice as many countries. We recommend checking IPVanish’s server page for the full list. While IPVanish isn’t packed with options and server locations, its simple design works well for VPN beginners. If you just want an intuitive VPN to unblock content on Disney Plus, Netflix, and other services, IPVanish is a good choice. However, its high average internet download speed loss of 44% isn’t ideal for 4K or even 1080p video streaming.
Pricing is reasonable at first, with monthly plans costing $13, $48 for your first year, or $72 for your first two years (the one- and two-year plans increase to $90 every 12 months after your introductory period). While there are better VPNs for the price that offer larger server networks and faster internet speeds, IPVanish is fine for casual users who are just looking for basic privacy for everyday use.
Read our IPVanish review.
Hotspot shield
We do not recommend it Hotspot shield for critical VPN use due to US jurisdiction and the use of the proprietary, closed-source Hydra VPN protocol. If security and privacy are not your primary concern, Hotspot Shield works quite well as a smart TV VPN.
Hotspot Shield is a fast VPN that is great for streaming content on your smart TV. With servers in over 80 countries worldwide, you can access a decent selection of geographic regions with Hotspot Shield.
Hotspot Shield’s Support section and overall customer service experience leaves a lot to be desired. The Support section is a bit convoluted and Search doesn’t always return exactly what you’re looking for, so it can take some effort to find what you’re looking for. The live chat feature is only available to premium customers. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, the guides and tutorials are enough to get you started, but the path to get there isn’t as clean as with other VPNs. Like the others on this list, Hotspot Shield offers apps for Fire TV and Google TV, as well as tutorials on how to set up the VPN on your router.
If you’re willing to spend $13 per month or $96 per year, you’ll get a blazing-fast smart TV VPN that’s great for unblocking content. If you’re worried about US jurisdiction, you may be better off going with another option like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, or PIA. Due to its mid-range price and average security with US jurisdiction, it’s hard to recommend Hotspot Shield over its VPN rivals for all but the most casual users.
Read our Hotspot Shield review.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost VPN doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles like the other VPNs on this list, but it does a good job of unblocking content on a wide range of streaming services. The implementation of streaming-optimized servers also makes CyberGhost a good choice if you’re a casual VPN user who just wants to stream content on your smart TV.
While CyberGhost isn’t as fast as others like NordVPN or Surfshark, you should still be able to stream content without having to worry about constant buffering. CyberGhost has servers in 100 countries around the world, making it one of the best in terms of global network coverage.
If you decide to connect a VPN to your smart TV via a router, CyberGhost offers detailed instructions on how to do so in its Help Center, though it doesn’t offer custom router firmware like ExpressVPN does. If you have a Fire TV or Google TV, you can download the CyberGhost VPN app directly to your TV. CyberGhost VPN also offers a smart DNS solution that gives you access to DNS servers in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan.
While it’s a decent VPN for streaming on your smart TV and has a large server network, there’s not much else to like about CyberGhost. The VPN’s questionable privacy practices, buggy apps, and mediocre speeds make it hard to recommend for most use cases.
CyberGhost costs $13 per month, $42 every six months for the two-year plan, or $57 total for the first 26 months with the two-year plan. The two-year plan then renews annually at $57. CyberGhost offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on the monthly plan and a 45-day money-back guarantee on its longer-term plans. But for similar prices or even cheaper, you can choose from several other VPNs that are far better than CyberGhost for streaming on your smart TV — or for just about any other purpose.
Read our CyberGhost review.
