Best VPN for Android TV

Winning VPN shield icon with a trophy and Android TV in the back
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Summary: the Best VPN for Android TV

Using a VPN on your Android TV has several advantages:

  • Your internet traffic will be encrypted, so your online safety will improve.
  • Others will no longer be able to see what you do online: you’ll have more online privacy.
  • Your internet freedom will be increased, because you’ll be able to get around geographical restrictions.

Do you want to use a VPN on your Android TV? Would you like to watch international television freely or finally see that YouTube video that used to be blocked for you? You might want to try out NordVPN.

If you want to know more about VPNs and how they increase your Android TV experience, you can continue reading our full article below.

VPN on a Android TV iconThe user-friendly operating system Android is used on Smart TVs more and more. On an Android TV you can easily access the Google Play Store and download plenty of (streaming) apps onto your TV. Since you do all this through an internet connection it’s wise to think about using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). A VPN offers many privacy- and security-related advantages, as well as the possibility to access a lot of otherwise geo-restricted content.

On your Android TV, you have access to all the popular streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and more. Sadly, streaming services do not offer the same content all over the world. There are a lot of geographical restrictions that can limit your viewing pleasure. With a VPN you can bypass these geographical restrictions and access all the movies and series on your favorite streaming services. Moreover, this can be useful when you are abroad, but you want to watch a show on a national streaming service from your home country. With a VPN you can connect to a server in your home country and watch it no matter where you are.

There are many VPNs that are suitable for Android TV. To help you make a choice, we have listed the three best VPNs for Android below.

The Best VPN for Android TV: our Top 3

A good VPN provider is safe, fast, has servers in many different countries, and is user-friendly. The speed of your connection is important when you want to stream series or movies because it’s not fun to wait an eternity for your movie to buffer. Another important aspect of a VPN is the amount and locations of its servers. You need these servers to get around geographic restrictions. For example, if you want to watch something from the US, you can only access it if the VPN has servers in the US. Below you will find the best VPNs for Android TV.

NordVPN: Best VPN for Android TV geo-unblocking

NordVPN really shines when it comes to perhaps the most important VPN aspect for Android TV users: getting around geographic restrictions. This is an excellent VPN for a great price with good speeds and great safety features, on top of their huge number of servers.

It also offers an extra feature that comes in very handy for unblocking (streaming) content: a dedicated IP address. A dedicated IP address is a unique IP address that makes it much harder for streaming services such as Netflix to detect you’re using a VPN. The reason this is a useful feature is that streaming services often block VPN users. On top of this, NordVPN also offers obfuscated servers, making it even more difficult to detect NordVPN users.

In other words, if you’re looking for a great VPN for a decent price, which is great at unblocking geo-restricted content, we wholeheartedly recommend NordVPN. It’s also one of the best VPNs for Google Chrome.

NordVPN
Our pick
Our pick
Deal:
Only $3.29 a month for a two-year subscription with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
From
$3.29
9.3
  • Excellent protection and a large network of servers
  • Nice and pleasing application
  • No logs
Visit NordVPN

Surfshark VPN: Best budget VPN for Android TV

Surfshark is not only a fast and reliable VPN but also a very affordable one. Their cheapest subscription costs just under $2 a month. At that price, you get a VPN that offers great security protocols, more than decent speeds for streaming, plenty of servers for geo-unblocking and a very user-friendly Android app.

Surfshark offers fast servers that make streaming very enjoyable. You will have little to no problems streaming videos.

Surfshark
Deal:
Safe and anonymous internet for only $2.30a month
From
$2.30
9.0
  • Very user-friendly and works with Netflix and torrents
  • 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked!
  • Cheap with many extra options
Visit Surfshark

CyberGhost: Best Android TV VPN for multi-platform streaming

CyberGhost happens to be one of the very best VPNs when it comes to the favorite activity of most Android TV users: watching great content on all of their favorite streaming platforms! In fact, they even have special servers that will unblock specific streaming services. This is great because it takes away the guesswork when you’re trying to access your favorite streaming platform.

Some of the streaming services that CyberGhost offers specific servers for include: Netlfix UK and Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, CBC, the US version of YouTube, Fox Sports, Comedy Central, Channel 4 (from the UK), and many others. Other advantages that CyberGhost offers are its incredibly affordable price (if you choose their 3-year subscription) and its great speeds.

CyberGhost
Deal:
Try CyberGhost for $2.15 per month!
From
$2.29
8.8
  • Very user-friendly
  • High quality for a low price
  • Torrents and Netflix possible
Visit CyberGhost

Free VPNs for Android TV

In addition to paid VPN services, there are also free VPNs. Free services unfortunately often limit speed, and data, and they can sometimes even be unsafe. For these reasons, it is not a good idea to use a free VPN service on your Android TV.

Moreover, many free VPNs have limits on the number of servers and locations they offer a user. Server locations are important if you want to unblock content. Depending on your choice of server, you could get access to more online content.

Instead of a free VPN, you should opt for a premium, cheap VPN. For a small amount, you will get a good quality VPN.

The advantage of a VPN on your Android TV

There are several reasons why a VPN will greatly improve your Android TV experience.

  • Security: Whenever you connect to the internet this poses risks to your devices and online security. With a VPN your data is encrypted, making it much harder for others to spy on you. This makes it difficult, even for your internet service provider, to see what websites you visit or what movies you stream.
  • Anonymity: A VPN enables you to change your IP address. As such, tracing back your online activities to your location or person, becomes much more complex.
  • Freedom: As mentioned before, this is the most important reason to combine the use of your Android TV with a good VPN. By connecting to a VPN server you access the internet with the IP address of the VPN server and it will seem like you are somewhere else in the world. This way you can easily bypass many geographical restrictions.

VPN vs DNS on Your Android TV

VPN vs DNS on Android TV infographic

If you only want to bypass geographical restrictions, SmartDNS could also be an option for you. With a DNS you can make sites think you are accessing the internet from a different location. A downside to DNS is that it doesn’t hide your IP address or encrypt your connection like a VPN does. Furthermore, a lot of SmartDNS options are also paid, so you might as well pay for a VPN and get more in return.

With a DNS you have to watch out for DNS hijacking. Your internet service provider will go past the DNS and attach an IP to your connection, meaning you won’t be able to circumvent geo-blocking. The worst thing that could happen when connecting via a DNS is that your device could get infected with malware. For these reasons we would always recommend the use of a VPN over the use of DNS.

Kodi on Your Android TV with a VPN

Kodi on Android TV with VPN iconKodi is a popular streaming service that is ideal to use in combination with an Android TV. The app combines all your favorite streaming services in one place and makes it easy for you to switch between the different services. For this reason it is a popular app to install on an Android TV. We recommend you to always use Kodi in combination with a VPN. This way you can stay safe and anonymous. This is essential with an app that allows user-made add-ons that aren’t always verified.

Installing a VPN on Your Android TV

There are several ways to install a VPN on your Android TV. The easiest way is with a VPN app from the Google Play Store, this protects all the data from your Android TV to the VPN server and back:

Android TV with VPN connection infographic

Another way to connect your Android TV via a VPN to the internet is by setting up a VPN on your router. This will protect all the data between the router and the VPN server:

VPN on a router Android TV connection infographic

If you want to protect all your devices in one go it might be easier to install your VPN on your router.

The last way to set up a VPN on your Android TV is by installing the VPN on your smartphone, laptop, or other internet-connected device and connecting your Android TV to that device:

VPN on a virtual router Android TV connection infographic

Do you need help when setting up your VPN connection? You can read this step-by-step plan for installing a VPN on your Android TV.

Final Thoughts: Best VPN for Android TV

A VPN is ideal if you want to make the most of your streaming services on your Android TV. You can bypass geographical restrictions so you can watch your favorite shows when you are on holiday or gain access to content that is normally only available in specific countries. Because you have easy access to the Google Play Store on an Android TV, it is very easy to download a VPN app. The VPN will provide you with more content and keep you safe and anonymous at the same time. Nobody will be able to see what you are watching on your Android TV except for you. We recommend ExpressVPN, Surfshark, or NordVPN in combination with an Android TV, but if you want another one of the overall best VPN providers you can also take a look at our top 5 VPNs right now.

Best VPN for Android TV: Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have a question regarding this article? Click on one of the frequently asked questions below to read the corresponding answer.

ExpressVPN is our highest rated VPN. This VPN provider is fast, secure, user-friendly and has a zero-log policy. The speed and large server network of ExpressVPN make this VPN very suitable to combine with Android TV.

Are you curious what other options work well with Android TV? Take a look at our top 3 best VPN’s for Android TV.

We do not recommend using a free VPN in combination with Android TV. Many free VPNs have speed and data limits and this is very annoying while streaming. Moreover, many free VPNs are not as safe or secure as paid ones.

A VPN encrypts your Internet traffic and improves your level of security and anonymity. In addition, a VPN allows you to bypass geographical blocks.

Tech journalist
Tove has been working for VPNoverview since 2017 as a journalist covering cybersecurity and privacy developments. She has broad experience developing rigorous VPN testing procedures and protocols for our VPN review section and has tested dozens of VPNs over the years.