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IPVanish
IPVanish is a user-friendly VPN that’s adequate for streaming and basic privacy (IPVanish is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis). In our testing, 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 slew of other platforms.
With servers in just 56 countries, IPVanish’s network lags behind competitors like NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN and PIA which boast around twice that number of countries. We recommend checking IPVanish’s server page for the full list. IPVanish isn’t packed with options and server locations, but its straightforward design works fine for VPN beginners. If you just want an intuitive VPN for unblocking content on Disney Plus, Netflix and other services, IPVanish is a decent choice. Its high 44% average internet download speed loss isn’t ideal for 4K or even 1080p video streaming.
Pricing is initially somewhat reasonable, with plans that cost $13 monthly or $40 for your first year (the one-year plan jumps to $90 after your introductory period). There are better VPNs for the price that provide larger server networks and faster internet speeds, IPVanish is fine for casual users simply seeking basic privacy for everyday use.
Hotspot Shield
We don’t recommend Hotspot Shield for critical VPN use due to its U.S. jurisdiction and its use of its proprietary, closed-source Hydra VPN protocol. If security and privacy aren’t your primary concern, then Hotspot Shield works decently as a smart TV VPN.
Hotspot Shield is a fast VPN that’s excellent for streaming content on your smart TV. With servers located in more than 80 countries around the world, you’ll have access to a decent selection of geographic regions with Hotspot Shield.
Hotspot Shield’s Support section and overall customer service experience leave quite a bit to be desired. The Support section is a bit convoluted and Search doesn’t always output exactly what you’re looking for, so it might take some work to find what you’re after. The live chat feature is only available to premium customers. Once you find what you’re looking for, the guides and tutorials are sufficient to get you set up, but the path there isn’t as clean as with other VPNs. Like the others in this list, Hotspot Shield offers apps for Fire TV and Google TV, as well as tutorials on how to set the VPN up on your router.
If you’re willing to spend $13 per month or $96 per year, you’ll get a super-fast smart TV VPN that’s great for unblocking content. If you’re concerned at all about its U.S. jurisdiction, you’d be better off going with another option like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark or PIA. Because of its middling price and average security with U.S. jurisdiction, it’s tough to recommend Hotspot Shield over 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 as the other VPNs on this list, but it does a good job of unblocking content across a wide range of streaming services. Its implementation of streaming-optimized servers also makes CyberGhost a decent choice if you’re a casual VPN user who just wants to stream content on your smart TV.
CyberGhost isn’t as fast as others like NordVPN or Surfshark, but you should still be able to stream content without worrying about constant buffering. CyberGhost has servers located in 100 countries around the world, making it one of the best in terms of global network coverage.
If you decide to hook a VPN up to your smart TV via a router, CyberGhost provides detailed instructions in its Help center on how to do so — although it doesn’t offer custom router firmware like ExpressVPN does. If you have a Fire TV or Google TV, you’ll be able to download the CyberGhost VPN app directly to your TV. CyberGhost VPN also offers a smart DNS solution that will give you access to its DNS servers in the US, UK, Germany and Japan.
Although it’s a decent VPN for streaming on your smart TV and has a large server network, there’s not too much more to like about CyberGhost. The VPN’s questionable privacy practices, buggy apps and mediocre speeds make it difficult to recommend for most use cases.
CyberGhost costs $13 per month, $42 every six months for the bi-annual plan, or $57 total for the first 26 months with the two-year plan. The two-year plan then renews at $57 annually. CyberGhost offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on the monthly plan and a 45-day money-back guarantee on its longer-term subscription plans. For similar pricing or even cheaper, you can choose from several other VPNs that are far superior to CyberGhost for streaming on your smart TV — or for basically any other purpose.
