The best VPNs for Amazon Fire TV Stick
If you want to make the most of your Amazon Fire TV Stick, you should install a VPN on it
Finding the best VPN for Fire TV Stick means you will be able to make the most of your new gizmo. While Fire Sticks themselves are pretty handy – turning any TV with an HDMI port into a smart TV – using it with a VPN can greatly increase the number of shows and movies you can watch by letting you access different countries’ libraries.
How this works is relatively simple: a virtual private network (VPN) is a type of software that creates a secure connection between your device and the wider internet and, while it provides extra privacy and security, it also allows you to reroute your internet traffic through servers based in other countries, making it appear as if you are in that different country. Since most, if not all, of the streaming services you can access through a Fire Stick offer different content depending on the country you’re in, smart use of a VPN will unlock all of these libraries for you, massively increasing your viewing options.
Setting up this connection is pretty simple, too, so you’ve nothing to lose in trying it. Let’s go over how we picked the best VPNs for your Fire Stick, as well as the providers themselves.
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Best VPN for Amazon Fire TV Stick: At a glance
- Best all-round VPN for Fire Stick: ExpressVPN | View deals
- Most user-friendly VPN for Fire Stick: NordVPN | View deals
- Best Netflix VPN for Fire Stick: CyberGhost | View deals
How to choose the best VPN for Amazon Fire TV Stick
Picking the best VPN for Fire Stick from scratch can get a bit involved, so we started with our selection of the best VPN services, since they all made their way onto that shortlist by virtue of a combination of usability, features and price. However, the most important factor to consider when choosing a VPN for your Fire Stick is its ability to crack streaming services.
Not all VPNs are created equal, especially in this regard. They’re primarily a security tool, encrypting your connection and protecting you and your data from spies and thieves. Their ability to fake, or “spoof”, your location is a secondary function – albeit a great one – and this is where their ability to crack Netflix and the like comes from. Some otherwise fantastic VPNs, such as Mullvad, fail at cracking streaming services, highlighting it as a specialised feature.
For our overview of the best Netflix VPNs, we ran through a fairly extensive list of VPNs, testing each and every one against our favourite streaming service. Some were able to get through, some weren’t. That list – as well as our one for Hulu and other streaming services – helped form the backbone of this one.
However, that’s still not the whole story as there’s another small issue that needs to be addressed: to use a VPN with your Fire Stick, you need to be able to actually install it on the small device.
Not all VPNs allow this and, of the ones that do, not all of them make it easy. For our purposes, we made sure that all of the VPNs in our roundup can be installed onto the Fire Stick with the minimum of hassle and, once installed, will simply work without needing to troubleshoot for hours on end.
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How we test the best VPNs for Amazon Fire TV Stick
Testing was a matter of working our way through our list of VPNs to find the ones that would work with both the streaming services and Fire TV Sticks. The first of these was relatively simple, but the other required us to install the services onto multiple devices and try them out. Not exactly the most fun way to spend a summer’s day.
Of course, besides these basics, we checked for other features. Since all of our picks had already been vetted by our team as being secure, the likelihood of them collecting your data for their own ends is small. All of these VPNs use state-of-the-art protocols – the programs that determine how machines ”talk” to each other – that practically guarantee you won’t be spied upon.
However, we also tried to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. There are some large differences in price between these services, and while in each case you’re getting a decent bang for your buck, as with all things, spending more money does get you more, at least in terms of features. That said, you should find that there’s something for everybody here.
Finally, all our picks are easy to use. We messed around extensively with all of the clients, making sure there were no major bugs, whether using them as normal or when installed on a Fire Stick.
The end result is a list of five services, all good picks in their own right, that have been thoroughly tested to work with Fire TV Sticks and will provide you with both the protection and the cracking power you need to maximise your viewing pleasure without any headaches. At least one of them should be the perfect one for you.
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The best VPNs for Amazon Fire TV Stick you can buy in 2023
1. ExpressVPN: Best all-round VPN for Fire TV Stick
Price: £83 for 12 months (£6.90/mth) | Check price at ExpressVPN
Our top pick is ExpressVPN – something that won’t surprise you too much if you’re a regular reader. It’s a solid hit in every aspect that matters, with an easy-to-use app, great performance and a fantastic track record when it comes to cracking Netflix and other streaming services.
As for using it with a Fire TV Stick, ExpressVPN not only lets you install it, but it also makes it easy to do so. We doubt it would take longer than a few minutes, and without any hassle, even for the least tech-savvy. As with everything ExpressVPN, it just works – which is another great selling point.
In fact, the only thing we don’t like about ExpressVPN is its price, which is pretty steep even paid annually. It’s a lot more than almost all other VPNs on the market, and definitely the most expensive on this list, but it’s still great for anybody who’s willing to spend the money.
Read our full ExpressVPN review for details
Key specs – Independent no-logs audit: Yes; Maximum simultaneous connections: 5; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes; Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Based in: British Virgin Islands
2. NordVPN: Most user-friendly VPN for Fire TV Stick
Price: £60 for 2 years (£2.50/mth+VAT) | Check price at NordVPN
In second place, hot on ExpressVPN’s heels, is NordVPN. It doesn’t quite have the same level of performance, but it makes up for that with a much better initial price, making it a great pick for anybody only just getting acquainted with VPNs.
NordVPN is also very easy to use, with an intuitive graphical interface that’s especially accommodating for first-time users. The same goes for installing the program onto a Fire Stick, which is pretty easy and likely to be done quickly, leaving you to watch your new smart TV without much hassle.
Overall, you really can’t go wrong with this provider. The only thing we’ll say against it is that you might occasionally have some performance issues when servers overload, but this can easily be fixed by simply switching to a new VPN server.
Read our full NordVPN review for details
Key specs – Independent no-logs audit: Yes; Maximum simultaneous connections: 6; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes; Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Based in: Panama
3. CyberGhost: Best Netflix VPN for Fire TV Stick
Price: £68 for 3 years + 3 months free (£1.95/mth+VAT) | Check price at CyberGhost
Next up is CyberGhost, a VPN service that does extremely well at cracking Netflix, though it doesn’t do quite as well with the other streamers. Still, if you’re mainly going to use your Fire Stick to watch Netflix shows, CyberGhost may be your best choice as few are as good at getting through to that service.
Like the others on this list, CyberGhost is relatively easy to install on a Fire Stick, as well as very easy to use overall. Price-wise it’s certainly an interesting option as it’s relatively cheap for the first two years, though the price does go up on renewal. However, we did notice some performance issues at times – while we would still class it as reliable overall, it’s not quite as dependable as NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Still, it’s worth taking for a spin, especially as it comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee, the longest in the business.
Read our full CyberGhost review for details
Key specs – Independent no-logs audit: No; Maximum simultaneous connections: 7; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes; Money-back guarantee: 45 days; Based in: Romania
4. Private Internet Access: Best cheap VPN for Fire TV Stick
Price: £65 per year (£1.80/mth) | Check price at Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access – known far and wide by its abbreviation, PIA – has been around for a long time and, in all those years, it has cemented its reputation as a fierce privacy advocate, even going so far as taking out full-page newspaper ads a few times to protest some new legislation that the service figured would harm citizens’ rights.
It’s not just its heart that’s in the right place, either; its VPN has a pretty decent interface and great performance. It’s also easy to install on a Fire Stick, with just a few steps that need to be followed. What sets it apart from the others on this list is its fantastic pricing – though there are better VPNs out there, few are this budget-friendly.
Read our full Private Internet Access review for details
Key specs – Independent no-logs audit: No; Maximum simultaneous connections: 10; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes; Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Based in: USA
5. Windscribe: Best free VPN for Fire TV Stick
Price: Free, or £40 per year (£3.33/mth) | Buy now from Windscribe
Our final pick is Windscribe, which, like the others on this list, is easy to use, simple to install on a Fire Stick, offers great performance, and does basically every other thing you might expect from a decent VPN. What marks it out as special, though, is that you can use it for free.
Or at least, you can up to a point: the service offers 2GB for free, meaning you can route that much data through the VPN before you need to upgrade. Since 2GB is roughly the equivalent of two or three films on Netflix, that’s pretty decent. You can also increase it to 10GB just by signing up to Windscribe with your email account, which is even better.
If you end up liking how Windscribe works, you can sign up for a full year with unlimited bandwidth for a very decent price.
Read our full Windscribe review for details
Key specs – Independent no-logs audit: Yes; Maximum simultaneous connections: Unlimited; 24/7 customer support: No; Streaming service access: Yes; Money-back guarantee: 3 days; Based in: Canada
