Best smart TV VPN providers 2023

Even our televisions are fair game, as far as private data-hungry corporations are concerned, so it makes sense to look out for the best smart TV VPN providers and protect your privacy while watching your favourite series and movies. Why should businesses be able to profile you based on your viewing habits?

Of course, while privacy is one very appealing benefit of the best smart TV VPN providers, the ability to connect via international servers is pretty nifty as well. If you’re travelling abroad and you want to catch up on your favourite streaming shows, you may find that they’re exclusive to your home region and you can’t watch them – but a VPN can circumvent that particular frustration.

Then there’s also the fact that internet services providers (ISPs) can artificially slow down your connection when you’re using a lot of bandwidth. The fastest VPN services will be able to both mask your activity, while potentially making everything run more smoothly too. We’ve picked out five of the best smart TV VPN services and have highlighted the qualities to indicate which is the best cheap VPN, the best free VPN, and so on.

In order to connect your smart TV through your VPN, there’s a good chance that you will need to connect your router through your VPN. The exact process for doing this will vary depending on your choice of provider and router, but all of these VPNs are compatible with

The best smart TV VPN providers are:

1. ExpressVPN – best for smart TVs
2. Ivacy VPN – best price
3. NordVPN – best speed
4. Private Internet Access – most servers
5. Surfshark – best for multiple devices
6. AtlasVPN – best free option

1. The best smart TV VPN

ExpressVPN is the best smart TV VPN.

Pros:

• Lightway protocol provides speedy service
• TrustedServer system gives extra privacy
• Servers span 94 countries

Cons:

• Carries a larger price tag than other providers
• No free trial
• Small allowance on simultaneous connections

Our highest recommendation goes to ExpressVPN, which is generally one of the best VPN providers overall. While its total server count comes in around 3,000 (which is notably lower than certain other providers), it still manages to cover 94 countries, giving customers a broad selection of connection points to use.

Its servers are particularly useful for smart TVs, because they have their IP addresses refreshed on a regular basis, reducing the risk of them being blocked by streaming platforms. Even if any of them do get blocked, you shouldn’t have too long to wait until they get refreshed and you can get back in.

Meanwhile, ExpressVPN also uses the TrustedServer system. What this means is that the servers are unable to write any data about your online activity, so you’ll have complete peace of mind that your data isn’t being dubiously documented. This provider’s biggest set-backs come from the fact that it is one of the most expensive VPNs, and that it gives you a fairly low cap on simultaneous connections. Still, if you can afford it, and you only need to use it on one or two devices, then there’s no reason that ExpressVPN won’t suit you to a tee.

Read the ExpressVPN review from our sister site, PCGamesN, to learn more about this VPN.

2. The best cheap VPN for smart TVs

Ivacy VPN is the best cheap VPN for smart TVs.

Pros:

• Low price available in exclusive deal for our readers
• Servers available in over 100 countries
• Military-grade 256-bit encryption

Cons:

• No free trial
• No kill switch on Apple devices

VPN costs can be really high, so if you don’t have a lot of room in your budget for a VPN, we have a recommendation that should serve you well. In an exclusive deal for our readers, you can actually get five years worth of privacy protection from Ivacy VPN for what works out as just $1 USD a month. That’s handy for anyone who just wants to make a payment and then not have to worry about VPN costs for half a decade afterwards – and at $60, even the up-front costs are less than some other providers.

If you’re concerned that this is going to be a lower quality service because of its lower price tag, let us reassure you that this is in fact a top-notch VPN. No only does it have 5,700 servers in more than 100 countries (beating out ExpressVPN), but it also uses military-grade 256-bit encryption in order to keep your private data as private as can be. On top of that, it also allows you to use up to ten simultaneous connections, which is a higher cap than many others.

While it shouldn’t impinge on your smart TV streaming too much, it’s worth noting that the iOS version of the Ivacy VPN app lacks a kill switch. A kill switch severs the connection if the VPN drops, even for a second, stopping your ISP from gaining any of data on your online activities. If you want to maintain absolute privacy, this could be a deal-breaker.

3. The fastest VPN for smart TVs

NordVPN is the fastest VPN for smart TVs.

Pros:

• Fastest VPN service on the list
• Broad streaming compatibility

Cons:

• Smaller range of countries than others
• No free trial

Is speed your top priority here? In that case, you should go for NordVPN. This is one of the best-known providers in the VPN arena, and part of the reason that it’s been able to accumulate such a large following is that it offers such a fast service. When tested with OpenVPN it had an average server download speed of 65.79Mbit/s, and though this will vary depending on device/time of day/etc. it still stands ahead of many of its competitors.

Buffering and compressed picture quality have a very unique way of ruining a movie, so it makes sense to use a service like NordVPN on your smart TV. Its server range is a bit smaller than some of the other major VPN services, but it makes up for that with its speediness. Plus, it’s also compatible with most of the big streaming services, so it has that going for it as well.

NordVPN could probably do with allowing a few more simultaneous devices, and it is a bit on the expensive side too… but it still beats out ExpressVPN on both of those counts. Though it has a few limitations, they’re mostly pretty minor overall.

Check out the NordVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, to find out more about this service.

4. The smart TV VPN with most servers

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the smart TV VPN.

Pros:

• Huge number of servers
• Low price (with exclusive deal for our readers)
• Decent cap on simultaneous connections

Cons:

• No free trial
• Slightly slower than others

PIA has more VPN servers than any of the other providers on this list, and by quite a distance too. With 35,000 servers, it actually has more than double any of the providers on this list, and that’s particularly handy because if you find that one of its servers has been blocked by one of the best streaming services, then you’ll have such a huge selection of others to go through until you find one that can get you in.

The range of countries that its servers cover is a little lower than some of the others on this list, but it deserves respect simply for having such a vast selection to choose from. On top of that, PIA is also one of the cheaper VPNs out there, and while the monthly rate may not work out as low as Ivacy VPN, it’s still one to think about if you’re shopping on a budget.

While it is still a quality service, it’s worth keeping in mind that PIA is a little slower than some of the other top providers. It’s not bad, or irritatingly slow, but it won’t give you something super speedy like NordVPN or ExpressVPN. 

5. Best smart TV VPN for multiple devices

Surfshark is the best smart TV VPN for anyone wanting to protect multiple devices.

Pros:

• Allows unlimited simultaneous connections
• Offers a week-long free trial
• Decent price

Cons:

• Lower server count
• Servers spread across fewer countries

Are you part of a household with multiple smart TVs? Or somebody who wants to connect all of their devices, and not just their smart TV? If so, we recommend Surfshark, as it is one of few VPN providers that allows its users to have an unlimited number of simultaneous connections, meaning you could even use this to protect the privacy of your whole family.

If you’d like to see this deal sweetened even further, then let us tell you that Surfshark actually lets you have a 7-day card-free VPN free trial, something that very few providers can say. This should give you plenty of time to determine whether or not it’s worth putting money into it, and even to test how it runs on all your favourite streaming platforms.

The main drawback you’ll notice is that there is a smaller selection of servers than you’ll get with several of the other VPNs on this list. It still outdoes most of the smaller VPNs of the world, but might be a problem or anybody who needs to be able to access various different countries. It may be worth double checking where is servers are located and comparing that against your needs.

Read the PCGamesN Surfshark review for more information.

6. Best free smart TV VPN

AtlasVPN is the best free smart TV VPN.

Pros:

• No-logs policy intact on free plan
• Two simultaneous connections allowed on free plan
• Free plan available to use indefinitely

Cons:

• Small server selection when when paid
• No router support

Smart TVs are expensive, and if you’ve just bought one, you might not want to have to fork out for a VPN on top of that (especially if you’ve got subscription services to pay for too). Those in need of a free smart TV VPN should take a look at AtlasVPN.

With a specially dedicated Android TV app that you can access for free, this is an ideal choice for anybody on a limited budget. While the free version of AtlasVPN may not be quite as impressive as of the paid options on here (with fewer servers and slower speeds), it’ll still do a stand-up job of keeping your viewing habits private, and you could always upgrade in future when money is less tight.

Notably, AtlasVPN is a provider with quite a small server selection, even if you do upgrade to the paid plan. Still, to its credit, the paid plan allows for an unlimited number of simultaneous connections and even the free plan lets you cover two devices at once.

We put this list together by considering the unique benefits of many of the most highly regarded VPN services and then comparing them against the needs of those who want to protect their privacy of their smart TVs. While ExpressVPN is our sincere top pick, we appreciate that its price makes it prohibitive for some, and if that’s the case for you, we’re sure that one of the other top providers in this article will suit.

If you’re struggling to decide on the right VPN provider, our guides on the best VPN for streaming and the best Netflix VPN might come in handy.