Best VPN for Smart TV in 2026: Top 5 Tested

Search your TV’s app store for a VPN, and the result depends on who made the set. A Sony or TCL running Google TV finds a dozen. A Samsung or LG finds nothing, because Tizen and webOS don’t support VPN apps. That split decides everything that follows.

On an Android TV, Google TV, Fire TV, or Apple TV, a VPN installs like any other app. On a Samsung or LG, it has to come in through Smart DNS or the router, which takes longer to set up but covers every screen in the house at once. Five VPNs handle both cases well.

Smart TV VPNs Compared

VPN	Native TV apps	Samsung and LG method	Streaming services unblocked (of 14)	Money-back	Price
NordVPN	Fire TV (Fire OS and Vega OS), Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV	SmartDNS or router	14	30 days	About $3.50/mo
Proton VPN	Fire OS, Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV	Router only	10	30 days	About $3/mo
ExpressVPN	Fire TV (Fire OS and Vega OS), Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV	MediaStreamer or a Fortify router	14	30 days	About $3/mo
Surfshark	Fire TV (Fire OS and Vega OS), Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV	Router only	13	30 days	About $2.50/mo
CyberGhost	Fire OS, Android TV, Google TV	Smart DNS or router	11	45 days	About $2.20/mo

The Best VPNs for Smart TVs in 2026

1. NordVPN: Best VPN for Smart TV Overall

NordVPN is the one VPN here that solves a Samsung or LG set without a router. Its SmartDNS feature, enabled in your Nord Account, changes your apparent location through DNS (the system that turns website names into IP addresses), and Tizen and webOS accept DNS changes.

On Sony, TCL, Philips, and Hisense sets, the Android TV app does the same job with full encryption, so every major TV brand is covered one way or another. Speed was never the issue. Its average speed loss was 7.8% across UK, US, and Japanese servers, a tie with ExpressVPN for the smallest drop.

All 14 streaming services we tested were unblocked, including Now TV, Peacock, and Hulu.  Since the network also covers more countries than any other VPN here, most regional Netflix libraries have a local server. The Samsung and LG setup is the slow part, however.

You enable SmartDNS on the website, then type two DNS addresses into the TV’s network settings with the remote. Still, it’s a one-time job. As for price, the Basic plan costs about $3.50 a month on the two-year plan.

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2. Proton VPN: Best Smart TV VPN for Privacy

Proton VPN has apps for Android TV, Google TV, Fire OS, and Apple TV, which covers most televisions with a Play Store. On top of that, Swiss law governs the company, and its no-logs policy has been independently audited every year since 2022. That matters on a TV more than people expect, because a smart TV logs what you watch and sends it home.

Secure Core is the privacy tool that makes Proton VPN stand out here. It passes your connection through a hardened server in a privacy-friendly country before the exit server, so even a compromised exit server can’t see where you really are.

The cost is speed: Secure Core was 12.1% slower than a direct US connection in our tests, a difference you’ll rarely notice on a fast home connection. There are two drawbacks, though. Proton VPN has no Smart DNS, so a Samsung or LG set requires a router install. It also unblocked 10 of the 14 streaming services, failing on Hulu, Pluto TV, and ITVX.

So if those are your main services, choose NordVPN or ExpressVPN. On the two-year plan, VPN Plus costs about $3 a month.

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3. ExpressVPN: Best Smart TV VPN for Router Setups

Setting up a VPN on a router is the step most people give up on. ExpressVPN skips it: Fortify is a Wi-Fi 6 router it makes with GL.iNet, with ExpressVPN already set up, so a Samsung, LG, or Vizio set joins it like any normal network and is protected straight away. It replaced the older Aircove line in 2026 and comes with a year of ExpressVPN’s Advanced plan.

Keep in mind that ExpressVPN’s router app no longer supports other brands’ routers, so outside Fortify, a router install is a manual job. Its TV apps are just as easy to use with a remote. Speed matched NordVPN’s: a 7.8% average speed loss, and the UK server came second only to Surfshark.

All 14 streaming services were unblocked, and since obfuscation (disguising VPN traffic as normal web traffic) is on for every connection, the TV keeps working on networks that try to block VPNs. For a TV that only requires a location change, MediaStreamer, ExpressVPN’s Smart DNS, also helps, but it covers only US and UK locations.

Price-wise, the Basic plan costs about $3 a month on its longest plan, while month-to-month billing is much more expensive.

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4. Surfshark: Best Smart TV VPN for Streaming

Surfshark was the fastest VPN on our British server, with a 1.8% speed loss, and it unblocked 13 of the 14 streaming services. The American Netflix catalog loaded from a European connection, as did Hulu and Peacock. ITVX was the exception, failing on every attempt, so for British catch-up TV, NordVPN or CyberGhost is the better choice.

Beyond streaming, its ad blocking also suits TV. CleanWeb removes ads and trackers inside streaming apps, which smart TVs are full of, and the Web Content Blocker filters whole categories such as gambling and adult sites.

That’s useful on a set the children use, and since there’s no device limit, the TVs, phones, and laptops in the house share one account. The downside is the setup on Samsung and LG sets. Surfshark dropped Smart DNS, so those TVs require a router install or a shared connection from a computer.

The Starter plan costs about $2.50 a month on the two-year plan, and you get a standard 30-day money-back guarantee across all plans.

Get Surfshark for TV

5. CyberGhost: Cheapest Smart TV VPN

CyberGhost is the least expensive VPN here, at about $2.20 a month on the two-year plan, and its 45-day refund window gives you two extra weeks to test it on your TV. Its Smart DNS covers US and non-US streaming services, so a Samsung or LG owner can change region without touching the router.

Its Android TV app is also the easiest to browse with a remote, because servers are grouped by the streaming service they’re tuned for instead of a long list of cities. That paid off with British TV: ITVX worked on CyberGhost’s dedicated UK streaming server, after Proton VPN and Surfshark failed on it.

Overall, though, it unblocked 11 of the 14 services, the fewest of the five. Speed is the other trade-off. Its average speed loss was 13.3%, the largest here. You’ll barely notice it on a fast connection, but on a slow one, HD streams can take longer to start.

There’s also no Vega OS app, so the newest Fire TV sticks can’t install it, and there’s nothing to disguise VPN traffic on filtered networks.

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Which Smart TVs Support VPN Apps

• Install an app directly: Sony, TCL, Philips, Xiaomi, and most Hisense sets, which use Android TV or Google TV, plus Fire TV Edition sets from brands such as Toshiba and Insignia. The best VPN for Android TV is ranked separately.
• Apple TV: tvOS 17 and later support VPN apps, and the Apple TV choice has its own ranking.
• Add a streaming stick: any television with an HDMI port. A Fire TV Stick costs about $40 and supports VPN apps of its own, the quickest fix for a television that doesn’t. The Fire TV Stick VPNs are ranked separately.
• Router or Smart DNS only: Samsung (Tizen), LG smart TV sets (webOS), Vizio (SmartCast), Philips Saphi, some Hisense models on VIDAA, game consoles, and older Chromecast dongles.
• Roku: Roku televisions support neither VPN apps nor DNS changes, so they require a router or a shared connection.

To check, open the TV settings and look under About, Support, or System Information for the operating system name.

How to Set Up a VPN on a Smart TV

How you set up a VPN on a smart TV depends on the model, and four methods cover every set. The app install is by far the quickest.

Install the app on the TV

Subscribe on a phone or a computer, then open the Play Store or the Amazon Appstore on the television, search for the VPN by name, and install it.

Next, sign in with the QR code the app shows, since scanning it with a phone beats typing a password with the remote. Then select a country and connect: Netflix, Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer load that country’s catalog.

Download NordVPN app

Use Smart DNS on a Samsung or LG set

Smart DNS replaces the DNS addresses in the television’s network settings, which changes your apparent location for streaming apps. It adds no encryption, so it does nothing for privacy or against an ISP that slows video, and streaming services detect it more easily than a full VPN connection. Setup guides:

• NordVPN: SmartDNS setup
• ExpressVPN: MediaStreamer setup
• CyberGhost: Smart DNS setup

Put the VPN on the router

A router covers the television, the consoles, and the phones at once, and it counts as a single connection. ISP-supplied routers usually block custom VPN setups, so this method starts with a compatible model or a ready-made VPN router such as ExpressVPN’s Fortify. Manual guides:

• NordVPN: router guide
• Proton VPN: router guide
• ExpressVPN: router guide
• Surfshark: router guide
• CyberGhost: router guide

Share a connection from a computer

On a Windows 11 PC, sharing takes six steps:

1. Connect the VPN on the PC.
2. Open Settings, then Network & internet, and enable Mobile hotspot.
3. Go to Advanced network settings and open More network adapter options.
4. Right-click the VPN adapter, choose Properties, and open the Sharing tab.
5. Allow the hotspot to use the connection.
6. Join the hotspot from the TV like any Wi-Fi network.

Macs have a similar option under System Settings, General, Sharing. Either way, the computer has to stay on for the whole film.

A phone can’t share the VPN the same way, and it matters how you send video from it:

• Casting doesn’t use the phone’s VPN. When you cast Netflix or YouTube, the TV fetches the stream itself over your normal connection.
• Screen mirroring does pass through the VPN, because the phone sends its own screen, but the picture quality is lower than casting.

Smart TV VPN Not Working? Quick Fixes

Most problems have one of four causes, and each has a quick fix:

• The VPN isn’t in the app store: the TV’s system doesn’t support VPN apps. Use Smart DNS, a router, or a Fire TV Stick instead.
• Smart DNS stopped working: Smart DNS is tied to your home IP address, which ISPs change from time to time. Sign in to the VPN’s website and register your current IP address again.
• The streaming app still shows your home catalog: clear the app’s data or reinstall it, sign back in, and restart the TV with the VPN connected.
• Video buffers on the VPN: connect to a server closer to you in the same country, or move the TV to a wired connection.

On LG and Samsung sets, it also helps to disable IPv6 in the network settings, since Smart DNS addresses cover only IPv4 traffic.

What a VPN Adds on a Smart TV

Samsung, LG, and Vizio sets use automatic content recognition, which samples what’s on screen and sends it back to the manufacturer to build an advertising profile. However, the setting is buried in the menus under a friendly name.

Encrypted traffic and a different IP address cut off part of that collection, and an ad blocker such as CleanWeb or NetShield stops the trackers inside the apps. Streaming catalogs also differ by country.

Connecting to a British server lets you watch BBC iPlayer from abroad, and a US server brings back the American Netflix catalog on a hotel or holiday-rental TV. Travel is the other common reason to install a Smart TV VPN.

Changing your location keeps a home subscription usable in a rented flat overseas. At home, meanwhile, an ISP that slows video traffic in the evening can’t classify what it can’t read, so an encrypted connection keeps its speed.

Free VPNs on a Smart TV

A free VPN for smart TV streaming is fast enough these days. PrivadoVPN had a 9.5% speed loss across British and American servers and Windscribe 10.0%, close to paid VPNs. Data is the problem, however. Free allowances are monthly, and one evening of 4K video uses several gigabytes.

After that, PrivadoVPN drops to slow emergency servers, and Windscribe cuts the connection. Streaming access is thinner too. Each free VPN unblocked 8 of the 14 services, and both failed on Hulu and JioHotstar.

In addition, neither has an Indian server. Proton VPN’s free plan assigns a country at random, which rules it out when a specific catalog is the goal, although its data is unlimited. Our free VPN ranking has the full picture.

Conclusion

The TV’s operating system decides the method, but not the VPN. NordVPN is the right choice on almost any set, because it’s the only VPN here with a TV app for every major system and Smart DNS for Samsung and LG.  Proton VPN is the better choice if what the TV reports about you worries you more than a missing streaming service.

The exception is a home where several Samsung or LG sets need full encryption. There, a router does the job once for every screen, and ExpressVPN’s Fortify is the simplest way to get one.

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