Thanks to the growing concern around digital privacy, more people are using VPNs than ever before. It’s easy to assume that any VPN is better than none at all, but the problem is that this simply isn’t accurate; plenty of free VPNs lack the speed and versatility for day-to-day tasks like streaming. Worse still, these providers are often intentionally vague about their logging policies, leaving you unsure as to how secure your activities really are.
Of course, that’s not to say all free VPNs are bad — you just have to do your research and choose wisely. To save you time, we’ve highlighted five services that are more than capable of helping you stream safely on your Amazon Firestick. You’ll find a brief overview of our top free VPNs for Firestick below, but feel free to scroll down for a more in-depth look at each.
Best free VPNs for Firesticks
- Hotspot Shield: The #1 free VPN for Amazon Firestick. A reliable, versatile provider with steady speeds and a pretty generous bandwidth limit. Offers a risk-free seven-day free trial in case you’d like to try out the paid plan instead.
- ProtonVPN: This is a rare find: a free, no-logs VPN with no bandwidth cap at all. Unblocks a good number of geo-restricted services and is fast enough for HD (or even 4K) streaming.
- Windscribe: A solid choice with free servers in 11 countries. Speeds are generally decent and torrenting is allowed on any server. Has lots of advanced features, including built-in proxy gateway support.
- Hide.me: With five locations to choose from, fast servers, and a 10GB per month limit, this is a strong choice for anyone looking to stream semi-regularly on their Firestick or Fire TV.
VPNs are fairly complex pieces of software, and it’s not always clear what features or characteristics are worth looking out for. We separated the best from the rest by choosing to only recommend free services meeting all of the following criteria:
- Must offer a free plan with no time limit
- Offers a native Firestick app, or failing that, an Android app that can be sideloaded
- Provides high enough speeds for HD streaming
- Doesn’t store any logs that could personally identify you
- Encrypts your traffic and offer a variety of other security features
Best free VPN for Firestick and Fire TV
Below, we’ll take a closer look at each of the best free VPNs for Amazon Firestick:
1.Hotspot Shield
Apps Available:
- PC
- Mac
- IOS
- Android
- Linux
Website: www.Hotspotshield.com
Money-back guarantee: 45 DAYS
Hotspot Shield is our first choice for anyone looking to stream on their Firestick. It’s a strong all-rounder with impressive speeds and unblocking ability, plus its free plan has a fairly generous bandwidth limit of 500MB per day. There are a few downsides for free users in that you’re limited to a single connection, can’t access the live chat or email support, and can only connect to servers in the US. In other words, if you’re trying to access BBC iPlayer or Netflix UK abroad, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Those on the free plan can take advantage of all of the same security features as paid subscribers. These include 256-bit encryption and protection against DNS and IPv6 leaks, plus a kill switch (in all versions but iOS). Hotspot Shield deletes all personally identifiable logs once your session is over, and only stores anonymized connection logs for the purposes of optimizing the service and enforcing its daily data limit.
This provider has its own Amazon Firestick app, so there’s no need to sideload it onto your device. Further, its paid plan comes with a seven-day free trial, and following that, a 45-day money-back guarantee, meaning you can try it completely risk-free.
Pros:
- Fast enough for live streaming
- Works with plenty of popular geo-blocked services
- Strong security features
- No-logs policy
Cons:
- Free plan only lets you use US servers
BEST FREE VPN FOR FIRESTICK:Hotspot Shield is our top pick. It has a lot to offer anyone hoping to watch US TV on Amazon Firestick, including high speeds and a decent bandwidth cap. There’s even a generous, risk-free, 45-day money-back guarantee.
For more information, check out the full Hotspot Shield review.
2. ProtonVPN
ProtonVPN is near-unique in that it offers a free plan with unlimited bandwidth. You are limited to just three server locations (the US, the Netherlands, and Japan) instead of 30+, and may only connect one device at a time, but this is still exceptional value. With decent unblocking capabilities and an average speed of 66 Mbps, you shouldn’t have any issues streaming. Torrenting is allowed, but not on any of the free-to-use servers, unfortunately.
Free users aren’t prevented from accessing any of this VPN’s security tools. There’s DNS and IPv6 leak protection, a kill switch, 256-bit encryption, and an ad, malware, and tracker-blocker named NetShield. Just as important, ProtonVPN does not keep any logs that could identify you.
ProtonVPN doesn’t have a Firestick app but it can be sideloaded onto Fire TV devices.
Pros:
- No bandwidth limits at all
- Three locations to choose from
- Decent speed and unblocking ability
- Great range of security features
Cons:
- No live chat support
STREAM AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE:ProtonVPN doesn’t restrict the amount of TV you can watch per day or even per month, like many of its rivals do. Has no issues unblocking tricky services like Netflix abroad. Paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read our complete ProtonVPN review.
3. Windscribe
Windscribe has a base monthly bandwidth cap of 2GB, but this can be raised to 10GB simply by verifying your email address. It also offers more free-to-access locations than any other service in this list, with 11 countries to choose from. There used to be specific servers for accessing region-locked platforms like Netflix, but these have since been removed. Luckily for free users, any server in the appropriate country should work.
This VPN’s security features include 256-bit encryption, automatic connection options, and a firewall that effectively acts as a combined kill switch and leak blocker. Interestingly, there’s also a proxy gateway feature that allows you to reroute traffic from devices that don’t support VPN apps natively (such as TVs and games consoles). Windscribe doesn’t store any personally identifiable information, and can’t reveal what you do online under any circumstances.
Windscribe’s Firestick app is available in the Amazon App Store.
Pros:
- Lots of free server locations
- Great at accessing geo-blocked services abroad
- Strong security offering
Cons:
- Live support is just a chat bot
- Short money-back guarantee
MORE CHOICE:Windscribe lets free users unblock services from a far greater number of countries than others in this list. It’s relatively fast, too, and offers a solid set of security and privacy features, plus a native Firestick app. Paying subscribers can cancel within three days (or before using their first 10GB of data) to receive a full refund.
Take a look at our comprehensive Windscribe review.
4. Hide.me
Hide.me gives you 10GB of free data each month, plus the ability to connect to servers in Canada, Germany, the US, and the Netherlands. There are no ads, and P2P traffic is supported on all servers, even the free ones. So what’s the catch? Well, while it has servers dedicated to unblocking streaming platforms like Netflix and BBC iPlayer, you can’t use these on a free account. That said, we were able to use ZDF and NBC with the free servers, so your mileage may vary.
This VPN is extremely customizable, even allowing you to change your VPN adapter settings if you’d like. Users can take advantage of its kill switch, firewall, 256-bit encryption, and DNS leak protection. Annoyingly, Wireguard support is available to paying subscribers only. Hide.me doesn’t keep any logs that could be used to identify you.
To install this service, just search the Amazon app store for “Hide.me”. If you’d like to see what the paid plan has to offer, you can just use Hide.me’s five-day free trial.
Pros:
- Speedy servers in four countries
- Unblocking ability is decent, even on free servers
- Impressive security and privacy toolkit
Cons:
- Settings menu may be too complex for novice users
- Have to renew free plan every 30 days by clicking a button in the app
FREE NO-LOGS VPN:Hide.me has a great free plan, with steady speeds, a vast array of security features, and the ability to unblock popular streaming services abroad. There’s even a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you’re interested in trying the full service.
Read our full review of Hide.me.
How to install a free VPN on Firestick
Before we begin, you should note that first-generation Firesticks can’t run VPN apps. You can check whether you have a first-generation model by looking for the FCC ID on the side; if it says anything other than “2ABDU-0509”, you should be fine.
There are two ways to install a VPN app on Amazon Firestick. The first is to simply search for your preferred provider’s app in the Amazon app store and install it if found. However, if your VPN doesn’t have a dedicated Firestick app, you’ll have to sideload it instead.
Here’s how to install a free VPN on Firestick:
- Navigate to Settings > My Fire TV
- Enable the Apps from Unknown Sources and ADB Debugging options
- Search the Amazon app store for an app named Downloader, then install it
- Visit your provider’s website and find the .APK file used to manually install its app on Android devices. If you’re struggling, ask customer support for the link directly
- Open the Downloader app and enter the address of the .APK file, then click Go
- Confirm the app’s permissions and click the Install button
Free VPNs to avoid when watching TV on a Firestick
Not every free VPN is created equal. For instance, there are plenty of high-profile services that just don’t offer the things you need to watch TV safely on your Firestick. Below, we’ve listed just a few providers you might have heard of that are a poor choice for streaming:
- Tunnelbear: Despite having servers in 34 countries and generally decent performance, it only has a 500MB per month data allowance for free users. That’s only enough for about six hours of standard-definition streaming per year.
- Hola: Struggles to unblock popular streaming platforms. Limits free plans to 2GB of data per month. Previously sold excess user bandwidth, effectively profiting from turning your device into part of a botnet.
- Speedify: Doesn’t allow you to choose a server location, making it impractical for streaming. Also has a 2GB per month limit.
When should I consider upgrading to a paid VPN?
If you’re satisfied with the VPN you’re using, but you keep bumping up against the free plan’s data limit, upgrading to a paid plan might not be the worst idea. Likewise, many providers prevent free users from torrenting and restrict the server locations that they can choose from. As such, if you want to use P2P networks or if you need an IP address from a specific country, a paid subscription may be your only option.
There are a few warning signs to look out for, though. For instance, we’d caution against using any service that restricts your speeds until you pay up, or which claims to be able to unblock everything. It’s also a good idea to check out a provider’s refund policy before you commit, just so you’re prepared, should the paid service turn out to be underwhelming.
Is using a VPN to stream TV shows legal?
Believe it or not, most countries don’t actually have laws forbidding you from accessing geo-restricted content using a VPN. However, doing so usually goes against the terms of service of whichever platform you’re using.
The good news is that, even if your chosen service realizes you’re connected to a VPN, nothing is likely to happen. In fact, you’ll usually just be asked to disconnect before you can proceed.
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