The Best Free VPN for Firestick

What sets Proton VPN apart is that it doesn’t have any data limits in place. Once installed, you can use the VPN as much as you want.

This unlimited bandwidth policy is the reason why we picked the VPN as the best alternative to Windscribe for Firestick.

In addition to the limitless data allowance, Proton VPN also delivered faster speeds than any other free VPN for Fire TV Stick.

Connecting to nearby server locations, our internet speed only dropped by 1% compared to Windscribe’s 9%.

Proton VPN comes with ChaCha20 encryption, via the WireGuard protocol, and built-in IP and DNS leak protection, which kept our true IP and DNS information hidden during testing.

Also, the VPN’s servers don’t log any personal session or web usage data. This has been verified by an independent no-logs security audit.

Sadly, Proton VPN doesn’t unblock any major streaming app including US Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer.

The VPN service also doesn’t allow peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic on its free servers. This will cause problems with P2P-based Kodi add-ons.

It also no longer allows users to choose server location. Instead, Proton VPN automatically connects you to the “fastest” available server, significantly restricting access to streaming apps.

In short, Proton VPN is excellent for users in need of an unlimited free VPN to hide their IP address, but not for those who need to access geo-restricted content.

The big difference between Windscribe’s and Proton VPN’s free apps is that the former unblocks geo-restricted content in 10 countries, including the US, the UK, and Canada.

Above all, Windscribe’s free VPN works with 5 Netflix regions, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu, and many more region-locked apps.

The VPN even works with USA’s Peacock to stream 3pm Premier League games from the UK.

If you’re planning on using Kodi addons and IPTV apps that still use P2P delivery, the VPN service supports P2P traffic on all its free servers.

Importantly, Windscribe uses ChaCha20 or AES-256 encryption to secure your internet connection, depending on the VPN protocol you use.

And like Proton VPN, the app doesn’t log user activity nor does it leak your real IP or DNS data.

The only real downside to using Windscribe’s free app is its 10GB monthly data cap.

While it’s a generous allowance compared to free VPNs like TunnelBear and Avira, 10GB limits the amount of streaming you can do. In our experience, you’ll get roughly four hours of HD streaming time from it.

Switch to Standard Definition to extend the monthly bandwidth as much as possible.

IPVanish’s user-friendly Fire TV Stick app has clearly been designed with Fire TV’s interface in mind. It’s one of very few VPNs that does this well.

Finding the nearest VPN server was simple, taking us only a few seconds to successfully connect to our chosen server location.

We also found advanced settings like split tunneling, LAN exemption, and obfuscation easy to find within the app. They’re great additions for more advanced users, but beginners don’t really need to worry about these.

The only minor nuisance using IPVanish’s Fire TV app was activating the VPN kill switch to prevent unexpected IP address leaks.

That’s because the kill switch comes as a separate app, to better protect against sudden VPN shutdowns due to Fire TV’s memory constraints.

As a standalone and lightweight app, this makes it more unlikely to fail. You’ll have to install it separately at first, but you can then conveniently control it from the main VPN app.

IPVanish has clearly been built with anonymous streamers in mind. The VPN’s network of 3,100 no-logs servers always hid our IP address in our security tests.

All of the servers are now RAM-based, meaning they never write data to disk. None of them will track or store your internet activity so that you can use your streaming apps privately and securely.

Using Wireshark, we also verified that internet data flowing through IPVanish’s servers is fully encrypted.

We confirmed that IPVanish encrypts all network traffic.

For these reasons, IPVanish is our top-rated VPN for Kodi and IPTV streaming.

Expect fast speeds when you’re connected to a nearby IPVanish server. In our recent speed tests, we recorded a download speed drop of under 4% on short-distance connections.

Minimal speed losses compared to your standard internet connection are ideal for buffer-free streaming on your Firestick.

IPVanish’s long-distance speeds weren’t as fast, though. For instance, we experienced a 14% speed loss connecting from the US into Asia (Japan).

Although these international speeds are fast enough for streaming, we recommend connecting to a local IPVanish server if you just need to conceal your IP address.

ExpressVPN’s Firestick app is the very best at bypassing streaming geo-blocks.

The app unblocks 18 Netflix regions – working particularly well with the American library.

Moreover, most of its US VPN servers unblocked apps like HBO Max, Hulu, and even Peacock TV to watch watch Premier League 3pm kick-offs from the UK.

Outside the UK, we accessed BBC iPlayer and ITVX on its UK servers without issue.

Speeds are consistently high across ExpressVPN’s huge network of 13,360 servers in 109.

Connecting from Europe to the East Coast of the US, we experienced only 17% speed loss.

Similarly, connecting into Singapore the speed loss was just 20%.

Our speed tests prove how much faster ExpressVPN’s international speeds are compared to IPVanish’s.

ExpressVPN’s logging policy guarantees the provider won’t keep any record of personal internet activity or connection to its service.

The VPN is also headquartered in the British Virgin Islands – a strong privacy-friendly jurisdiction for a VPN company.

Another privacy bonus is the kill switch, which not all VPNs have on Firestick. The kill switch automatically interrupts internet access if your VPN connection fails, ensuring your real IP address isn’t exposed.

The kill switch is built into the VPN app, unlike IPVanish’s, so it’s more at risk of shutting down unexpectedly if Fire TV’s memory overloads. But, we’ve never experienced this in many years of testing.

There are two key benefits offered by Surfshark: a cheap 2-year subscription package, and an app compatible with the Fire TV Stick 4K Select model.

The Vega OS app works very similarly to the standard Fire OS version, but is more simple.

You can only use the WireGuard protocol (which is fine) and it lacks advanced settings like Bypasser (split tunneling), Dynamic MultiHop, and CleanWeb (ad blocking).

Like IPVanish’s Vega OS app, it’s a more streamlined app that focuses on the basics: quickly changing your IP address and securing your connection.

While not completely no-logs, we can confirm that Surfshark is a safe VPN to stream securely on your Fire TV device.

Its entire server network runs on diskless RAM-only hardware, meaning data is wiped on every reboot and nothing can be extracted even if a server is physically seized.

The company’s logging policy has been independently validated through multiple Deloitte audits, with only your email address and account registration date retained.

For additional privacy, you can even buy a subscription plan using cryptocurrency.

As with IPVanish and ExpressVPN, we confirmed using Wireshark that Surfshark encrypts internet traffic through industry-standard AES-256 with OpenVPN or ChaCha20 with WireGuard.

One thing to raise: Surfshark’s kill switch isn’t enabled by default on Fire TV. If you install the app and don’t toggle Network Lock on in the settings, your real IP will be exposed any time the VPN connection drops.

We strongly recommend turning Network Lock on as soon as you’ve signed into the app.