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.
Best free VPNs for Firesticks
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
1. 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.
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.
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
Read our complete ProtonVPN review.
2. 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 securely 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.
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.
Lots of free server locations
Great at accessing geo-blocked services abroad
Strong security offering
Live support is just a chat bot
Short money-back guarantee
Take a look at our comprehensive Windscribe review.
3. 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 optimized for 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.
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.
Speedy servers in four countries
Unblocking ability is decent, even on free servers
Impressive security and privacy toolkit
Settings menu may be too complex for novice users
Have to renew free plan every 30 days by clicking a button in the app
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.
Here’s how to install a free VPN on Firestick:
Methodology: How we chose the best free VPNs for Firestick
Deciding which VPN to use is challenging at the best of times, but even more so if you’re looking for a free service with Fire TV/ Firestick support. On top of this, we need it to be able to handle anything you throw at it. To ensure only the best VPNs earn a spot in our list, we filtered out competitors using the following criteria:
Must be free, forever: To be considered, providers must offer a free tier that’s available indefinitely. As you might expect, this significantly reduces the number of candidates, although there are still plenty of options at this stage.
Firestick support: Next, we need our VPN to offer a native Fire TV app, or failing that, access to an official .APK file that we can sideload onto our device. If these aren’t available (or the .APK can only be found on shady hosting sites), the service doesn’t qualify.
Steady speeds: You’re most likely looking to stream, so reliable connections are crucial. We also consider the size of the network and which locations are available to free users, since this has a real impact on which streaming services you’ll be able to use.
Strong privacy features: Just because a service is free doesn’t mean you should compromise on security. We look for privacy-first logging policies, strong encryption, and as many security tools as we can get. Ideally, these would include a kill switch, leak protection, and split tunneling functionality, with no need to upgrade to use them.
Want to know more? Here’s a complete guide to how we test VPNs at Comparitech.
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, Tunnelbear 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.
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.
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. You can read more here on the legality of VPNs.
Disclaimer: we aren’t legal experts and as such, nothing we’ve said above should be considered legal advice. We recommend researching your country’s relevant laws before attempting to stream geo-blocked content using a VPN.
