VPN for streaming and TV in 2026: what it changes, our top three and where to start

As of 7 October 2026, ExpressVPN leads our general ranking of VPNs for streaming and TV, ahead of NordVPN and Surfshark. A VPN makes a streaming service place your device in another country. You can then watch your own catalog while traveling, or another country's catalog, until the service spots the VPN. This page maps what a VPN changes, our top three and where each topic lives.

A VPN changes the country a streaming service sees, and services can block VPN servers

A VPN routes your connection through a server in another country, so a streaming service sees that server's internet address (IP address) and places your device there. Unless Netflix spots the VPN, it then shows that country's catalog, often called its library, because Netflix says its catalog, ratings and downloads follow the country you are in.

In practice, that matters in four situations:

• While traveling, Netflix shows the catalog of the country you are in. Inside the EU, it provides your home-country catalog for a limited period. Netflix says a VPN can make a device look as if it is somewhere else. A server in your home country may therefore show your own catalog again, unless Netflix spots the VPN.
• For another country's catalog, connect to a server there. BBC iPlayer, for example, says it checks that your internet address is registered in the UK.
• Services can block VPN servers, and none of the service pages we read describes how they spot them. IP-data and VPN companies say addresses registered to data centers are easier to flag, and NordVPN says a dedicated address lets you avoid blocklists of addresses tainted by misuse. When a service spots a VPN, Netflix may show only titles it has worldwide licensing for, or error E106, and BBC iPlayer will not play the show.
• Netflix says it does not support VPNs on its ad plan, or for live events such as its NFL games in the US on 25 November and 25 December 2026.

In our research (October 2026), Netflix works with all seven VPNs we cover, though not on every server. Those VPNs score 64% to 83% across all its libraries, so a blocked server is not a blocked VPN. A score of 100% means all the recent evidence we gathered says the VPN works. When Netflix blocks one server, try another: ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark all advise it for Netflix, as the fix steps below show.

Our top three VPNs for streaming and TV are ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark

ExpressVPN is first in our general ranking as of 7 October 2026, with NordVPN second and Surfshark third. The score combines how well each VPN works in practice in our research, device compatibility, features, and price and refunds. How we rank explains how rankings work on this site.

• App available
• App with documented limits
• No app
• Not documented

VPNs ranked for General, best score first

Rank	VPN	General score	Best for	Highlights	Refund	Profile
1	ExpressVPN	Highest research scores across the services we checked	8.9/10General score	Works withBest in our research: 100% on BBC iPlayer (UK) and 2 moreWeakest in our research: 78% on Netflix (all libraries) AppsFire OSVega OSAndroid TVApple TV Features10 devices at onceSplit tunneling on TV apps	30-day money-back	See profile of ExpressVPN
2	NordVPN		8.7/10General score	Works withBest in our research: 100% on BBC iPlayer (UK) and 1 moreWeakest in our research: 69% on Netflix (all libraries) AppsFire OSVega OSAndroid TVApple TV Features10 devices at onceSmart DNS for some services	30-day money-back	See profile of NordVPN
3	Surfshark	Unlimited devices	8.4/10General score	Works withBest in our research: 100% on BBC iPlayer (UK) and 1 moreWeakest in our research: 64% on Netflix (all libraries) AppsFire OSVega OSAndroid TVApple TV FeaturesSplit tunneling on TV appsWorks on routers	30-day money-back	See profile of Surfshark

Source: whatworks.tech scores, 19 October 2026. The score combines how well each VPN works in practice in our research, device compatibility, features, and price and refunds. How we rank.

For now, our general score rests on our streaming research, so the order matches our streaming ranking. The full ranking of all seven VPNs is on that page. Other uses rank differently, because each counts only its own research scores and features, and the Fire TV ranking gives device apps more weight. IPVanish leads our Netflix ranking, ExpressVPN leads our Fire TV ranking, and Proton VPN ties Surfshark for third in our ranking for TVs and streaming devices.

If Netflix is nearly all you watch, start with IPVanish. If you also watch BBC iPlayer or Prime Video, start with the top three, which score higher with both. In our research (October 2026), all three score 100% with BBC iPlayer (UK) and 94% or more with Prime Video. Netflix across all libraries is lower: ExpressVPN 78%, NordVPN 69% and Surfshark 64%, and Surfshark also scores 88% with Disney+ and 75% with HBO Max.

Prices move often. Each row of the table is the cheapest offer an EU visitor saw on the date in its caption, with the renewal price where we recorded one. We did not capture Surfshark's renewal price.

VPN	Per month	First payment	Then renews at
ExpressVPN	€2.49Basic	€69.72for 2 years + 4 months	€79.95 a year
NordVPN	€3.49Basic	€94.23for 2 years + 3 months	€139.08 a year
Surfshark	€2.49Starter	€67.23for 2 years + 3 months	Not shown

Introductory prices shown to a visitor in the EU on 11 October 2026, lowest monthly price per provider. VAT may apply.

Providers: Kape lists three of the seven VPNs, and refund terms and devices at once differ

The seven VPNs we cover differ on refund terms and devices at once, and three of them share one owner, Kape.

• As of October 2026, six of the seven offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, some only for new customers or first purchases. CyberGhost gives 45 days on plans of six months or longer.
• Surfshark and Private Internet Access allow unlimited devices at once, and IPVanish does for personal use.
• Proton VPN is the only one of the seven VPNs we cover that has a free plan in the pages we read, and it is limited. Proton VPN says streaming support needs a paid plan.
• Kape, a company headquartered in London, lists ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access and CyberGhost among its brands. The other four are NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN and IPVanish.

VPN providers compared sets all seven side by side: owner, refunds, devices at once, and where each one leads and lags.

Streaming: IPVanish scores highest with Netflix, and ExpressVPN scores 95% or more with five other services

In our research (October 2026), IPVanish has the highest Netflix score across all libraries (83%). ExpressVPN scores 95% or more with BBC iPlayer (UK), Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max and Hulu (US). Each service has its own rules.

• In the same research, NordVPN has the highest Netflix score for the US library (87%) and Proton VPN for the UK library (91%).
• NordVPN is second in our general ranking but sixth in our Netflix ranking. The reason is its research score across all Netflix libraries (69%, October 2026), which is lower than its scores with other services.
• Your Netflix account country changes only after you move: you cancel, wait for the membership to end and restart it in the new country.

The Netflix hub has research scores library by library, and its section on traveling with Netflix covers home catalogs, downloads and household codes.

In the same research, these are the highest scores for each of the other services, and each has rules of its own:

• BBC iPlayer (UK): the BBC says it will not play a show if it detects a possible VPN. ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and Proton VPN all score 100%.
• Prime Video: Amazon's terms say a breach can end your access without a refund. ExpressVPN scores 95%, and NordVPN and Surfshark 94%.
• Disney+: error 73 tells anyone using a VPN to turn it off. ExpressVPN, NordVPN and IPVanish score 99%, while Private Internet Access scores 39% and CyberGhost 35%.
• HBO Max: it shows an "Are you using a VPN?" message. ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Private Internet Access score 100%.
• Hulu (US): Hulu is available only in the United States and certain territories, and shows an anonymous proxy error. ExpressVPN and Surfshark score 100%.

Best VPN for streaming, service by service lists every VPN's score for each of these services and covers them in more depth. It also covers YouTube TV, Paramount+, Peacock, the Apple TV service, DAZN, Fubo, F1 TV, ITVX, Channel 4, Sky Go and NOW, services in Australia and Canada, and EU portability. Several say they block VPNs or do not support them. Our research (October 2026) has too little data to score a VPN with YouTube TV, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV, ITVX or Sky Go.

Devices: streaming sticks run VPN apps, and Samsung, LG and Roku TVs need a router or hotspot

Fire TV sticks and Android TV or Google TV devices run VPN apps from all seven VPNs we cover, though some older Fire TV sticks cannot run some of them. None of the seven lists an app for Samsung, LG or Roku TVs. The devices hub covers every device you might watch on.

TVs and sticks: Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV and Apple TV have VPN apps

Amazon sells Fire TV Sticks on two systems, Fire OS and Vega OS.

• All seven VPNs have a Fire OS app, and five have a Vega OS app: ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark, NordVPN and IPVanish. Private Internet Access says its app is not compatible with Vega OS, and we found none for CyberGhost.
• Android TV and Google TV devices have apps from all seven VPNs, and Apple TV from six, because CyberGhost lists none for tvOS.
• Surfshark says most Samsung TVs cannot install VPN apps and LG webOS TVs do not support them natively, and NordVPN says its app cannot be installed on Roku OS. Surfshark suggests sharing a VPN connection from a Windows PC or a phone hotspot.

For one stick, the Fire TV hub shows how to tell Fire OS from Vega OS and ranks the VPNs for a Fire TV Stick, with ExpressVPN first.

Phones, tablets and computers: all seven VPNs have apps; Linux, extensions and casting differ

A phone, tablet or computer runs the VPN's own app, and VPNs on every device covers each system in turn.

• All seven VPNs list an iPhone app that also runs on iPad, an Android app for phones and tablets, a Windows app and a Mac app.
• Linux and browser extensions differ. CyberGhost's Linux app is command line only, and the pages we read for IPVanish name no native Linux app and describe no VPN browser extension. Six of the seven have a browser extension, and five say theirs covers browser traffic only.
• Android, iPhone and iPad, Windows 10 and 11 and macOS each have built-in VPN settings, which need the details your VPN service supplies.
• A VPN on your phone does not carry a video you cast, because Google says the Cast device brings the stream in over its own connection. This applies when casting hands playback to the Cast device, and screen mirroring differs. ExpressVPN lists casting from Android with its VPN on as not supported.
• On a Windows computer, Netflix plays Ultra HD in Edge and Chrome but only up to 1080p in Firefox and Opera, so use Edge or Chrome for 4K.

Routers and consoles: a router VPN covers every device, and ExpressVPN says consoles have no native VPN support

• Router makers say a VPN on the router covers every connected device, including TVs and consoles, and supported ASUS and TP-Link models let you pick which devices use it.
• ExpressVPN makes its own routers, called Aircove. GL.iNet routers with firmware 4.7 or later have a WireGuard client that already supports NordVPN, Surfshark, Private Internet Access and IPVanish.
• ExpressVPN says neither PlayStation 5 nor Xbox supports a VPN natively, and offers its MediaStreamer DNS service instead, which it says cannot change your location.
• Smart DNS points a device at the provider's DNS servers, which look up web addresses, instead of running an app. It does not encrypt traffic or change your IP address. Private Internet Access and NordVPN offer it, Surfshark retired its own on 2 February 2026, and CyberGhost says its version no longer works with streaming.

For a TV or device with no app, the five routes for a VPN on a device show which method fits.

Guides and fixes: fix Netflix error E106 and install a VPN on a Fire TV Stick

Two guides walk you through a task: one fixes Netflix error E106, and one installs a VPN on a Fire TV Stick, on both Amazon systems.

Netflix error E106: switch server first

Netflix error E106 shows the message "You seem to be using a VPN or proxy. Please turn off any of these services and try again." That means Netflix thinks it has spotted a VPN or proxy on your connection. Some TVs show the same message under the code tvq-pb-101. If you use a VPN on purpose, steps 1 and 2 are the first ones ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark give for Netflix, and step 3 is Netflix's own:

1. Connect to another server in the same country, then force-close and reopen the Netflix app after each change.
2. If E106 returns, clear the app's cache or reinstall it, then run a DNS leak test (dnsleaktest.com is one) and check that every DNS server shown belongs to the VPN.
3. Check your plan on your Netflix account page, because Netflix says VPNs are not supported on its ad plan.

If you did not turn on a VPN, look for one you forgot, such as an antivirus app's VPN or one on your router, and turn it off. Then open fast.com, select Show more info and see whether the Client country matches where you are. The full E106 fix lists every step, quickest first.

Fire TV Stick install in five steps

You install a VPN on a Fire TV Stick from the Amazon Appstore, on Fire OS and Vega OS alike.

1. Check that your stick's system, Fire OS or Vega OS, has an app from your VPN.
2. Go to Find (Search on the newer home screen), type the VPN's name, check that "Works With" lists your stick and select Get.
3. Open the app and sign in. Most providers let you scan a QR code or enter a code from a phone or computer.
4. When a connection request appears, select OK. On Vega OS, ExpressVPN's guide says Continue and then OK, and Proton VPN's says Allow, so the exact wording is unconfirmed.
5. Choose the country whose catalog you want from the app's list of locations, not the one-press connect button.

IPVanish says Fire OS shows no icon when a VPN is on, so check the status inside the app. Sideloading, which means installing an app from outside the store, works on Fire OS only. The full Fire TV install guide covers every provider's sign-in and the Vega OS setup.

Common problems: what you see, why it happens and the first fix

Find what you see in the first column. The first fix the VPN companies give is usually another server in the same country, before you turn the VPN off.

Source: Netflix, BBC, Disney+ and HBO Max help pages; VPN provider help pages; router makers' guides. Checked October 2026.

Where to go next

• Best VPN for streaming: the full ranking of seven VPNs, with picks by service.
• VPNs on every device: phones, computers, TVs and routers, and what to do when a device has no app.
• VPN providers compared: owners, refunds, devices at once and where each VPN leads and lags.
• Netflix with a VPN: research scores library by library, and traveling with Netflix.
• Fix Netflix error E106: the full fix, quickest step first.
• Install a VPN on a Fire TV Stick: both systems, step by step.
• VPN by streaming service: pick a service, from Netflix to UK and Australian channels.
• VPN for your device: pick your TV, phone, computer, console or router.
• Internet censorship index: which countries block VPN websites, from monthly OONI measurements.