Best VPN for Amazon Fire TV Stick in 2025

ExpressVPN is currently CNET’s pick for the best VPN for Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, in addition to being the best VPN overall. It’s a veteran VPN provider that consistently demonstrates a strong commitment to privacy and transparency. It’s also excellent for streaming and the easiest VPN app to use on any platform, including Fire TV Stick. In our testing, ExpressVPN ran smoothly on Amazon Fire TV devices -- as well as other streaming sticks and boxes, like Android TV and Apple TV. But you’ll have to pay a premium because ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPN providers currently on the market. The service costs $13 per month, $100 for the first year (then $117 annually) or $140 for the first two years combined (then $150 annually), which is vastly more expensive than Surfshark's $48 for the first year ($79 upon renewal), or NordVPN's $60 for the first year ($140 upon renewal).

Although fast enough for streaming content on your smart TV, ExpressVPN’s speeds are not quite as fast as some of its competitors, based on our latest speed tests. In 2024, we measured a 24.8% average speed loss with ExpressVPN. This is still fast, considering that many VPNs can slash your internet speeds by 50% or more. We did see substantially better speeds from NordVPN (11% speed loss) and Surfshark (17% speed loss). Still, ExpressVPN’s speeds were largely consistent and aligned with our expectations across protocols and server locations. Overall, we registered the fastest speeds through ExpressVPN’s proprietary Lightway protocol -- which is engineered for speed and security -- with an 11% average speed loss. OpenVPN speeds were considerably slower at a 38.5% average speed loss. Speeds were generally faster to relatively closer server locations like New York City and the UK, and slower to distant locations like Australia and Singapore. For streaming content on Fire TV Stick, we recommend connecting through Lightway to a server location closest to your physical location for optimal speeds.

ExpressVPN’s minimalist interface on Fire TV Stick is simple to use, whether you’re an advanced VPN user or you’ve never used one before. The app settings are easy to navigate and finding a server location is straightforward. ExpressVPN’s Fire TV Stick app includes a kill switch, split tunneling, protocol selection (Lightway and OpenVPN) and auto-connect. It also includes the Advanced Protection suite, which can help you block ads, trackers, malicious sites and adult sites -- an especially helpful addition for parents who want parental controls in place to keep their children safe while using the Fire TV Stick. We like how the app always connects in a snap, which isn’t always the case with other VPNs -- like Surfshark -- which often struggle to connect immediately on the first attempt. ExpressVPN effortlessly unblocks all sorts of streaming content, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. With 105 countries to choose from, ExpressVPN gives you access to content almost anywhere on the planet, all powered by a high-speed server network designed for streaming. During our testing, we were consistently able to stream content in 4K quality without any buffering issues. Plus, we were able to access some difficult-to-unblock international Netflix libraries, like Netflix Egypt. If you’re not satisfied with the service, you can request your money back within 30 days of your purchase.

Surfshark’s unblocking capabilities are some of the best in the business, making the VPN a popular choice for folks who want to stream a lot of content. It’s secure and delivers fast enough speeds for streaming content on Amazon’s Fire TV Stick. Surfshark also provides excellent value in its annual plan, making it an excellent choice for anyone on a budget. (Its monthly plan is less budget-friendly.) During my tests, I was able to use Surfshark’s Fire TV Stick app to stream content on Max, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video. I could also stream Disney Plus without any issues, which was encouraging because I had trouble accessing the streaming service during earlier tests with Surfshark. Notably, I was also able to stream content from various Netflix libraries, including the US, UK, Japan, Germany, Canada, France and Denmark -- which is more than what Express and NordVPN were able to unblock during my tests. So, if you want to maximize your Netflix streaming experience on Amazon Fire TV Stick, Surfshark would be a good choice.

Surfshark’s Fire TV Stick app is simple to use and includes features like split-tunneling, auto-connect, kill switch, protocol selection and CleanWeb ad and malware blocker. You can easily quick-connect to the fastest available server or nearest location and set up multi-hop double VPN connections as well as use static IPs. Surfshark's Android app includes a nifty GPS spoofing feature that lets you unblock apps and websites that rely on GPS data, like YouTube TV. The connections were stable, and streaming was smooth during testing, without any buffering or interruptions of any sort, as was expected from a VPN with only a 17% speed loss. (Some VPNs will cut your speed by 50% or more.) Surfshark offers a quality package that’s cheaper than many of its competitors, which has helped it earn CNET’s Editors’ Choice for Best Value VPN. It’s also a great choice if you have multiple TVs or other devices you want to cover, as a single Surfshark subscription comes with unlimited simultaneous connections, which makes it ideal for households packed full of streaming devices. Surfshark’s monthly subscription is one of the most expensive on the market at $15.45 per month, but you can access greater savings with the yearly plan that costs $48 for the first year, then $79 annually afterwards. The two-year plan costs $60 total for the first two years combined, then renews at $79 per year. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

Also featured in: Best VPN for Streaming, Best VPN for Your Smart TV

NordVPN is a popular choice because of its blisteringly fast connection speeds, privacy-focused features and great geo-unblocking for streaming services. Its Amazon Fire TV app is excellent for accessing Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus content. In addition to its Fire TV app, NordVPN works on Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android/Android TV, iOS/iPadOS, browsers and Apple TV. You can easily stream Cross on Amazon Prime Video, Squid Game on Netflix or Marvel's What If on Disney Plus in lush 4K on an Amazon Fire TV streaming device.

You’ll want a lightning-quick connection for streaming 4K or even 1080p videos, and NordVPN delivers just that. NordVPN came out on top as the fastest VPN we tested in 2024, with an average internet download speed loss of just 11%. We calculated an average speed loss of just 3% with Windows and 12.6% on MacOS through the NordLynx VPN protocol. With OpenVPN, we averaged a 10% speed loss on MacOS and 18.6% using Windows.

The Fire TV app itself is fairly simple to set up and use. There’s the normal range of specialty servers you’d expect from NordVPN here: While you’re probably not going to use the P2P for file sharing on your Fire TV stick, it’s nice to know you have the option. On the other hand, Nord's obfuscated, double VPN and Onion over VPN may be useful for bypassing local network restrictions so you can stream whatever content you want. By no means is the Fire TV app a cut-down version of what NordVPN normally offers. You have access to network features like auto-connect, custom DNS and split tunneling, as well as a choice of VPN protocols. Split tunneling is particularly useful if you only want to change the location on a specific streaming app, such as Netflix, while keeping the rest set to your home location.