Best VPNs for watching Amazon Prime Video: Access all content anywhere

Unfortunately, most of the most popular content in the Prime Video catalog is only available in the US. If you’re spending time outside of the country, you’ll need to trick Amazon into thinking you’re on US soil to unblock it. Otherwise, you’ll get error 4601, which tells you the content isn’t available due to geographical licensing restrictions.

That’s where a VPN, or virtual private network, comes in. A VPN for Amazon Prime Video encrypts all your internet traffic and allows you to watch Amazon Prime and Instant Video from outside the US on a Windows PC, Mac OSX, iPhone, iPad, Android, or Linux. Plus, all the VPNs we recommend offer unlimited bandwidth, so there is no limit to how much you can stream Amazon Prime content.

Through exhaustive research and regular testing, we’ve found the best VPNs for Amazon Prime, seamlessly piercing through Amazon Prime’s notoriously robust VPN barricades. We’ll guide you, step by step, through using them to watch Amazon Prime Video freely. If you don’t want to read the full article, here’s a summary of our recommended VPNs.

Best VPNs for Amazon Prime Video:

1. NordVPN: Our top pick for Amazon Prime. Reliably unblocks Prime Video and similar platforms. Super-fast connections make it ideal for streaming.
   TIP In our testing we found that the cheapest NordVPN plan (Standard) works perfectly for Amazon Prime.
2. Surfshark: Best budget provider for Amazon Prime Video. Speedy and security-conscious, with no connection or bandwidth limits. Keeps no logs at all.
3. IPVanish: High-speed provider that works perfectly with Amazon Prime Video. No connection or bandwidth limits. The cheapest monthly subscription of any provider on our list.
4. ExpressVPN: Veteran VPN provider that works great with Amazon Prime Video and similar services. Offers a great range of security and privacy options.
5. CyberGhost: Prime Video servers are clearly marked in the app. Great security and extremely fast. Vast network of 10,000+ servers in 100+ countries.
6. PrivateVPN: Great speeds, no logs, and full access to Amazon Prime Video from abroad. User-friendly apps and the option to pay anonymously in Bitcoin.
7. PureVPN: Very affordable with seriously impressive streaming speeds. A large network of worldwide servers.
8. ProtonVPN: Great for advanced VPN users because of its extensive features. Works great with Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms.

Best VPNs for watching Amazon Prime Video: A snapshot of features

How to unblock Amazon Prime Video with a VPN

Once you’ve selected and signed up for one of the VPNs above, follow these proven instructions to unblock the Prime Video catalog.

Here’s how to unblock Amazon Prime Video from abroad:

1. Download and install the VPN app for your device. We recommend NordVPN.
2. Run the app and select a VPN server in the US. Note that not all servers will work, so if they aren’t labeled, you might need to consult your provider’s website or customer service to ask which one to connect to.
3. Hit the Connect button on your VPN.
4. Once the connection has been established, open the Amazon Prime video you want to watch. It should now be unblocked!

Note: Amazon is a bit confusing about how Prime users access videos. You can find TV shows and movies on the main Amazon website and watch them there or access them from primevideo.com. We had better luck going through Amazon, but if your VPN doesn’t work for one, try the other.

Tutorial Video: How to watch Amazon Prime with a VPN

Our criteria for the best Amazon Prime Video VPNs

Finding it difficult to choose between VPN providers is a common problem—and one that we can relate to. After all, there are a huge number of providers available. To better differentiate them, we evaluate VPNs on several fronts. These are summarized below, with the data and associated charts in our methodology section.

• Speed: As Amazon Prime has the bulk of its content in the US, we wanted to know how fast VPN providers were when connected to US servers. We carried out these speed tests on a home broadband connection to simulate the experience for the average user.
• Streaming ability: We scored each provider’s streaming ability based on how well they performed accessing a range of platforms beyond just Amazon Prime, as well as how many servers they have in the US.
• Security & privacy: We scored providers against 15 different security and privacy criteria. These included the level of encryption they use, whether they ship with built-in leak protection, and which VPN protocols they support.
• Ease of use: Evaluating each provider’s relative ease of use involved scoring them on 10 different criteria. These include the user-friendliness of their apps and whether they offer router support.

Best VPNs for Amazon Prime Video

These VPNs are all able to evade Amazon Prime VPN blocks:

1. NordVPN

Nov 2024 Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

NordVPN works well with Amazon Prime — especially the US version. Servers are available in 16 cities, so there’s plenty of choice if one server doesn’t work.

If you don’t have much patience, you can either contact the live chat support or search through the official knowledge base to learn which servers are the best to use.

We tried NordVPN out with various other big-name streaming services, and it worked great with all of them. This included Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, and BBC iPlayer. NordVPN has long had a good reputation for streaming, and it’s easy to see why.

We tested NordVPN’s download speeds while connected to a server in the US.

Over the day, the provider’s average download speeds were just 2.4 Mbps slower than our download speeds without a VPN. This is a great result, given that we were connecting from the UK. Overall, NordVPN was the joint-fastest provider we tested.

NordVPN apps are a pleasure to use and make it easy to access a range of advanced features absent from most competing providers.

The provider offers one-click access to the Tor network and servers that can obfuscate traffic to bypass VPN blocks in restrictive countries such as China. Users can access Double VPN servers that route traffic through an extra location for additional security.

Split tunneling is available, This allows you to use the Amazon Prime app while connected to a US server, and other apps with a regular internet connection. Users can also specify that the kill switch will quit the Amazon Prime app if the VPN connection drops out — thus preventing the platforms from discovering your true location.

If you’re traveling abroad, NordVPN has automatic Wi-Fi protection to prevent you from unwittingly connecting to untrusted networks. Its Meshnet features allow you to create your own network so that you can access devices in your home country remotely.

NordVPN uses strong encryption and adheres to a true zero-logs policy that has been independently audited. Its apps are for Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, Android, and FireTV. These all come with built-in leak protection. We confirmed that this worked by conducting a series of IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests.

Subscribers can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously — which is more than enough for most people. If not, you can configure a connection on your home router. This means you can give every device on your home network a US IP address suitable for streaming Amazon Prime.

BEST VPN FOR AMAZON PRIME:NordVPN is our first choice. Works well with Prime, Netflix, and other major streaming platforms. Keeps no logs, includes a wide range of security features, and comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of NordVPN here.

2. Surfshark

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

Surfshark is a VPN that caters to cord-cutters who want to watch streaming sites from abroad. Amazon Prime Video is just one of the popular streaming platforms it works with, along with Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and many others.

The provider makes finding servers in any 100+ countries it supports easy. Simply scroll through the Location list until you find the one you want. Surfshark has approximately 600 servers in the US, which are spread over 22 US cities.

To determine the provider’s speed, we connected to one of its US servers and tested our download speeds at three points during the day.

Surfshark was consistently fast throughout the day, with speeds varying less than 1 Mbps. Those with a decent base connection speed will have no problem watching 4K video from Amazon Prime, whichever time zone they’re connecting from.

Apps come with a kill switch, an ad, tracker, and malware blocker, and a rotating IP feature that automatically rotates your IP address while connected, making you even harder to track.

If you’re in a country that tries to block VPNs, Surfshark’s NoBorders feature provides effective obfuscation that even works in China.

Surfshark’s split tunneling feature, Bypasser, allows users to choose both apps and domains that should operate outside the VPN tunnel. This is useful for using online banking or other services sensitive to IP address changes.

Arguably, the provider’s most interesting feature is Alternative ID. This allows users to create an alternative persona with a new name, date of birth, and address. It’s great for setting up online accounts with services to which you’d rather not give your real personal information. Addresses are available in the US, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Brazil.

Surfshark uses strong encryption, and its no-logs policy has been independently audited. It has multi-hop servers available where users can specify their entry and exit locations, as well as static IP addresses in six countries, including the US.

We confirmed that Surfshark didn’t reveal our true location while connected. We carried out IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests (available via the browserleaks.com site).

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux and Amazon Fire TV. All have a full GUI — even for CLI-loving Linux. Firestick users can find the Fire TV app by searching for Surfshark on their devices.

Surfshark allows you to connect unlimited devices simultaneously, making it a great budget option for a family or group of housemates.

BEST BUDGET VPN:Surfshark is a highly affordable VPN that lets you unblock Amazon Prime Video on as many devices as you want. Comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Surfshark review.

3. IPVanish

unblocks amazon primeTested Nov 2024

IPVanish provides access to hundreds of ultra-fast servers spread across 19 US cities. Users can choose between servers in a particular location rather than having the app choose. The listed ping and load values make it easy to locate the fastest.

Overall, the provider has 2,400+ servers in its network, which stretches from Iceland to Australia. Unlike most VPNs which rent their servers, IPVanish owns its network hardware — which is a big plus for security.

IPVanish has a reputation for being fast, which we tested over the course of a day. We connected to one of its US servers and tested our download speed in the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon.

The provider was fastest in the morning. Indeed, it pegged the fastest single speed of any provider. Although it slowed a little over the day, it was still joint-fastest overall. This makes IPVanish a great choice not only for streaming, but for gaming and torrenting too.

We had no trouble accessing Amazon Prime using IPVanish’s US servers. The similarly strict Netflix was also accessible. This is impressive, given that IPVanish used to struggle with both of these streaming services. Out of interest, we tried connecting to a UK server to see if we could access BBC iPlayer… which we could.

IPVanish has lots of features to play with if that’s your thing. App and domain-based split tunneling, a kill switch, and automatic Wi-Fi protection are available.

Users can also choose between the WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN protocols. When using OpenVPN, users trying to avoid VPN blocks can enable the Scramble function to help obfuscate their traffic. Note that this isn’t enough to evade detection when connecting from countries such as China.

There are options to disable leak protection, though why you’d want to do this is anyone’s guess. We confirmed that our location was hidden when they were enabled by conducting IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests.

IPVanish apps are available for Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, and Amazon Fire Stick/FireTV. These have a information-rich interface that provides information about your current IP address, the protocol in use, a map of your location, and a real-time graph showing the amount of data downloaded and uploaded.

Subscriptions allow users to connect as many devices as they want simultaneously, which is great if you plan to share an account with others in your household.

The Advanced plan stands out for its comprehensive privacy features. With unlimited VPN access, a full terabyte of secure cloud storage, and a sandboxed, cloud-based browser, this plan is designed to keep your online activities well-protected from malware and trackers.

The sandboxed browser is especially useful because it isolates your browsing activity from your device, providing an added layer of security. By running in a controlled, separate environment, it helps prevent harmful content, such as malware or malicious trackers, from reaching your actual system. This extra layer can be critical for maintaining privacy, especially in high-risk browsing scenarios or regions with heavy internet restrictions.

When testing the cloud-based browser, we found it reliable overall for private browsing. It did suffer with HD and 4K streaming quality, and captchas appeared more often than we would have hoped. For regular streamers, this might be a drawback, so stick to the main VPN. However, the browser’s secure, remote server access is a valuable tool for users in heavily censored regions, where privacy is essential.

On top of these features, the Advanced plan offers excellent value with its low price, especially given the inclusion of both VPN and cloud storage. Finding these services together at such an affordable price is rare, making this plan a smart choice if you need a VPN and cloud storage.

The provider also works with a wide range of routers, which is a better option than sharing your account details. Router configuration instructions are available on the IPVanish website. If you get stuck, customer support is available 24/7 via live chat.

STREAM SAFELY ABROAD:IPVanish is fast, secure, and reliable making it ideal for watching Amazon Prime Video while on vacation. Better still, it provides around-the-clock support and a 30-day money-back guarantee when you sign up for a year or more.

Check out our comprehensive IPVanish review for more details.

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4. ExpressVPN

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

ExpressVPN is a great all-around VPN featuring fast connection speeds, solid security, well-designed apps, and excellent customer service.

All of its servers are RAM-only, which means they’re physically unable to store data long-term. This, coupled with a no-logs policy validated through multiple independent audits, means users’ online activities are safe from interested third parties.

ExpressVPN’s server network covers 105+ countries, including the US, and it has a presence in 18 cities, such as New York and Los Angeles.

We had no issues watching Amazon Prime while connected to an ExpressVPN US server, though we did have to try a couple before finding one that worked. If you struggle with this, customer support will be able to point you in the right direction.

We were also able to access Netflix, Hulu, Max, and Disney+. In our experience, ExpressVPN typically works with most platforms.

It’s also a fast VPN. We tested it three times over the course of a day while connected to a server in the US.

The provider was marginally slower in the morning but still fast nonetheless. On average, we only lost 2.5 Mbps off our base connection speed while connected. This means the average user won’t have to worry about buffering while streaming Amazon Prime Video using ExpressVPN.

It features a kill switch, app-based split tunneling, and the ability to selectively block trackers, ads, malicious sites, and adult sites. Protocol options include the UDP and TCP versions of OpenVPN and the company’s in-house protocol, Lightway. Features are enabled or disabled using tick boxes and radio buttons.

There are plenty of powerful security features built-in too, including 256-bit encryption, a kill switch, and protection against DNS and IPv6 leaks. We tested the leak protection out and confirmed that our UK location was kept hidden while connected.

ExpressVPN allows up to eight simultaneous device connections and has apps available for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux. These are notably easy to use — even the command-line-only Linux app.

If you need more connections than eight, it’s easy to configure a connection on a home router using ExpressVPN’s dedicated router app. This replaces your router’s firmware and simplifies the whole process of protecting your home network. It’s easily undoable and allows users to watch Amazon Prime on VPN-incompatible devices.

HIGHLY VERSATILE:ExpressVPN is a great everyday service.. It unblocks Amazon Prime, boasts steady speeds, and plenty of security features, not to mention a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of ExpressVPN here.

5. CyberGhost

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

CyberGhost is known for its vast server network. This spans 100+ countries and contains in excess of 10,000 servers. In the US, the provider has servers in 11 cities. More pertinently, it has servers specifically optimized for streaming the US version of Amazon Prime.

CyberGhost also has Amazon-optimized servers in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. These remove the need for a scattergun approach to establishing a working connection.

We successfully accessed the platform using the US Amazon server. We also tried out some of the other optimized servers and were able to access US Netflix, Disney+, Max, and Paramount +.

CyberGhost’s Smart Rules feature streamlines the overall process even further. This feature lets users specify apps that should automatically connect to a particular CyberGhost server when they open them.

Users traveling abroad can also use Smart Rules to set up automatic Wi-Fi protection or choose apps, such as a favorite browser, to start automatically when CyberGhost connects.

The provider’s privacy settings contain an ad, tracker and malware blocker; DNS leak protection; and a kill switch. The leak protection is enabled by default and prevents Amazon discovering your true location by keeping DNS requests within the VPN tunnel. We confirmed that it works as part of the IP, DNS and WebRTC leak tests we carry out.

Users can choose between the WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 connection protocols, or they can let CyberGhost choose for them. The provider also allows users to choose the MTU size. Changing it to “small” or “auto” can help improve sluggish connections.

When we tested CyberGhost’s speeds it was more than adequate for streaming Amazon Prime’s 4K content.

Although it was a little slower in the afternoon, the provider averaged 45.9 Mbps — which was 3.3 Mbps less than our base connection speed.

CyberGhost has dedicated apps for Fire TV/ Fire Stick, Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. These use strong encryption to protect user-generated traffic. Subscribers can use up to seven devices simultaneously, which is fairly meager now that unlimited device connections are slowly becoming the norm. Router configurations are possible should you need to eke out more device protection.

The provider keeps no logs of users’ online activity or IP addresses, as verified through multiple independent audits. CyberGhost also publishes quarterly transparency reports on its website, where it lists the data requests it receives from third parties.

easy-to-use apps:CyberGhost is easy to use and good at unblocking Amazon Prime and many other streaming sites. Comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost review.

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6. PrivateVPN

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

PrivateVPN is a smaller provider, though it keeps its stride when walking among giants. It has been able to access everything we’ve thrown at it thus far, including these streaming platforms: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and, of course, Amazon Prime Video.

Not all servers work with Prime Video, but some do. There’s plenty of choice, so it’s just a matter of trying them out until you find one that works. Start with those with the lowest ping for the fastest connection speeds. Alternatively, get in touch with customer support for their recommendations.

During testing, we found that enabling the provider’s Stealth VPN feature often helped us evade the streaming platform’s VPN blocks. However, this slows your connection a little, so it’s probably best not to make a habit of it.

Speed-wise, PrivateVPN isn’t the fastest. We tested it three times over the course of a day and it averaged 45.4 Mbps. This is slower than most of the provider’s in our list, but still more than fast enough for streaming in high resolution.

PrivateVPN’s speeds were notably consistent, which means you should get decent streaming quality even when connecting from different time zones.

The provider’s apps are straightforward to use and don’t have the slightly intimidating feel of some. That said, there are still some advanced features available. Port forwarding is available, and users can switch the level of encryption they want to use. Few providers offer either of these as options.

The provider has an app specifically for Amazon Fire TV devices and apps for Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS. These come with a kill switch and leak protection enabled by default.

We tested out the leak protection and can confirm that it works. There were no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks. PrivateVPN has a strict no-logs policy and is based in Sweden, which is one of the more privacy-friendly countries.

Subscriptions are great value — with a three-year contract working out at the equivalent to $2 a month, making it one of the cheapest VPNs on the market. Although PrivateVPN doesn’t have 24/7 live chat available, it does say that its customer support team can provide remote control assistance — which is a step up from the level of help offered by its competitors.

GREAT SPEED:PrivateVPN is a good family choice. Unblocks Amazon Prime and allows up to 6 devices on the same account. A small number of servers but fast connections. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PrivateVPN review.

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7. PureVPN

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

PureVPN is a reliable and affordable solution for anybody wanting to access Amazon Prime Video on vacation. It has 6,000+ servers spread across 65+ countries, with plenty of options in the US.

Usefully, PureVPN also provides a list of servers that work for particular streaming platforms. Located in the Shortcuts tab, these will not only connect you to a PureVPN recommended server but also open the streaming site automatically.

It may happen that a shortcut doesn’t work. If this is the case, you can manually find a server that does work and then create your shortcut for future use. We had to do this to connect to the US version of Amazon Prime Video.

PureVPN also works with numerous providers, including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Paramount+ and Max.

PureVPN has Tier-1 servers and uses the speedy WireGuard protocol by default. But is it any faster than the other providers in this list? We found out by testing it over a day using a home broadband connection. 

The provider was fairly consistent across tests and had an average speed of 45.4 Mbps. This was 3.8 Mbps lower than our base connection speed of 49.20 Mbps — which isn’t bad at all. However, it’s worth noting that in our lab tests, PureVPN was the fastest provider we tested.

PureVPN has various customization options available via its Settings menu. These include a kill switch and a tracker blocker — but no ad or malware blocker. Users can choose between the WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. The lightweight WireGuard is the best option if you want the fastest speeds. Alternatively, you can toggle on automatic protocol selection if you’d rather not make the decision. The provider has split tunneling, but it’s app only.

PureVPN offers robust AES encryption and has a strict no-logging policy that’s been independently audited on more than occasion. The company is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, which are not part of any know intelligence-gathering alliances — such as the Five Eyes. 

The provider ostensibly has no obfuscation feature, but that’s because the software obfuscates traffic by default. This is great if you’re in a country that tries to block the use of VPNs. PureVPN’s obfuscation even works for connections from China.

We checked whether our location was hidden while connected to PureVPN’s US servers, and it was. We used the IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests available from the browserleaks.com site.  

PureVPN has a dedicated app for Amazon Fire TV as well as apps for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. These are easy to use if a little uninspiring. Various extras are available with the more expensive subscriptions, including a password manager, file encryption tool, and data removal service. However, the standard plan is fine if you just want to stream Amazon Prime. Signing up to the five-year plan is great value for money and costs the equivalent of $2.16 a month.

EXCEPTIONAL VALUE:PureVPN has a large server network in 65+ countries. Works to access a wide range of popular streaming platforms. Highly affordable and offers excellent security. No logging policy has been independently verified.

Read our full PureVPN review.

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8. ProtonVPN

Unblocks Amazon PrimeTested Nov 2024

ProtonVPN was developed by the team behind ProtonMail, which gives it an outstanding reputation as a trusted privacy provider. The company is based in Switzerland, known for its strong privacy laws. As you’d expect, the VPN has a secure no-logging policy and a proven track record of providing privacy for its users.

But is it good for watching Amazon Prime? In a word, yes. The provider has more than 400 servers available in the US and allows users to choose between them for any given location. Most providers allow users to choose a particular city.

We could stream Amazon Prime from a few of the US servers we tried. Some trial and error was involved, but this is pretty normal among VPNs. The provider also worked with Netflix and Disney+.

Speed-wise, ProtonVPN is fast. It’s not the fastest in our list, but it’ll enable you to stream 4K video without issue.

The provider’s speeds increased through the day of testing, giving an average of 45.5 Mbps compared with our average base connection speed of 49.20 Mbps.

The ProtonVPN dashboard provides a wealth of data and access to numerous features. A map shows your connection location, while a real-time graph displays the amount of data uploaded and downloaded.

A series of icons below the Quick Connect button provide access to a kill switch, an ad, tracker, and malware blocker, port forwarding, and ProtonVPN’s Secure Core servers. These servers are housed in high-security Proton-owned data centers, which are located in privacy-friendly countries such as Iceland and Switzerland. Activating the Secure Core feature routes traffic through these secure data centers as an additional stop. This additional routing will lower your connection speed, so we don’t recommend using them while streaming Amazon Prime.

Other ProtonVPN features include app and domain-based split tunneling and a choice of connection protocols. These include WireGuard, OpenVPN, and Stealth. As its name suggests, Stealth is designed to bypass firewalls and VPN-blocking technology. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in China.

ProtonVPN has apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Fire TV, and Linux. These come with leak protection enabled by default. We tested this out with the usual IP, DNS and WebRTC leak tests. ProtonVPN kept our location hidden in all tests.

ProtonVPN subscriptions allow users to connect up to 10 devices simultaneously. Those who want to stream Amazon Prime on a games console or smart TV can configure a router connection — provided their router supports either OpenVPN or WireGuard as a client.

STRONG ON PRIVACY:ProtonVPN is an advanced VPN that is packed with features. Robust AES encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logs policy. Works to access various Amazon Prime regions and other popular streaming services. Allows torrenting.

Read our full ProtonVPN review.

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Our methodology: Finding the best VPNs for watching Amazon Prime

We compare VPNs using a range of criteria covering every aspect of their performance — not just their relative ability to stream Amazon Prime. Let’s take a closer look at what this entails.

Speed

We routinely conduct lab-based speed tests to determine the various providers’ capabilities. However, we also want to know how they perform on a regular home broadband connection—specifically when connected to US servers.

To this end, we carried out three tests over the course of a day using a home broadband connection with an average download speed of 49.20 Mbps. We used the desktop version of the Ookla speed testing app. You can see how each VPN performed in the chart below.

IPVanish was the fastest in the morning, CyberGhost at noon, and ExpressVPN in the evening. What we want to know is how the providers performed overall. To do this, we normalize our speed data to a score out of ten. This gives the following:

Now we can see that NordVPN is actually the fastest provider overall due its consistency. IPVanish is second-fastest, followed by Surfshark and then ExpressVPN.

Streaming ability

We first ensured that all of the VPNs under consideration could access the US Amazon Prime content library. Once satisfied, we looked at the number of US locations each provider had servers in. This is a good indicator of server availability in lieu of actual server numbers (which most VPNs won’t tell you). We converted this number to a score out of 10 for comparison.

Next, we check which other streaming services providers can access. After all, very few people use just one these days. Providers are again given a score out of ten for comparison.

Finally, one of our expert reviewers rates each provider based on their own experience using them for streaming.

These three scores are weighted based on their usefulness to the average user and then combined to give an overall streaming score. Phew! The table below shows all the data for this.

Once we have our overall streaming ability score, we can use it to see which VPNs are best for streaming easily.

As you can see from the above chart, NordVPN is the best option for streaming. The second-best option is Surfshark, and then ExpressVPN.

Security & privacy

If a particular VPN can’t keep your connection safe and secure, you shouldn’t use it. To gauge exactly how good VPNs are at doing this, we score each provider on 15 different security and privacy criteria:

We then assign a score to each of the criteria so that we’re left with an overall score out of ten. This makes it easier to compare providers.

As you can see from the above, NordVPN and Surfshark scored the highest for security and privacy. ProtonVPN is also a good option.

Ease of use

We all like easy-to-use apps, and we all hate poor customer service. The overall experience of using a particular VPN ultimately decides whether users carry on using the service long-term. To find which providers won’t end up annoying you, we score providers on ten criteria.

Each of these ten criteria is given a score, which we combine to create an overall score out of ten. We can then use this to compare providers meaningfully.

NordVPN is the least likely to give users a headache, particularly if they’re new to VPNs. IPVanish and ExpressVPN are also notably hassle-free.

Value for money

Getting good value for money is more than opting for the cheapest monthly VPN subscription. We look at eight different criteria in all.

Scores for each metric are combined to produce a total score out of ten, which we can use to conveniently compare providers.

Surfshark will give you the most bang for your buck. IPvanish and NordVPN are also well worth the investment.

Watching Sports on Amazon Prime

Amazon has been steadily acquiring sports rights since 2017, and its sports offering has grown considerably as a result. This now includes 20 Premier League matches in the UK, the NFL’s Thursday Night Football in the US, and the NHL’s Monday Night Hockey in Canada.

On top of this, Amazon Prime subscribers have the option to add channels to their Prime subscription for even more live sports streaming, such as MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, and Paramount+ (the latter for CBS Sports).

To help you keep track of the many options, here’s a comprehensive list of what’s on offer in various countries. We’ll cover not only the current sport rights held by Amazon but the various optional sports-related add-ons as well:

Worldwide

Current sports rights:

• Men’s Basketball (NBA): 66 regular season games (86 in select countries including Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK)
• Women’s Basketball (WNBA): 20 regular season games, Commissioner’s Cup final

United States

Add-on channels: MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, Paramount+, PGA Tour Live, MotorTrend, MOTV, FuelTV, Max, Apple TV+, and The Surf Network

Current sports rights:

• American Football (NFL): Thursday Night Football, Black Friday Football, x1 NFL Wild Card game
• Baseball (MLB): 21 New York Yankees games in home market only
• Women’s Soccer (NWSL): 27 Friday night matches, x1 quarterfinal
• Hockey (NHL): All non-nationally televised Seattle Kraken games in the home market only
• Women’s Basketball (WNBA): 30 regular season Seattle Storm games in the home market only

Note that with the Paramount+ add-on, you’ll gain access to CBS Sports content, which includes the NFL, college football, college basketball, cricket, and soccer.

United Kingdom

Add-on channels: Premier Sports, Discovery+ Sport, La Liga TV

Current sports rights:

• Premier League: 20 Premier League matches
• UEFA Champions League: x1 match a week, 20 matches a season

Access to the Premier Sports add-on includes access to La Liga football, NHL, and NASCAR. Discovery+ Sport offers cycling, snooker, motorsport, tennis, and more.

Australia

Add-on channels: beIN Sports, Paramount+

Current sports rights:

• Cricket (ICC): Men’s and women’s ICC tournaments

Canada

Add-on channels: DAZN, Sportsnet, TSN

Current sports rights:

• Hockey (NHL): Prime Monday Night Hockey
• Women’s Hockey (PWHL): All Tuesday night games, one semi-final

France

Add-on channels: Golf Channel, Le Pass Ligue 1

Current sports rights:

• Football (Ligue 1): 8 matches per week
• Tennis (French Open): 11 night session matches, all Court Simonne-Mathieu matches

Germany

Add-on channels: Viaplay

Current sports rights:

• UEFA Champions League: Tuesday evening matches up to the semi-finals
• Tennis: Exclusive rights to Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament

Streaming Amazon Prime with a VPN: FAQs