We’ve checked out a bunch of VPNs that play well with Kodi, and lined up a selection of your best options including the likes of PureVPN, CyberGhost VPN, and NordVPN.
Best all-around pick
IPVanish
Said to be one of the fastest VPNs for streaming, IPVanish delivers low latency with fast download and upload speeds at a great price.
Easiest to use
CyberGhost
CyberGhost makes navigating Kodi easier, and if you’re worried that it might be slow, you can try it with its 30-day money back guarantee.
If you’re a movie buff or enjoy nothing more than binge-watching box sets, chances are you’ve heard of Kodi. Kodi is a free, open-source software media player app formerly known as XBMB that acts as a hub for all your music, movies, and TV content, which can be shared across all of your devices.
Benefits include being able to turn your gadgets into a part of a digital streaming hub, accessing all sorts of file formats and searching for content in one place, watching geo-blocked content, and adding lots of customisable features via add ons such as iPlayer, which are needed for streaming content. Of course, there are drawbacks too, but most of these can be circumnavigated with a VPN, which encrypts data leaving a device and makes it impossible for others to see what you’re downloading.
When assessing VPN providers, we really like NordVPN for Kodi because of its unbeatable security and no logging policy. One of the largest VPN services around, NordVPN has user-friendly apps for iOS, Android, Mac OS, and more — so all of your devices can be covered. We’re also fans of PureVPN, which we found to be the easiest VPN to use for accessing geo-blocked streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. If Amazon Fire is your thing, then IPVanish is the way to go. Let’s face it — Kodi isn’t the only way you experience your entertainment and if you’re going to invest in a VPN for Kodi, it makes sense that it works well with streaming services too. We’re all about options.
Whether you’re looking for high speeds or an easy interface, we’ve lined up all of your best options. These are the best VPNs for Kodi in 2020.
PureVPN
Users can stream channels such as Netflix or Amazon Prime and ‘take full advantage of Kodi and all its features and services.’-
Price:
£2/month
Users can browse anywhere online and stream channels such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime and ‘take full advantage of Kodi and all its features and services,’ according to PureVPN. The VPN has more than 750 servers in 141 countries, but it’s clever because users can choose a location by activity, enabling them to connect to an optimal server and find the fastest connection possible.
PureVPN claims that installing its VPN on Kodi is easier than you may think because users are redirected to the download page for a particular device with one click and the installation process begins instantly.
To make life easier, there are apps for Mac OS, Windows, Android, and iOS devices and the company claims its product is easy to set up on games consoles and smart TVs too. Customers can pay for PureVPN using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as gift cards and other handy options.
When it comes to security, there are lots of options including an industry standard 256-bit encryption, support for pretty much all protocols, built-in ad and malware blocking, DNS and IPv6 leak protection, and a kill switch. The company claims it has a zero logging policy, but it did run into trouble when session data was used to arrest a man. Session logs are not unusual among VPNs and they shouldn’t present a problem for the average user who isn’t up to no good.
The best-value subscription costs just £2.22 a month for two years, but the seven-day money-back guarantee has terms and conditions attached.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost makes navigating Kodi easier, and if you’re worried that it might be slow, you can try it with its 30-day money back guarantee.-
Price:
£2.10/month
Despite its accessible approach, CyberGhost is on par with other serious offerings on this list. For example, users have access to 1,300 servers in 115 locations across the globe. The VPN categorises its servers by which video streaming service the user wants to use, as well as by location, which is handy for people using BBC iPlayer, for example.
The network is used for geo-unblocking and CyberGhost offers unlimited bandwidth and traffic. This makes for reliable streaming of Netflix and iPlayer, for example, although some users have said connections can be slower than with other VPN offerings.
And when it comes to security, CyberGhost uses AES 265-bit encryption and there is DNS and IP leak protection, plus a kill switch. Its privacy policy says it does not keep data logs or record its customers’ activity, and the company is registered in Romania, which does not have stringent surveillance laws.
CyberGhost’s best-value subscription is currently £2.10/month for three years or $12.99/month on a monthly basis. It offers a 30-day money back guarantee and there’s a seven day trial.
IPVanish
Said to be one of the fastest VPNs for streaming, IPVanish delivers low latency with fast download and upload speeds at a great price.-
Price:
£4.89/month
IPVanish offers apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS as well as installation instructions for other platforms. There is a real focus on user experience when it comes to ease of set-up. IPVanish was perhaps the first company to make a standalone app for Fire and Amazon Fire TVs, and users can install it from the Amazon app store directly instead of side-loading.
When it comes to security, the VPN follows a no logs policy and only collects payment data and an email address from its customers. It uses 256-bit AES encryption and offers access to 40,000 anonymous IP addresses, which are shared and rotated among users for extra security.
There’s no free trial and IP Vanish isn’t the cheapest on the market, with customers who sign up for a one year subscription paying £4.89 a month and monthly users paying £7.55 a month. There is a seven day money-back guarantee, however.
Editor’s Note: IPVanish is owned by J2 Global, the parent company of Ziff Davis, Mashable’s publisher. Any J2 products featured on Mashable are covered independently by our content team.
Nord VPN
NordVPN gets high ratings for security features and easy to use interface.-
Price:
£2.82/month
NordVPN is widely regarded as one of the most secure for this purpose. It has loads of security tools, such as shared IP addresses to make your activity even more anonymous, and that all important zero logs policy so personal data can’t be passed onto third parties. There’s military-grade encryption and DNS leak protection to safeguard users’ IP addresses. The VPN is registered in Panama, which isn’t known for its surveillance laws.
A good all-rounder, NordVPN offers user-friendly apps for Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android, which is handy for streaming content to mobile devices, for example. The service also boasts unlimited bandwidth and fast, reliable connections throughout its large network. Being one of the largest VPNs around, it has excellent server coverage with 4,346 servers in 62 locations.
The downside of this VPN is that some users have trouble accessing Netflix and other geo-blocked services. There is no app for Amazon Fire devices and its monthly plan is relatively expensive, but the price drops significantly to £2.29 a month as part of a three-year subscription.
Note: NordVPN has announced that it suffered a breach in March 2018 when a hacker exploited an insecure remote management system at a Finnish data centre from which the company was renting servers. Fortunately, this isolated attack affected just one NordVPN server — and thanks to its strict no-logging policy, no user activity was compromised in the incident. Click here to learn more.
Private Internet Access (PIA)
PIA offers a lot of the same features as more expensive VPNs, but for a lower price. There are a few drawbacks, though.-
Price:
£2.20/month
Private Internet Access (PIA) is one of the cheapest of the well-known VPN brands, making it a strong option for anyone looking to invest in a VPN. Customers can pay just £2.20 a month if they sign up to PIA’s two-year subscription, or pay £7.55 per month on a monthly basis.
When it comes to security, PIA offers anonymous IP, encrypted WiFi, ad and malware blockers, a kill switch, as well as various levels of encryption. They also have a no-logging policy to keep users’ viewing habits secret.
Designed to be intuitive and simple to use, the VPN offers one-click connection and software for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, as well as Linux and Google Chrome. The service can be used across five connections at the same time and download speeds are generally thought to be fairly impressive for a cheaper VPN, although they can be a bit patchy.
PIA boasts global coverage with 3,041 servers in 45 locations across 28 countries and claims to be able to unblock websites, although some users have reported difficulty trying to access Netflix.
When it comes to downsides, PIA’s location may put some users off, as it’s based in the US, AKA a Five Eyes country. Basically, security agencies operating in countries that are part of this surveillance alliance could demand access to customer data, which may be a worry for Kodi users consuming a lot of illegal content. However, PIA says it has designed its operations ‘to prevent this from happening in the first place,’ because there are no logs of identifying information collected about users. This means that in theory, it can’t be handed over no matter how much force is applied.
VyprVPN
VyprVPN is all about speed and anti-throttling tech, making it ideal for HD entertainment.-
Price:
£2.92/month
When streaming content without a VPN, an ISP and streaming service can monitor a user’s activity and throttle their internet connection. But because a provider can see only encrypted traffic when someone is using a VPN, this doesn’t happen, meaning that using one should, in theory, give Kodi a speed boost. But VyprVPN has another trick up its sleeve to ensure fast download speeds. It owns its own servers and manages a global network of some 700 servers maintained by network engineers to continually optimise its network for speed. VyprVPN also claims that it never limits its users, so they can connect to any of its servers anytime without restrictions or download caps. Users can also switch between server locations as many times as they like (at no additional cost) for a speed boost.
The provider uses its own Chameleon technology to stop VPN blocking and throttling. Chameleon scrambles OpenVPN packet metadata to ensure it’s not recognisable via deep packet inspection (DPI), while still keeping it fast. The technology uses the unmodified 256-bit protocol for the underlying data encryption, so that VyprVPN users can bypass restrictions securely. Security-wise, the VPN also boasts multiple protocols for encryption, its own DNS solution, a kill switch and NAT Firewall, which provides an extra layer of security and protection on the user’s router or mobile device. VyprVPN has a no-logging policy, although it does record connection times like some other VPNs.
It offers easy-to-use apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, TVs, and routers and there’s a three-day trial available for users to test its unique features. This is good because VyprVPN doesn’t allow refunds. Another drawback is that some features, including Chameleon Protocol, are only available as part of its premium package.
Why having a VPN is important for Kodi
Having a VPN is important when using Kodi because the media player is popular and open source, so there are inevitably security flaws exploited by hackers. These are predominantly found within third party add-ons — some of which offer pirated material — rather than those found in the Official Kodi Addon Repository. VPNs assign a virtual IP address to obscure your real location from others, protecting you from security scams, viruses, and malware. For example, a VPN can stop malware infecting your home network from a Kodi box and add an extra layer of protection to your computer or laptop by securing the connection.
Using a VPN also enables a Kodi user to become anonymous, preventing hackers from gathering personal data needed for an add-on and assigning a different IP address that’s untraceable, keeping you safe and keeping your viewing habits secret. This obviously means there’s a benefit for when it comes to watching geo-unblocked and pirated content (which we obviously don’t condone).
Whatever you choose to use Kodi for, a VPN will enhance its features while offering much-needed security.