How to Put a VPN on Apple TV (2026, App Store Method)

Here's how to put a VPN on your Apple TV, straight from the App Store, no router, in about two minutes. Five steps, all with this remote, and it runs quietly under every app you already use: Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus.

Now, the honest part first. The VPN app only shows up if your Apple TV is new enough and updated. Miss that, and the App Store shows you nothing. So step one is a quick check in Settings, and it decides everything after it.

Step one, the check. On the Siri Remote, open Settings, then System, then Software Updates. You're looking for tvOS 17 or later, the version that let VPN apps into the App Store. Install whatever update it offers, because some VPN apps ask for a newer version.

One more thing: the box itself has to be an Apple TV 4K, second generation or newer. An Apple TV HD or anything older doesn't get the apps. There's a workaround for those, and I'll get to it. Everyone else: the App Store.

Step two, the App Store. It's right there on the home screen. Open it, go to Search, and type the name of your VPN. Four you'll find in there today: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and IPVanish. Pick the official app with the maker's name under it. And if the search comes up empty, that's the older-box problem from step one. Hold on, the fix is coming.

Step three, install. Press Get, and the app lands in your home row like any other. Open it.

Step four, sign in. This is the part people dread, because typing a password with the Siri Remote's touch surface means swiping through letters one at a time. There's a faster way. If the app shows a QR code on the TV, point your iPhone's camera at it. You sign in on the phone, and the TV follows.

Now the app wants one thing from you: a location. Step five, connect. The app shows you a list of countries. For streaming, pick the one closest to you, because nearby is where the speed is. Then press Connect. One click on the Siri Remote, and that's the whole job.

The app goes quiet in the background and you're back on your home screen. Open Netflix, open Prime Video: there is nothing to set up inside them. The VPN is already running under all of it. That's the five steps.

Now, making it stick. Two things. First, standby. Your Apple TV sleeps every night; does the VPN wake with it? We watched the apps through 48 hours of sleep and wake. The best ones reconnect within two seconds after standby, and they keep your location.

Second, speed. 4K with Dolby Vision needs a steady 40 megabits. Our top three picks measured 478, 468 and 462 in our speed tests, which leaves hundreds to spare. And in 90-minute sessions on an Apple TV 4K, all three logged zero buffering. Will a VPN make your Apple TV buffer? Not these, not in our tests.

Now, the workaround I promised. If you've got an Apple TV HD or anything older, the App Store has no VPN app for you. That's not you doing it wrong; the box can't run them.

There are two ways round it. One: a network setting on the Apple TV itself. ExpressVPN and NordVPN both offer one, and that's the route we tested on an Apple TV HD. Two: put the VPN on your Wi-Fi router instead. The exact steps for both are on our page.

So which VPN? Our Apple TV top three, all in the App Store. ExpressVPN, 9.9 out of 10, is our first pick: 105 countries, $2.79 a month on the two-year plan, and 30 days to change your mind. IPVanish, 9.8: no device limit, $2.19 a month, 30 days. One honest note: it asks for a newer tvOS than the minimum, so update in step one. NordVPN, 9.7: 118 countries, $3.09 a month, 30 days.

And for Netflix on Apple TV, our tests confirm ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark. Whichever you pick, it's the same five steps.

The recap, on your own Apple TV: check the version and the box, open the App Store and search, install, sign in with your iPhone, pick a nearby country and press Connect. Older box? The workaround is on our page.

For which VPN, the full Apple TV ranking with prices and refund windows is at vpnrank.io. One click on the Siri Remote, and every app on that box runs through it.