Popcorn Time is a TV and movie streaming app that allows the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) BitTorrent protocol. Popcorn Time is a free BitTorrent client that allows users to stream movies and TV shows for free. The BitTorrent client comes with a vast collection of TV shows and movies. To protect security and privacy, users access Popcorn Time with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
When Popcorn Time was first released in 2014, it was greatly scrutinized and a few years ago, Popcorn Time disappeared completely. This meant that people who used the ‘Netflix for Pirates’ app had to explore elsewhere for TV shows and movies.
For a heavy Popcorn Time user, free VPN plans might not be suitable because of the small bandwidths they offer. To use Popcorn Time without prying eyes, you need a VPN with a large data limit, that can encrypt your data without your ISP tracking your online activity.
Not all VPNs are suitable for Popcorn Time so our streaming experts have tested the top VPNs to find out which work best with Popcorn Time. Here is a list of best VPNs for Popcorn Time:
| Max Speed: | 115000 Mbps |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Dedicated |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | 6 |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | 12 |
| Information sharing: | None |
| OS support: | Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows |
Ultra-fast connection
No-logs policy
5400 servers in 54 countries
Limited payment options
No Split Tunneling on desktop
Only 6 simultaneous connection
NordVPN is known for its fast speeds and powerful security features. It offers an extensive service network of 5000+ servers in 59 countries, providing you with the opportunity to choose from a wide range of servers when you want to hide your actual IP address. NordVPN optimizes the majority of its servers for P2P and fast speeds streaming making it one of the best providers for bandwidth. Nord also provides great connection speeds suitable for streaming in full HD.
This VPN runs on AES 256-bit encryption, which encrypts your data twice and there is a zero-log policy which makes it difficult for anyone or your ISP to trace any online activity back to you. There is also an advanced cybersecurity feature that helps to get rid of annoying pop-up ads. NordVPN has an inbuilt kill switch for moments when your VPN disconnects, to ensure that your internet connection is disabled and your data doesn’t leak.
NordVPN is compatible with Popcorn Time supported devices and apps, some of which are Android, Windows, iOS, Apple TV, and Linux. NordVPN is well known for its ability to bypass major geo-blocks and can unblock Netflix and other major streaming services. All of these features put together demonstrate why NordVPN is on the list of the best VPN for Popcorn Time. NordVPN can accommodate up to 6 devices and it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
| Max Speed: | Unlimited |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Dedicated |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | 7 |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | 4 |
| Information sharing: | None |
| OS support: | Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows |
Servers in unusual countries
Great support options
Great blog and guide universe
Limited payment options
Poor press area for affiliates
Few Netflix libraries
CyberGhost is one of the best VPN for Popcorn Time. It has unlimited bandwidth and super-fast speeds. CyberGhost is fast because the majority of its servers are dedicated to P2P and streaming, making it an easy to use Popcorn Time VPN. This VPN can bypass any geo-restrictions to unblock Popcorn Time. Unlike most VPN services, CyberGhost offers a 45-day money-back guarantee and gives you the ability to unblock popular streaming services such as Netflix.
This VPN protects your connection with 256-bit encryption used with the OpenVPN protocol, and it has a no-logs policy. All CyberGhost apps have the automatic kill switch feature, to prevent unprotected data from leaving your network. CyberGhost works on Windows, Mac, macOS, Android, iOS, Amazon Fire Stick, Android TV, Linux, and Chrome and is a popular choice for new users.
With one of the largest server coverages including 6000+ servers covering 90 countries, CyberGhost is a great choice for Popcorn Time users, especially those looking for extremely fast connection speeds. What’s more, this VPN has affordable pricing so won’t break the bank.
| Max Speed: | 58000 Mbps |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Dedicated |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | 5 |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | 12 |
| Information sharing: | None |
| OS support: | Android, ChromeOS, iOS, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows |
Tons of payment options
24-hour live chat suppot
30-day money back guarantee
More expensive than competitors
Only 5 simultaneous connections
No servers in Russia
ExpressVPN is the fastest VPN provider on our list. It is known for its lightning-fast speeds and advanced security features, and no-logging policy which makes it one of the best VPN for Popcorn Time. ExpressVPN has it all from security, speed, to torrenting and unblocking streaming services.
ExpressVPN may be pricy, but it is worth it as it provides 256-bit encryption for all connections on OpenVPN protocol by default. ExpressVPN does not record usage logs making it a great Popcorn Time VPN. It has a platform of 3000+ servers in 94 countries, and all of these servers are optimized for torrenting and great connection speeds.
ExpressVPN runs its own encrypted DNS over every server and like NordVPN, it has an inbuilt kill switch known as the Network Lock. ExpressVPN uses PPTP and L2TP/IPSec connection protocols, which offer less security but provide better streaming speeds. If you are using the ExpressVPN app, it will automatically choose the best protocol for your network.
ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee and is compatible with all major devices and apps for Popcorn Time including Windows, Android, iOS, Fire TV/Firestick, Linux, and macOS. This VPN allows simultaneous connection to up to 5 devices. ExpressVPN has a 24hr live chat option where you can talk to a knowledgeable customer support representative if you run into any problems.
| Max Speed: | 373000 Mbps |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Dedicated |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | 10 |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | Not available |
| Information sharing: | 5 Eyes Member |
| OS support: | Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows |
Tons of servers
Dedicated IP option
One of the largest providers in US!
Old interface
Autogenerated locale languages
No free trial
PIA offers unlimited bandwidth and super-fast connection speeds. It is a great VPN for beginners, as it provides step by step tutorials for most supported devices. This VPN service has a zero log policy, so you can stream content on Popcorn Time knowing that nobody is tracking or monitoring your activities. PIA is available for all major Operating Systems including Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Linux.
PIA has 17,870+ servers that span across 74 countries, and all of these servers are used for torrenting and great connection speeds, and its strong OpenVPN encryption makes it a great VPN for Popcorn Time. PIA offers simultaneous connections to up to 10 devices and has been a favorite among the privacy community because of its low-cost and high-security features.
One downside is PIA’s inconsistent ability to access popular streaming sites. PIA can unblock several streaming services including Netflix, Hulu but during our tests, we noticed that it wasn’t always effective. Luckily, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee so if you aren’t happy with the provider you can cancel your subscription risk-free.
| Max Speed: | Unlimited |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Shared |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | Unlimited |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | 15 |
| Information sharing: | None |
| OS support: | Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, ChromeOS, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows |
Full 15 Netflix Libraries
Tons of server locations
Great deal on 24 months
No Apple Pay Payment Option
Very expensive monthly
Allows P2P from all servers
Surfshark is a new VPN that is very easy to use and has apps compatible with all major operating systems. It offers high connection speeds on a growing server network and significant security features that protect you while you stream on Popcorn Time. Surfshark also has a network of over 1,000+ servers in 60+ countries. Other impressive features are that you can have unlimited simultaneous connections and can torrent since it allows P2P sharing on all its servers.
Surfshark has a zero log policy so the record of what you stream online never gets stored. This VPN can unlock various streaming platforms from all over the world and is one of the more affordable VPNs, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
With Surfshark you’ll have access to 256-bit encryption, protection against WebRTC and DNS leak protection, a kill switch, and GPS spoofing. Surfshark VPN apps are available for all major platforms including Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, Firestick, and Linux. It unlocks a plethora of streaming services such as Hulu, HBO channels, and BBC iPlayer. Surfshark VPN also has a live chat feature to solve users’ issues.
| Max Speed: | Unlimited |
|---|---|
| Type of IP offered: | Shared |
| Simultaneous connections / Users: | Unlimited |
| Number of Netflix Libraries: | 13 |
| Information sharing: | 5 Eyes Member |
| OS support: | Amazon Fire TV, Android, ChromeOS, FireOS, iOS, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One |
Awesome customer support
Netflix approved
Unlimited devices
No free trial unless you buy 24 months
Limited payment options
5-eyes member
IPVanish VPN allows P2P sharing on all of its 1500+ servers in over 50 countries, which makes it a splendid choice to use when you want to access Popcorn Time. For Popcorn Time viewers concerned about their security, this VPN is a good choice because of the additional level of security that it provides. The provider owns and operates all of its servers, which means that no third-party operators have access to your personal information.
This Popcorn Time VPN does not have a bandwidth limit, which means it is fast and good for streaming. You can also torrent with IPVanish in over 75 locations around the globe. IPVanish VPN is the second fastest, and its super-speed connections are secured by the provider’s use of military-grade encryption.
As well as having a zero-logging policy, Popcorn Time VPN has a 24/7 live support chat, a searchable support knowledge base, and email support. You can access this Popcorn Time VPN on all operating systems including Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, Linux, Amazon Fire TV, and Windows. IPVanish VPN allows unlimited simultaneous connections and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
One thing Popcorn Time app users do not realize is that streaming videos for free is piracy. The Popcorn Time app itself is not illegal, and the installation of the app cannot get you into trouble. However, 99% of the video content that Popcorn Time provides access to is copyrighted. The act of downloading and viewing the content without paying the copyright holder is illegal. The only way to use Popcorn Time without fear of legal repercussions is to use a VPN.
VPN is short for Virtual Private Network and it makes online activities more secure. A VPN does this by protecting users’ locations and IP addresses while encrypting all the internet traffic to and from their browsing devices. With this, it is almost impossible for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to track one’s online activities. Without a VPN, your Internet Service Provider and others who may be monitoring your online activities can see everything you do online, including what files you download.
Websites use IP addresses to detect your device’s location, and a VPN replaces your real IP address with one from a server you choose, making you appear to be in another country or city. It is absolutely legal to use a VPN in virtually every country and VPN users have the choice of choosing the location of the server they connect to. If you visit a suspicious website without a VPN, you put yourself at risk. Therefore, streaming content on Popcorn Time without a VPN is a dangerous thing to do.
Using Popcorn Time without a VPN means that anyone can monitor or track your activities while you’re streaming your favorite movies. Popcorn Time is a mix of a video player and a BitTorrent client. It uses Peer-to-Peer file-sharing technology which is not illegal but can be used for illegal activities like sharing copyrighted movies, music, TV shows, etc. This is the basic principle of the torrent system, and in sharing files with others, the torrent client also shares the user’s IP address. This means that your internet address can be tied to your torrent download. Torrent users put themselves at risk if they do not hide their IP addresses.
To prevent all of these occurrences, you should use the best streaming VPN services. A VPN provides you with another IP address that cannot be directly traced to you. It also encrypts your data, making your ISP unaware that you are using a torrent client. Popcorn Time now informs people using the platform they need a VPN when they use the Popcorn Time app. If you’re using a VPN to keep your Popcorn Time app activity hidden, the app will provide a handy button labeled “TURN ON VPN”, warning you you’re being monitored and need a VPN. This Popcorn Time VPN warning usually acts as an ad for a VPN service while you use Popcorn Time.
A VPN is not a free ticket to illegal activities just because it protects one’s privacy. There are many legal reasons to want to use a VPN and you should consider what is legal and illegal while using a VPN. Organizations looking for an extra layer of internet privacy protection use VPNs. It is legal to use VPNs in most parts of the world, as its purpose is to provide online security.
It is legal to access the Popcorn Time website but downloading copyrighted movies on a torrent tracker is illegal. If you get caught, you could face severe consequences. Using a VPN for Popcorn Time is legal as long as you are downloading restricted content with all rights reserved. Making use of a VPN service would mean every download goes through the VPN server.
Your network connection speed can be weakened if your VPN is poor. This is why getting a good Popcorn Time VPN is essential as the wrong VPN can slow down your connection. This is because encryption, an essential feature of a VPN, takes up some bandwidth. The VPN server location you use could also affect your connection speeds. The closer the VPN server physically is to you, and the less traffic that passes through it, the stronger your connection will be.
Choosing a VPN server with lightning-fast download speeds while using Popcorn Time is all you need to avoid any form of streaming lags. When you use Popcorn Time with a great VPN that will conceal your IP address from ISPs, you will reduce the chance of your ISP throttling your speed, essentially slowing it down.
Popcorn Time is a free alternative to Netflix and other subscription-based services. However, your access to this app may be unsafe which is why using a VPN is vital. Paying for a VPN defeats the point of not paying for Popcorn Time, which is why there are some free VPNs that are made accessible to Popcorn Time lovers. With some great choices available, it makes sense to use a free VPN. Here is a list of free VPNs for Popcorn Time that people can access.
Among the range of free VPN providers, Speedify VPN is one of the fastest. It provides great encryption and high speeds. The speed on the free tier is not as high as that on the paid version but it is still decent for streaming, making it an excellent choice for Popcorn Time streaming. It offers a large service network with 25+ locations and you can enjoy the same number of servers on the paid plan.
The difference between the paid VPN and the free VPN plan is the data cap. Speedify has a small bandwidth limit of 5GB/ month that can run out while streaming content on Popcorn Time. This data is only enough for simple surfing and not for streaming content. Speedify is compatible with Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS and is optimized for BitTorrent and P2P activity.
Hide.me is another superb choice for Popcorn Time users. One of the best attributes of this service is that its privacy policy guarantees zero-logging of user data thanks to its no-logs policy. It offers a 2GB/ month data cap for free users for streaming content on Popcorn Time. There are several tunneling protocols to keep your data secure while using Popcorn Time.
This provider does not show ads while streaming your favorite movies and TV shows and this VPN provider is compatible with major Operating Systems including Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac. It has a high level of data encryption and protects VPN users against DNS leaks and IP leaks.
Hide.me has a privacy tool called a kill switch which prevents unprotected data from leaving the network and this is impressive since only a few free VPNs have this privacy tool. The limitations of this VPN are that while premium users have access to over 1800 servers, free users can only access 5 servers and connect to one device at a time.
Windscribe is another free VPN provider that works with Popcorn Time and is one of the best free VPNs for Popcorn Time in 2020. Its main data tunneling protocol is IKEv2/IPSec but people can also choose to use OpenVPN. Windscribe has an added security of a firewall and a data limit of 10GB/month. There is also a good server network that consists of 11 countries.
This VPN service provider has a strict no-logs policy, and it doesn’t throttle P2P traffic. Windscribe is one VPN that puts users’ privacy above everything else. It provides high encryption, so you don’t have to worry about your online activity being monitored, not even by your own ISP.
One drawback is that Windscribe doesn’t have the fastest speeds and this can affect users’ experience. Windscribe has compatible apps for Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. This VPN could be perfect for you if you are not a heavy Popcorn Time user and only want to stream TV shows.
This VPN provider is suitable for heavy Popcorn Time users because it offers unlimited bandwidth. You can enjoy streaming content online without the fear of hitting your usage limit. The free version is slower than the premium version but ProtonVPN is one of the best free VPNs for Popcorn Time. It has only 3 servers in its free network, but it offers fast speed on all its servers. Data traffic is encrypted, and Proton’s tunneling protocols are OpenVPN and IKEV2.
This VPN for Popcorn Time is privacy-conscious so there is a strict no-logs policy. As well as this, there is a kill switch, which is a key feature to guarantee privacy. The kill switch helps to protect a user’s IP address when the VPN connection is lost, by severing the main internet connection. ProtonVPN is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android but the free version can work with only one device at a time.
TunnelBear is not the best choice when compared to other VPN services because of its small bandwidth limit of 500MB/month. However, you can consider using it because of its great privacy policy, and the 20+ server locations that it offers. It offers VPN service across a wide range of platforms including Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac, and has browser plugins for Opera Mini, Chrome, and Firefox.
For flawless streaming on Popcorn Time, and to stay secure when surfing the internet, you need a VPN. Here are a few factors you should look out for before choosing which Popcorn Time VPN to use.
VPN.ht is a virtual private network (VPN) service provider released by a Hong Kong company called Wicked Technology Limited in 2014. It focuses primarily on helping users access websites that are blocked in their countries. VPN.ht used to be automatically included in the Popcorn Time BitTorrent platform, but the partnership did not last.
Like many alternative VPNs, VPN.ht relies on the OpenVPN tunneling protocol and practices AES-256 encryption. VPN.ht can bypass geo-restrictions and unblock Netflix. This VPN grants connection to 128 servers in 23 countries and can accommodate up to three devices. VPN.ht provides a zero-logging policy and can be operated for torrenting. VPN.ht has an active and supportive customer assistance unit. It allows a 30-day money-back guarantee should there be any issue.
One of the cons of VPN.ht is that it is susceptible to IP leaks. When IP leaks occur, your original IP address gets exposed to hackers. So, if you are looking for a good VPN that is security friendly, do not choose VPN. ht as it is not safe. Even though it is pretty affordable, IP leaks should not occur because this service is being paid for. Unfortunately, with VPN.ht, leaks are probable.
Popcorn Time has over time proven to be a popular way of watching movies and TV shows online. It is open-source software for torrenting through a built-in media player and it is advisable to access Popcorn Time with a VPN. However, if you want to go for something a little safer, here are a few alternatives to Popcorn Time.
Kodi: Kodi is a free open source media player software that allows viewers to play most streaming media from the internet. Due to its high popularity and usage, Kodi is highly monitored by content creators and government agencies. Even though Kodi does not stream all of its content through a BitTorrent protocol, it should be used with a VPN.
Zona: This is quite similar to Popcorn Time. The Zona client can be used to stream, download, and search for movies, music, etc. online. Zona’s only downside is that it is available for only Windows Operating Systems.
Nobody should access Popcorn Time without a great VPN. Using Popcorn Time without a VPN that has all of the features mentioned in this list is unsafe. In choosing a VPN, you must look out for all the key features that a VPN should have to keep your identity anonymous and ensure you stay away from legal trouble while enjoying your favorite shows. Luckily, a great VPN can help you stream Popcorn Time safely and anonymously from anywhere in the world.
Yes, using a VPN with Popcorn Time is a great idea since you can protect your privacy, stop bandwidth throttling, and hide your IP address.
To get a VPN for Popcorn Time, all you need to do is select a VPN service that we recommend on the list above, sign up for a subscription plan, and install the VPN software onto your device.
Yes, Popcorn Time can track your location via your IP address. This is why it is important to hide your real IP when using Popcorn Time via a VPN service.
Hi there! I'm Monique, and I am a writer at VPNSurfers. I live in New York, but I'm originally from Delware. I love traveling, but the US will always be home to me.
I have more than 5 years of experience using VPNs, and I ha...
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