Amazon has grown over the years into one of the biggest and best-known companies on the planet. You can find pretty much anything on Amazon these days, and the company has even invested in the video on demand market with the launch of its very own streaming service: Amazon Prime Video.
With exclusive Amazon Studios content and a wealth of movies and shows to watch at any one time, Amazon Prime Video is perfect for folks who love to have a library of entertainment right at their fingertips.
However, due to geo-restrictions, you might not always be able to access Prime Video, depending on where you are, or you might not have access to the same content as users in other countries. This is where a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, can come into play.
By masking your IP address and bypassing geo-restrictions, VPNs for Amazon Prime Video let you access all the Amazon content you crave with no hassle or stress. Read on through our Amazon Prime Video VPN guide to learn all about the best Amazon VPNs and how a VPN can help you enjoy movies and media, no matter where you are.
What Is Amazon Prime Video?
Amazon Prime Video, commonly known simply as Prime Video, is a video-on-demand service owned and operated by Amazon. It offers a range of TV shows and movies that users can choose to buy, rent, or simply stream as part of a Prime Video subscription.
The system hosts a huge quantity of content, with thousands of movies and shows, including exclusive Amazon Studios original creations, and it’s compatible with computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, and even video game consoles too.
Who Needs a VPN to Access Amazon Prime?
With Amazon Prime Video being available in many nations all over the world, including the US and UK, you might be wondering why you need a VPN for Amazon Prime in the first place. Well, the fact of the matter is that there are many countries that have reduced or restricted access to the Prime Video service.
If you find yourself in one of these countries, maybe on vacation, while working, or even for a permanent move, you won’t be able to enjoy the same access to Amazon content as you would in a country like the US. Every time you try to access the service, it will be able to see where you’re located and reduce or restrict your access accordingly.
Why Does Amazon Prime Video Have Region Restrictions?
You might be wondering Prime Video has these region restrictions and locks in certain places. Mostly, it’s all down to legal issues regarding the rights to broadcast and distribute the various films and shows on the Amazon network.
To put it simply, the rights for each show or film can be held by different companies in different parts of the world. For example, a show that appears on Prime Video in the US might be under the control of a local broadcasting company in a country like France, preventing Amazon from making it available on their French network.
How Does a VPN Work to Access Prime Video?
A VPN is able to get around the geo-restrictions that Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming services like Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, have in place in order to give users access to the content they want to watch.
On the technical level, it’s all about IP addresses. Your computer has an IP address which tells sites where you’re located when you visit them. So if you’re in Russia, for instance and trying to access a US-exclusive site or service, the site will be able to read your IP address, see that you’re in Russia, and then use its geo-restriction system to block access or give you some kind of error message.
A VPN for Amazon Prime Video, however, can mask your IP address. It hides it and then reroutes your computer’s signal via servers in other locations around the world. So, following our example, an Amazon Prime VPN user in Russia could send their signal through a US server and basically trick the system into thinking that they’re in the US.
Do All VPNs Work with Amazon Prime?
Unfortunately not. One of the first things everyone should learn when it comes to VPNs for Amazon or VPNs for any other use is that there are some services and providers which are far more complete, fully-featured, and capable than others.
Some of the poorer VPNs out there aren’t able to get around Amazon’s geo-restrictions, as the service is always on the lookout for people trying to access its content via proxies and VPNs and tries to prevent this from happening whenever possible.
Fortunately, there are still plenty of top-rated VPNs for Amazon Prime Video out there. The best VPNs can get around these geoblocks with ease and give you full and unrestricted access to all of the content on the Prime Video platform.
Do Free VPNs Work for Prime Video?
It’s possible that some free VPNs will work with Prime Video and give you access to the Amazon movie and TV show catalog from any location in the world. However, one of the big issues with a lot of free VPNs is that they’re limited in terms of how much data each user is given on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
For example, with some free VPNs, you’ll only be allowed to use 1GB of data per week or month. This simply isn’t enough to stream high-quality movies and shows with Amazon Prime Video. Not only that, but some free VPNs simply don’t have the technical capacities or server networks to actually get past the Amazon geo-restriction systems.
How Do I Find the Best VPN for Prime Video?
Finding the best VPN for Prime Video is a lot like finding the best VPN for Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming service. You need to focus on two main factors: speed and servers. A good VPN for Amazon Prime should have high speeds and a large network of servers in locations where you want to access the Prime Video content.
When looking for the best VPN for Prime, you will also want to consider the security features each VPN has to offer, whether or not it has a no-logs policy, how much it costs per month or year, and whether or not a free trial is available. If there is a free trial, you can test out the service to see how it works on Amazon before committing to a long-term subscription.
Can I Use a VPN to Watch Prime Video on My Phone?
It’s possible, yes. Amazon Prime Video is famed for its flexibility, being enjoyable either on your computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, TV, or through other media streaming devices like game consoles and Fire Sticks. Luckily, the best Prime VPNs can also be used across most, if not all of these devices.
However, as mentioned earlier, VPNs can differ a lot from one another, so it’s wise to read through reviews, learn about the compatibility options of each VPN, and then choose the right one for you, depending on how you like to enjoy your media.
Do I Need an Amazon Account?
Yes, if you want to access the Amazon Prime Video service, you’ll need an Amazon account. Making an Amazon account is simple and straightforward and can be done in a matter of minutes.
Do I Need a Prime Membership Account?
Not necessarily. An Amazon Prime membership will give you access to many movies and shows to stream, but it isn’t needed to access the Prime Video service. You can also opt to simply get a standalone Prime Video subscription instead and non-Prime users are free to use this month-to-month subscription if desired, rather than signing up for a full Prime membership.
Will the Video Quality Be Reduced If I Use a VPN?
It might be, if you use a VPN that has a big impact on your download speeds. In order to stream any kind of high-quality media from a streaming service like Amazon Prime Video, you need to have sufficient internet speeds. Using a poor quality VPN may lead to big drops in your speeds, which will have a knock-on effect on the quality of the content you view. You can avoid this problem by choosing one of our recommended VPNs for Prime Video.
What Does Amazon Think About All of This?
In the past, before Amazon Prime Video became such a global sensation, it seemed like Amazon was willing to overlook VPN users bypassing its geoblocks. However, in recent times, the company has taken more drastic action and tried to block VPN users or display error messages when users try to access the service via a VPN.
Fortunately, even though Amazon has stepped up its security, many top quality VPNs can still bypass its geoblocks.