"SecurityGladiators via the buttons"

How To Watch Hotstar Outside India (Unblock Hotstar in 5 Minutes)

Have you been searching for the most comprehensive guide on how to watch Hotstar outside India? Well, you’ve found the best online resource that’s been tried and tested to work every time.

Have you been searching for the most comprehensive guide on how to watch Hotstar outside India? Well, you’ve found the best online resource that’s been tried and tested to work every time.

We include the one little extra secret step you need for it to work. This is hardly found anywhere else online.

Who doesn’t like a good dose of high-quality streaming content every now and then? Or maybe every day?

It’s probably no surprise that streaming services have seen a huge boom in the last five years or so. To accommodate the increased interest in the online consumer market, streaming services have expanded their range of services. They now broadcast live TV events in addition to the famous movies and TV shows for which they’re known.

The best streaming services at the moment are without a doubt Netflix and Hulu. But they aren’t much good if you’re not interested in U.S. content, especially if you’re from India.

Disney Plus Hotstar Featured Image
You can’t just go online and watch Hotstar outside India. You need tools and have them. Read on

If you want to consume Indian content or watch cricket abroad then there are hardly any better choices than Hotstar. In fact, we don’t know of a single option that can match Hotstar, let alone surpass it.

According to some sources, Hotstar currently offers as much as 50,000 hours of pure entertainment and is the best option for streaming cricket. Moreover, Hotstar offers content in over eight different languages.

Why Can’t I Watch Hotstar Outside India?

Hotstar running on a mobile device
Hotstar is India’s premium streaming service.

The two main problems you’ll encounter are geo-restrictions and the requirement for payment methods from an Indian location. Geo-restrictions keep users from accessing Hotstar from outside India by detecting your IP address and physical location. If you want a premium Hotstar account then you need an Indian address and payment method (bank account or credit card) from within India.

Just like all the other streaming services, it enforces geo-restrictions on its content. All popular streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu use geo-restrictions to help serve their customer base more effectively.

Additionally, they can avoid all the legal troubles that come with not having geo-restrictions on one’s content. Hotstar, just like Netflix, has content distribution agreements with different parties. It can’t show all of its content everywhere. As a result, it has to manage its coverage.

It doesn’t matter what country you live in. You could live in developed countries such as Germany, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, the U.S., Singapore, Europe, the U.K. etc., you still wouldn’t have the ability to watch Hotstar outside India.

Some might ask, “Why would I want to access the premium Indian version of Hotstar?

The answer is simple. You get all the content available on Hotstar (not a smaller selection like some other countries), you get all the latest movies, you get live sports (including IPL and cricket) and you get it at the much cheaper price that’s charged in India.

If you want to watch Hotstar outside India then you need to read this guide as we show you how to solve all of those problems.

What Happens When You Try To Watch Hotstar Outside India?

A stream of cricket running on Hotstar
If it’s cricket you want then it’s cricket you’ll get.

If a user goes to the Hotstar website and tries to watch Hotstar outside India, they’ll not establish a connection and will instead get an error message that looks something like this:

We are having trouble playing this video, please try playing a different title [ERR_PB_1410]

OR

This content is not currently available in your region. (NM-4031)

OR

We are unavailable at your location. [ERR_PB_1417]

OR

Hotstar content not available in your region

After you get this message and the site refuses you a connection, there’s nothing more you can do. You can try all you want but you won’t be able to watch any video. So let’s start with the first solution to this common problem.

How To Watch Hotstar Outside India Using A VPN Service For Streaming

The easiest and most reliable method to watch Hotstar outside India is to use a VPN.

What is a VPN Anyway?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It’s one of the best tools for people who want to bypass geo-restrictions.

VPN services have the ability to change the user’s original IP address. They achieve that by cloaking the user’s real IP address. A good VPN service provider usually allows users to change their IP address to any other country they want.

Hence, you should sign up for a VPN service provider that allows you to connect to an Indian VPN server. That way you can watch Hotstar outside India while Hotstar will think that you’re currently located in India.

Now, the market is full of VPN service providers.

There are some good VPN service providers, some are even great. But most are bad and a few are scams. The worst part is that hardly any of them work with Hotstar anymore. Luckily for you, we’ve gone out in the wild and picked the best VPN service providers you can use to watch Hotstar outside India.

Best VPN for Hotstar

SurfShark

An image featuring the Surfshark VPN logoSimultaneous Connections: Unlimited

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

is one of the most in-demand Hotstar VPNs for the simple reason that this VPN offers great streaming service unblocking ability, lots of servers, high-performance RAM-only servers, an audit report, and a split tunneling feature. Surfshark does all of that at a very low price.

VPN Apps

Windows App Icon
Windows
macOS App Icon

macOS
Linux App Icon

Linux
Android App Icon

Android
Apple App Icon

Apple
Chrome App Icon

Chrome
Firefox App Icon

Firefox
Amazon Fire TV App Icon

Amazon Fire TV

Our Score: 9.8/10

Click here to read our full SurfShark Review.


 

CyberGhost

cyberghost vpn

Simultaneous Connections: Unlimited

Money-Back Guarantee: 45 Days

has become the Hotstar VPN of choice for people who want to stream Hotstar outside India for the simple reason that it offers many servers in that location, all of which come with different protocol configurations and protection levels. It does all of that at a reasonable price.

VPN Apps

Windows App Icon
Windows
macOS App Icon
macOS
Linux App Icon
Linux
Android App Icon
Android
Apple App Icon
Apple
Chrome App Icon
Chrome
Firefox App Icon
Firefox
Amazon Fire TV App Icon
Amazon Fire TV
 

Our Score: 9.6/10

Click here to read our full CyberGhost VPN Review.


NordVPN

NordVPN logo

Simultaneous Connections: Six

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

offers one of the biggest server networks in the industry and pairs it with a plethora of security features that enable you to watch content on streaming services like Hotstar both smoothly and privately. In short, NordVPN is a powerful Hotstar VPN.

VPN Apps

Windows App Icon
Windows
macOS App Icon
macOS
Linux App Icon
Linux
Android App Icon
Android
Apple App Icon
Apple
Chrome App Icon
Chrome
Firefox App Icon
Firefox
 

Our Score: 9.5/10

Read the full NordVPN review.


ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN new logo

Simultaneous Connections: Five

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

With a huge and varied server network all over the world including India, is right there among the best VPNs for Hotstar. Their fast servers located in many countries mean you’ll always have a server nearby which is great for streaming content.

VPN Apps

Apple App Icon
Apple
Android App Icon
Android
macOS App Icon
macOS
Windows App Icon
Windows
Linux App Icon
Linux
Amazon Fire TV App Icon
Amazon Fire TV

Our Score: 8.9/10

Read the full ExpressVPN review.


This is important:

We’ve found the three best VPNs for Hotstar India at the moment to be SurfShark, CyberGhost, NordVPN and ExpressVPN. They each have their advantages. NordVPN is a good balance of speed and price, Surfshark is the cheapest and ExpressVPN is more expensive but the most reliable for Hotstar; it always seems to work. They all come with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test them out to make sure they fit your needs.

Lately, Hotstar has blocked some of the lower end VPNs because of their inferior technology, but these three VPNs work well with Hotstar so that’s one less worry. We test these servers with Hotstar regularly to ensure that they’ll still work for you.

As a VPN service, we feel , NordVPN, and ExpressVPN are the best VPNs for Hotstar because they offer many different servers in India that are fast and secure. Moreover, these VPN servers are spread over many Indian cities and also some virtual Indian servers that are based in the U.K. making it a faster option for those in the U.K. and Europe who want to watch Hotstar. All of them come with advanced security features like a kill switch and auto-connect which help you to stay hidden even when your VPN connection drops.

Checking Your IP Address...

IP Address

Location

Browser

Screen Resolution

You can sign up for SurfShark with our link and get 81% off and two months for free when signing up for a 24-month deal.

Now, there’s a lot more to watching Hotstar outside India than signing up for the right VPN service. Statistically, you’re more likely to watch Hotstar outside India on a mobile device than on a desktop. That’s why the next section is supremely important.

Unblock Hotstar India With  SurfShark VPN 2021

The video above shows how ExpressVPN allows you to unblock and access the Indian version of Hotstar which, without a VPN, may or may not be available in your region. There’s a period of a few seconds where the screen is a bit black, this is just the recorder going dark for a moment. This is the same process for SurfShark, CyberGhost VPN and NordVPN.

How to Download the Hotstar App on Android and Watch Hotstar

If you want to get the Hotstar app on Android (all devices running on the Android OS are supported) then you’ll have to go through the process of downloading and installing the Hotstar app on Android.

That isn’t so difficult though. All that you need to do is:

  1. Quit the Google Play Store on your Android device if it’s open.
  2. Turn on your preferred VPN service.Hotstar and a VPN service on Android
  3. Select a server in India and click “Tap to connect.”Selecting Hotstar Location India
    Connecting to Mumbai India
  4. Open the Google Play Store on your mobile device.
  5. Use the search box in the Google Play Store to find the Hotstar app and click “Install.”Hotstar available on the PlayStore

Again, this process should work for all Android devices.

Note:

If you can’t find the Hotstar app then you need to clear all data from your Google Play Store and Play services applications. The steps to do this depend on which Android device you’re using.

Generally speaking, to get the Hotstar app you first have to go to your Settings menu and then go to the place where your device shows you the list of installed apps. From there tap on Google Play Store and Google Play services and then clear the data for both of them.

Warning:

If you follow the steps we’ve mentioned above without first turning on a VPN service then you will not be able to find the Hotstar app.

The thing is, without a VPN service, the Google Play Store and the Hotstar app know that you don’t live in India. Once that happens, the Google Play Store and the Hotstar app will more or less disable your device from finding and installing the Hotstar app.

  1. Wait for Hotstar to download and install on your device.Installing Hotstar through the Playstore
  2. It’s now finished installing and appears on your device screen.Hotstar and a VPN service on Android
  3. Launch the app and then you’re in the free version of the Hotstar app.Hotstar featured content on the application on Android

You can now browse and check out the content of Hotstar BUT you won’t be able to watch anything without this little extra secret step that we found. Read below to learn more.

  1. Go into your Settings then Advanced Settings then Date & time.
  2. Turn off Automatic date & time. 9. Turn off Automatic time zone.
  3. Click on Select time zone and set it to Indian time GMT +5:30.
  4. Once this is done, close the Hotstar app and reopen it. Find a video and enjoy streaming Hotstar outside of India.
To learn more about Surfshark and how it’s the cheapest VPN for Hotstar on Android,

So that’s it, right? Not quite.

You can just watch the free content from the Hotstar app without an account but you’ll miss out on the best TV and movies and you get no live sports. So now you need to learn how to set up a premium or VIP Hotstar account.

You’ll need a premium Hotstar account if you want to watch the best content the service has to offer. For a step-by-step guide on how to set up a premium Hotstar account, read the section after the next one by clicking here.

You’ll need to read the next section if you have an iOS device instead of an Android device.

How To Download The Hotstar App On iOS Devices for Streaming

A person tapping on a tablet
Hotstar provides content on all devices and platforms.

How do you get the Hotstar app on your Apple TV, iPad or iPhone if you live in a country like Canada, Australia, the U.K. or the U.S.?

Well, you’ll need to get yourself an Indian Apple ID.

That doesn’t mean you’ll have to go through an application process at your local embassy. But you will have to create an account.

Follow the instructions below:

  1. Whether you’re using a Mac or a PC, log out of your iTunes account.
  2. Look at the bottom section of your store. There, change the region to India. You can do that by selecting the Indian flag.
  3. Go to any free app in the App Store.
  4. Click Get.
  5. The iTunes application will now ask you to create an account. It will also offer you the “no card” option. Select that option and then create a new account. Choose a suitable username and create a strong password.
  6. For the next step, you must get an Indian address. Go to this site to generate one.
  7. Turn on your iOS device or Apple TV, then go to your iTunes account and log out. You can do that from the Settings menu.
  8. Note the details of your new Apple ID and then use it to log into iTunes on your iOS device.

That’s it. Now you’re free to download the Hotstar app on your iPad, iPhone or Apple TV even when outside India. You can now start watching the free version of Hotstar.

If you don’t already have a Hotstar Premium account and you want access to the latest movies, TV series and live sports, then you need to follow the steps below:

  1. Turn on your VPN.
  2. Connect to an Indian server.
  3. Change the time zone on your phone to India (GMT +5:30).
  4. Go to https://www.hotstar.com/subscribe/sign-in.
  5. Create an account.
  6. Use an Indian address. Use maps.google.com or another service to find one, or use a friend or relatives.
  7. For payment, either use a friend or relative in India or go to fiverr.com and buy a cheap gig from someone with an Indian bank account to pay for your account. It’s very easy and takes five minutes.
  8. Wait for it to be activated and you’re done!

So what’s next? Well, now you need to learn how to create a premium Hotstar account to watch the best content that Hotstar has to offer. Read the next section to do that right now.

How to Set Up a Hotstar Premium Account on your Devices Outside India

Why would you need a Hotstar Premium account? Well, a premium membership account provides access to all the premium titles that Hotstar doesn’t offer to regular users. Moreover, it also grants you access to all the future mega-hit titles.

Additionally, users also get to enjoy various live sports like tennis, F1 racing, the Premier League and cricket.

Basically, the premium account is Hotstar’s all-inclusive package. There are a total of two plans as far as the Hotstar Premium membership is concerned.

If you sign up for the yearly plan you only have to pay Rs. 999. If you want to pay on a monthly basis then you have to pay Rs. 299. Note that payments are non-refundable on Hotstar.

Here’s the step-by-step guide that you need to follow:

  1. Go to the Hotstar Premium website or VIP membership site. Click here to do that. You can use any web browser you like and have the option of picking either Premium plans or All Sports plans.Hotstar VIP showcased
  2. To complete the registration process, provide a valid email address and choose a password.

Hotstar allows users to use their Facebook account to sign up but we recommend using an email address so they can’t double-check your location through Facebook.logging into Hotstar process

  1. Input your payment details.Hotstar payment process

This is where you’ll need to go to a place like Fiverr. More on that in the next section.

Initially create an account on a computer that’s connected with a VPN to India, its time zone set to India, on Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode (or another browser’s equivalent) with a Gmail account as it won’t automatically ask you to verify your phone number.

After you’ve created your account, you can log in on your phone. You then send your login info to the Fiverr gig for them to buy the subscription with an Indian payment source.

To start enjoying Hotstar content with your premium membership, you have to sign into the app using the same login credentials that you provided during the registration process.

Note that iOS users can buy all Hotstar plans via iTunes.

How to get an Indian Payment Method for Hotstar Premium Streaming

If you don’t have it, then you can’t sign up for a premium Hotstar account as the website will simply not allow you to create a premium account. So what’s the solution?

The solution is to buy a cheap gig on sites like fiverr.com. There are lots of people with Indian credit cards who are willing to pay on your behalf. They can also do so via an Indian bank account transfer.

To check out an Indian payment method, you can find one on Fiverr

Indian ecommerce on Fiverr

Go to the link we have provided for Fiverr.

confirm and pay

Check if you have everything in order.

purchasing Indian payment on Fiverr

You’ll need to provide your own payment method here. Once the Fiverr vendor has done their job, you have to go back to Hotstar and log in.

logging into your account on Hotstar

Once the Fiverr vendor has done their job, you have to go back to Hotstar and log in.

Hotstar running on a web browser

Since you’ve signed up for the Premium version via Fiverr, you should have no problem watching Premium Hotstar content.

On that note, share this guide with your friends and family so they may also benefit from reading it

We’re aware of the fact that some of you may want to sign up for Hotstar from a smaller country. For you, we have the next section that talks about whether or not it’s worth it to get Hotstar in Singapore.

How to Watch Hotstar in Singapore

A flag showcasing SingaporeThe only two countries apart from India where you can watch Hotstar are the U.S. and Canada and even then you don’t get all the same content as in India. Hotstar is blocked in all other countries.
The reason for that is simple. Hotstar doesn’t want to end up fighting over content rights. Different content producers sell different usage rights to different TV networks. Some of these networks work outside India.

Note:

You can’t access Hotstar if you live in Singapore unless you use a VPN service. A VPN service will help you bypass all geo-restrictions.

With the right VPN service, you can bypass geo-tracking and change your DNS servers which will allow you to access Hotstar from Singapore. As for the rest of the steps, they’re all the same.

You just need to first sign up for a VPN service and then connect to a server that’s located in India.

The best VPNs to use if you’re in Singapore to watch Hotstar are

Hotstar is expanding rapidly and it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to say that it won’t take long for other countries like Singapore to have access to Hotstar without a VPN. Until then though, you’ll have to use a VPN to access Hotstar.

How to Watch Hotstar in the U.S.

Flag of USA

Let’s get this out of the way right now:

There’s no reliable way to watch Hotstar in the U.S. for free.

But we know that Indian content fans and fans of high-quality content in general who live in the U.S. want to access Hotstar by unblocking Hotstar in the U.S. without leaving the country.

Well, we want to let you know that it’s entirely possible to unblock and access Hotstar in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world with the right tools.

Pro-Tip:

You’ll be able to access all its Bollywood on-demand videos that hopefully suit your taste. Hotstar will offer you the same content it offers to an Indian citizen.

If modern Bollywood movies are too vulgar or are otherwise not of interest to you then Hotstar also has some classic movies. You won’t have to search hard to find old movies with Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar at the top of their acting games.

Want to see how Amitabh Bachchan acted in his heydays? Well, Hotstar is the place to see that.

Of course, if modern Bollywood movies are your thing then you can always go to movies starring big actors like:

  • Hrithik Roshan
  • Amir Khan
  • Salman Khan
  • Shah Rukh Khan

All while you sit in your home, unblock Hotstar and access Hotstar without any delays.

Some users would want to watch other types of Indian content such as,

  • Talks shows
  • Sitcoms
  • Indian television
Hotstar will connect you with the latest episodes of all popular Indian TV shows if you live in India and subscribe to their premium service.

Now, there are a ton of Indian TV shows. No doubt, you have to avoid some of them since they aren’t worth your time or money. But there are others that have great moral stories and historical backgrounds.

A VPN service is all you need to watch them all in the U.S. But maybe you don’t live in the U.S. and don’t want to watch Hotstar in the U.S. Maybe you want to do the same in the U.K. For you, we have the next section.

How to Watch Hotstar in the U.K.

Flag of U.K.

Hotstar doesn’t leave out its fans in the U.K. either. Most viewers in the U.K. want sports and drama content. Hotstar has both categories of content in spades for those with a premium account.

This is perfect for users in the U.K .who want to binge watch their favorite TV shows and movies. All you need is a VPN service.

How to Watch Hotstar in Australia

Flag of Australia

Watching Hotstar in Australia is as simple as signing up for the right VPN, downloading the VPN app for your streaming device, launching the VPN app, connecting to a server located in India to change your IP address or any of the other supported countries, hitting the Connect button and launching the official Hotstar app on your streaming device.

There’s nothing else you need to do to watch Hotstar in Australia. For the best experience though, it’s advisable to get an Indian IP address. Even though Hostar is available in the U.S. and Canada, the library available to residents of these countries is anything but fulfilling. Hotstar offers its best content to people living in India with an Indian IP address.

Note:

As you can probably see, the process to watch Hotstar in Australia is pretty similar to how you would unblock Hotstar and access Hotstar in the U.S. It’s also similar to how you would get Hotstar in Europe or anywhere in the world: by using a VPN. The reason why the solution is the same is that the problem is the same: geo-restricted content.

Whenever there’s talk about geo-restricted content, you should understand that you’ll have to use a VPN service to access the said geo-restricted content anywhere in the world. Your location doesn’t really matter.

So whether you want Hotstar Australia or you want to unblock Hotstar in the U.S., you’ll need a VPN. Once you have that, you’re free to watch Hotstar anywhere in the world. Things don’t need to be more complicated than that.

Conclusion

Streaming technology is advancing at a rapid pace. This has benefited the end-users (along with the owners of these streaming services and traditional media outlets) who want to unblock Hotstar and watch all the latest premium TV shows. They can now enjoy all their favorite movies, TV shows and sporting events right from their smartphones and TV sets from anywhere in the world.

Hotstar is one outlet for that entertainment.

There aren’t too many streaming services that put this much content (in terms of movies and TV shows) right in the palm of the user’s hands. It does come with geo-restrictions just like every other streaming service, though. You’ll need a VPN service to get past those geo-restrictions and watch Hotstar outside India.

Pro Tip:

To experience all the benefits and online services from the comfort of your house, sign up for the premium account. That’s the best way to enter the world of truly global entertainment with Hotstar.

Zohair A. Zohair is currently a content crafter at Security Gladiators and has been involved in the technology industry for more than a decade. He is an engineer by training and, naturally, likes to help people solve their tech related problems. When he is not writing, he can usually be found practicing his free-kicks in the ground beside his house.