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How to Watch Hotstar in Australia (December 2020 Updated)

We review four of the best VPNs for Hotstar and discuss how to watch Hotstar in Australia in this Hotstar Australia guide. 

Aussies can’t just say “No” to a quality binge session. And if it’s something as premium as Hotstar airing on our screens, you bet it – we ain’t going anywhere!

With over 100,000 hours of TV content and live sports shows, Hotstar is a fully-packed over-the-top (OTT) video service. You will find the content from all genres on it, including romance and drama to thriller and comedy. It even has a separate catalogue for kids.

Is Hotstar available in Australia? 

Unfortunately, Hotstar is inaccessible outside India (except for the US and Canada, with both countries having their own dedicated Hotstar libraries to stream). If you try to watch the service from Australia, or anywhere else in the world, the in-place geo-restrictions block your connection, saying:

Hotstar is geo-blocked outside India

This means using a VPN is your only reliable solution to stream Hotstar from outside India. A VPN masks your real IP address and replaces it with an Indian IP address, making Hotstar servers think you are based in India. You can learn more about VPNs and how they work in general in our ultimate VPN guide. 

It must be mentioned here, though, that not all VPNs work with Hotstar. You need to choose a reliable VPN service if you want to get Hotstar in Australia.

Luckily for you, my team and I are big fans of Hotstar content, and we keep testing VPNs on the streaming service now and then. To date, we’ve tested over fifty VPNs for Hotstar from Australia, and it’s safe to say we know the ones that unblock it and those that don’t. 

In this post, we’d like to share our top 4 VPNs with you to watch Hotstar from Australia. But first things first:

How to Watch Hotstar in Australia (4 easy steps)

To watch Hotstar in Australia in December 2020, just follow these four easy steps:

1. Download and subscribe to a VPN service (SurfsharkVPN is our preferred choice).
2. Open the VPN app on your device.
3. Connect to an Indian server from the servers’ list.
4. Sign in to your Premium Hotstar account, and start watching your favourite shows, movies, and sports programmes from Australia. 

Don’t have a Hotstar Premium account? Scroll down to Sign up to Hotstar Premium section to learn how to create a Hotstar account from Australia.

4 Best VPNs for Hotstar in Australia (Tested December 2020)

All four VPNs listed in this guide maintain a no-log policy, which is essential from a privacy point of view. Furthermore, they are affordable and fast and use robust tunnelling protocols to keep your web traffic secure. In addition, they support multiple simultaneous connections, allowing your whole family to watch their favourite shows and movies at the same time. Most importantly, they manage an expansive network of servers in India, ensuring you can reliably connect to Hotstar without any geo-restrictions. 

So, without any further ado, let’s reveal the best VPNs for Hotstar to watch in Australia.  

1) Surfshark (Cheapest VPN for Hotstar)

Surfshark is the cheapest Hotstar VPN for Australia. You can get its 2-year plan for USD 2.21 per month only. The service offers a 30-day refund policy.

Surfshark Windows app dashboard

Based in the British Virgin Islands, Surfshark operates more than 1000 servers worldwide. It has three server locations in India: Indore, Mumbai, and Chennai. All three server locations are optimized to unblock Hotstar from Australia. However, if we were to rank these locations in terms of performance, Mumbai would clearly stand out, closely followed by Chennai, and then Indore. In fact, we don’t use Indore servers at all because they tend to be slow.

Online anonymity and security are never a problem with Surfshark as it uses IKEv2, OpenVPN, Shadowshocks, and IPsec tunnelling protocols to secure your web traffic. The latter is unavailable on the Windows client, though. Additionally, the company encrypts your data using 256-bit ciphers.

We tested Surfshark Indian servers on ipleak.net for potential IP and DNS leaks and found no problems.

No IP or DNS leaks found on Surfshark Indian servers

Probably, the best thing about Surfshark is its uncompromising zero-log policy. There are always concerns that VPN providers may keep a record of your online activities and later sell that data to third-party companies. Surfshark refuses to give in to any such practices:

Surfshark respects your privacy, therefore we are committed to not process any data related to the online activity of our users. Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, which does not require data storage or reporting. We do not collect IP addresses, browsing history, session information, used bandwidth, connection time stamps, network traffic and other similar data.

Surfshark offers clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, and smart TVs. You can connect an unlimited number of devices to it simultaneously and use the service without worrying about data caps. 

We don’t remember experiencing any significant buffering issues when watching Hotstar on Surfshark from Australia. As long as you are on Mumbai and Chennai servers, speed shouldn’t be a worry. However, as mentioned earlier, avoid using the Indore servers.

Watching the replay of the VIVO IPL 2019 Final on Surfshark on Hotstar from Australia

Below are general speed test results for Surfshark Mumbai servers to give you an even better idea of the VPN’s speed performance:  

Summary: Surfshark does a decent job at unblocking Hotstar from Australia. It lacks a bit in terms of server coverage, but it still has some amazing features for the low price tag. If you’re looking for a cheap and reliable Hotstar VPN service, you should definitely consider Surfshark. We proudly rank it at #1 in our list of best 4 VPNs for Hotstar in Australia.

2) PureVPN (Budget-friendly Hotstar VPN)

Next we have PureVPN. You can get its 1-year plan for just USD 4.16 per month. The service offers a 31-day money back guarantee.

PureVPN Windows app dashboard

Based in Hong Kong, PureVPN operates over 6500 live servers worldwide. It has nine servers in India, all located in Chennai. While it does unblock Hotstar from Australia, we find our experience with it quite inconsistent. At times, the connection drops for no reason, and we have to reconnect it. While at other times, it streams for hours completely fine.

The company uses a wide range of tunnelling protocols to secure your web traffic, offering PPTP, SSTP, IPsec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN as the possible options. For encryption, it uses AES 256-bit keys.

We put PureVPN Indian servers through a leak test on ipleak.net and found no IP or DNS spills.

No IP or DNS leaks detected on PureVPN Indian servers

In terms of maintaining activity logs, PureVPN practices a 100% zero-log policy, respecting your online privacy. Here is an excerpt from the company’s website, which further reiterates this:

We DO NOT keep any record of your browsing activities, connection logs, records of the VPN IPs assigned to you, your original IPs, your connection time, the history of your browsing, the sites you visited, your outgoing traffic, the content or data you accessed, or the DNS queries generated by you.

PureVPN provides clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Firestick and Android TV. It has extensions for Chrome and Firefox too. You can connect ten devices to it simultaneously and enjoy unlimited streaming with no constraints.

Compared to ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark, PureVPN is definitely slower, though. This difference in speed becomes more evident when you watch a live show or a programme.

Watching Ford vs Ferrari on PureVPN on Hotstar in Australia

Below are general speed test results for PureVPN’s Chennai servers to give you an even better idea of the VPN’s speed performance: 

Summary: PureVPN is a get job done VPN service. It is not flashy by any means, nor stands out in anything particular. However, it fulfills a serious gap in the market, VPNs that successfully unblock Hotstar from outside India. It’s a good backup VPN to have if you’re unable to access Surfshark for any reason.

3) ExpressVPN (Most expensive but stable VPN for Hotstar)

ExpressVPN is our #3 recommended VPN to watch Hotstar in Down Under. You can buy its 1-year plan for USD 8.32 per month. The service offers a 30-day refund policy.

ExpressVPN Windows app dashboard

ExpressVPN is a British Island-based VPN service, operating over 3000 live servers worldwide. It provides twelve servers for connecting to India. These servers are installed in Mumbai, Chennai, and the UK. The ones located in the UK are configured to function as virtual servers. All three server locations connect to Hotstar from Australia without any problems.

The service uses OpenVPN, IPsec, and IKEv2 to keep your web traffic safe and secure. Additionally, you have 256-bit ciphers for encryption. 

With such an advanced security system in place, the risks of IP or DNS leaks are likely to be low, and the tests seem to confirm that.

We ran ExpressVPN Indian servers on ipleak.net and found no security loopholes.

No IP or DNS leaks found on ExpressVPN Indian servers

As for the privacy policy, ExpressVPN maintains that it keeps no record of user activity. Following is an excerpt from the company’s privacy policy, available on its website:

We do not collect logs of your activity, including no logging of browsing history, traffic destination, data content, or DNS queries. We also never store connection logs, meaning no logs of your IP address, your outgoing VPN IP address, connection timestamp, or session duration. 

ExpressVPN provides clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux. You can even run it on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and standard smart TV systems.  It offers the option to connect five devices simultaneously with no data caps.

In terms of speed, ExpressVPN beats all other VPNs on the market, at least in our experience. We regularly stream Hotstar on it without any buffering issues.

Watching Avengers End Game on ExpressVPN on Hotstar from Australia

Below are general speed test results for ExpressVPN Chennai servers to give you an even better idea of the VPN’s speed performance:

Summary: ExpressVPN offers everything you expect from a good, reliable VPN service. It has got fast and stable servers that connect to India seamlessly. Furthermore, it offers advanced tunnelling protocols, a user-friendly privacy policy, and an unlimited bandwidth support. However, because it’s a bit expensive, it sits at third in our list of 4 best VPNs for Hotstar in Australia.

4) NordVPN (Best for the highest number of Indian servers)

Next, we have NordVPN, which is our second favourite VPN to get Hotstar in Australia. You can buy its 2-year plan for USD 3.71 per month. The service offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

NordVPN Windows app dashboard

NordVPN is a Panama-based VPN service, having more than 5000 servers worldwide. It provides twenty-nine servers to connect to India, the majority of which exist in Chennai and Mumbai. Others operate virtually from Germany. You can stream Hotstar from Australia by connecting to any of NordVPN’s Indian servers.

In terms of tunnelling protocols, NordVPN offers OpenVPN, NordLynx (built around the WireGuard protocol), IKEv2, and IPSEC to protect your web data from spoofers. The last two protocols, however, are not available for Windows. The company uses AES 256-bit keys for encryption.

We did not detect any IP or DNS leaks when testing NordVPN Indian servers on ipleak.net. This is excellent for maintaining your online anonymity.

No IP or DNS leaks found on NordVPN Indian servers

Like ExpressVPN, NordVPN does not log your online activities. The company even holds regular third-party audits to back its no-logging claims. Below is a small paragraph extracted from NordVPN’s privacy policy for your further reference:

Being based in Panama allows us to keep no logs of users’ online activity (no IP addresses, browsing data, traffic information, etc.). This means that we are unable to link an individual user to a specific IP address, connection timestamp or other information that we do not collect.

NordVPN is available on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and Chrome and Firefox browsers. You can connect up to 6 devices at the same time and stream without worrying about bandwidth limits. NordVPN says it offers a client for Android TV too. However, we don’t recommend using it because it often fails to load the stream whenever we try to watch Hotstar through it.

Let’s talk about speed. NordVPN puts up smooth streaming performance on its Mumbai servers. It’s not as fast as ExpressVPN, though. Interestingly, we find its Chennai servers comparatively slow at times. However, disconnecting and reconnecting to the service usually solves that problem for us.

Watching Cars 3 on NordVPN on Hotstar in Australia

Below are general speed test results for NordVPN Mumbai servers to give you an even better idea of the VPN’s speed performance:

Summary: All in all, NordVPN is a solid VPN for streaming Hotstar and regular internet usage if you live in Australia. It has the highest number of Indian servers of all VPNs on this list, a clean no-log policy, and the impressive NordLynx protocol. The only drawbacks are the weak support for Android TV and the relatively slow Chennai servers. It ranks fourth on our list of top 4 VPNs for Hotstar in Australia.

Sign up to Hotstar Premium from Australia

Hotstar offers two types of paid accounts to users to watch the stream: i) VIP account, and ii) Premium account. Furthermore, there is an option to stream the service for free as well. 

Unless you are an Indian expat living in Australia, there is no point in using a VIP or a freemium plan because they only offer content in local Indian languages. If you want to stream in English and access Hotstar’s full library, you need to have a Hotstar Premium account. You can sign-up for Hotstar Premium account for INR 299/month or INR 1499/year, depending on the payment package you choose. We recommend going for the latter as it is more convenient and saves you 58% on the original price.

Hotstar Premium comes in two packages, monthly package and yearly package

Creating a Hotstar Premium account from outside India can be tricky, though. You need to have an Indian phone number, credit card, and a local address. 

So, the first solution we would suggest is to call up a friend or relative in India and ask them to create an account for you. Paypal them later.

If you don’t know anyone living in India, then a freelancing platform, like Fiverr, is your best and only bet. Basically, you hire a seller on Fiverr to arrange a Hotstar Premium account for you in Australia. The going rates for such gigs are dirt cheap, normally in the range of USD 5. 

To make things easier for you, we have found a few service providers on Fiverr who help you with Hotstar subscriptions in India. These sellers have good reviews and average response time.

• Sol_pro (Level Two seller, 5 stars rating, and 278 reviews)
• Ranjanteam (Level 1 seller, 5 stars rating, and 28 reviews)
• Soumya147 (Level 1 seller, 4.9 stars rating, and 3 reviews)

Please note: Even though Fiverr is a trusted platform, make sure to do your due diligence before hiring a seller.

How much does Hotstar cost in Australia?

If you want to get Hotstar in Australia, you’ll need to pay for Hotstar’s Premium plan, VPN subscription, and Fiverr gig (if you don’t already have a friend or a close one living in India). All this can cost you anywhere between AUD 81.5 per year on the low end and AUD 191.5 per year on the high end. The complete breakdown is as follows:

Why is Hotstar not available outside India?  

We know it can be frustrating to have a show or movie (and sometimes even a full service) geo-blocked in your country. Unfortunately, that’s how things work in the media industry, and much of it has to do with money.

Before a streaming service can launch in a country, it must enter into agreements with content producers to get the rights for airing the shows in that particular country. This, of course, requires investment. Then there is always additional money to be paid to advertisers and government agencies to set-up and localize the service in a country. 

So, if a streaming service like Hotstar wants to do a multi-country launch, it needs to have a big pile of cash before it can even think about going after such a project. Many companies simply find this infeasible. 

Other reasons include competition and the absence of a large audience suitable for the content to be aired outside the native jurisdiction.           

Which devices does Hotstar support? 

Hotstar is compatible with the following devices:

• Windows
• Mac
• Android
• iOS
• Google Chromecast
• Apple TV
• Fire TV
• Android TV
• Samsung smart TVs (model 2018 and onwards)

How many devices can you stream Hotstar on simultaneously?

Hotstar has recently introduced multi-screen support, which allows you to watch content on two screens at the same time. Please note that this feature is only available for Premium subscribers, though. 

Popular TV shows you can watch on Hotstar Australia

• True Detective
• Game of Thrones
• The Wire
• Big Little Lies
• Chernobyl
• The Mandalorian
• Watchmen 
• Twin Peaks
• The Affair
• The Outsider
• The Plot Against America
• Modern Family
• The Newsroom 
• Private Investigator
• The Night of

Can I watch Dance Champions on Hotstar?

Yes, you can watch all thirteen episodes of Dance Champions season 1 on Hotstar from Australia.

Popular movies you can watch on Hotstar Australia

• Avengers: End Game
• Ford vs Ferrari
• The Lion King
• All the Way
• Bad Education
• Bambi
• Black Panther
• Dead Poets Society
• Coco
• The Fault in Our Stars
• Hidden Figures
• Deadpool 2
• The Martian
• De De Pyaar De
• Ready or Not

Is VPN legal in Australia?

If you’ve been thinking about whether using a VPN in Australia can get you in any legal trouble, let us tell you that you don’t need to worry. VPNs are completely legal in Australia. You can use them to stream Hotstar or surf the web without any issues.  

So what are your plans for the weekend?

We have some friends coming over to our place, and we plan to binge-watch Chernobyl together on Hotstar from Australia. What about you?