How to watch Voot outside India or Abroad

Voot is a fantastic VOD streaming service and it’s completely free. Unfortunately, Voot is (officially) only available in India, but it’s still possible to watch Voot in the USA, UK or Europe by using a VPN.

In this guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to watch popular Voot shows like Bigg Boss from either your computer (via web browser) or Voot’s official mobile app.

How to watch Voot outside India (steps)

  1. Subscribe to a VPN service that has servers in India, like NordVPN
  2. Download the VPN app on your device and login
  3. Connect to a server location in India
  4. Go to Voot.com and create an account
  5. Enjoy the show!

What is Voot

Voot is a free Indian streaming service, that delivers on-demand video content. It hosts mixture of licensed shows from channels like MTV and Nickelodeon as well as original shows from its parent company Viacom. Voot hosts more than 40,000 hours of on-demand programming.

Voot is completely free (ad-supported) but there’s also an ad-free premium subscription called Voot Select, which was launched in February 2020.

Voot has a massive library of shows, including both english-language content as well as Indian content and original shows.

Popular Shows on Voot

  1. Splitsvilla
  2. Kasam
  3. MTV Roadies Xtreme
  4. Kya Bolta Bantai
  5. Love School
  6. MTV Unplugged
  7. Dating In The Dark
  8. Bigg Boss (season 14)
  9. Wild Villa
  10. Top Model India
  11. India’s got talent

Voot Originals

  • Soadies
  • Badman
  • Shaadi Boys
  • It’s not that simple
  • Untag
  • Marzi
  • Asur
  • Crackdown

Do you need a VPN for Voot?

Unless you live in India or the United Kingdom, you’ll need a VPN to watch Voot. Due to licensing agreements, Voot is only accessible from IP addressees in those two countries. By connecting to a VPN, you get easily get a India-based IP address, and bypass the geo-restrictions.

Without a VPN, Voot will be blocked if you try to access it from another country like Canada, the United States, or the rest of Europe.

Don’t worry, the benefits of a VPN don’t stop with Voot. Some VPNs can unlock more than 60 region-locked streaming services such as: Netflix, Hulu, HBOMax, Disney+ and Spotify. On top of that you get rock-solid security to secure your devices on public wifi networks or protect your privacy when using apps like BitTorrent or Kodi.

Best VPNs to Watch Voot

I tested 10 VPN services and measured their performance with Voot. I considered both the unblocking functionality (could it access Voot reliably) and the streaming performance (resolution, buffering).

These VPNs performed better in the tests, and are (in my opinion) the best VPNs to unblock and stream Voot from the USA, Europe and abroad.

Testing & Ranking Methodology

Testing Methodology

There is the complete list of VPNs tested for this guide, as well as the testing methodology used to determine our top picks>

VPNs Tested (alphbetical)

  • Cyberghost
  • ExpressVPN
  • Hide.me
  • IPVanish
  • NordVPN
  • Private Internet Access
  • Torguard
  • VPN.ac
  • VyprVPN
  • Windscribe

Testing Sequence:

  1. Connect to India VPN server
  2. Test access to Voot.com
  3. Login
  4. Test ability to stream video
  5. 3 minute stream to test buffering

#1. ExpressVPN: Best Performance

ExpressVPN was able to flawlessly unblock Voot via the VPN. Speeds were excellent despite connecting to a server halfway around the world. We experienced no buffering during the test.

Even better, Express VPN’s Mediastreamer SmartDNS also works with Voot, so you can get full-speed streams with no loss due to encryption overhead from the VPN. Mediastreamer is a great solution for smartphones, so you don’t have to worry about your phone’s GPS location betraying your VPN usage. It’s also great for FireTV or SmartTV devices where installing a VPN is a harder (or impossible).

ExpressVPN had no problem accessing the Voot mini-app, and there was zero lag or buffering during the test.

In fact, the only reason to consider a VPN other than ExpressVPN would be the price. Plans range from $8.32/month to $13/month for unlimited bandwidth and 5 devices.

Note: All ExpressVPN plans come with a 30-day 100% refund policy.

#2. Private Internet Access: Best cheap VPN for Voot

Price: from $3.33/month | Refund policy: 30-days | Logs: No logs.

Private Internet Access has always been a great zero-log VPN. There a favorite pick for both Kodi and Torrents. But recently PIA has reinvented themselves as a streaming powerhouse, with built-in SmartDNS technology.

Private Internet Access now works with more than 30 streaming services, including: Voot, Hotstar, Disney+, HBOMax and Netflix.

And don’t let the low price fool you. PIA is a top-tier service, with excellent software and above-average speeds. They’re just grown so popular that they can sell their service at a lower price than smaller VPNs.

#3. NordVPN: Great all-around

NordVPN isn’t quite as fast as ExpressVPN, and I prefer PIA’s software client, but they’re still a great option if you want a VPN that does everything.

Nord has a true zero-log policy, works with 50+ streaming services (including Voot and Hotstar), and all plans come with unlimited bandwidth and a 30-day refund policy.

Speeds are excellent, security is rock-solid and they have a standalone SmartDNS proxy that is included with every VPN purchase (just like ExpressVPN’s mediastreamer DNS).

In my test, NordVPN was able to access Voot with both the VPN, as well as the DNS proxy. There as no audio lag or rebuffering. NordVPN also has their own app for FireTV/Firestick, making it easy to stream Voot to your TV as well (though you could use the SmartDNS too).

Other VPNs that work with Voot

The three services mentioned above aren’t the only options, they’re just the best (in my opinion). Several of the other companies I tested will work just fine. Cyberghost, VyprVPN, Hide.me, Torguard and VPN.ac were all able to access Voot’s content via the web app. Several of them failed to unblock the service on mobile devices (VPN.ac).

Speeds were adequate, but I did see a longer initial buffering period for Hide.me and VyprVPN. Windscribe failed the unblocking test, as did IPVanish, perhaps due to a geolocation error.

Of the above VPNs that work, Cyberghost and Torguard would be my recommendations. Hide.me is also worthy of consideration if you want a free VPN (more below).

How to stream Voot with a VPN (Windows/Mac)

Follow these easy steps to stream Voot on-demand from anywhere in the world.

1. Connect to a VPN server in India

Open your VPN client on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Go to the server-selection view and choose any server based in India. If your VPN provider doesn’t have any server locations in India you can try a UK server, which may also work.

If your VPN has adjustable encryption strength, use lower encryption or a faster protocol like Wireguard (PIA has both) to ensure faster speeds and higher video resolution.

Private Internet Access VPN connected to a server in India

2. Go to Voot.com and Login

Once you’re connected to the VPN, go to Voot.com. You’ll be prompted to enter an email address or continue with Google/Facebook. This is a good opportunity to create a free account if you don’t already have one.

Once you’ve created an account, you’ll be directed to the main Voot welcome screen, which looks something like this:

You can then browse through the available shows and movies using the navigation menu at the top.

3. Stream your show or movie

Once you’ve chosen a show to watch, simply click the thumbnail to start streaming. The video player will load automatically in your browser. If you’re not currently logged in to your account, you’ll be prompted to register/login before the stream starts.

Note: While the majority of shows are completely free, some premium content is only available for Voot Select subscribers, which is their premium service.

How to watch Voot on Android or iPhone

Streaming Voot via their mobile app is a bit trickier, because you have to also circumvent Google or Apple’s geo-fencing technology. Once you’ve got the app installed, however, it’s pretty easy.

1. Install the Voot App

You need to download the Voot Select app from your device’s app store, but it’s only available if you’re located in a certain area. In order to gain access, try the following:

  1. Enable airplane mode
  2. Disable location
  3. Connect to wifi
  4. Connect to your VPN (India server)
  5. Open the app store on your device
  6. Download the app: iOS / Android

If you fail the appstore geolocation check, try deleting the app cache in your device settings and try again. In our testing, it was hard to get the Android version to download (but you can sideload it). We were able to download Voot from the iOS store without issue.

2. Connect disable location information

The best way to do this is to enable airplane mode and also disable GPS in your location settings. This will ensure that your phone location can’t be derived from GPS satellites or triangulated from your cellular signal.

3. Connect to the VPN

Open the VPN app on your device and connect to any server in India. Make sure DNS leak protection is enabled (if offered by your app).

4. Log in to the Voot App

You can sign in to the app either by creating an account linked to your email address, or via auto-signin with a Google or Facebook account.

5. Stream your show

Once logged in, just select your show or movie from the app interface, and stream. It should play straightaway.

Troubleshooting: if Voot doesn’t work

First, make sure you’ve completed all the steps above, namely: that you’re connected to an Indian VPN server and logged into your Voot account. Then work through these troubleshooting steps one-by-one.

Verify your IP-location

Some VPNs try to spoof geolocations with servers that aren’t actually located in the target country or region. Check your location with a tool like this: PIA’s check IP location tool.

Then verify that your IP address’s geo-location is actually in india.

IP-address geolocation in Mumbai, India

Clear your browser or app cache

Most web browsers store some data offline, making webpages load faster the next time you visit it. But sometimes this can create issues when you switch IP addresses or locations. The simple fix is to clear your browser cache. Here’s instructions for every major desktop browser.

You can also try a different browser, or try incognito/private mode just in case that makes a difference.

Fix DNS Leaks

Sometimes your DNS servers can betray your real location, if your VPN is leaking DNS queries outside the secure tunnel. Fortunately, DNS leaks are easy to fix.

  1. Enable your VPN client’s ‘anti dns-leak’ option (if available)
  2. Specify custom DNS on your Computer or router
    1. How to set custom DNS in Windows
    2. How to set custom DNS on a Mac
    3. How to set custom DNS on a router

What DNS to use? We’ve got a full list of popular, free DNS servers in this guide.

Google’s free DNS servers are a good starting point:

  • Primary: 8.8.8.8
  • Secondary: 8.8.4.4

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