How to Watch Hotstar in the US Without a VPN

When it comes to unblocking websites, you have a whole slate of digital tools at your disposal. Still, not every website can be unblocked, and that especially applies to media streaming websites. With that said, if you’re wondering how to watch Hotstar in the US without a VPN, know that you’ll encounter a limited set of options. 

More precisely, there are three ways to unblock any version of Hotstar in the US without a VPN. And those would be – using a proxy service, a 'Smart DNS' service, or a virtual private server (VPS). So, let's tell you more about each of those. 

1. Try Using a Proxy Service

Proxy services are similar to VPNs up to a certain point. They're designed to re-route your Web traffic, using a proxy server that separates the user and the Web. And since proxy servers come with the ability to change your IP address, they can unblock websites.

Keep in mind that proxy services often serve outdated versions of websites, as not many of them have the means to access a live website at any given moment. That makes their use with media streaming services somewhat problematic.

You should also know that there are two types of proxy services: data center proxies and residential proxies. We're talking about residential proxies here, which might come as a solution to watching Hotstar in the US without a VPN. To learn more, here’s how to use an anonymous proxy.

2. Try Using a Smart DNS Service

Instead of using a specialized server (like proxies or VPNs do), Smart DNS services use a custom domain name server (DNS) to re-route your Web data requests. That means that Smart DNS services don't reroute your entire Internet traffic but only your DNS requests, making them suitable for unblocking media streaming services.

Based on our experience, using a Smart DNS is a highly effective way to unblock and watch Hotstar in the US (without a VPN). However, any effective Smart DNS will come at a cost. That’s the reason why premium VPN services (such as ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and NordVPN) offer Smart DNS-like features (typically already included in their subscription plans).

If you need a more affordable Smart DNS service, we recommend checking our reviews of Unlocator, Getflix, and Smart DNS Proxy VPN. However, you'll see that none of those come with overly high ratings, as their limitations make them a sub-par option compared to VPNs.

3. Try Using a VPS (Virtual Private Server)

And lastly, another way to watch Hotstar in the US without a VPN – is by using a Virtual Private Server (VPS). Keep in mind that VPNs already rely on Virtual Private Servers, which are a crucial part of their infrastructure. So, deciding to use a VPS means that you’ll eliminate the middlemen.

As you can imagine, using a VPS isn’t for everyone, as you need to have plenty of technical knowledge to set everything up. However, once everything is in place, you can create secure VPS connections, unblock websites from a specific country, and make sure no one logs your personal data.

Therefore, the result might be what you're looking for, but deciding to use a VPS should not be taken lightly. And also, this doesn't come as a more affordable solution when compared to VPNs, which is yet another downside to consider.

4. No Luck With Other Options? Your Best Bet Is a VPN!

The fact is that if you want to unblock a media streaming service or access its different version (as if you're in another country), your best bet is a VPN app. To answer all your questions on how that is done, here’s our dedicated guide to watching Hotstar outside India (if you want to access its Indian version, that is).

Keep in mind that, based on our experience, the best VPN today is ExpressVPN. However, you have more options at your disposal, as you can see in our guide to the best VPNs for media streaming.

That would be all on how to watch Hotstar in the US without a VPN. If you have any questions on your mind, make sure to post them via the comments section below. And lastly, thanks for reading!