Key Takeaways:

• Indian streaming service Disney Plus Hotstar is available in only a few locations — India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Hotstar as a stand-alone service is available in the U.K., Canada and Singapore. 
• You can also access some Hotstar content if you subscribe to the Disney Plus bundle. 
• To access the full Indian Hotstar content library from outside India, you need to connect to a VPN with Indian servers. The most reliable VPN to watch Disney Plus Hotstar is ExpressVPN, which has two virtual Indian servers.  
• To get premium content on Hotstar, you need to subscribe to a paid plan, for which you need an Indian payment method and Indian phone number. Luckily, you can still stream free content without a Hotstar subscription by using a VPN. 

In 2019, Hotstar merged with The Walt Disney Company, changing its name to Disney Plus Hotstar, though it’s still commonly called “Hotstar.” Though Disney Plus is available in many locations worldwide, Disney Plus Hotstar is, unfortunately, not. Luckily, there is a way to access Hotstar and in this guide, we’ll show you how to watch Hotstar in U.S. locations and from anywhere. 

Disney Plus Hotstar has a pretty vast library of free and paid international and Indian content, but this library is restricted to India and a few other countries. To get around these regional restrictions, you can connect to an Indian server on a reliable VPN (virtual private network). If you’re new to using VPNs with streaming sites, read on to find out how it works. 

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How to Watch Hotstar in US Locations: Why You Need a VPN

Disney Plus Hotstar is available in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and soon, Vietnam. The service is also available in the U.K., Canada and Singapore, but as a stand-alone streaming service without Disney Plus. You can also get select Hotstar content via the Disney bundle. You can sign up for this via Hulu if you’re in the U.S. 

If you’re a sports fan, you’ll be pleased to know that you can get sports content from Hotstar via ESPN Plus, including the Indian Premier League cricket tournament. ESPN Plus is part of the Disney package. 

Wherever you are in the world, India is the only location in which you can access the full Hotstar content library via Disney+ Hotstar. A VPN can help you get around this restriction and watch Hotstar content in the U.S. and other locations. When you connect to a VPN server, it changes your IP address to make it appear as if you’re in another country. 

Case in point: If you try to access Disney+ Hotstar in the USA without a VPN, you’ll get an error message. However, if you connect to an Indian server on a VPN, your U.S. IP address will change to an Indian IP address, which lets you watch Disney+ Hotstar India from anywhere. 

The Disney Plus Hotstar Collaboration: Is Hotstar Available Without Disney+?

Yes, but only in three locations — the U.K., Canada and Singapore. You can still watch Indian TV shows, movies and sports in these countries, but the Indian version has more content. 

Even if you already have a Hotstar account in the U.K., Canada or Singapore, we recommend using a VPN to check out the full Indian content library (if possible — read more on this below), as Hotstar in the above locations doesn’t give you access to everything in it. 

To do this, though — even if you already have a standard Hotstar account — you will need a subscription to Disney Plus Hotstar, which is separate from Hotstar. 

If you don’t already have a Disney Plus Hotstar account, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan. To do this, you’ll need an Indian payment method and Indian mobile number; unfortunately, if you don’t have these, you won’t be able to subscribe. 

If you don’t have an Indian payment method, you can still watch some free content on Hotstar as long as you’re connected to a VPN. You do not need to create a Hotstar account to watch free content. 

How to Watch Disney+ Hotstar in the U.S. With a VPN

Let’s dive into how to unblock Disney Plus Hotstar in USA locations. If you’re new to using VPNs with streaming services, don’t worry. Accessing Hotstar India is a piece of cake as long as you’re using a reliable VPN service to connect to an Indian VPN server. 

We recommend ExpressVPN for streaming Hotstar India, but we’ll also share some other options further down. Here’s how it works. 

If you want to download the Hotstar app from the Google Play store or iOS app store, you’ll need to create a new Indian Google Play account for Android — or a new Apple ID if you’re using iOS — while connected to a VPN. This will show you the apps available to download in India in the respective stores.  

1. Get ExpressVPN

   Go to ExpressVPN’s website and sign up for a plan. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

   

2. Download ExpressVPN

   Go to “products” and choose the ExpressVPN app for your device. Click “download” on the next page.

   

3. Connect to an Indian Server

   Open the ExpressVPN app and search for “India” in the server list. Connect to an Indian server.

   

4. Log In to Hotstar

   If you already have a subscription, log in. Alternatively, if you have an Indian payment method and phone number, subscribe to a plan to access the full content library.

   

5. Start Streaming on Hotstar

   Go to the Disney Plus Hotstar website, click on a free movie or TV show and start streaming. You don’t need to create an account to do this.

   

To find out more about content you can watch for free, check out Hotstar’s “best of free” selection. Please note that free content is ad-supported, and the only way to get rid of ads is to subscribe to a super or premium account. 

The 3 Best VPNs for Disney Plus Hotstar

When it comes to choosing a VPN subscription to access Hotstar in the USA and worldwide, the most important thing is to go for one with Indian servers. This recently got a little trickier than it was in the past due to a change in India’s VPN laws in April 2022.

The new law mandates that VPN providers collect user data and keep it stored for a minimum of five years. Reducing the risk of cybercrime was the reason given, despite the fact that the majority of individuals and businesses use VPNs for perfectly ethical reasons. 

The new law coming into effect has been postponed until September 2022, but some VPN services have already decided to cut their Indian servers as a result, including NordVPN and Ivacy. 

The good news is that some VPN providers still offer physical and virtual Indian servers while sticking to their no-logs policy. Let’s take a look at three of the best VPN providers with virtual Indian servers. 

1. ExpressVPN

For streaming your favorite Indian movies, TV shows and Premier League sports from anywhere in the world, ExpressVPN is our top recommendation. ExpressVPN is a premium VPN with two virtual Indian servers via Singapore and the U.K. It also adheres to a strict no-logging policy. 

This, along with AES-256 encryption, means your data, connection logs and browsing activity is always kept safe and anonymous. ExpressVPN also tops our best VPN for streaming list, thanks to its excellent speeds and consistency with streaming services. It’s also the fastest VPN of our three recommendations. To learn more about ExpressVPN, check out our ExpressVPN review. 

2. Surfshark

Another great option for watching Hotstar in the USA is Surfshark, a budget-friendly VPN that we consider one of the best on the market. For one thing, it’s pretty solid speed-wise, with especially strong download speeds. Though our recent speed test showed some inconsistency on U.S. servers, it came in as the third fastest VPN of all those we tried out. 

Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark has a no-logs policy and is very secure, so your data will remain under wraps while you save a few pennies. Keep in mind that you’ll have to go for the two-year plan or share some of those unlimited connections to get the most value, as the monthly plan is pretty expensive. If you’d like to learn more about Surfshark, feel free to give our full Surfshark review the once-over. 

3. Windscribe

Windscribe is one of the VPNs that has retained physical servers in India, making it another option worth considering for streaming Hotstar. In our recent speed tests, Windscribe took fourth place, just behind Surfshark. It couldn’t compare with the top three in terms of worldwide speeds, but it did shine when it came to upload speed and latency in the U.S.

Windscribe has paid plans and a free plan, but the free plan doesn’t let you access the Indian servers. Luckily, its yearly plan isn’t too expensive and there’s also the option to build your own plan. The build-a-plan option lets you pick and choose servers you want access to for a small monthly fee.

Our full Windscribe review shares more on pricing and plans. 

How Much Does a Hotstar Subscription Cost?

This depends on your location. Check out the table below to find out how much a Hotstar and Disney+ Hotstar subscription costs. 

Can I Watch Hotstar for Free?

You can stream some Hotstar shows and movies for free on Disney Plus Hotstar. You can use a VPN to watch Hotstar free content from anywhere in the world. 

Final Thoughts

We must admit, Disney Plus Hotstar is a bit of a tricky beast — especially as it’s only available in a few locations — but it’s not impossible to access.

If you’re out of luck with getting a paid subscription because you don’t have an Indian phone number or payment method, you can always check out Hotstar’s generous free content selection to see if anything strikes your fancy. 

We hope you’ve found this guide useful and enjoy streaming Disney Plus Hotstar from anywhere. Have you tried using a VPN with Hotstar from the U.S. or elsewhere? Which VPN service would you recommend? Share your experience in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading! 

FAQ

• Is Hotstar Free With Disney Plus in the USA?

  No, it’s not available in the U.S. anymore, but you can still access free Hotstar content with a VPN if you’re in the U.S.

• Is Hotstar Discontinued in the USA?

  Yes. Disney Plus Hotstar USA was discontinued in 2021. If you sign up for the Disney Plus bundle, however, you can stream certain Hotstar movies and shows.

• Does Hotstar Work in the USA With VPN?

  Yes. If you connect to a VPN with servers in India, you can stream from your Indian account or watch some Disney Plus Hotstar content for free. The best VPNs to watch Disney Hotstar are ExpressVPN, Surfshark and Windscribe.