Best VPN with Smart DNS: Providers That Include It, Ranked

The three highest-scoring services with Smart DNS

Where each of the three loses points

WireGuard and OpenVPN appear across all three. PIA earns its privacy marks through the Deloitte audit and transparency report, yet scores zero for censorship bypass: its pages describe no obfuscation, and US registration means Five Eyes membership. ExpressVPN suffers on price, since a plan opening near three dollars a month renews at nearly 2.8 times that rate. VPN Secure posts 1.1 for security, having published no audit, kill switch or leak protection claim.

What Smart DNS changes and what it leaves exposed

A streaming app first asks a resolver where its content server sits. Smart DNS intercepts lookups for supported streaming domains and replies with the provider's proxy addresses abroad, while everything else flows normally. Playback appears to come from another country, and the lack of a tunnel keeps speed loss minimal. Nothing gets encrypted, though: the ISP and anyone on the same network still see the real IP, and services that verify the IP alongside DNS see through the trick. The Cloudflare page on DNS explains how such lookups work.

Full VPN with Smart DNS or a DNS-only service

On hotel Wi-Fi a DNS-only plan protects nothing, and seven entries run no tunnel whatsoever, so none of them substitutes a VPN. Bundles travel under other names: ExpressVPN calls its version MediaStreamer, StrongVPN sells StrongDNS covering 140+ services, KeepSolid ships SmartDNS separately. Independent no-logs audits exist for just three of 33 providers (Private Internet Access, ExpressVPN, CactusVPN). Among pure DNS offerings, SmartyDNS ranks highest at #8 with 3.22, spanning 300+ sites across 5 devices with a 3-day trial; the Smart DNS comparison covers the rest.

Setting up Smart DNS on a TV, console or router

1. In the provider account, register the public IPv4 of the home connection.
2. Enter the primary and secondary resolver addresses on the device you want covered: the TV or console alone, or the router if every device on the home network should use them.
3. Disable the VPN on that device, because an active tunnel overrides the resolver settings.

Two failures recur here. Once the ISP rotates the home IP, streams stop until the new address is registered. Providers that ignore IPv6 can leak lookups past the configured DNS on a dual-stack router.

FAQ

Which Smart DNS option to pick

For privacy and a TV fix together, Private Internet Access brings the Deloitte audit plus flat renewal pricing, and ExpressVPN suits those who value its 113-country network more than the 2.8× renewal markup. If a foreign catalogue on one screen is the whole goal, a DNS-only provider like SmartyDNS, tested inside its trial or refund window, covers it. Paid plans on the page start at €0.95 a month with a median of €3.41.