Content & Catalog
What to watch on AroVision?
3,952+
Total titles
Content TypesMovies · Documentaries · Kids
Transactional VODWorks with VPNUpdated September 14, 2026
Reviewed by Anna Venclikova · Affiliate DisclosureOur website contains affiliate links. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
How to Watch AroVision from Anywhere: VPN Guide 2026
The Aro St. Video Shop has been renting film on Aro Street in Wellington since 1989, and its shelves still hold more than 27,000 discs and tapes. In 2021 the shop opened a digital branch, and that is the part that matters from here: AroVision is a New Zealand movie rental store, not a subscription. Membership costs nothing, the catalog runs to almost four thousand films and zero TV series, and many entries carry a house minireview called an AroView. The catch is licensing. The terms of use allow renting or buying only from a territory where that particular film is cleared, and the site checks your location again when playback starts.
Checked from a European address in September 2026, the store quoted a price on 26 films, all of them New Zealand features and documentaries. Everything else refused payment. A New Zealand IP address, through Surfshark, changes what AroVision will sell you, and every film still comes out of your own pocket. Playback tops out at 1080p.
3,952+
Total titles
1
Country
1080p
Max quality
4 of 7
VPNs work
2-3 min
Ready in
Quick answer
Is AroVision available in the US?
Barely. A free membership opens from any country, but the store only takes money for titles licensed where you are sitting, and outside New Zealand that is a sliver of the shelf: a September 2026 check from Europe reached 26 films, all of them New Zealand titles. The festival, cult and classic material that makes AroVision worth the trip stays shut until your connection lands in New Zealand, which is what Surfshark is for.
VPN Compatibility
Best VPN for AroVision
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | AroVision | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | September 13 | Try it |
 ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | September 14 | Open |
 NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | September 13 | Open |
 Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | September 13 | Open |
 IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | September 11 | Open |
 ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ~ Partial | September 13 | Open |
 CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | September 14 | Open |
✓ WorksTested September 13
✓ WorksTested September 14
✓ WorksTested September 13
✓ WorksTested September 13
~ PartialTested September 11
~ PartialTested September 13
~ PartialTested September 14
Tested on September 14, 2026 · 7 VPNs, 4 working · residential IP from New Zealand · AroVision updates detection continuously, results may change.
Streaming service blocking your VPN? Just disconnect and hop onto a different server in the same country. Stick to the ones labeled “streaming” or “optimized” because they’re literally built for this.
How-to
How to Unblock AroVision with a VPN
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
- Pick a VPN with New Zealand serversNew Zealand gets far fewer servers than Europe or the States on most provider lists, so the choice matters more here than usual. Surfshark does list New Zealand among its locations, and a plan starts at $1.78 a month.Test on the shortest term first. A yearly deal is cheaper per month, but only pays off if the New Zealand route actually holds up from your line.
- Connect to a New Zealand serverChoose New Zealand explicitly instead of a fastest server setting. Then check on a geolocation page which country gets reported back. Anything other than New Zealand and the catalog stays closed.
- Open the store and sign upRegistration on ondemand.arovideo.co.nz is free and carries no commitment. To rent or buy you need to be 18 and to enter card details, since payment runs through a gateway. Once the order is submitted AroVision will not let you cancel it.
- Play the film in 1080pStudio 1 copy protection allows high definition only on Edge, Safari, the iOS and Android apps, Chromecast and AirPlay. Chrome, Firefox and Opera drop you to SD, and AroVision refuses to start on mobile data or without HDCP 1.1.
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Availability
Which countries is AroVision available in?
AroVision streams in full in New Zealand, and part of its catalogue plays in 193 more countries. For the titles that stay locked, use a premium VPN.
Available in 1 country No VPN needed
Partially available in 193 countries VPN required
United StatesUnited KingdomAustraliaCanadaIrelandGermanyFranceJapanIndiaNetherlandsSouth AfricaBrazil
Show all 181 more countries
AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana
British Virgin Islands
BruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCabo VerdeCambodiaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaColombiaComorosCongoCongo (DRC)Costa RicaCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaFijiFinlandGabonGambiaGeorgiaGhanaGreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHondurasHungaryIcelandIndonesiaIranIraqIsraelItalyJamaicaJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritaniaMauritiusMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorth KoreaNorth MacedoniaNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSão Tomé and PríncipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTuvaluUAEUgandaUkraineUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaVietnamYemenZambiaZimbabweAroVision also works in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada and in Ireland, plus in 188 more countries, but with limited content compared to fully available countries. Surfshark unlocks full access.
Available
Partial
Blocked / unavailable
Last tested: September 8, 2026
Steer clear of free VPNs. Most of them actually collect and sell your data, lack proper security audits, and can even expose you to malware. They’re also useless for streaming. Platforms block them instantly, leaving you with more headaches than solutions. Stick to paid VPNs with verified audits, like Surfshark, if you want something that actually works.
About the platform
Who’s behind the service?
What is AroVision
AroVision is a video store, not a subscription. It is the streaming sibling of AroVideo, a rental shop standing in Wellington’s Aro Valley since 1989, and the catalog shows it: close to four thousand films, no series, festival, cult, classic and unusual titles largely absent from the best known streaming service. Membership is free, the films are not. You rent or buy title by title: 30 days to start, 48 hours to finish. Licensing keeps it home: tested from Europe, under one percent opens, all New Zealand.
Company and history
Major changes
- Wellington video shop Aro Video opens its streaming sister, AroVision, built on Shift72 technology from Hamilton. The shelf starts at about a thousand hand picked titles, and playback runs in 1080p.
- The service moves off the browser. The iOS app arrives on July 12, joined by an Android build, and both add casting to a television over Chromecast.
- Aro Video announces that the 27,000 disc and tape library can no longer survive as an ordinary shop. Founder Andrew Armitage’s PledgeMe campaign to move the collection into a trust reaches the national press.
- The campaign closes at NZ$34,795. The Aro Valley shop stays open, and the streaming arm gets an explicit job: helping to fund the physical library it grew out of.
- The New Zealand Film Festival Trust names AroVision the official streaming partner of Whānau Mārama, the country’s international film festival. Festival titles start moving into the catalog once their theatrical runs end.
- Ahead of the Oscars, NBC Universal declines to renew its contract with Shift72, the host behind AroVision, and more than 200 titles vanish from the catalog, while the NBC Universal slate, Oppenheimer included, stays out of reach.
- As the 2026 festival opens in Auckland on July 29, a new shelf goes up beside the NZIFF 2026 collection: NZIFF Supplement 2026, gathering films tied to the program by their makers, cast or theme.
- New Zealand actor Sir Sam Neill dies at 78. The shelf AroVision devotes to him now holds twenty nine films under a memorial note.
Still can’t open AroVision where you are?
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Devices & Quality
Watch on all your devices
Supported devices
Video quality
1080pHDRDolby VisionDolby Atmos
UX features
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Insider Tips
Tips & tricks you should know
5 tips from our AroVision testing team · Updated September 8, 2026
- Its Access Australia collection covers just 142 of nearly 4,000 films, so from abroad point Surfshark at a New Zealand server or the rent button stays hidden on all but a handful of titles.
- A rental gives you 30 days to press play, but only 48 hours to finish once you do, so start it on a free evening.
- Signing up is free but nothing on it is: rentals run NZ$4.99 to 7.99 a film and cinema fresh premieres NZ$19.99 to 29.99, so split one with friends.
- Studio 1 protection caps Chrome, Firefox and Opera at SD, so use Edge, Safari, the mobile apps, Chromecast or AirPlay for real 1080p.
- Open the Not on DVD collection for 188 titles the Aro Valley shop cannot supply on disc, and read the AroViews mini reviews before you pay.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before you start watching AroVision.
There is no subscription. You pay per title, every time. A standard rental starts at NZ$4.99, and premium releases fresh out of theaters sit at NZ$19.99 to 29.99. Membership itself is free, but nothing in the catalog is, which puts AroVision closer to a video store than to the Criterion Channel. No ads run, the price appears before you confirm payment, and a submitted order cannot be canceled. Those New Zealand dollar prices show on a New Zealand connection; from Europe the store prices the few reachable titles in euros, roughly 2 to 6 EUR.
You get 30 days from payment to press play, then 48 hours to finish once you do. Inside that window you can rewatch, pause and rewind as often as you like, and stopping the film does not extend the clock. Buy instead of rent and the title sits in your library indefinitely, for as long as AroVision and your account both exist. Gifted rentals run on the same two timers.
Close to four thousand films and not one TV series. The operator describes the selection as festival, cult, classic and unusual titles that mostly are not on the best known subscription service. Shelves cover New Zealand cinema and documentaries, NZIFF, a French film festival strand, film society picks, silent and golden age classics, horror, LGBTQ+, US indie, animation and a shelf for the actor Sam Neill and a director room for Michael Haneke. Many AroVision entries carry an AroView minireview.
Apps are the safe route: iOS, Android, the app for Android based televisions, where the operator names twenty three brands from Sony and TCL to Hisense and Philips, plus a tvOS app for the Apple TV. On LG only the HelloVision and Uplus models count, ordinary webOS sets are not on that list. From a computer you can cast with Chromecast or AirPlay. Linux is unsupported, and in smart TV browsers outside the Android and Apple families AroVision will not start. The operator’s HD list, though, does not name the television apps.
The ceiling is 1080p. Where you actually get it is decided by Studio 1 copy protection: Edge, Safari, the mobile apps, Chromecast and AirPlay deliver HD, while Chrome, Firefox and Opera are capped at SD on AroVision. Playback shuts off entirely on mobile data, on macOS outside Safari with an external monitor attached, and on any chain where the hardware cannot handle HDCP 1.1.
In a September 2026 check from a European address, AroVision quoted a price on 26 films out of the whole catalog, and every one of them was a New Zealand feature or documentary. Nothing else would take payment. The shelf called Access Australia is aimed at viewers across the Tasman and in parts of Oceania, not at Europe, so it is no shortcut either. With Surfshark and a New Zealand address the store behaves differently. None of them is offered for purchase from there either, only rental.
A VPN does one thing: it moves your apparent location to New Zealand, which is the entry condition here. Surfshark lists servers there, though speed is nothing we can promise. Expect nothing beyond that. You still pay for every film out of your own pocket, rights are cleared title by title so parts of the AroVision catalog can stay out of reach, and the terms of use expressly forbid access from another territory.
On AroVision you can hand a rental to anyone in New Zealand who has an email address. Click the gift icon on a film page, pay the ordinary rental price, then either email it straight over or send yourself a share link. The recipient does not have to use the address that received it, so the gift can be passed on. The usual clocks start at unwrapping: 30 days to begin, 48 hours to finish.
The company is The Aro St. Video Shop Ltd., trading as AroVision. The shop has stood in Aro Valley since 1989 and holds more than 27,000 hand picked titles on DVD, Blu-ray and even VHS, the largest single collection in Aotearoa. Renting online is the deliberate way of funding that library, which nearly folded as a commercial business in 2022 and now leans on AroVision.
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