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Our researchers review Hotspot Shield VPN, its functionality, features, pricing, and more
Hotspot Shield is a popular VPN (virtual private network) service that offers users enhanced privacy, security and unrestricted access to the internet. Developed by AnchorFree and now owned by online privacy giant Aura, Hotspot Shield VPN is a decent VPN that offers commonly used services such as AES-256 encryption and has a reasonable server count of more than 1,800 servers. However, our researchers found the provider collects a great deal of data, and even though it claims this information is anonymous, it might still cause concern for privacy-conscious customers.
The best VPNs protect user data by encrypting it while it is being transferred to another device on the internet. It helps secure their files and data from cybercriminals and hackers. The internet has become an essential part of our lives but privacy remains a concern and this is where a VPN comes in to make our daily lives easier and safer while browsing online.
Rating: ★★★
Hotspot Shield is regarded as a reasonable VPN due to its user-friendly and straightforward interface, combined with adequate security measures, which makes it a compelling option for those seeking simplicity without compromising on basic protection. Nevertheless, the absence of a clear and audited no-logs policy and a small server network makes it less than ideal for those concerned about privacy.
Hotspot Shield VPN uses the industry standard AES-256 encryption, which is currently regarded as the most secure encryption algorithm. Most of the reputable VPN services have adopted this encryption method to provide the best possible security to its users.
In terms of security, Hotspot Shield’s infrastructure is robust and reliable. It protects against hackers and other malicious attacks, especially when connected to public wifi networks. Users can browse confidently, knowing their data is encrypted and shielded from potential threats.
Hotspot Shield’s ability to bypass geo-restrictions is commendable. Users can access region-locked content by connecting to servers in different locations, such as streaming services, social media platforms and websites.
The service also provides user-friendly applications for a wide range of devices and operating systems, making it accessible and easy for all types of users. The setup process is straightforward and the intuitive interface allows a quick and seamless connection to the VPN servers.
One consideration is that the free version of Hotspot Shield comes with limitations, such as a data cap and advertisements, as is the case with most free VPNs. However, upgrading to a premium subscription unlocks unlimited bandwidth, ad-free browsing, and additional features.
Overall, Hotspot Shield may not be considered the most optimal choice among VPN services in the market. One of the main concerns is its no-logs policy, which lacks independent auditing and is also confusing because the provider does collect a significant amount of data, though it claims this is anonymous. Additionally, being based in the US, which is a member of the Five, Nine and 14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances, may not be ideal for a VPN service.
Our researchers are dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and up-to-date information so you can make an informed decision when it comes to buying a VPN. We will only recommend a provider after hours of testing, extensive head-to-head feature comparisons, and after taking into account verified customer reviews and the opinions of industry experts.
Our Hotspot Shield review score was determined by the following categories:
We research and test a total of 25 elements within these categories, including:
All of our VPN articles are verified by our in-house team of fact-checkers, so you can be assured our content is as accurate and up to date as possible. To find out more, read our article on how we review VPNs.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Strong encryption and security measures | Expensive and confusing prices |
| Wide network of servers in multiple countries | Collects a lot of usage data |
| Ability to bypass geo-restrictions and access region-locked content | Potential variation in server performance and speeds depending on location and network congestion |
| User-friendly interface and easy setup process | No independent audit of privacy policy |
| Option for a free version with limited features |
When comparing Hotspot Shield VPN with its main competitors in the VPN market, there are several factors to consider. It is important to get a proper idea about what benefits and drawbacks a VPN has to offer. Hotspot Shield is slightly expensive, as its cheapest plan is £7.99 per month, whereas Surfshark costs just £1.76 per month and CyberGhost costs £1.92 per month. Furthermore, Hotspot Shield’s security policies are questionable, as there is no clear mention of a no-log policy, nor an audit, whereas both Surfshark and CyberGhost are audited by independent security firms. On the contrary, Hotspot Shield has a free version, which does have certain limitations, including a restricted number of servers and data usage limits, however this is still a plus point, as no free version is offered by Surfshark or CyberGhost.
| Hotspot Shield VPN | ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £12.99/m | From £10.19/m | From £10.39/m | £9.90/m | £ 10.89/m |
| Cheapest price | £7.99/m | £5.25/m | From £2.79/m | £1.76/m | £1.92/m |
| Free version (Y/N) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| No. of servers | 1,800+ | 3,000+ | 5,400+ | 3,200+ | 9,700+ |
| Max. devices supported | 5 | 5 | 6 | Unlimited | 7 |
| Netflix | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BBC iPlayer | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Disney+ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Amazon | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| HBO Max | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit (Y/N) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
There are currently three packages that are offered for Hotspot Shield VPN:
Rather confusingly, the main pricing page on the Hotspot Shield website shows the cheapest Premium monthly price as £6.99, but when you click through to the checkout page, it changes to £7.99 per month, while the monthly price is listed as £10.99 and changes to £12.99 at checkout, with no mention as to whether this is related to local taxes – something to be aware of if you’re concerned about budget. Similarly, the Family option changes the price to US$11.99.
| Subscription term | Premium | Premium Family |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | £12.99 / month | £16.99 / month |
| 12 months | £7.99 / month (£95.99 up front) | £10.49 / month (£125.88 up front) |
Hotspot Shield features include AES-256 encryption, more than 1,800 servers, a kill switch, split tunnelling, and common security protocols, such as WireGuard, IPSec, and OpenVPN. It does have a custom protocol known as Catapult Hydra.
Hotspot Shield offers 1,800 servers located in more than 80 countries. While this isn’t the largest server network of the VPNs we’ve reviewed, it’s an impressive geographic spread, including servers in South America, the Middle East and Africa. Users can access content that is otherwise region-restricted by connecting to that particular region’s server.
Hotspot Shield’s privacy policy states your bandwidth usage, connection timestamps, VPN server location, and originating location are all logged but anonymous. Hotspot Shield claims the recorded browsing data is in an aggregated form, which means it cannot be linked to your specific account. Additionally, no audits have been conducted of the privacy policy. It would be good to see the provider aim to collect less data, or at least invite an independent audit to confirm the information can’t be used to identify users.
Hotspot Shield is based in the United States and, therefore, the company falls under its jurisdiction. This means that if ordered, it has to share any user data it holds with the US government. It is concerning to note that several countries worldwide have established alliances such as the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes and 14 Eyes, which involve spying on their citizens’ online activities. These nations collaborate with their security partners and justify their actions by claiming to be working towards a common good. The United States is part of the original Five Eyes alliance, which has turned into the 14 Eyes alliance through the years.
In short, Hotspot Shield VPN might not be a reliable option if you’re concerned about privacy, as there are too many issues regarding its policy.
Hackers are getting smarter, so even a slight glance at a user’s IP address can be dangerous. Like most of the latest VPNs, Hotspot Shield has a built-in kill switch feature that instantly cuts the device off from the internet if the VPN connection is interrupted.
Any high-level VPN must have split tunnelling, since it effectively directs traffic through different tunnels for VPN and open network connections. With this approach, possible blockages are efficiently eliminated while bandwidth is increased and performance is boosted. Hotspot Shield has integrated split tunnelling (called Smart VPN) into its services.
Hotspot Shield utilises Advanced Encryption Standard with 256 bits (AES-256) and its exclusive VPN protocol dubbed Catapult Hydra. Hotspot Shield also supports IKEv2, which is regarded as being exceptionally secure. Even though Catapult Hydra isn’t open-source, the company claims independent security experts have reviewed it, though the results of these audits have not been published. Newer iterations of the application also support the open-source WireGuard technology.
The main impact of any VPN is its effect on the internet speed and bandwidth, so we have conducted a speed test to determine Hotspot Shield VPN’s impact. Some of the basic terminology is explained below:
To determine the VPN’s impact, our researcher first conducted a speed test on their broadband connection without Hotspot Shield turned on. We used the Ookla speed test for this section of the review.
| No VPN | UK to UK | UK to US | UK to AUS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download Speed | 18.39 Mbps | 15.44 Mbps | 15.47 Mbps | 11.31 Mbps |
| Upload Speed | 1.01Mbps | 0.96Mbps | 1.03Mbps | 0.80Mbps |
| Latency (Ping) | 11ms | 23ms | 200ms | 306ms |
| Percentage of base download speed | 83.10% | 84.10% | 61.50% | |
| Percentage of base upload speed | 95% | 95% | 79.20% |
On the UK VPN server, the download speed dropped by nearly 17 per cent, which is quite significant considering it’s located in the same country as our researcher.
On the US server, speeds dropped by around 16 per cent. While this in itself is not bad, a big increase in latency meant video playback was impacted.
The Australian server provided the worst results in our testing, which is to be expected considering the physical distance data has to travel. With latency of 306ms, we experienced some lag in video and audio playback.
When compared to NordVPN, Hotspot Shield demonstrated slower download speeds across all servers in our speed test. However, its upload speeds were similar, except for a slightly faster performance on the US server.
There is one more important test that is conducted to evaluate the protection level of a VPN and that is called the WebRTC leak test. This test ensures that the user’s IP address is hidden while the VPN is being used so that the user’s IP address is not exposed to the public in any situation. After testing, we came to the conclusion that Hotspot Shield cloaks the user’s IP address as it was not exposed, therefore passing the test.
Hotspot Shield has maintained a spotless record, as there have been no serious reports on any kind of breach. It has a custom protocol called Catapult Hydra, which it claims has been subject to third-party security audits, but our researchers couldn’t find any reports or other concrete evidence of these reviews.
The Hotspot Shield VPN application is available on:
Hotspot Shield has an interactive menu on its desktop app. All of the features are available on the desktop app. Users can download Hotspot Shield for PC by going to the official site and following the steps from there.
Like the desktop application, the Hotspot Shield mobile app has all the options users may require, such as choosing a server of their choice, protocol switching, kill switch, and split tunnelling.
Router installation is a feature Hotspot Shield supports, allowing users to connect their VPN with their internet router. This ensures total protection at all times, as the VPN shields all devices connected to your private network.
Hotspot Shield has a well-built customer support system, which includes:
The Hotspot Shield application has good ratings on all platforms, indicating that customers are satisfied with the service.
“This VPN works even in the countries that block the other ones. It is fast and stable, and I would definitely recommend it. Also, support is responsive and helpful; they helped to resolve my issues with a double subscription.”
“I’ve been using this VPN since 2017 and I am very satisfied with this product’s featured services. After a handful of occasions of forgetting to pay my subscription, or simply not working it into my budget for the month and suffering the paranoia of unshielded online activity, I decided to pony up the annual fee. There was a bit of a learning curve, as I presume is common with all VPNs, but once I figured out how, when and where to use it… let’s just say that I’ve provided some very luxurious services for myself and the group that I was travelling with, making undesirable circumstances better than they were. All in all, the app works about 95 per cent of the time for me unless I’m having cellular connection issues. I like the fact that I can have up to five devices covered on my premium account. Switching seamlessly from my cell, PC, tablet, or laptop is never an issue. If you’re looking for a fully customisable, versatile VPN that’s reliable and secure… Hotspot Shield is the way to go in my personal opinion.”
Hotspot Shield is a decent VPN that offers many of the features you can expect while having certain security concerns, such as a lack of clear and audited no-log policy. The pricing is relatively expensive compared with other VPN services, as others offer more services at a much lower cost. However, its free version offers a way to test the VPN before purchasing a premium plan. Overall, it is a viable option for users who want a simple solution for their online security concerns.
Overall score: ★★★
| Reputation | ★★★ |
|---|---|
| Privacy | ★★ |
| Performance and features | ★★★★ |
| Plans and pricing value | ★★1/2 |
| Customer experience | ★★★1/2 |
The data in this review is reported from a neutral stance and should be used for informational purposes only. We review VPN services from the perspective of:
Independent Advisor does not endorse the streaming of content from regions other than where the subscription is held, nor does it endorse the downloading or consumption of illegally pirated content.
