Hotspot Shield is renowned for its speed, but a VPN needs more than just a fast connection. A truly great VPN must seamlessly integrate with all your devices, prioritize your privacy, effectively mask your location, and provide excellent customer service—all at a reasonable price. This review dives deep into Hotspot Shield’s features, performance, and security to determine if it’s the right VPN for you.
Pricing and Plans
Hotspot Shield's pricing structure includes free and premium tiers.
Hotspot Shield offers both free and premium versions. While the free version was previously recommended, its current limitations of 250MB of data per day and the inclusion of ads make it less appealing. Superior free VPN alternatives are readily available.
The Premium tier’s pricing can be confusing. The most visible options are $10 monthly or $80 annually (approximately $7/month). However, a deeper dive reveals a three-year plan for around $3/month, totaling $108—a significantly better value.
Discovering Hotspot Shield's three-year plan.
While other VPN providers offer competitive long-term deals, Hotspot Shield’s 7-day free trial and 45-day money-back guarantee offer ample time to test the service.
Design and User Experience
Hotspot Shield's user interface.
Hotspot Shield boasts a user-friendly interface with a prominent “Connect VPN” button that automatically selects the fastest server. However, the application window is small and non-resizable, which can be a minor inconvenience. The left sidebar provides access to a speed test, account status, help resources, and settings.
Within the settings, users can configure automatic connection, split tunneling (allowing specific sites and apps to bypass the VPN), protocol selection, and a kill switch for enhanced security.
Hotspot Shield's Hydra protocol.
Hotspot Shield utilizes its proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol, known for its speed and obfuscation capabilities, allowing users to bypass firewalls. However, features like port forwarding and dedicated IP addresses are absent.
Performance and Features
Hotspot Shield's speed test results.
Beyond basic IP address masking and data encryption, a premium VPN should offer excellent bandwidth and a wide server selection for seamless streaming, downloading, and browsing. Hotspot Shield excels in speed, consistently ranking among the fastest VPNs available.
Tests using Speedtest.net on servers across various countries revealed impressive results. From a Canadian location, U.S. download speeds reached 441 Mbps with a 94ms ping, and upload speeds hit 134 Mbps with a 79ms ping. International speeds varied, with download speeds ranging from 26 Mbps in Australia to 64 Mbps in Germany. Upload speeds were notably slower internationally.
Hotspot Shield's streaming and gaming server performance.
While Hotspot Shield offers specialized streaming and gaming servers, a feature like Proton VPN’s server load indicator would enhance user experience by facilitating optimal server selection.
Customer Support
Hotspot Shield's customer support experience.
Despite advertising 24/7 live chat support, interactions were primarily with a chatbot, which proved inconsistent and unhelpful beyond basic inquiries. Attempts to reach a human agent were unsuccessful, and email responses were slow, taking over a day for simple questions.
Privacy and Security
Hotspot Shield’s terms of service disclose potential third-party ads in the free version and confirm data transfer to the U.S. While data is encrypted using various protocols, the location raises concerns regarding potential data access requests from U.S. authorities.
Past data leaks have been reported, though Hotspot Shield’s acquisition by Aura in 2020 suggests potential improvements in security practices. However, the absence of a no-log policy audit leaves some uncertainty about data collection practices.
Conclusion: Is Hotspot Shield the Right VPN for You?
The free version of Hotspot Shield, with its data limitations and ads, isn’t recommended. While Hotspot Shield Premium delivers exceptional speeds, it lacks the extensive server network and robust features of leading competitors like NordVPN. Furthermore, the convoluted pricing structure and subpar customer support detract from the overall experience.
While Hotspot Shield’s speed and user-friendliness are appealing, superior and more affordable VPN options exist, making it difficult to recommend Hotspot Shield as the top choice.
