Hotspot Shield VPN Review

How Much Does Hotspot Shield Cost?

Hotspot Shield offers a powerful VPN free of charge. However, users of the free version are restricted to 500MB of data a day, and limited connection speeds of 2Mbps. Also, Hotspot Shield free is not capable of overcoming geo-restrictions on streaming sites. So, if you are a streaming fan, it will be necessary to upgrade to the paid version.

A premium restriction is required if you want access to dedicated customer support or to use Hotspot Shield VPN on your router, Smart TV or Linux. Despite its limitations, Hotspot Shield Free VPN is a surprisingly powerful free option and is arguably the best free VPN on the market.

If you do need a more robust VPN, Hotspot’s monthly plan will set you back $12.99 a month. This option is more expensive when compared to other VPN options on the app store but it does come with 3 additional security products.

If you are happy to commit to a longer-term plan, you can get Hotspot Shield for $7.99 when billed annually. However, the most cost-effective option is its 3-year plan, which comes in at just $2.99 a month. This may not be the absolute cheapest VPN option on the market, but it is relatively good value.

All of Hotspot’s plans come with a generous 45-day money-back guarantee, which means you can request a full refund if you are not happy with the service.

There is also a Premium Family plan, that provides separate VPN accounts for up to 5 family members. This costs $19.99 a month but doesn’t come with any of the additional applications.

Is Hotspot Shield Private?

Unlike many other VPNs Hotspot Shield uses its own protocol, Catapult Hydra. It does also support IKEv2, however, OpenVPN is unavailable, which may be disappointing for some users. Since the Catapult Hydra protocol is used by Bitdefender, McAfee, and Telefonica, this may help to dispel some security concerns.

Alongside the VPN’s secure protocols that offer private internet access and serve to mask your IP address, Hotspot Shield provides a range of additional privacy features to ensure completely safe internet access. The VPN operates on military-grade encryption, and there is an automatic kill-switch that will cut your internet connection if the VPN fails for any reason to ensure no unencrypted information or your real IP address becomes exposed. During testing, the kill-switch performed consistently which is especially important if you utilize unsecured public Wi-Fi hotspots.

There is room for improvement when it comes to Hotspot Shield VPN’s privacy and logging policy. The privacy policy states that the service does not store IP addresses, device identifiers, or any other information in conjunction with your VPN activity. However, this does mean that some data may be stored, just not in combination with your individual activity.

Hotspot Shield may store information including your device’s unique hash, your IP address, VPN session timeframes, bandwidth used, your approximate geographical location, and domains accessed while using the VPN. Although Hotspot Shield claims that this information is anonymous and cannot be traced back to you, this has not been proved by an external security audit and may cause security concerns for some users.

Is Hotspot Shield Good for Streaming?

In recent years, streaming services have begun to adopt strong VPN-blocking technology. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly difficult to find a VPN service that will offer access to geo-restricted streaming content across the world. However, if you get Hotspot Shield, you can expect reliable access to a host of content that would not typically be available in your region.

A VPN serves to mask your IP address and make it appear as if your web traffic is coming from an entirely alternate location. This means that you can often trick a streaming service into believing you are located in the same country as the content you are trying to access, even if it is on the other side of the world.

It is not surprising that Hotspot Shield enables access to overseas YouTube libraries, as most other VPN services can do so. Many VPNs struggle to access other sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer, however, Hotspot Shield has no issue gaining access to any of these popular streaming services. Also, its proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol makes it one of the world’s fastest VPN providers.

Therefore, if you are looking for a streaming VPN and want to gain access to a host of streaming content from around the world, Hotspot Shield is a great option. Few VPNs offer a more reliable service when it comes to accessing geo-restricted sites.

Is Hotspot Shield Good for Torrenting?

The Hotspot Shield website may not say a lot about torrenting, nevertheless, all of its servers support P2P sharing and torrenting. Its secure encryption standards serve to mask your IP address and ensure completely safe torrenting. This applies no matter what Hotspot Shield app you are using, on an Android, iOS, Mac, or Windows device. Also, it is one of the world’s fastest VPN providers, making it an excellent choice for torrenters.

If you are a torrenting fan, the Hotspot Shield help page offers a range of useful information on the benefits of utilizing a VPN when torrenting, as well as offering a few tips to help you ensure a safe server connection. Hotspot Shield has no data limits or restrictions, so you can torrent as much as you like without the need to worry about how much data you are consuming.

As well as offering access to torrenting files, the Hotspot Shield app offers a Smart VPN feature that makes split tunneling easy. This means that you can select which types of internet traffic run through your server connection. However, for users looking to maintain complete privacy and security online, Hotspot Shield may not be the best option as it does not offer anonymous payment methods such as Bitcoin.

Is Hotspot Shield Compatible with Desktop?

The Hotspot Shield Windows and macOS versions offer a clean, well-designed interface. The apps are significantly easier to use than many other VPNs on the market. Simply click the “On” button and enjoy a secure server connection within a few seconds. This is one of the shortest VPN server connection times of any Virtual Private Network service.

Once you are connected, the client highlights your VPN server’s location, IP address, latency, load times, data usage, local network, and speeds. It also allows you to easily check your connection status.

The Settings page offers a range of security and privacy features that will satisfy even VPN experts. However, the client displays these features in a non-complicated way that is simple enough for a beginner VPN user. There is the option to configure Hotspot Shield on your device to automatically activate if you connect to unsecured or unknown public Wi-Fi networks. You can also use the split tunneling feature to choose which types of web traffic run through your VPN and those that don’t.

On a desktop device, there is also the option to use a range of keyboard shortcuts for quick access to a range of tools. For example, clicking Control-Shift-C will connect or disconnect the VPN. Also, you can easily access the Hotspot Shield help or tech support pages in a few clicks if you run into any issues while using the client.

Is Hotspot Shield Compatible with Mobile?

Hotspot Shield is compatible with almost every device and offers excellent, user-friendly mobile apps. If you need assistance while installing the app on your mobile device, visit the provider’s tech support page for helpful setup guides.

The Android app offers an extensive range of features for secure VPN browsing activity. However, the iOS app is somewhat limited. The Android app includes an integrated kill-switch to maintain an encrypted connection even if your VPN protection fails for any reason. However, this feature is missing in the iOS version, which means your security and privacy may become compromised if the VPN connection drops.

Also, neither app offers support for the IKEv2 protocol and only operate on Hotspot’s proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol. The iOS app does not feature automatic VPN connections or startup when you switch on your device. There isn’t even a simple, user-friendly option to connect to the best available server for your location. Therefore, if an iPhone is your main device, we would be inclined to recommend an alternative provider.

However, despite the limitations Hotspot Shield does offer apps for every device to ensure you can access Wi-Fi safely. Also, many customers that are new to using a VPN will likely not even notice the lack of more sophisticated settings on the iOS version.

Does Hotspot Shield Offer Browser Extensions?

Many VPN providers offer simple VPN proxy browser extensions that offer little more than a simple virtual locations list and a VPN Connect button. However, Hotspot Shield is different, its Chrome extension is just as powerful as its desktop and mobile version and offers a host of advanced features.

The browser interface looks similar to Hotspot Shield’s other clients. It features a dark panel with a Connect button for quick and easy access to an encrypted connection to one of the provider’s secure servers. Simply click for instant VPN access.

The connection to Hotspot Shield’s servers is almost instant too as the browser extension operates as a proxy system to ensure the privacy of your browser traffic. While it may not always be successful, it is a great option to enable access to geo-blocked websites.

The extension also features a Configuration button that allows you to set a default VPN access server. The browser extension does only offer access to a limited number of servers in countries including Canada, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

There is a range of additional features too including an ad, tracker, malware, cookie, and WebRTC blocker, as well as Auto-Protect and Bypass lists. If you add websites to the Auto-Protect list, the VPN will automatically activate whenever you visit them. Websites added to the Bypass list will run through your normal ISP connection, rather than that of the VPN, which is useful for sites that are not compatible with a VPN.

Even though there is little mention of it on Hotspot Shield’s website, the provider does also offer a Firefox browser extension. This works in a similar way to the Chrome version and its interface is extremely similar too.

How Do I Get Hotspot Shield?

Setting up Hotspot Shield on your devices is easy. Simply sign up for Hotspot Shield by choosing your subscription plan and entering your payment details. Once you have signed up you will be redirected to a web page that offers download links for Windows, macOS, Android, Android TV, iOS, and Linux. You can also have the download link sent to your phone.

Does Hotspot Shield Offer 24/7 Live Chat Customer Support?

Hotspot Shield’s website offers a range of helpful guides to set up the VPN on almost every device. The support articles are also integrated into Hotspot Shields apps and clients for easy access. The articles and resources about Hotspot Shield are well-written and comprehensive. There is an email address and 24/7 live chat support too in case you want to speak directly to a Hotspot Shield agent.

Author Cliff Durward

Hi, I'm Cliff. I'm based in Cleveland, Ohio, with my wife and two kids. I have a keen interest in cybersecurity and have been writing about it for around a decade now. Due to my background in computer science, I am familiar ...
Read more about the author