Hotspot Shield is a VPN service founded in 2008 and owned by Point Wild, a US-based cybersecurity company that owns several other VPNs, including Betternet, UltraAV, VPN360, OVPN, and Total Security. It has applications on several different platforms, servers in over 80 countries, and features like Tor over VPN and obfuscation.
Hotspot Shield offers both a free and a paid version, and we tested both. See more in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
Hotspot Shield is good for torrenting. It allows you to download P2P files and doesn't have a data limit. Its security is generally acceptable, as it keeps your IP address and DNS queries within its tunnel while you use it. However, its kill switch doesn't work properly, as it allows some unencrypted traffic to leak past the VPN in the event of a software crash or system reboot. It also doesn't support any anonymity-preserving payment options, and you have to sign up with an email address and password that can be linked to you in the event of a data breach.
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Doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries.
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Proper TLS implementation protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Kill switch leaks unencrypted traffic after system reboot and software crash.
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No anonymous registration or payment options.
Hotspot Shield has acceptable security. It doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries while you're connected, and it has proper TLS implementation, protecting you from man-in-the-middle attacks. Unfortunately, its kill switch doesn't work as intended, as it leaks some unencrypted traffic upon restarting your system or after a software crash. This is a concern if you need all your traffic to be encrypted after a crash.
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Doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries.
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Proper TLS implementation protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Kill switch leaks unencrypted traffic after system reboot and software crash.
Hotspot Shield delivers decent speeds overall that are suitable for general use. That said, its download and upload speeds only achieve around 100Mbps on average, so you can't take advantage of a faster internet connection if you have one.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
Hotspot Shield has a free tier and a paid tier, which we bought and tested in this review. We also tested Hotspot Shield Free separately.
| Plan | Advertised Maximum Devices | Platforms | Protocol Support | Country Selection | Advertised Speed Throttling | Ads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1* | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome | Hydra, Wireguard, IPSec (macOS only) | 3 | Yes** | Mobile |
| Premium | 10 | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Linux, Smart TV, Routers | Hydra, Wireguard, IPSec, OpenVPN (manual configuration only) | 85 | No | No |
*While the free version advertises a limit of one device at a time, we could connect 11 devices simultaneously.
**Hotspot Shield advertises that the free version throttles speeds, but we didn't measure any significant throttling. See here to compare speed results between the two.
Compared To Other VPNs
Hotspot Shield is on par with most VPN services if you're looking to torrent files and get around some geo-restrictions, but like most other VPNs we've tested, it fails the kill switch test. That could be an issue if you're concerned with keeping your traffic protected at all times, like after restarting your system.
The community generally doesn't look particularly favorably on Hotspot Shield for their privacy record and somewhat opaque business practices. Their parent company owns several other VPN companies and even a VPN review site. If that's a concern for you, check out other VPNs we've tested, like Mullvad or IVPN. However, keep in mind that we can't verify privacy claims. Check out our article about VPN privacy for more details.
Test Results
You can pay for this VPN using a credit card, debit card, or PayPal.
The kill switch doesn't work properly, as network traffic leaks outside the VPN tunnel after a reboot and after a software crash. This is problematic if you're concerned with keeping your traffic encrypted when reconnecting to the internet after a reboot or crash.
Like most VPN services, this VPN doesn't implement BGP properly.
This VPN's download speeds achieve ~100Mbps on average, so they're suitable for browsing and streaming video. However, if you have a much faster internet connection, you may have to wait longer for downloads.
This VPN's upload speeds achieve ~100Mbps on average, which is suitable for regular internet use, like video calls and uploading files relatively quickly. That said, it can bottleneck a faster internet connection.
This VPN has decent latency and is suitable for normal internet usage. However, its latency occasionally spikes, so you might experience some inconsistency during latency-sensitive tasks.
This VPN supports Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora OS on Linux. You can also configure an OpenVPN connection manually.
It's additionally available on Android, iOS, Chrome, and smart TVs.
This VPN's proprietary protocol, Hydra, is closed source, and Hotspot Shield doesn't publish many details about it other than that they base it on OpenVPN.
You can only use OpenVPN if you configure it manually.
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Comments
Hotspot Shield: Main Discussion
Let us know why you want us to review the product here, or encourage others to vote for this product.
- 21010
Hey Sean,
Thanks so much for sharing all that information with me, it’s extremely helpful and I’m definitely happy to assist you with your purchase decision. I understand that good black uniformity is important to you and so is HDR pop so that’s a good start. Do you mind also elaborating on how you intend to use it? Based on your intended usage, it may not be necessary to spend the extra money, so any additional information you can provide would be awesome. For instance, will you be doing any gaming, just watching movies/tv shows/sports. Also, will you be sitting directly across from the TV most of the time or off-center at all, etc. Thanks in advance! :)
- 21010
Hey Sean, Thanks so much for sharing all that information with me, it’s extremely helpful and I’m definitely happy to assist you with your purchase decision. I understand that good black uniformity is important to you and so is HDR pop so that’s a good start. Do you mind also elaborating on how you intend to use it? Based on your intended usage, it may not be necessary to spend the extra money, so any additional information you can provide would be awesome. For instance, will you be doing any gaming, just watching movies/tv shows/sports. Also, will you be sitting directly across from the TV most of the time or off-center at all, etc. Thanks in advance! :)
I will be sitting from the couch not more than 6 feet away and will be looking at it directly. I basically only watch YouTube and Netflix and yes want to watch that content and maybe some movies in 4K when I can. Honestly though movie viewing at home has died for me. I can’t remember the last time I did it so it is not a focus for me obviously. For gaming 4K 60 FPS and max settings are the only goal whether on PC or console. I don’t care about anything more. I have a 4K gaming PC that I may hook up to it eventually but right now have another tv / monitor for 4K gaming. Really a new tv will be about gaming in 4K on console in the family room. Right now I only have the Xbox One X for 4K after getting rid of the Xbox Series X as I wasn’t using it enough at Christmas but in the future will have both that console and the Sony PS5 so yeah a tv suited to 4K gaming with those is needed although I really don’t care about those consoles allowing people to get more than 60 FPS with the right display as I am not a competitive gamer nor a good gamer so the extra FPS won’t help me. As for sound I don’t care how it sounds as tv sound these days seems to be utter garbage. I expect to have to get a sound bar although I’d prefer to not have to. Finally in regards to sports I did watch the NHL last year and may get the Center Ice package again but really for me when I watch hockey I want it to look more ugly than good. I am 48 and my best times watching hockey were not in HD or anything else fancy. I don’t want sport to be a movie-like experience. Even surround sound would bother me.
Oh and my first experience with 4K and HDR is with the UM7300AUE. Only 400 nits at max (looked again and I guess it is less) and I like the pop but of course want to experience something better. The sound on the tv is awful but I knew that when I got it. It is what is being used as my monitor right now. Also in regards to picture I used your settings from the site and it looks adequate, more than adequate for me. I can notice better quality tvs but it is usually comparing bottom of the barrel to high end and even then there have been some times, if few, where it was tough to see a difference. That should give you an idea of how my eyes are. I guess many would say they are bad. LOL!
Forgot one more thing ….. 55" size is fine for me so I save a little there when buying a tv. I wouldn’t mind more screen size but I won’t pay handsomely for it.
Btw with the first post I edited it as I read it over again and one thing I wanted to say was said wrong. Basically the sustained 100% window peak brightness (HDR and SDR) is what matters most. Right? That number is pretty high on the U78G even when compared to the other two tvs I mentioned. Is there something more I should know?
Edited 3 years ago: more info. - 21010
Just to update eh after much deliberation and looking at my budget I went with the U78G as it is a nice upgrade and hits that 600 nit mark I believe so all good. In doing so heck I was able to take care of other things tonight and can stomach what I will pay per month to Amazon Canada over the next many months. $80+ is easier on the wallet. Thanks for your help and thanks for all the info. you provide on the site. TV gets here on Tuesday for sure and well it sounds like when it does I will have to really tinker with settings to get that perfect picture. I know you shared some settings on the tv’s review. I guess I have to get rid of kind of a green tinge people get more with this tv. Btw also passed on your reviews of the QN90A and an LG OLED tv from 2021 to my daughter and told her this is what I would have bought could I truly afford it. She and her bf got the first ever house in their lives and so going to need a tv or two and I know they can afford more. Honestly hope she gets one of the two or both I shared so I can see how good they are.
- 32120
Just to update eh after much deliberation and looking at my budget I went with the U78G as it is a nice upgrade and hits that 600 nit mark I believe so all good. In doing so heck I was able to take care of other things tonight and can stomach what I will pay per month to Amazon Canada over the next many months. $80+ is easier on the wallet. Thanks for your help and thanks for all the info. you provide on the site. TV gets here on Tuesday for sure and well it sounds like when it does I will have to really tinker with settings to get that perfect picture. I know you shared some settings on the tv’s review. I guess I have to get rid of kind of a green tinge people get more with this tv. Btw also passed on your reviews of the QN90A and an LG OLED tv from 2021 to my daughter and told her this is what I would have bought could I truly afford it. She and her bf got the first ever house in their lives and so going to need a tv or two and I know they can afford more. Honestly hope she gets one of the two or both I shared so I can see how good they are.
Hey Sean,
Sorry for the delayed response but I’m glad to here to were able to pull the trigger on a new TV. The U78G is honestly a great TV considering it’s price tag. You’re right, you may need to do some tinkering but I think you’ll still be extremely happy with it overall ! I’d love to hear what you think once you get it though. Same thing goes for your daughter, feel free to keep us posted if she goes for either one, we love to hear what users think. Congrats to your daughter and her BF as well, that’s a great accomplishment! :)