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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Privacy
    1. Registration
    2. IP And DNS Leaks
    3. Kill Switch Robustness
    4. Man-In-The-Middle Attacks
  5. Performance
    1. Download Speed
    2. Upload Speed
    3. Latency
  6. Features
    1. Downloads
    2. Platform Support
    3. Protocols
    4. Simultaneous Devices
    5. Destinations
    6. Split Tunneling
    7. Headless Setup
  7. Comments

Hotspot Shield vs Hotspot Shield Free

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield Free

Tested using Methodology v0.9

Updated Apr 04, 2025 02:57 PM

SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield

Tested using Methodology v0.9

Updated Apr 04, 2025 03:01 PM

SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield Picture
Hotspot Shield Free Picture
Email Required
Yes
Torrent (P2P)
Yes
Data Limit
N/A
Email Required
No
Torrent (P2P)
Yes
Data Limit
N/A
  1. Recommended in 1 article:
  2. VPNs

Variants

  • Hotspot Shield (Premium)
  • Hotspot Shield (Basic)

Review

See Hotspot Shield Review
See Hotspot Shield Free Review
0 
0 

Our Verdict

Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield Free

Full comparison details regarding individual product score sets can be found in the section below

Check Price

Premium
Hotspot Shield
SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield
Basic
Hotspot Shield
SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield

Main Differences for
Torrent

Threshold 

0.10

Torrent 

7.7
8.2

Registration 
 

5.4
9.7

Full Comparison

Privacy

Registration 
 

5.4
9.7

Payment Options  

Hotspot Shield Payment Options
Hotspot Shield Free Payment Options

Email Required 
 

Yes
No

Password Required 
 

Yes
No

Cryptocurrency 
 

No
No Purchase Required

Cash 
 

No
No Purchase Required
Show text

IP And DNS Leaks 
 

9.0
9.0

IPLEAK.net Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield IPLEAK.net Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free IPLEAK.net Screenshot

Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot

Leak Detected 
 

No
No

In-Browser IP 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

In-Browser DNS 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

System DNS 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

System Traffic 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

Kill Switch Robustness 
 

2.0
2.0

Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot

Leak Detected 
 

Yes
Yes

During VPN Software Crash 
 

Leak Detected
Leak Detected

During Loss Of Internet 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

During System Reboot 
 

Leak Detected
Leak Detected
Show text

Man-In-The-Middle Attacks 
 

8.5
8.5

Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot

TLS Interruption Risk 
 

No Evidence
No Evidence

Proper BGP Implementation 
 

No
No
Show text
Performance

Download Speed 
 

6.2
6.3

Download Speed Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Without VPN 
 

328 Mbps
290 Mbps

With VPN 
 

90 Mbps
92 Mbps

Speed Difference 
 

-238.0 Mbps
-198.5 Mbps
Show text

Upload Speed 
 

7.5
7.6

Upload Speed Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Without VPN 
 

352 Mbps
270 Mbps

With VPN 
 

103 Mbps
100 Mbps

Speed Difference 
 

-249.3 Mbps
-169.4 Mbps
Show text

Latency 
 

7.6
8.1

Download Latency Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Upload Latency Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Download Latency Without VPN 
 

195 ms
193 ms

Download Latency With VPN 
 

207 ms
199 ms

Download Latency Difference 
 

12 ms
6 ms

Upload Latency Without VPN 
 

191 ms
196 ms

Upload Latency With VPN 
 

207 ms
200 ms

Upload Latency Difference 
 

15 ms
4 ms

Combined Latency Consistency 
 

±55 ms
±54 ms
Show text
Features

Downloads 
 

9.5
9.5

Torrent Test Picture  

Hotspot Shield Torrent Test Picture
Hotspot Shield Free Torrent Test Picture

Torrent (P2P) 
 

Yes
Yes

Data Limit 
 

N/A
N/A

Platform Support 
 

9.3
6.2

Windows 
 

Yes
Yes

macOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Linux 
 

Yes
No
Show text

Protocols 
 

Protocol Results Table  

Hotspot Shield Protocol Results Table
Hotspot Shield Free Protocol Results Table

WireGuard 
 

Yes
Yes

OpenVPN Over UDP 
 

Yes
No

OpenVPN Over TCP 
 

No
No

IPSec With L2TP 
 

No
No

IPSec With IKEv2 
 

Yes
Yes

Proprietary Protocol(s) 
 

Hydra
Hydra
Show text

Simultaneous Devices 
 

9.1
9.9

Tested Simultaneous Connections 
 

10
11

Simultaneous Locations 
 

Yes
Yes

Advertised Max Simultaneous Connections 
 

10
1
Show text

Destinations 
 

8.2
4.7

VPN Destination Selection Example  

Hotspot Shield VPN Destination Selection Example
Hotspot Shield Free VPN Destination Selection Example

Countries 
 

85
3

Countries With Multiple Cities 
 

4
1

Server Choice 
 

No
No

Split Tunneling 
 

6.1
6.1

VPN Disabled For App Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield VPN Disabled For App Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free VPN Disabled For App Screenshot

VPN Enabled For App Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield VPN Enabled For App Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free VPN Enabled For App Screenshot

Disabling Of VPN For Specific Apps 
 

Yes
Yes

Enabling Of VPN For Specific Apps 
 

No
No

Splitting Based On Address 
 

No
No

Ping Local Address - Same Subnet 
 

Yes
Yes

Ping Local Address - Different Subnet 
 

No
No
Show text

Headless Setup 
 

7.0
0.0

Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot

Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot  

Hotspot Shield Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot
Hotspot Shield Free Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot

Headless WireGuard Connection 
 

No
No

Headless OpenVPN Connection 
 

Yes
No

Check Price

Premium
Hotspot Shield
SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield
Basic
Hotspot Shield
SEE PRICE
Hotspot Shield
Back to Top

Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield Free

Comments

  1. Comparison

Hotspot Shield vs Hotspot Shield Free: Main Discussion

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