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With over 650 million users, HotSpot Shield VPN (released by AnchorFree) is divided into two products: a free VPN service which is more like a proxy with bandwidth cap and a premium paid VPN named “HotSpot Shield Elite”.

• Hotspot Shield Team Builder
• Hotspot Shield Telecharger

The Hotspot Shield team believes the internet should be open and secure for everyone, especially during these unprecedented times where much of the world is sheltering at home. Hotspot Shield is the most popular VPN worldwide with over 650 million downloads. We’re committed to developing the best app for our users, making us very competitive. Pay attention to the fact that the app should be meeting your standards and team so the more flexible their offer the better. Find our which platforms are supported by Hotspot Shield and Business VPN by KeepSolid and make sure you will get mobile support for whatever devices you work on in your company.

Hotspot Shield Elite is a software that is developed by a team of Anchor Free developer. Secure your internet connection with hotspot shield VPN at the unsecured network. The name of the application shows clearly it gives a protective shield as well as saves you from malware attacks.

In this review, we’ll compare HotSpot Shield Elite network encryption, security features and speed against other VPN services.

They’ve been in business since 2005 and have grown their user base at a high rate.

However, as is the case with many popular VPN companies, having the most customers doesn’t necessarily mean you have the best product.

So the question remains, “Is Hotspot Shield’s massive user base a result of a stellar VPN or stellar marketing?”

And over the course of this review, that’s the question I hope to answer.

Hotspot Shield VPN Overview

Hotspot shield works on Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS.

1. Fastest Speed (Except in the U.S.) Pros of Using Hotspot Shield

On the right servers, Hotspot Shield is fast.

In fact, when I tested Hotspot Shield on an EU server in Estonia, they performed faster than any other VPN that I’ve ever tested.

I connected to several other servers and ran a few tests using the third party website, speedtest.net to ensure the accuracy of this review.

Here are the performance benchmarks I recorded while using Hotspot Shield’s VPN client on a 100 Mbps internet connection.

• Ping: 183ms
• Download: 28.66 Mbps
• Upload: 13.74 Mbps

• Ping: 54ms
• Download: 92.28 Mbps
• Upload: 45.09 Mbps

Asia Server (Hong Kong)

• Ping: 141ms
• Download: 80.00 Mbps
• Upload: 19.60 Mbps

• Ping: 53ms
• Download: 95.55 Mbps
• Upload: 46.45 Mbps

If you have read any of the other VPN reviews I’ve done on this site, then you know that these results are impressive, really impressive.

Hotspot Shield regularly performed about 10 Mbps faster than any of their competitors on all European and Asian servers.

Oddly enough, their United States servers inexplicably ran at speeds that were almost twice as slow as their competitors even though the company is based in San Francisco!

If you plan on using servers primarily located in the European Union or Asia, then Hotspot Shield is the fastest VPN that’s currently available.

However, if you specifically need access to a U.S. based server, then you should probably opt for something like ExpressVPN, PIA or NordVPN.

2. Incredible User Experience

Hotspot Shield might be the most beautifully designed VPN that I have ever used.

After a 2-minute installation process, you are taken to an interface that looks like something out of a new James Bond movie where you can adjust your settings and VPN location with just a few clicks.

While they don’t offer much in terms of advanced settings or customization (which I’ll talk about in the ‘cons’ section), what they do have is an incredibly simple, intuitive, and easy-to-use VPN software.

3. Torrenting is Fully Supported

One of the great things about Hotspot Shield is that, unlike some of their competitors, they completely and wholeheartedly support anonymous torrenting.

Their network uses a super secure AES-256 Encryption to ensure that all of the data being transmitted to and from your device is completely secure… From everyone (except AnchorFree).

Governments, ISP’s, nosey neighbors, so long as Hotspot Shield upholds their logging policy, none of them can access any of your browsing history or network activity.

Since AnchorFree openly endorses and even gives instructions on anonymous torrenting, it’s safe to say that Hotspot Shield Elite is an excellent choice for the more avid torrenters for safe P2P experience.

4. Netflix Compatible (1/4)

Streaming Netflix with Hotspot Shield is slightly more complicated than it is with ExpressVPN or StrongVPN. However, if you follow the directions on their site, you can still find a server that will work.

Canada’s streaming service worked perfectly for us. But we struck out on the other three we tested.

That’s actually not a bad result these days, as Netflix has become excellent at detecting (and shutting down) most VPN users trying to access geo-restricted content.

HotSpot Shield server unblocking Netflix:

• Canada

HotSpot Shield servers blocked by Netflix:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Netherlands

Cons of Using Hotspot Shield

1. CDT Privacy Accusations & the FTC Investigation

Hotspot Shield has always been a rather suspicious company.

Considering that they are a U.S.-based VPN provider that was launched using $52 million of Series C funding from investment giant Goldman Sachs, and whose parent company is partnered with several advertising and marketing companies… I wouldn’t exactly describe the company as “Above Reproach”.

However, after a recent filing from the CDT and a proceeding FTC investigation, I’ve begun to realize that the term “Ethically Ambiguous” is probably a more suitable description.

Here’s a snippet from the press release issued from Center for Democracy & Technology regarding the formal complaint they filed against Hotspot Shield.

Considering the 650 million+ users who rely on Hotspot Shield for their online security, the CDT’s 14 page filing has some serious implications.

Although David Gorodyansky has called these claims “Unfounded” and stated that he “Does not agree” with the filing, the facts do not seem to be in his favor.

Until the FTC concludes its formal investigation, I can neither confirm nor deny these accusations, however, I will say that I would be astonished if Hotspot Shield leaves this battle without a few scars.

2. Questionable Privacy and Logging Policies

AnchorFree is openly associated with a number of third-party advertising companies who make Hotspot Shield free possible.

While this is a pretty common practice for a free VPN service, when you start digging into the privacy policy, things get troublesome.

Here’s an excerpt from their privacy policy to illustrate my point.

Even if you ignore, the fact that the term “personal information” is intentionally ambiguous throughout their policy and apparently does not include your personal IP address, this is a fairly worrisome statement.

A CSIRO study concluded that Hotspot Shield uses tracking codes to gather information about their user’s and then sells this information to advertisers.

They also found that Hotspot Shield would regularly redirect user traffic through one of their affiliate networks in order to profit from purchases that their customers made while using the VPN.

Even though their logging policy offers some reassurance by stating that:

“…all browsing information or other similar information relating to your online activities transmitted by you to our servers when using Hotspot Shield is cleared after your VPN “session” is closed.”

I’m hard-pressed to say that I trust Hotspot Shield with my personal data.

3. Ticketed Customer Support

It is abundantly clear to me that all of Hotspot Shield’s resources have been funneled into only three things.

1. Creating a stellar list of servers that perform at lightning fast speeds
2. Designing a beautiful user interface
3. Finding ways to legally (or otherwise) exploit an ambiguous privacy policy to profit as much as humanly possible.

As you’ll notice, great customer service isn’t on that list.

While Hotspot Shield offers an admittedly exhaustive list of troubleshooting resources and guides, their customer support team is all but nonexistent.

If you are having an issue, the only way to get in contact with their support team is through the dreaded support ticket.

And once your ticket has been submitted?

You should probably go and pour yourself another cup of coffee and sit back with a good book because you will be waiting for a long, long, long time.

I tried submitting a technical support query for this review three days before I started writing this post.

Much to my chagrin… I still haven’t received a reply!

After skimming through some other reviews, I found that this experience was pretty ubiquitous.

In fact, I read several customer complaints claiming that it took Hotspot Shield more than one week to respond to a simple troubleshooting error.

Considering the hefty price tag associated with their Elite VPN service, this is a very considerable offense.

4. Catapult Hydra and No TOR Compatibility

With a user base that is as large and diverse as the one boasted by Hotspot Shield, you would imagine that they would create a product that is equally diverse and adaptable to any need or circumstance.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Not only does Hotspot Shield not offer compatibility with The Orion Router or any other third party proxies (an incredibly useful feature in draconian countries like China and North Korea)- Hotspot Shield also works relatively well in China, they landed in our top 7 VPNs for China. They limit all users to their proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol. While they used to support the OpenVPN protocol, this changed after the introduction of their Catapult Hydra protocol.

Considering that they have more than 650 million users, you would think Hotspot Shield would offer at least a few other VPN tunneling protocols for those rare (but inevitable) instances in which their own protocol simply won’t cut it.

Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case.

5. DNS Leak Through Chrome Extension

To make things worse, their Chrome extension leaks your DNS.

We did extensive tests on multiple VPNs and Hotspot Shield was one of many VPN providers who leaks your DNS through their extension.

It’s nothing major, and probably gets fixed soon, but for now they’re leaking… Here’s some information on how to fix that leak, however.

Hotspot Shield Pricing, Plans & Facts

As far as paid VPN providers go, Hotspot Shield’s pricing used to be on the more expensive side of the spectrum.

In fact, at $5.99 a month for their 12-month package, they are couple of dollars more expensive than our own favorite VPN, NordVPN. And only $1 dollar cheaper than ExpressVPN.

The only difference between each plan is the length of time for which you can use Hotspot Shield’s VPN services. Here’s how their different pricing plans break down.

• Monthly: $12.99
• 6 Months: $53.94 ($8.99/mo)
• 12 Months: $71.88 ($5.99/mo)
• 3 Years: $125.6 ($3.49/mo)

Furthermore, if you’re located in EU, you’ll face heftier prices (6.99 euros/mo for the 1 year plan, for example). I wonder why they do that…

Although their plans are a little pricey, they are all backed by a generous 45-day money back guarantee, which is the best guarantee that I’ve ever seen in the VPN industry.

From what I have read around the web, this refund is pretty painless to collect meaning that if you do try out Hotspot Sheld’s premium VPN services and decide that they aren’t for you, you can quickly receive your money and continue your search for the perfect VPN provider.

As far as the payment goes, you can use all major credit cards, PayPal and even wire transfer. However, they don’t provide any anonymous payment methods, such as Bitcoin.

• Ease of the VPN software: Easy to use VPN app
• Hidden fees & clauses: None found.
• Upsells: No upsells.
• Instant access after payment: Took ~5min to get access to download files (after buying the software)

Hotspot Shield Team Builder

Do We Recommend Hotspot Shield?

The answer to this question is complicated.

As a service, Hotspot Shield is superb.

They offer lighting fast speeds, an incredible user experience, and plenty of great features to keep any VPN enthusiast happy.

However…

The company behind the service has been involved in so many shady dealings and ethically grey activities that it’s hard for me to give my seal of approval, especially considering the current CDT allegations.

They also don’t work with the combination of TOR. I think there are better VPNs at similar or even cheaper prices, such as NordVPN or ExpressVPN.

Until now, Hotspot can be used to hide your IP address but isn’t the best option for complete privacy. Read all my VPN reviews here.

Add your own Hotspot shield review

Have you ever used Hotspot Shield before? If so, what was your experience like? I’m always interested to hear what other enthusiasts have to say about the VPNs that I review! Let me know below.

James 10/10

Super Fast!

There are a variety of areas with other VPNs that are better than Hotspot Shield, but the one area Hotspot Shield is by far the best in is SPEED! By far the fastest VPN I've ever tried.

Jay 10/10

Best VPN on the Market.

I have been using Hotspot Shield for almost 2 years and I couldn't be happier. I get access to all my favorite BBC content as well as US Netflix without issues. I commonly use WhatsApp to communicate with my family overseas and I'm so impressed with the quality. Anytime, I have any issues, their support team gets back to me the same day to resolve my issues. I would recommend this to anybody looking for an outstanding and easy to use VPN service. Thanks Hotspot Shield.

Marie 1/10

Unhappy person

I had a lovely credit card bill from hotspot shield for a service I do not need or ask for.. after over 2 months of back and forth generic emails from them telling me they have no record of any transaction and passing the buck to other people. I have not been happy with this company at all.. I have no with for their service and would advise others to stay clear of them...

Davis Prather 9/10

It's... weird?

It's a good app. I'm just looking for an explanation as to why the free version works even after the 500 MB data limit has been reached. Like, am I missing something important, or something? Because I was led to believe that it wouldn't work after the first 500 MB. But, I try it anyway, and it works like a charm. So, what's up with that?

Jeff 1/10

Hotspot Shield customer support

Had HSS installed 4 months ago, seemed to work fine. A few weeks ago it stopped working. Support kept sending recorded messages to follow their instructions. Nothing fixed the problem. After 2 weeks and more than 50 emails back and forth still no result. Last email says they have a long list of inquiries and I am on the list. I have a 2 year Premium subscription, no problem taking the money, but I am still unable to use it. SOMETHING WENT WRONG. WE ARE TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM. IT MIGHT TAKE A FEW SECONDS. What a joke.

Denny 1/10

HotSpot Shield Free - Avoid

Speed was great, no issue.

However upon disconnecting after using my free quota I had several issues with this service. It hijacked my networking on my browsers and pages would not load. I tried stopping the services via task manager (end process tree) but the 'hydra*.exe' service simply restarted itself. I had to uninstall to regain control.

Shame as I would have probably upgraded but given the companies unethical approach to customers privacy and a blatant (almost ransomware type) attempt to force you to upgrade I simply would not deal with a company like that. I searched for reviews and their support appears to lacking and they have unethical approach to refunds where they discontinue a particular service (country) that a customer has specifically paid for.

I gave them 10 for the speed and ease of use (when working correctly)

Jimmy 1/10

Consumers Beware!

I bought a lifetime subscription to Hotspot Shield and a few months in the only country I am using the service for stopped working. Their customer support is incredibly slow and when I finally got an answer it.only confirmed it's not working anymore. As this rendered the service useless to me I asked for a refund, which I was shocked to hear I was refused. The service for the specific country is still not working and hundred of dollars down the drain for me... Please be careful with buying this service, in particular if you intend to use it for smaller countries. Do NOT buy any longer subscriptions as they may stop working and they will apparently not refund anything, even if they are not providing what you paid for.

Jon Waite 1/10

Startup errors - poor support

It's a good service when it works, but every day I when try to run it I get the 'Oops, something went wrong message' and I have to restart the Hotspot Shield back ground process. This happens on multiple different Windows 10 PCs. They knew about this error when I contacted support and at first they told me that it would be fixed soon in a future release. However, when I pushed them hard on a date they said that a fix wasn't actually in any schedule. I have read reports of this error from multiple users stretching back years, and so I conclude that they have no intention of fixing it.

Sam 9/10

Fast!

Elite customer here. One important thing about Hotspot Shield is that it's fast, like super fast. I feel it even enhances my connection because when I stream videos, the stream is faster and more stable than the direct speed.

Oh and they say they no longer use OpenVPn but their own propriety protocal named Catapult Hydra which increases speed, security, and compresses data. Cons: No linux client, no content blocking in Android client.

Bob 8/10

Feel Comfort with Hotspot Shield

I'm the common user internet, spend time for surfing, streaming and sometimes gaming e.g. dota 2. Hotspot help you to access any in my experience. No issue with that. Low ping, super speed and honestly comfort with hotspot shield. I give 80 for rating, because we know no one is perfect or just maybe I don't know about the cons. Yeah, this VPN is fine for normal user like me.

Richard 5/10

Didn’t work in China

I’ve used Hotspot Shield for many years, successful in UAE. However holiday in China, April 2018, connection to Hotspot wasn’t possible as it kept hanging. Tried a couple of others on free trial NordVPN & ExpressVPN and both works well in China, connected to YouTube, Netflix & NowTV UK accounts successfully with reasonable speed, not full HD. Goodbye Hotspot Shield.

Elizabeth Murphy 1/10

Be very wary of HotSpot shield

I have had so many problems getting rid of Hotspot shield. First, when it came time to renew and I did not want to renew it, it hijacked my screen forcing me to put in my payment info. The only way I could stop it was through task manager and shutting down the application.

Then after I canceled about 7 months later I see a charge of 35 dollars for hotspot shield which I don’t even have installed.

How they got my new visa number I do not know. I’ve never had this happen to me with any other subscriptions. Avoid hotspot shield.

Anthony 4/10

free vpn full of ads

Like any other freeware HotSpot shield VPN comes with ads, the ads can be quite annoying sometimes, but the VPN itself works quite well.

I use HotSpot Shield VPN on my android (5.1.1) to be able to have access to files/software that is not available in my country. I wouldn’t mind having it open and running 24/7 if there weren’t so many ads every so often. So I still use it only when I need to.

I’d recommend with ad warning.

Stephen Brown 4/10

Not as good as others until you buy the elite version

When I first started using its free version, it was really bad. I couldn’t access almost any website, it was too slow and it always had the same error. I decided to upgrade to the elite version to see if the performance of it improved and it worked just great.

It is a good VPN provider but only after you upgrade it to the elite version.

Mirkual Sen 7/10

free version is bad, paid is OK 🙂

As a Hotspot Shield user, I have to tell you that I liked the old Hotspot a lot more. I had an elite subscription and 90% of the time the connection was super fast and I knew that my connection and informations are secure. Plus all of the locations were unlocked. Now, after the update I am using the free version and I can say that you have only 1 location and that’s Optimal Location. It’s a lot slower than before, but the interface looks cleaner.

So should you use it, or shouldn’t you?

From my experience, I can tell you that if you are going to spend more time using VPN, then buy the elite subscription because the connection is super fast and you have a wide variety of locations.

If you spend very little time using VPN then go with the free plan.

In conclusion, you should use Hotspot Shield VPN and buy the elite subscription if you spend a lot of time using VPN, and if you don’t then either go with the free plan or use another free VPN!

Selina 9/10

Hotspot Shield hits the spot

I have had a mostly positive experience using Hotspot Shield, which I use on Chrome.

When accessing certain sites, all I need to do is click the shield extension icon on my toolbar, then click the button to be connected to the VPN. It’s fast, free and super-easy. There’s a couple of things I’m not too crazy about, though. Sometimes I can’t access certain other sites once I’m connected. I occasionally have trouble accessing Google – though not every time – and some sites repeatedly log me out if I’m connected. Usually, I just have to disconnect and reconnect to get back on track, so it’s a little bit annoying.

That said, I would still absolutely recommend Hotspot Shield, as its positives outweigh those little negatives.

Dillon P 6/10

Decent service, a bit slow however

I needed a VPN when I wanted to test my website to see what it would look like in different parts of the world. I was given a 6 month promo code for premium, so I signed up for it. I downloaded it to my mac and it was actually quite easy to setup. However, after setup, the program wouldn’t open, so I restarted my mac and it did. I connected to the nearest server, which was London, just to test, and it worked a treat when I went to look at my IP. I tried different servers and they all worked. The only thing was they were slow, as if a lot of people were using them, which is fair enough for a big company, but with the amount of money they have coming in, they could invest in either faster or more servers.

Apart from that, the program was easy enough to use, and my experience so far has been satisfactory, I still use it now and then.

DEVESH 9/10

Looking for a shield from your ISP, use Hotspot Shield..

Have been using Hotspot Shield for a year now. I can say I’m completely satisfied with the unlimited version. It does not compromise the speed of my network as well as protects my privacy.

The desktop application is user-friendly, a single push of button establishes the VPN connection. The time taken to connect to Hotspot Shield server is also very short.

Hotspot Shield is possibly the most controversial VPN in the market in 2019; it is the fastest, it has thousands of servers and it has its own proprietary protocol. It also claims to offer users complete anonymity.

What makes it controversial is that it has been dogged by scandals. There are claims that it sells user data (which directly implies logging) and it doesn't provide as secure a connection as it would like us to believe.

What's the truth?

It's hard to tell with Hotspot Shield, which is exactly why we are doing this in-depth review. In order to know how good a VPN is you have to look at several factors including speed, security, number of servers, how easy it is to use, Netflix unblocking, torrenting, client support and a few others.

A quick look at Hotspot Shield reveals that:

• It is very fast (in most locations)
• It has a great user interface
• It can be used on a variety of devices
• It is good value for money

However, this VPN gets a bad rap because according to some, it fails to do what a VPN should: provide anonymity.

Yet millions of people continue to rely on Hotspot Shield. As of 2019, it is estimated that the company has more than 650 million users around the globe.

The company makes some remarkable claims. An early 2018 article stated that in one 10-day period more than 1 million people in Iran downloaded Hotspot Shield because it was capable of surpassing government blockades on social media.

The obvious question is, if this VPN doesn't provide anonymity, how come so many people continue to use it and sing its praises?

Let's find out.

This review will look at important factors that determine how good a VPN is:

• Speed – Great
• Security (IP and DNS leaks) – Some
• Number of servers and locations – 3000 servers, 30 countries
• Location of parent company – USA
• Logging – Some
• Netflix – Some
• Torrenting – Yes
• Ease of use – Great
• Customer support – Great

1. Speed

Every Hotspot Shield review you look at will immediately make one thing clear: it is the fastest VPN there is. We ran our own tests to determine if these claims were true, and we were pleasantly surprised. We tested servers in the US, Europe and Asia and here is what we found:

• The Europe server (Amsterdam) had download speeds of 100 mbps and upload speeds of 50 mbps.
• Another Europe server (London) had download speeds of 100 mbps and upload speeds of 50 mbps.
• The Asia server (Hong Kong) had download speeds of 80 mbps and upload speeds of 20 mbps
• The US server (New York) had download speeds of about 30 mbps and download speeds of 12 mbps

If you compare with other VPNs, you will see that the speeds in Asia and Europe are unsurpassed – we are yet to come across another VPN that is this good.

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And yet, the US speeds can only be described as slow.

A server in a busy location like New York handles a lot of data, so it makes sense that it is fast. In fact, for most other VPNs, their fastest servers are in North America.

So, why are Hotspot Shield servers everywhere else faster than in America? We don't know. We couldn't find an answer. The company is based in the US, so you would expect that their infrastructure there to be great. It hasn't offered any explanations.

Speed tests for VPNs should always be taken with a grain of salt. They can be affected by many things. Your location can determine how fast your connection is, as can your device and any additional security software you may have on your device.

That said, we can confidently say that one of the reasons why so many people choose Hotspot Shield is that it is fast. Users in the US don't have to suffer slow speeds; they can connect using servers in Europe or Asia.

2. Security

A quick test for DNS and IP leaks revealed that the VPN is airtight. However, users have experienced leaks when using the Chrome extension, and also when using the free version.

To protect yourself, we recommend that you test it thoroughly once it is installed on your device. If you find any leaks you can change the configuration. If, for example, you are using the free version of Hotspot Shield and you have leaks it may be worthwhile to upgrade to the paid version, or use a different extension.

There are a couple of security-related things that are worth mentioning. The first is that Hotspot Shield makes your VPN connection look like normal browsing. Regardless of the site you are visiting, your IP address will look like normal traffic.

The second is that this VPN is able to detect and block malware it encounters online and can protect you from spam and phishing.

Hotspot Shield will automatically connect when you get within range of an open Wi-Fi network, providing protection at all times.

3. Number of servers and locations

Hotspot Shield has about 3000 servers located in 30 countries. The servers offer good encryption. They are located in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

One thing that users complain about is that when connected they cannot see the particular servers they are connected to, only the country.

This isn't unusual; while some VPNs will show you the exact location of the server you are using, there are others that only show the country through which you are connecting.

The server locations for Hotspot Shield work well. Even in locations that don't have servers nearby speeds are pretty good. When travelling in South America and Africa, for example, users report that they don't experience a drop in speed. This is remarkable considering the large number of clients and the location of the servers.

If you subscribe to Hotspot Shield Elite you are entitled to unlimited bandwidth, but remember this may be restricted by your ISP.

4. Location of parent company

Hotspot Shield is owned by AnchorFree which is in California, United States. If you know anything about VPNs, you know that the United States is not a good location for a VPN company.

The authorities can compel the company to collect and surrender customer data at any time. This has contributed to the unease that users feel about Hotspot Shield.

If the government were to serve a warrant or issue a gag order on AnchoFree, clients would be exposed.

There are ways around this problem. Many VPN companies that are based in the United States don't collect data, so that even if authorities come calling there's nothing to share. As you will see, Hotspot Shield has a problem when it comes to logging.

5. Logging

Hotspot Shield does poorly when it comes to logging. Their user policy isn't clear on whether they collect IP addresses.

It states “Our VPN product will never store or log your IP address beyond the duration of your VPN session and we will always delete your IP address after you disconnect from the VPN.”

Does this mean that they keep your IP address for the duration that you are logged on? It's hard to tell with such ambiguous wording.

The VPN collects information on the language in use, your device specs, your OS, your network and a few other details that are enough to make anyone concerned about online security and privacy quite uneasy.

The user policy insists that they do not make any connections between your IP address and personal information (email address, payment details). Without linking these two things the information would be useless, which makes this claim hard to believe.

As you read this, you should remember that this VPN is still trusted by millions, and they continue to use it every day without any complaints. While it doesn't do well in logging, privacy and security, it does very well in other areas that seem to matter more to users.

6. Netflix

If you want a VPN that will help unlock Netflix, we don't recommend Hotspot Shield. You will not be able to connect through a server outside the United States. If you are in the United States, you will be able to connect, but the process is complicated and requires time.

However, that isn't to say that it doesn't work. We decided to try a few servers to see if there have been any changes since we last checked, and we found that we could access Netflix through limited servers in Canada, the UK and Netherlands.

We concluded that it's a question of luck; if you try and are able to unblock Netflix, good for you. If you are really keen on watching movies and series, we recommend that you try other VPNs, like Express VPN, NordVPN or Surfshark.

7. Torrenting

Hotspot Shield is highly recommended for torrenting.

Unlike many VPNs that forbid or limit the practice, you can torrent as much as you want with this software as it offers unlimited bandwidth. All data is secured using AES 256 encryption so no one will see what you are torrenting (except the parent company of course).

The site has a guide on how users can use torrenting, as well as how to securely set up a torrent.

8. Ease of use

Hotspot Shield scores very highly for ease of use; it has one of the best interfaces of any VPN. The software takes only two minutes to install, after which you have a beautiful interface to work with. It is clean, clear and doesn't leave room for confusion.

The top half of the app shows you how long you have been logged in while the lower half shows you the download and upload speeds, the location of the server you're using and the allocated virtual IP address.

9. Customer support

The customer support offered by Hotspot Shield may be another reason why it has so many users. While it wasn't very good in the past, the company has taken real strides to ensure that user's queries are attended to without delay.

Before, users were required to submit tickets and then wait for a response. This took long, and answers weren't always satisfactory.

Today, there is a Live Chat option and it works very well. We tested it by submitting a series of questions, and we got a response right away.

The answers provided were helpful, and we could tell they were human, not automated.

Cons of Hotspot Shield

Data collected from the free version may be leaked to advertisers

There are two versions of Hotspot Shield: the free version and the premium version. There have been claims that information that's collected from those who use the free version is sold to advertisers.

The company has issued denials but they aren't very reassuring, as the user policy isn't clear.

The company is under investigation by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission)

The investigation is linked to how the company uses logged data. According to the claim, “The VPN promises to connect advertisers to users who frequent websites in particular categories, and while most VPNs prevent ISPs from seeing user internet traffic, that traffic is often visible in unencrypted form to Hotspot Shield.”

While these allegations cannot be confirmed or denied until the investigation is concluded, users who are keen on internet security will be reluctant to use Hotspot Shield.

Hotspot Shield Pricing

Hotspot Shield is more expensive than NordVPN but cheaper than Express VPN. Like most VPNs, it comes with a tiered pricing plan:

• $12.99 a month every month
• $7.99 a month for a year

45-Day Money Back Guarantee

There are some interesting things to note about this pricing plan. If you are in the EU, you pay more than other parts of the world. The company doesn't explain why this is necessary.

Hotspot Shield has the best guarantee of all VPNS – 45 days money back if you aren't happy. The refund process is uncomplicated and doesn't attract many complaints.

You can pay using all major credit cards, wire transfer and PayPal. They do not accept Bitcoin and other similar forms of payment.

Hotspot Shield Telecharger

Do we recommend Hotspot Shield?

This is one of those VPNs where we have to say that it depends on what you're looking for. If your main concern is speed and a great user experience, this VPN is absolutely worth having.

However, if you care more about being anonymous while online you may not like this VPN very much. Keep in mind that many of the claims and allegations leveled against Hotspot Shield have been strongly denied by the company and cannot be proved.

Of course that leaves the question: are you safe or not? So far, it seems, so good. There haven't been significant data breaches, which is why Hotspot Shield has millions of users.

If you would rather err on the side of caution you may want to find a VPN that has a clear data logging policy.

Bottom line: Hotspot VPN is a great, uncomplicated VPN for everyday use, and so we recommend it.

User Reviews

Jay is very happy with Hotspot Shield:

“I have been using Hotspot Shield for almost 2 years and I couldn't be happier. I get access to all my favorite BBC content as well as US Netflix without issues. Anytime, I have any issues, their support team gets back to me the same day to resolve my issues.”

Mirkual Sen likes the service but recommends that you buy the Elite package:

“As a Hotspot Shield user, I can tell you that if you are going to spend more time using the VPN, then buy the elite subscription because the connection is super fast and you have a wide variety of locations. If you spend very little time using VPN then go with the free plan.”

Sam has only good things to say about Hotspot Shield:

“Elite customer here. One important thing about Hotspot Shield is that it's fast, like super fast. I feel it even enhances my connection because when I stream videos, the stream is faster and more stable than the direct speed.”