Hotspot Shield VPN review: polished apps, a US owner and a steep second-year bill
out of 10#44 of 377 in the main ranking
Consumer VPN median 2.6
- Consumer VPN
- Jurisdiction:USA, 5 Eyes
- Owner:Pango / Aura
- Data completeness100%
- Checked2026-10-15
- Independent no-logs audit: ✓ Yes
- Free plan
Red flag: Public security incident. A red flag caps the score at 6.0.
In 10 seconds
Strongest against its segment
- Platforms and support8.1 vs 4.3
- Network and streaming6.8 vs 3.1
- Security and protocols3.6 vs 2.1
Weakest against its segment
- Price and fair terms3.7 vs 3.5
- Privacy and jurisdiction3.0 vs 2.7
- Censorship bypass1.9 vs 0.5
- Renewal price is 3.3× the first term
- Jurisdiction in the 5 Eyes alliance
- Ads in the free plan
- Auto-renewal on by default
- Public security incident
How the score adds up
Six sub-scores, each against the median of Consumer VPN services in the main ranking (233 services). Open a line to see which published facts earned points and which were missing or not disclosed.
Hotspot Shieldsegment median
-
Privacy and jurisdiction30% of the score · segment median 2.73.0
What earned points
- No-logs policy +2
- Independent no-logs audit +3
- No-logs confirmed in court +1
- Warrant canary +1
- Transparency report +1
- Sign-up without email +1.5
- Account number sign-up +0.5
- Stores connection IP (penalty) −3
- Public incident (penalty) −2
-
Security and protocols20% of the score · segment median 2.13.6
What earned points
- Kill switch +2
- DNS leak protection +1.5
- RAM-only servers +1
- Post-quantum encryption +1
- Perfect forward secrecy +0.5
- Security audit +2
- Open-source clients +1.5
- 2FA +1
- Multi-hop +1
- Bug bounty +1
- Only PPTP / L2TP (penalty) −2
-
Price and fair terms15% of the score · segment median 3.53.7
What earned points
- Free plan +1.5
- Free trial +1
- Trial without a card +1
- Crypto payments +1
- Cash payments +0.5
-
Censorship bypass15% of the score · segment median 0.51.9
What earned points
- Stealth / obfuscation +2
- VLESS / Reality +1.5
- Trojan +1
- Hysteria2 +1
- Shadowsocks +1
- AmneziaWG +1
- obfs4 +0.5
- TUIC +0.5
- NaiveProxy +0.5
- Mirrors or Telegram channel +0.5
- VoIP in the UAE (claimed) +0.5
- Manual configs +0.5
-
Network and streaming10% of the score · segment median 3.16.8
What earned points
- 10 Gbps servers +1
- Dedicated IP +0.5
- Port forwarding +0.5
- MENA locations +0.5
- Torrenting allowed +1
-
Platforms and support10% of the score · segment median 4.38.1
What earned points
- Routers +1
- Browser extensions +0.5
- Split tunneling +1
- Ad / tracker blocker +1
- 24/7 live chat +2
- live chat +0.5
- Support on Telegram +0.5
- Status page +0.5
Hotspot Shield pricing
From €1.71 a month, ×3.3 at renewal
- Monthly plan: €1.71
- 6 plans published · market median €3.13 a month
Everything Hotspot Shield publishes
Every fact we collected about Hotspot Shield, as the provider and reviewers state it. Empty fields are left out; key fields we could not find say “Not stated”. “Partial”: only on some platforms, servers or plans.
Company
- Legal entity
- Anchorfree, LLC (copyright line); publisher Pango
- Registered in
- USA
- Parent company
- Pango / Aura
- Related brands
- Aura
- Pango
- 1Password (partner)
- Identity Guard
- Robo Shield
- Hiya
- Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
- 5
- Website languages
- EN
- DE
- FR
- RU
- AR
- FA
- TR
- VI
- ZH
- JA
- KO
- PT
- ES
- Currencies on the site
- USD ($)
Plans, prices and add-ons
- Plans
- Basic (free)
- Plus
- Premium
- Premium Family
- Billing terms
- 1 year (annual billing)
- Cheapest price a month
- $2.42
- Monthly plan
- 1.99 (intro first month; renews $12.99/mo)
- 1-year plan, total
- $29.00
- 1-year plan, a month
- $2.42
- 2-year plan, total
- No
- Lifetime plan
- No
- Renewal
- Premium intro $29 first year, auto-renews at $95.99/year; turn off auto-renew in account
- Family plan
- Yes Premium Family: up to 5 members, 25 devices
- Prices seen from other countries
- USD: Premium yearly intro $29/yr (renews $95.99/yr)
- Premium monthly intro $1.99/mo (renews $12.99/mo)
- Free basic
- 45-day risk-free
- Double VPN add-on
- No
- Antivirus
- Yes included in Premium (Aura Antivirus, Win/Mac)
- Password manager
- Yes included (1Password)
- eSIM
- No
- Identity protection
- Identity Guard (older Premium)
- Cloud storage
- No
- Other add-ons
- spam call blocker (Robo Shield US/CA, Hiya elsewhere)
Discounts and programmes
- Discount shown
- 30% (Plus), 38% (Premium), 40% (Family) in older version
- Sale running when checked
- promo countdown on home page
- Student discount
- Not stated
- Discount for crypto payment
- No
- Bonus months
- No
- Affiliate programme
- Yes /affiliates/
Limits and restrictions
- Devices at once
- 10 (Premium latest)
- 5 (Plus)
- 25 (Family)
- 1 (free)
- Data limit
- unlimited (paid); 500 MB/day (free)
- Speed limit
- free: 2 Mbps
- Torrenting / P2P policy
- Yes P2P use mentioned on home page
- Streaming restrictions
- free: limited streaming
- Features locked to higher plans
- locations, speed, extras by tier
Free plan
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free data
- No 500 MB/day (watch ads on mobile for more)
- Free speed
- up to 2 Mbps
- Free locations
- 1 (US, virtual)
- Free devices
- 1
- Ads in the free plan
- Yes ads on mobile
- Other free plan terms
- limited streaming; no 24/7 chat
Payment and subscription
- Payment methods
- credit/debit cards; PayPal (review)
- Bank card
- Yes review
- PayPal
- Yes review
- Cryptocurrency
- No review
- Cash
- Not stated
- Gift cards
- Not stated
- Auto-renewal by default
- Yes
- How to cancel
- turn off auto-renewal in account
- Email needed to sign up
- Not stated
- Account-number login
- Not stated
- Identity check (KYC)
- No
- Money-back guarantee, days
- 45
- Refund conditions
- full refund within 45 days of enrollment, direct purchases (no questions asked)
Free trial terms
- Trial length
- No
- Instead of a trial
- free Basic + 45-day money-back
- Card needed for the trial
- Not stated
Server locations
- Countries
- 80+
- Servers
- 1,800+ (locations page); 800+ fast VPN servers (plan page)
- Cities
- 35+
- Server countries
- Not stated
- Middle East and North Africa
- AE
- EG
- IL
- TR
- DZ (+PK) — locations page
- called virtual locations on plan page
- Virtual locations
- Yes 115+/125+ virtual locations
- Port speed
- up to 1 Gbps
- P2P servers
- Not stated
- Obfuscated servers
- Yes traffic obfuscation
Network features
- RAM-only servers
- Not stated
- IPv6
- Not stated
- Dedicated IP
- Not stated
- Static IP
- Not stated
- Residential IP
- Not stated
- Double VPN / multi-hop
- No
- Tor over VPN
- No
- SOCKS5 proxy
- Not stated
- Smart DNS
- Not stated
Protocols and encryption
- WireGuard(Win, Mac, Android, iOS) (review)✓ Yes
- OpenVPN✓ Yes
- IKEv2IPSec listed✓ Yes
- L2TP/IPsecNot stated
- SSTPNot stated
- SoftEther✕ No
- Own protocolHydra (patented)✓ Yes
- VLESS / Reality✕ No
- VMess✕ No
- Trojan✕ No
- Shadowsocks✕ No
- Hysteria2✕ No
- TUIC✕ No
- NaiveProxy✕ No
- obfs4✕ No
- AmneziaWG✕ No
- Encryption
- military-grade
- Perfect forward secrecy
- Not stated
- Post-quantum encryption
- Not stated
- Manual configuration files
- No
- Open-source apps
- No
Censorship and blocking
- Obfuscation (stealth mode)
- Yes Traffic Obfuscation listed in Premium
- Countries it claims to work in
- No explicit censorship claim
- Mirror sites or Telegram channel
- Not stated
- Calls in the UAE
- Not stated
Security
- Kill switch
- Yes
- DNS leak protection
- Yes
- Split tunnelling
- Yes (Win/Mac apps+sites; Android; iOS sites only) (review)
- Ad and malware blocker
- Yes antivirus in Premium
- Two-factor sign-in
- Not stated
- Security audits
- Not stated
- Bug bounty
- Not stated
- Known incidents
- Yes 2017 CDT complaint to FTC alleging user data collection (press reports, search results)
Privacy
- No-logs policy
- Yes does not log data that could be tied to users
- Independent no-logs audit
- Yes
- Trackers on the website
- Yes Your Privacy Choices, Do not sell
- Transparency report
- Not stated
- Warrant canary
- Not stated
- Anonymous sign-up
- Not stated
What the privacy policy says is collected
Yes: collected. No: not collected. Partial: kept briefly or only in part. Not stated: the policy does not say.
- Connection IPplaintext IP logging found (Aon 2023 review)✓ No
- Session timesNot stated
Apps and devices
- Windows✓ Yes
- macOS✓ Yes
- Linux(CLI) (review)✓ Yes
- iOS✓ Yes
- Android✓ Yes
- Android TVTV✓ Yes
- Fire TVNot stated
- Apple TVNot stated
- ChromebookNot stated
- Smart TV✓ Yes
- RoutersNot stated
- NASNot stated
- Raspberry PiNot stated
- Game consolesNot stated
- Browser extensions
- Chrome
Speed, streaming and gaming
- Claimed speed
- 'world's fastest VPN', up to 2.2x faster
- 10 Gbps servers
- Not stated
- Fastest protocol (claimed)
- Hydra
- Netflix
- Netflix named
- BBC iPlayer
- Not stated
- Disney+
- Yes
- Prime Video
- Yes
- Gaming features
- Yes gaming use cited
- Torrenting
- Yes P2P use cited
Support
- Live chat
- Yes paid; 24/7 chat not in free
- Live chat 24/7
- Yes paid, implied
- Email / tickets
- Yes Contact Us
- Phone
- Not stated
- Telegram
- Not stated
- Not stated
- Help articles
- Yes support.hotspotshield.com
- Server status page
- Not stated
For teams and business
- SSO / SAML
- Not stated
- Admin panel
- Not stated
- Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
- Not stated
What users say
Reviews never change our score. Ratings are smoothed: a source’s average across all VPNs counts as 50 extra reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank thousands.
-
Trustpilot
3.88 of 5, smoothed
From 200 collected reviews (raw average 3.94; all VPNs 3.66). Last 90 days: 2.67 from 3.
The company replied to 43 of 49 negative reviews (1–2 stars).
-
App Store
3.83 of 5, smoothed
From 2432 collected reviews (raw average 3.83; all VPNs 3.54). Last 90 days: 4.16 from 310.
-
Google Play
3.53 of 5, smoothed
From 800 collected reviews (raw average 3.51; all VPNs 3.90). Last 90 days: 3.31 from 302.
The company replied to 276 of 277 negative reviews (1–2 stars).
Ratings shown on the platforms themselves: Trustpilot TrustScore 3.4 (768 reviews); App Store (US) 4.58 (362514 ratings); Google Play 4.5 (1.63M ratings).
Reviews per month, last 12 months
49 Reddit and forum threads mention Hotspot Shield (titles and search snippets only).
Questions about Hotspot Shield
Answers built from what Hotspot Shield publishes. Open a question to read the details.
Hotspot Shield earns 3.94 out of 10 at VPNRadarLab, rank 44 among 377 services and well above the 2.6 consumer median. It suits buyers who want polished apps on every device and will cancel before renewal; it fits badly for anyone whose priority is privacy law or beating censorship.
What it gets right and where it falls short
| Works in its favour | Holds it back |
|---|---|
| Apps for desktop, phones, TVs, plus Chrome | US owner under 5 Eyes jurisdiction |
| Hydra and WireGuard, kill switch, DNS protection | One counted censorship tool, nothing DPI-resistant |
| 45-day refund with no questions asked | Yearly plan renews at 3.3× the intro price |
| Ten devices per Premium account | Red flag from the 2017 FTC complaint |
Why a 3.94 when platforms and network score high
| Area | Weight | Hotspot Shield | Consumer median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy and jurisdiction | 30% | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| Security | 20% | 3.6 | 2.1 |
| Price and fair terms | 15% | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| Censorship bypass | 15% | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| Network and streaming | 10% | 6.8 | 3.1 |
| Platforms and support | 10% | 8.1 | 4.3 |
The two best marks, 8.1 for platforms and 6.8 for the network, together decide only a fifth of the total. Privacy carries 30%, and there the service sits at 3.0, barely above the median: that is what pins the overall score down. Every area clears the consumer median, yet the heaviest area is one of the weakest. Scores reflect published facts only; VPNRadarLab runs no speed or unblocking tests.
Logging, the Aon review and the 2017 red flag
Pango / Aura owns the brand from the USA, so the surveillance-alliance item earns nothing. The no-logs promise, worded as not keeping data that could be tied to users, was reviewed by Aon in August 2023, the single biggest privacy item on the card; the review found no plaintext record of connection IPs. The provider does not publish whether timestamps are kept, a warrant canary, a transparency report or email-free signup, and VPNRadarLab has no record of the no-logs policy being proven in court. The 2017 complaint by the CDT to the FTC, alleging collection of user data, triggers a red flag that caps any score at 6.0 (this one is already below it) and costs 2 privacy points. If you wonder whether Hotspot Shield is safe to use, VPNRadarLab's safety breakdown covers the audit and the complaint.
Hydra, WireGuard and thin censorship coverage
Hydra is the house protocol, marketed as fastest; WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec are also in the apps, along with a kill switch and DNS leak protection. Nothing open-source, no multi-hop, and no published record of RAM-only servers, an app audit, 2FA or a bug bounty. Against censorship the only counted tool is Traffic Obfuscation, and only in Premium: no VLESS Reality, Trojan, Shadowsocks, Hysteria2 or manual configs. On a network with strict DPI, that is a thin toolkit.
Basic, Premium and the second-year bill
Basic gives 500 MB a day (more on mobile with ads), 2 Mbps, one virtual US location and one device: fine for hotel Wi-Fi, limited for streaming. Premium yearly starts at $29 ($2.42 a month, shown by VPNRadarLab as €2.08), then renews at $95.99, the 3.3× jump that takes the full renewal penalty. Monthly is $1.99 for the first month and $12.99 after. Auto-renewal is on by default; switch it off in the account. Premium includes Aura Antivirus for Windows and Mac and 24/7 live chat, while Hotspot Shield lists 1Password and a spam call blocker as add-ons without naming a plan for them. No free trial exists, so Basic plus the 45-day refund stand in for one, and payment is card or PayPal only. All plans and their real costs are on the full pricing page.
Network, streaming and where it ranks
The provider lists 80+ countries, 1,800+ servers and 115+/125+ virtual locations; the locations include the UAE, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Algeria, which the plan page labels as virtual. Ports run up to 1 Gbps. The provider claims Netflix (regions unspecified), Disney+ and Prime Video work, and P2P use is mentioned by the provider. VPNRadarLab places it 2nd of 27 for Persian-language apps, 3rd of 13 free smart-TV VPNs, 5th of 33 for Prime Video and 6th of 35 for Disney+. User ratings (Trustpilot 3.4, App Store 4.58, Google Play 4.5) do not affect the score.
Hotspot Shield questions
Can I use Hotspot Shield without paying?
Yes, Basic is free, but the daily cap and single location make it a backup, not a primary VPN.
Can Hotspot Shield be trusted?
The privacy policy passed an Aon review, though the US base and the 2017 complaint weigh against full confidence.
How many devices does one subscription cover?
Ten on Premium, twenty-five on Premium Family, one on Basic.
Does Hotspot Shield take crypto?
No; cards and PayPal only, with no identity check.
Who should pay for Hotspot Shield
Buy it for household convenience: ten devices, TV apps, split tunnelling and chat support on one account. Look elsewhere if censorship resistance or jurisdiction drives your choice; the alternatives ranking lists services with higher scores.
In our rankings
Hotspot Shield appears on 271 topic pages. Its place on each:
- VPNs in Persian#2 of 27
- Family plans + ad blocker#3 of 19
- Free VPNs for Smart TV#3 of 13
- Smart TV VPNs for Netflix#3 of 15
- Family plans + 24/7 live chat#4 of 12
- Torrenting + family plan#4 of 10
- Cheap family VPNs#5 of 17
- Family plans, 50+ countries#5 of 13
- VPNs for Prime Video#5 of 33
- Family plans with money-back#5 of 22
- No-logs VPNs with a family plan#6 of 31
- Family plans with OpenVPN#6 of 22
Show all 271
- Android TV VPNs for Netflix#6 of 18
- Chrome VPN extensions for Netflix#6 of 24
- VPNs for Disney+#6 of 35
- Netflix claims + 24/7 live chat#6 of 32
- Netflix claims, 50+ countries#6 of 32
- Netflix claims + ad blocker#6 of 31
- Netflix claims + money-back guarantee#6 of 50
- Torrenting + Netflix claims#6 of 39
- Family plans with kill switch#6 of 22
- Family plans#7 of 42
- Gaming VPNs#7 of 106
- iPhone VPNs for Netflix#7 of 85
- Linux VPNs for Netflix#7 of 49
- Mac VPNs for Netflix#7 of 83
- Windows VPNs for Netflix#7 of 83
- Torrenting, 50+ countries#7 of 33
- Torrenting + ad blocker#7 of 30
- Torrenting + money-back guarantee#7 of 52
- VPNs for calls in the UAE#7 of 62
- Obfuscated + family plan#8 of 17
- Free VPNs for Android TV#8 of 29
- Free Chrome VPN extensions#8 of 46
- Free VPNs for Mac#8 of 141
- VPNs for Netflix#8 of 97
- Cheap VPNs for Smart TV#8 of 24
- OpenVPN VPNs for Smart TV#8 of 27
- Obfuscated VPNs for Smart TV#8 of 23
- Torrenting + 24/7 live chat#8 of 31
- Middle East VPN servers#8 of 122
- WireGuard + family plan#8 of 24
- Free VPNs for Android#9 of 225
- Free VPNs for iPhone#9 of 178
- Free VPNs for Linux#9 of 65
- Free VPNs for Windows#9 of 131
- Smart TV VPNs with a kill switch#9 of 30
- Smart TV VPNs with 30-day refunds#9 of 35
- WireGuard VPNs for Smart TV#9 of 23
- VPNs for torrenting#9 of 107
- Kill switch VPNs that claim Netflix support#9 of 47
- Password manager#9 of 29
- Audited no-logs VPNs for torrenting#10 of 12
- VPNs for travel#10 of 57
- VPNs in 50+ countries#10 of 132
- Android TV VPNs for torrenting#10 of 28
- VPNs for Smart TV#10 of 47
- No-logs VPNs for Smart TV#10 of 38
- VPNs in Arabic#10 of 59
- VPNs in Chinese#10 of 84
- VPNs in Turkish#10 of 51
- US-based VPNs#10 of 107
- WireGuard VPNs claiming Netflix#10 of 30
- OpenVPN VPNs claiming Netflix#11 of 62
- VPNs in Japanese#11 of 54
- VPNs in Korean#11 of 39
- VPNs in Portuguese#11 of 61
- Largest networks#11 of 18
- VPNs for public Wi-Fi#11 of 159
- Free VPNs for Netflix#12 of 35
- Obfuscated VPNs claiming Netflix#12 of 33
- Android TV VPNs with ad blocking#12 of 30
- OpenVPN VPNs for Android TV#12 of 43
- VPNs in French#12 of 87
- VPNs in German#12 of 87
- VPNs in Spanish#12 of 87
- No-logs VPNs that claim Netflix support#13 of 78
- 24/7 live chat, 50+ countries#13 of 60
- Cheap VPNs for Android TV#13 of 36
- WireGuard VPNs for Android TV#13 of 45
- Cheap Chrome VPN extensions#13 of 39
- Mac VPNs for torrenting#13 of 92
- VPN with antivirus#13 of 45
- VPNs with the best apps#14 of 46
- Free audited no-logs VPNs#14 of 19
- Android TV VPNs with 30-day refunds#14 of 41
- Linux VPNs for torrenting#14 of 62
- Windows VPNs for torrenting#14 of 94
- Cheap audited VPNs#15 of 20
- Cheap VPNs for Netflix#15 of 46
- 24/7 live chat + ad blocker#15 of 48
- Obfuscated VPNs for Android TV#15 of 44
- Audited no-logs VPNs with 24/7 live chat#16 of 21
- Free VPNs for torrenting#16 of 37
- Chrome VPN extensions with ad blocking#16 of 38
- Cheap VPNs for Linux#16 of 77
- Audited VPNs with an ad blocker#17 of 20
- VPNs for Android TV#17 of 73
- Android TV VPNs with a kill switch#17 of 49
- Split tunneling VPNs for Android TV#17 of 48
- Chrome VPN extensions with money back#17 of 51
- Cheap VPNs for iPhone#17 of 149
- Linux VPNs with OpenVPN#17 of 125
- Cheap VPNs for Mac#17 of 137
- Mac VPNs with OpenVPN#17 of 198
- Cheap VPNs for Windows#17 of 136
- WireGuard VPNs for torrenting#17 of 43
- Audited VPNs with 50+ countries#18 of 23
- Monthly plans under €5#18 of 106
- Proprietary protocols#18 of 110
- OpenVPN VPNs for Android#18 of 219
- OpenVPN VPNs for iPhone#18 of 207
- Windows VPNs with OpenVPN#18 of 190
- Kill switch VPNs for torrenting#18 of 67
- Audited no-logs VPNs with OpenVPN support#19 of 24
- Cheap torrenting VPNs#19 of 41
- Free VPNs with ad blocking#19 of 58
- VPNs with live chat#19 of 120
- Chrome extensions#19 of 92
- No-logs Chrome VPN extensions#19 of 79
- Linux VPNs with ad blocking#19 of 62
- Obfuscated VPNs for Linux#19 of 97
- Mac VPNs with ad blocking#19 of 103
- Obfuscated VPNs for Mac#19 of 148
- Audited no-logs VPNs with obfuscated servers#20 of 23
- OpenVPN for torrenting#20 of 81
- Obfuscated VPNs for torrenting#20 of 43
- Ad blocker, 50+ countries#20 of 52
- iPhone VPNs with ad blocking#20 of 116
- Obfuscated VPNs for iPhone#20 of 151
- Linux VPNs with refunds#20 of 76
- Linux VPNs with WireGuard#20 of 100
- Mac VPNs with refunds#20 of 149
- Mac VPNs with WireGuard#20 of 149
- Windows VPNs with ad blocking#20 of 99
- Obfuscated VPNs for Windows#20 of 137
- Free VPNs with 24/7 chat#21 of 52
- IKEv2#21 of 133
- OpenVPN, 50+ countries#21 of 78
- OpenVPN + ad blocker#21 of 59
- WireGuard VPNs for iPhone#21 of 164
- Windows VPNs with refunds#21 of 155
- Windows VPNs with WireGuard#21 of 147
- Audited VPNs with a money-back guarantee#22 of 27
- Mac VPNs with split tunneling#22 of 113
- Kill switch VPNs with 24/7 live chat#22 of 77
- WireGuard + 24/7 live chat#22 of 60
- OpenVPN + 24/7 live chat#23 of 72
- All platforms#23 of 170
- Split tunneling VPNs for iPhone#23 of 125
- Linux VPNs with a kill switch#23 of 95
- Split tunneling VPNs for Linux#23 of 62
- Mac VPNs with a kill switch#23 of 162
- Windows VPNs with split tunneling#23 of 111
- Free OpenVPN VPNs#24 of 97
- iPhone VPNs with a kill switch#24 of 167
- VPNs for Linux#24 of 203
- No-logs VPNs for Linux#24 of 154
- VPNs for Mac#24 of 361
- No-logs VPNs for Mac#24 of 280
- Windows VPNs with a kill switch#24 of 161
- Free VPNs in 50+ countries#25 of 69
- Obfuscated + 24/7 live chat#25 of 59
- VPNs for Android#25 of 451
- No-logs VPNs for Android#25 of 328
- VPNs for iPhone#25 of 411
- No-logs VPNs for iPhone#25 of 314
- VPNs for Windows#25 of 357
- No-logs VPNs for Windows#25 of 267
- WireGuard, 50+ countries#25 of 71
- WireGuard + ad blocker#25 of 67
- Audited no-logs VPNs with WireGuard support#26 of 29
- Free WireGuard VPNs#26 of 87
- Audited no-logs VPNs with a kill switch#27 of 35
- Cheap VPNs with 24/7 chat#27 of 61
- Cheap ad-blocking VPNs#27 of 56
- Free obfuscated VPNs#27 of 111
- OpenVPN + money-back guarantee#27 of 100
- Obfuscated, 50+ countries#27 of 57
- Obfuscated + ad blocker#27 of 54
- WireGuard + money-back guarantee#27 of 87
- Audited no-logs VPNs#28 of 37
- Free VPNs with money back#28 of 64
- No-logs VPNs with 24/7 live chat#28 of 99
- Split tunneling#28 of 154
- Ad blocker#28 of 129
- Kill switch + ad blocker#28 of 70
- Money-back guarantee + 24/7 chat#28 of 76
- DNS leak protection#29 of 124
- Kill switch, 50+ countries#29 of 88
- Free VPNs with cheap upgrades#30 of 74
- Kill switch VPNs with OpenVPN support#30 of 133
- Kill switch VPNs with a money-back guarantee#30 of 115
- Money-back VPNs with an ad blocker#30 of 72
- Kill switch VPNs with obfuscated servers#31 of 92
- Money-back VPNs, 50+ countries#31 of 75
- Cheap VPNs in 50+ countries#32 of 59
- No-logs VPNs with an ad and tracker blocker#32 of 103
- Free VPNs for Bahrain#32 of 115
- Free VPNs for China#32 of 114
- Free VPNs for Egypt#32 of 111
- Free VPNs for India#32 of 111
- Free VPNs for Kuwait#32 of 115
- Free VPNs for Oman#32 of 115
- Free VPNs for Pakistan#32 of 111
- Free VPNs for Qatar#32 of 115
- Free VPNs for Saudi Arabia#32 of 115
- Free VPNs for Turkey#32 of 113
- Free VPNs for the UAE#32 of 118
- Cheap OpenVPN services#33 of 90
- Cheap obfuscated VPNs#33 of 68
- No-logs VPNs with servers in 50+ countries#33 of 116
- Obfuscated + money-back guarantee#33 of 69
- Free VPNs with a kill switch#34 of 82
- Cheap WireGuard VPNs#35 of 78
- 10+ devices#36 of 127
- Kill switch VPNs with WireGuard support#37 of 104
- WireGuard + OpenVPN#37 of 125
- Cheap VPNs with money-back#38 of 83
- Free no-logs VPNs#38 of 203
- No-logs VPNs with OpenVPN support#38 of 191
- Free VPNs#39 of 282
- Secure VPNs#39 of 142
- No-logs VPNs with obfuscated servers#40 of 150
- OpenVPN + obfuscated servers#40 of 104
- Cheap kill switch VPNs#42 of 84
- OpenVPN#42 of 242
- Kill switch#42 of 193
- No-logs VPNs with WireGuard support#43 of 159
- Pay with PayPal#44 of 211
- Windows VPNs for Bahrain#45 of 142
- Windows VPNs for China#45 of 151
- Windows VPNs for Egypt#45 of 137
- Windows VPNs for India#45 of 137
- Windows VPNs for Kuwait#45 of 142
- Windows VPNs for Oman#45 of 142
- Windows VPNs for Pakistan#45 of 137
- Windows VPNs for Qatar#45 of 142
- Windows VPNs for Saudi Arabia#45 of 142
- Windows VPNs for Turkey#45 of 140
- Windows VPNs for the UAE#45 of 144
- No IP logs#47 of 191
- Cheap no-logs VPNs#48 of 137
- Cheap VPNs under €3#49 of 167
- 30-day money-back guarantee#49 of 174
- Obfuscated WireGuard VPNs#49 of 103
- WireGuard VPNs#50 of 192
- iPhone VPNs for China#52 of 166
- iPhone VPNs for Egypt#52 of 151
- iPhone VPNs for the UAE#52 of 158
- No-logs VPNs#56 of 389
- Android VPNs for China#56 of 186
- Android VPNs for India#56 of 170
- Android VPNs for the UAE#56 of 181
- VPNs under €5#59 of 280
- Obfuscated VPNs#60 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Bahrain#60 of 200
- VPNs for travel to China#60 of 209
- VPNs for travel to Egypt#60 of 192
- VPNs for travel to India#60 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Kuwait#60 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Oman#60 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Pakistan#60 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Qatar#60 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Saudi Arabia#60 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Turkey#60 of 196
- VPNs for travel to the UAE#60 of 204
- Top VPNs on the App Store543 listed
- Top VPNs on Google Play543 listed
- Top VPNs on Trustpilot543 listed
- Worst VPNs543 listed
Cheaper with the same features
Higher score for the same money
Hotspot Shield compared
Owner and jurisdiction
Sources and changes
Collected 2026-10-15. No changes recorded since the first import.
- Website
- https://hotspotshield.com
- Pages checked
- https://www.hotspotshield.com; https://www.hotspotshield.com/select-plan/; (failed: /pricing/, legal.hotspotshield.com/documents/privacy_policy); WebSearch for privacy policy
- Other sources used
- price_1m/plans/card_required_for_trial/openvpn/ikev2/stealth_mode/obfuscated_servers/kill_switch/tor_over_vpn/dns_leak_protection/virtual_locations/smart_tv/port_speed/servers_count: https://www.hotspotshield.com/select-plan/; servers_count/mena_locations: https://www.hotspotshield.com/vpn-service/server-locations/; nologs_audit/security_audits/collects_connection_ip: https://www.hotspotshield.com/reports/Pango_HotSpot%20Shield_VPN_Privacy_Policy_Review_Summary_Report.pdf; payment_methods/card/paypal/crypto/wireguard/split_tunneling/linux: https://www.techradar.com/pro/vpn/hotspot-shield-vpn-review
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