From AnchorFree to Point Wild: the companies that own Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield belongs to Point Wild, an American holding formed in December 2024. Three corporate names still circulate around it: the website copyright credits Anchorfree, LLC, the developer that created the product, Pango is listed as the publisher, and the parent recorded in VPNRadarLab data is Pango / Aura. Registration is in the USA, so the service falls under the 5 Eyes alliance.

The names on the paperwork: Anchorfree, LLC, Pango and Aura

Every one of those names fills its own role. Anchorfree, LLC is the original legal entity still named in the copyright line. Pango is the operating brand customers actually deal with. Aura is the consumer security company that bought the business in 2020, held it for four years, and released it again; that is the reason both names show up in company records.

Twenty years in five steps: from a 2005 startup to Point Wild

Early on the brand made a name for itself: during the Arab Spring protests of 2010–2011 the free app was widely used to reach blocked social networks. Aura's split announcement covers the brands that moved over to Pango Group. The merger notice from Point Wild lists Hotspot Shield as one of the brands of the new holding; it is available here.

Why Aura and Pango still appear together

The 2024 separation was a tax-free spin-off, not a sale to an outsider: at the moment of the split, Pango Group had the same shareholders as Aura. Hari Ravichandran is founder and CEO of Aura and also founder and CEO of Point Wild.

Betternet, Touch VPN and VPN 360: sibling VPNs

Point Wild runs more than one VPN, and switching between the free mobile apps does not change the company you pay.

The Pango brands page groups the smaller apps, and both cards list Pango Group as parent. The same owner sells antivirus and identity protection as well, so moving from one app to another leaves your payments inside a single family of products.

What the Premium bundle reveals about the corporate ties

The paid plan doubles as a record of the group's past. The antivirus included in Premium for Windows and Mac carries the Aura name, a leftover of the Aura years. The bundled password manager is 1Password, and that one is a partner product rather than a subsidiary. Spam call blocking runs on Robo Shield in the US and Canada and on Hiya everywhere else. Older Premium versions included Identity Guard, which traces back to the identity product where Aura began.

A US company in a 5 Eyes country

Membership of the 5 Eyes alliance earns the service zero of two points on the alliance criterion, which is one of the reasons the privacy sub-score sits at 3.0 of 10; the public incident penalty and several unpublished items take the rest. Overall Hotspot Shield scores 3.94 of 10, 44th of 377 in the ranking. The red flag traces to the 2017 complaint the Center for Democracy and Technology filed with the FTC over how the free app collected data, back when AnchorFree ran the show. The record also contains a review of the privacy policy by Aon from August 2023; no server inspection is on file.

Hotspot Shield ownership FAQ

Is Hotspot Shield owned by Aura?

Not anymore. Aura held it via Pango until the September 2024 split; the VPN then stayed with Pango Group, the company now called Point Wild, which is led by Aura's founder and whose shareholders matched Aura's at the time of the spin-off.

Is Hotspot Shield a Russian or Israeli company?

No. One co-founder had a Moscow birthplace and grew up in California, but AnchorFree was American from the start. Reviews claiming an Israeli parent are not supported by the official releases.

Are Hotspot Shield and Betternet the same company?

They are separate apps under a single owner. Both moved together from Aura into Pango Group and on into Point Wild.

Who is the CEO behind Hotspot Shield?

Hari Ravichandran, founder and CEO of Aura, heads Point Wild, the holding that today owns the VPN.