Nowadays, Hotspot Shield’s core service holds more than 1,800 servers that stretch across over 80 countries and 115 cities across the globe. All of their servers are P2P-friendly and come with a built-in security suite sure to stop malware, stave off phishers, and keep you safe during your online ventures. They also provide a variety of apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, which means you can shield virtually all your devices with it. It’s no wonder Hotspot Shield is widely regarded as one of the best VPN services in the industry. But, let’s see if it really deserves this reputation in our complete and unbiased Hotspot Shield review.36 month plan - $2.49 per month ($89.64 total cost) (opens in new tab).When it comes to short-term plans, Hotspot Shield isn't typically the most budget-friendly choice, charging a hefty $9.99 per month on a rolling plan, and $7.99 per month on the 1-yearplan, which is better than nothing (we guess). However, Tom's Guide readers can claim a serious discount that drops the price to just $2.49 a month on the 3-year plan - quite a considerable saving. You can also trial the free VPN, which offers 500MB of data a day. Hotspot Shield uses the Hydra protocol for the most part (IKEv2 is also available), so there's no OpenVPN for the desktop apps. While privacy purists will likely mourn that loss and it not being an open source product, Catapult Hydra is still used by McAfee, Telefonica, Bitdefender, and plenty of other reputable companies, so we're pretty confident of its security.įortunately, though, there’s OpenVPN support available for routers, and the support website has useful instructions on how to get this up and running. In comparison with other leading VPNs, Hotspot Shield logs a little more user information, and while we're reassured that none of that can be traced back to the user, we're still awaiting an independent audit or (perhaps more so) a tightening up of the logging practices in general. In its glory days, Hotspot Shield's connection speed was its major selling point. Now, with the introduction of WireGuard across its competitors, Hotspot Shield has remained much the same while others have taken off. Still, its delivery of 400-410Mbps is both stable and sufficient for most online activities. Hotspot Shield's desktop apps are simple and user-friendly, and while they don't offer the same configuration as some rivals, they're a great choice for those who just want to get protected simply. However, the mobile apps aren't as great, and the iOS offering in particular lacks some useful features, but if all you need is quick anonymity, they're simple to use, stable and get the job done.Īs for customer support, it’s pretty much what you’d expect to get: live chat, email, and a knowledgebase. While we weren’t overly impressed by all written guides, unless you need a step-by-step walkthrough of something technical, that shouldn’t be an issue.Īll in all, Hotspot Shield is a fast, powerful VPN that's great for newbies and veterans alike, and while it lacks the configuration of some of its competitors, that won't matter to most users.
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