Hotspot Shield Review 2025

Hotspot Shield Pricing

Hotspot Shield has a free and a paid version, so we’ll cover each one separately.

Free Version

Hotspot Shield offers one of the best free Windows VPNs with unlimited data. There are no speed limits either. It even includes some advanced features like split-tunneling, an automatic kill switch, and their proprietary Hydra protocol. However, you can only connect to one virtual location instead of the 125+ locations available to premium subscribers.

Our experience wasn’t as good on mobile devices. We had to watch video ads after opening the app and every time we connected or disconnected from the server. The free plan also limits mobile speeds to 2 Mbps, which is only good for general browsing or checking email.

Paid Version

We recommend upgrading to Hotspot Shield’s premium plan. You get an ad-free experience on mobiles and access to all 125+ servers. These servers are optimized for streaming and torrenting. Plus, you can have up to ten simultaneous connections.

You can choose between monthly or annual subscriptions. As with virtually every VPN provider, committing to a longer subscription period comes with a discount. Here’s a quick overview of its prices:

Hotspot Shield’s monthly rate aligns with industry standards, but the annual plan is well above industry norms. Surfshark’s annual plan averages out to $3.19 per month and Private Internet Access’ annual plan costs $3.33 per month. We will say, we appreciate Hotspot Shield’s generous 45-day money-back guarantee. Most VPNs give their customers only 30 days to cancel and request a refund.

Hotspot Shield Features

To make everything straightforward, we decided to split Hotspot Shield’s main features in three separate categories:

• Privacy features. This is where we’ll cover everything related to how the VPN protects your online privacy. For example, how it handles logging, if it provides access to a kill switch, and if there are any built-in features that protect your privacy (like double VPN support, for example).
• Security features. In this section, we’ll discuss what kinds of encryption ciphers and VPN protocols the service uses to protect your internet traffic. We’ll also mention if the VPN comes with any built-in features that protect you from online threats — like an ad blocker, for instance.
• Servers, streaming, and torrenting. This part will cover everything related to the VPN’s server network, specifically in how many countries the VPN has servers in. We’ll also check if the VPN works with popular streaming services, and if it allows torrenting on its servers.

Hotspot Shield Privacy Features

Highlights: 

• “No-logs” policy
• Independently audited privacy policy
• Kill switch

According to Hotspot Shield’s no-logs policy, the company doesn’t log your browsing traffic or IP address. It does record when your account connects to a Hotspot Shield server and how much data you transferred while connected. That data can’t compromise your privacy and collecting it is standard practice across the VPN industry.

The latest third-party audit to confirm Hotspot Shield’s no-logs policy was in 2023. That bolsters our trust in their claims. However, true transparency requires ongoing verification, not one-time checks. All of the best no-logs VPNs, including NordVPN, Surfshark, and Private Internet Access, undergo annual audits at a minimum.

>> Compare: Surfshark vs. Hotspot Shield

Kill Switch

All of Hotspot Shield’s apps provide built-in access to a kill switch. This is a privacy feature that disconnects you from the internet if your VPN connection drops. This way, you don’t accidentally share data with the web while your internet traffic isn’t encrypted. We’re happy to see this, as we think a kill switch is a necessary privacy feature, which any good VPN should have.

Unfortunately, Hotspot Shield’s kill switch is basic by comparison. For example, all of NordVPN’s plans include an application-level kill switch. It allows you to specify which programs shut down if the VPN fails. There’s also an “always-on” mode that blocks all internet access unless you’re connected to their servers. You can learn more about how these granular controls can improve your privacy in our full NordVPN review.

>> Find Out More: NordVPN vs. Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield Security Features

Highlights: 

• Very secure encryption and VPN protocols
• Obfuscation
• Anti-phishing protection

Let’s take a closer look at the VPN protocols Hotspot Shield uses and the level of encryption in the apps. We’ll also assess features that secure your connection, like obfuscation and anti-phishing protection.

Encryption & VPN Protocols

Hotspot Shield provides access to the following VPN protocols:

• Hydra: This is Hotspot Shield’s proprietary protocol. The VPN based it on OpenVPN but made improvements to increase its speeds by up to 2.4 times, according to the company. Hydra also proved great for obfuscation and can use both AES-128 (default) and AES-256 encryption standards. We recommend using this protocol for all online activities since it was really fast in our tests, as well as for bypassing VPN blocks.
• WireGuard: This VPN protocol uses the ChaCha20 encryption cipher, which is more or less just as secure as the AES encryption cipher. WireGuard is very lightweight, so it’s able to provide very fast connection speeds. We tested its speeds for this review, and it was just as fast as the Hydra protocol. That’s why we mainly recommend using WireGuard if you’re experiencing connectivity issues with Hydra.
• IKEv2/IPSec:While slower than Hydra and WireGuard, this protocol still delivers solid performance. Hotspot Shield implements it with AES-256 encryption for maximum security. We find it works best for mobile devices as it’s fairly resistant to network changes. That keeps your connection stable when switching between Wi-Fi and cellular data.
  

Hotspot Shield doesn’t provide access to OpenVPN like other top VPNs, but we don’t think this is a huge drawback. Like we already mentioned, the Hydra protocol is based on OpenVPN, and it provides a similar level of security.

Obfuscation

Hotspot Shield automatically obfuscates VPN traffic when you use the Hydra protocol. This is a security feature that adds an extra layer of obfuscation encryption to your VPN connection. This makes the VPN connection look like a regular internet connection.

Obfuscation would help you bypass VPN blocks on school or workplace networks, or in restrictive countries like China. We also checked with five different Hotspot Shield live chat reps, and they all confirmed that their users in China are able to circumvent government censorship via the Hydra protocol.

>> More Reading: The 3 Best VPNs That Can Work in China

Anti-Phishing Protection

When you’re connected to Hotspot Shield, it automatically protects you against online threats like dangerous websites, for example. Basically, if you accidentally access an unsafe site, Hotspot Shield will warn you about it. You don’t need to enable any settings, as this is turned on by default and can’t be disabled.

To put it to the test, we deliberately visited over a dozen known phishing sites and sketchy HTTP pages. The VPN flagged every single one with clear warnings before we could proceed. This real-time protection adds a valuable safety net to your browsing.

What’s missing is comprehensive ad-blocking, a feature that’s become standard among premium VPNs. When we tested NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro, it eliminated advertisements across most websites. It even blocked YouTube video ads, something most ad-blockers struggle with.

Hotspot Shield Servers, Streaming & Torrenting

Highlights: 

• Over 3,200 servers in 85 countries
• Dedicated servers for streaming, gaming, and social media
• Servers in over 15 U.S. states
• Works with over 10 popular streaming sites
• Allows torrenting on all servers

This is where we’ll cover the size of Hotspot Shield’s server network, tell you about our experience with using the VPN while streaming, and discuss the VPN’s torrenting support.

Server Network

Hotspot Shield operates an extensive network of over 1,800 servers across 85 countries. While reviewing their server locations, we found their placement focuses on high-demand regions rather than sheer numbers. That’s why most users won’t notice the lower country count compared to NordVPN (127 countries) or Surfshark (100 countries).

We also noticed a few specialized servers while using Hotspot Shield’s apps:

• Streaming servers: These servers are specifically optimized to work better with streaming services. Hotspot Shield has streaming servers in the U.S. and the U.K.
• Gaming servers: It also has U.S. and U.K. servers that are optimized for gaming. We tested them while playing Roblox and Fortnite, and we had stable ping and didn’t experience lag. However, we also had the same experience with the regular VPN servers.
• Social media servers: The live chat reps told us that these servers should be used if you’re experiencing connectivity issues while trying to use social media apps via regular servers.

RAM-Based Servers

Hotspot Shield doesn’t have RAM-only servers. We prefer these VPN servers because they are wiped clean whenever a server is shut down. While Hotspot Shield doesn’t collect a lot of user data, any data it does collect is stored on hard drive, which doesn’t get wiped when the server is powered down.

While this isn’t exactly a deal-breaker, it’s a shame that Hotspot Shield doesn’t have this feature. Most top VPNs already transitioned to only using RAM-only servers. The list includes NordVPN, Private Internet Access, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and more.

Streaming

Hotspot Shield made our list of the best VPNs for streaming in 2025 for a few reasons. While all of its servers can access major streaming sites, there are also dedicated streaming servers in the US and UK. These servers regularly refresh their IP addresses, making it hard for streaming services to block them. We found that the streaming servers could reliably connect to major streaming sites.

During our streaming tests, Hotspot Shield successfully unblocked Netflix, Max, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and Crunchyroll. However, Disney+ consistently detected the VPN use and blocked access. If you’re a Disney fan, consider NordVPN or Surfshark instead. They both reliably bypassed Disney+’s VPN block and made our list of the best Disney+ VPNs.

Another notable absence is Smart DNS functionality. This lets you stream on VPN-incompatible devices like PlayStation or Xbox consoles. While not essential for everyone, it’s a convenient feature that we’re seeing from most premium competitors, including NordVPN, Surfshark, and Private Internet Access.

>> Read More: Surfshark vs. Hotspot Shield

Torrenting

We think Hotspot Shield provides good torrenting support. It allows P2P downloads on all of its servers, which is great. That makes it very easy for users to torrent on nearby server locations, so that they can enjoy fast P2P speeds.

That said, if you’re mainly interested in torrenting, we recommend using Private Internet Access instead. It supports P2P on all servers just like Hotspot Shield, but also provides support for port forwarding and SOCKS5 proxy connections. Both of those features are important for torrenting, as they boost your P2P speeds.

>> Read More: The Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2025

Hotspot Shield Speed & Leak Tests

In addition to all of the features mentioned above, we tested how fast Hotspot Shield is for browsing the web, streaming, torrenting, and gaming. Plus, we ran tons of leak tests to make sure the VPN is completely safe to use.

Hotspot Shield Speed Tests

Hotspot Shield dominates the speed category in our official VPN speed tests. It holds the crown for fastest downloads. Our connection speed decreased by a mere three percent — essentially imperceptible during real-world use. We streamed 4K HDR content smoothly, torrented large files rapidly, and maintained competitive ping times in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Upload speeds tell a different story. A 15 GB video file that normally uploads to Google Drive in 10 minutes stretched to 35 minutes with Hotspot Shield active. Similar delays plagued our YouTube channel uploads. While Hotspot Shield remains among the fastest VPNs we’ve tested, we recommend content creators and remote workers regularly uploading large files to consider alternatives.

Hotspot Shield Leak Tests

Hotspot Shield claims to provide built-in protection against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. For reference, IPv6 and WebRTC leaks can reveal your real IP address while you’re connected to a VPN and using browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. And DNS leaks allow your ISP to see what sites you’re browsing even though you’re using a VPN.

We put Hotspot Shield through rigorous leak testing using the ipleak.netTo make sure Hotspot Shield is completely safe to use, we used the ipleak.net tool.1 Out of the 60 different server locations we tested, not a single IP, DNS, or WebRTC leak was detected. This rock-solid protection held true on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. That’s why we have no doubts about Hotspot Shield’s security.

>> Find Out More: How to Check If a VPN Is Working

Hotspot Shield User Experience

Hotspot Shield has VPN apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, as well as a browser extension for Chrome. On smart TVs, Hotspot Shield is available for Fire TVs and Android TVs. The VPN also supports manual setups on various router models and firmware, like DD-WRT, Asuswrt, and FreshTomato.

Like NordVPN, Hotspot Shield also allows up to 10 simultaneous connections. This should be enough for most households. If you need more, we recommend checking out the best multi-device VPNs like Surfshark or Private Internet Access as they offer unlimited simultaneous connections.

Setting up Hotspot Shield across our test devices was straightforward. We used a Windows desktop, MacBook Pro, Android phone, iPad, and Android TV. The interface remains consistent across platforms, and connecting to specific servers takes just seven seconds on average. We just wish there was a quick-connect button that automatically selects the fastest server. That’s what kept Hotspot Shield off our list of the best VPNs for iPads.

On the plus side, we like how most of Hotspot Shield’s apps provide access to split-tunneling. This is a feature that lets you choose which apps and sites use the VPN connection, and which don’t.

Hotspot Shield Customer Support

Hotspot Shield’s customer support exceeded our expectations. Their comprehensive knowledge base contains detailed guides for everything from basic setup to advanced troubleshooting. For personal help, premium subscribers get access to a 24/7 live chat. Free users must rely on email tickets that can take up to 48 hours for responses.

The support library truly shines with its depth and clarity. Beyond standard FAQs, you’ll find illustrated tutorials, troubleshooting flowcharts, and platform-specific guides. The inclusion of annotated screenshots makes following instructions foolproof, even for less tech-savvy users.

Live chat consistently impressed us with sub-10-second connection times. Their knowledgeable agents provided accurate, helpful responses. We felt they took the time to understand our specific issues and offer tailored solutions instead of just copy-paste generic answers. What more can you ask for?

Email support proved less consistent. Response times varied wildly. One query received a detailed answer within five hours, while another waited for nearly 48 hours before getting attention. When responses did arrive, they were thorough and accurate. However, the unpredictable wait times make this option unsuitable for urgent issues.