How to Get a Free Trial of Hotspot Shield Premium in 2024
Reading time: 13 min
Updated on May 01, 2023
Hotspot Shield is among the fastest VPNs out there, but it’s also one of the priciest. There is an entirely free version, but it has limited features and daily time limits. If you want unlimited bandwidth, full access to all servers, and ability to use the advanced Catapult Hydra encryption protocol, you’ll need to have Hotspot Shield Premium.
However, I found out that you can get full access to all of Hotspot Shield’s premium features with a free trial — I’ll explain how you can do this without being charged anything.
Plus — if you get Hotspot Shield Premium and then redeem the 45-day money-back guarantee, you can use the VPN for free for even longer.
Try Hotspot Shield Premium for free
Step-By-Step Guide: How to Get a Hotspot Shield Premium Free Trial
- Visit Hotspot Shield’s website and select “Get Hotspot Shield.” You’ll then need to download the right VPN client.
- Open the VPN. Click “Start your 7-day trial.”
- Enter your payment details. Then click “Continue” when prompted. You’ll not be charged until the 7-day free trial period ends.
- Click the activation link. You’ll find it in your email inbox. You can now use all the features of Hotspot Shield Premium.
To try and get you to pay upfront, the free trial link is hidden on Hotspot Shield’s website. To access it, follow these steps:
- Visit Hotspot Shield’s website and select “Get Hotspot Shield”
- After you’ve been redirected, download the right VPN client for your device and operating system
- After the VPN client finishes downloading, open the application
- Click “Start your 7-day trial”
- Fill in your payment details
- You won’t have to pay to use the free trial, but your account will be automatically billed after 7 days. To avoid entering your card details, you can sign into your PayPal account via the “PayPal” tab
- Create your account’s password when prompted
- Click “Continue” when the “Subscription Terms” pop-up appears
- Click the activation link in your confirmation email
- Now you can enjoy using your free trial of Hotspot Shield Premium for 7 days
How to Avoid Being Charged for Hotspot Shield
To avoid being charged for Hotspot Shield, you’ll need to do more than just uninstall the app. If you don’t cancel automatic billing, you’ll be charged the monthly fee when your 7-day free trial period ends. This money will be deducted from the bank account or PayPal account that you supplied when you signed up.
To avoid being charged, you’ll need to cancel your subscription within 7 days of signing up. Even if you do this immediately after you sign up, you’ll still be able to use the trial for the rest of the 7-day period.
Here’s how to cancel payments for Hotpot Shield Premium on Android:
- Open the Google Play app and select your profile icon
- Click “Payments and subscriptions”, then “Subscriptions”
- Choose the Hotspot Shield app and select “Cancel subscription,” then follow the onscreen instructions
To cancel payments for Hotspot Shield Premium on macOS or iOS:
- Open the App Store
- Click “Account Settings,” then “Subscriptions,” and then “Manage”
- Choose the Hotspot Shield app and select “Cancel Subscription”
Why Choose Hotspot Shield?
Key Features
- 1,800+ servers in 80+ countries
- 256-bit military-grade encryption, no-logs servers, and an automatic kill switch
- Unlimited bandwidth with no speed throttles
- Customer support options include 24/7 live chat, FAQs, and email
- Allows up to 10 simultaneous device connections
Unblocks Netflix, HBO Max, and Other Streaming Services
Hotspot Shield’s unblocking capabilities make it great for streaming. The premium version easily accessed content libraries on all of the popular platforms. It only took a few seconds to load an episode of Stranger Things on Netflix, and the whole episode played in HD without lag. Even in 4K, buffering only happened very briefly for 3-5 seconds at the start of the stream and 1-2 seconds in the middle of the show.
During tests, Hotspot Shield unblocked most streaming services reliably except for Amazon Prime Video. For this service, only the US content library is available. While connected to Hotspot Shield, I was able to access:
| Netflix | Hulu | Disney+ |
| HBO Max | BBC iPlayer | Amazon Prime US |
Fast Servers With Unlimited Bandwidth
Most Hotspot Shield servers have extremely fast connections, so you can stream HD video and play your favorite online games with minimal lag. When connected to local servers, I noticed only around 10% slowdown compared to base speeds, and around 50% when connected to an Australian server on the other side of the world.
Hotspot Shield was rated the “world’s fastest VPN” by popular speed testing service Ookla, although I found other VPNs like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost slightly faster than Hotspot Shield in my tests.
Powerful Security and Privacy Features
The Catapult Hydra protocol uses 256-bit encryption — the strongest available and a level of security that has never been hacked. You can also choose the popular IKEv2 protocol — either protocol will protect your data from unauthorised third parties.
Hotspot Shield’s other security and privacy features include:
- IP and DNS leak protection, which prevent your personal data from information being exposed in spite of the VPN being turned on
- An automatic kill switch that instantly terminates your internet connection (preventing data exposure) if you have an unsteady network. However, this feature is not currently available on the iOS app
- A split tunneling feature that can increase your speeds by diverting some traffic to your usual network, letting you browse local sites and use the VPN for certain apps
- A no-logs policy, although this hasn’t been audited by an independent third-party
Despite Hotspot Shield’s no-logs policy, its dedication to privacy was questioned when the advocacy group CDT claimed that the free version logged IP addresses. However, the VPN optimized its privacy practices to ensure your data is never logged. If you’d rather use a VPN with a clean record of protecting privacy, ExpressVPN uses RAM-only servers that store no information so your connection time, online activities, and other data stay hidden.
Huge Global Server Network for Bypassing Geo-Blocks
With over 1,800 servers in more than 80 countries to choose from, Hotspot Shield makes it easy to access global streaming content and geo-blocked websites. VPNs with fewer servers give you slow speeds due to becoming congested with too many people. Also, since you share IP addresses they’re more likely to be blacklisted by sites. Hotspot Shield’s large server choice significantly reduces the chance of these issues.
Easy-to-Use Apps for All Major Platforms
There are intuitive Hotspot Shield apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and other operating systems. None of them took longer than a few short minutes to download, install, and log in to. After installing the VPN on each device, I used the big button on the main screen and immediately connected to the fastest possible server. Switching to servers in different locations was extremely straightforward, I scrolled through the menu and found a new one in a couple of clicks.
Hotspot Shield also has native apps for Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. These took slightly longer to download and install, but I still got them up and running in under 15 minutes. This VPN is also compatible with select routers. During my tests router setup was much more complicated than installing Hotspot Shield’s native apps, but with the online guides, I was able to get it done in under 45 minutes.
Wide Range of Pricing and Payment Options
When it comes to pricing, Hotspot Shield isn’t the cheapest, but still good value for the money at $2.99 per month for the 3-year plan. There are other more affordable VPNs with low-priced monthly subscriptions. However, you can use Hotspot Shield’s free trial for 7 days without being charged. Once you pay for a subscription, the refund policy lets you get your money back as long as you notify the VPN within 45 days.
Hotspot Shield Premium works on: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Amazon Fire, Android TV, Smart TVs with Google Play Store Access, select routers, and more
Try Hotspot Shield Premium for free
Quick Comparison: What’s the Difference Between a Money-Back Guarantee vs Free Trial vs Free VPN?
The free trial gives you access to all of Hotspot Shield’s premium features, but only for 7 days. After it expires, you can take advantage of the money-back guarantee to continue using it, but you’ll have to pay for a subscription. There’s also a completely free version of Hotspot Shield, but it has restrictions on data and other factors, and lacks important features.
For more information on what each option includes, look at the table below:
| Free Period | Encryption Level | Ads | 1,800 Servers | Unlimited Data | Device Limit | Daily Time Limit | |
| Hotspot Shield Free | Unlimited | AES-256 | ✓ | ✘ | ✘ | 1 | 30 minutes |
| Hotspot Shield Free Trial | 7 days | AES-256 | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ | 10 | None |
| Hotspot Shield Money-Back Guarantee | 45 days | AES-256 | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ | 10 | None |
I recommend signing up for the free trial of premium to get unlimited data and no daily time limit. Another option to avoid these restrictions is to use another top-notch VPN with a money-back guarantee. CyberGhost is an excellent all-round VPN, and it has both a trial and a 45-day money-back guarantee to use it for free.
ExpressVPN is another option that has even faster speeds than Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost, but it only has a free trial on Android. However, its paid plans all include a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can buy ExpressVPN without risk. If you decide you aren’t happy with it, you can get a refund processed in under 2 minutes via 24/7 live chat support.
Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.
Hotspot Shield Free VPN
In addition to the free trial of Hotspot Shield Premium, there’s a restricted free version with no 7-day limit. You’ll never be charged for using it, and you don’t need to create an account.
However, I would recommend using the free trial of Premium instead of using Hotspot Shield’s free plan. That’s because the free plan is limited in the following ways:
- You can only stay connected for a maximum of 30 minutes per day
- There’s a 500 MB daily data limit
- You can only connect to 1 server in the US
- Can’t unblock Netflix US or other streaming services
On the other hand, the free trial of Hotspot Shield Premium has no limits other than the 7-day period. You can use every feature included with the full version. After the free trial has expired, you can download another VPN with its own money-back guarantee to have a VPN for another few weeks. For example, you can use CyberGhost without being charged by using its 45-day money-back guarantee.
Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.
FAQs About Hotspot Shield
Is Hotspot Shield’s free trial safe?
Yes, Hotspot Shield’s free trial is safe to use — but you’ll be charged after the 7-day trial period ends. If you go on to pay for the premium version, you can redeem the 45-day money-back guarantee to get your money back when you’re done using it.
Once you get your refund for Hotspot Shield, you can use the guarantee of another one of the best VPNs on the market to use another premium VPN for free.
Can I use a free trial more than once?
No, you can only use the free trial once. However, if you pay for the service you’ll be covered by Hotspot Shield’s money-back guarantee. This lets you use the premium Hotspot Shield plan for up to 45 days with no other restrictions before you can get a full refund.
If you want to keep using a VPN for free, you can switch to another premium VPN app with its own money-back guarantee. CyberGhost lets you use it for a generous 45 days if you get the 3-year plan. Just get a refund when you’re done using it.
Are there other Hotspot Shield deals?
The Hotspot Shield free trial and money-back guarantee are the best deals that I could find for this VPN. They give you a total of over 45 days to use the VPN’s premium features.
Other premium VPNs also have solid refund policies that I’ve tested personally. ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and PIA are a few examples — each one has a quick and easy refund process.
Can I use other VPNs for free?
Yes, but even the best free VPN apps have strict limits on servers, speeds, and other factors that make them bad for streaming and other common online activities. Many free VPNs also have inadequate security and privacy features, and some even include malware or sell your private information to third parties.
Rather than take the risk on a limited or unsafe free VPN, you can use a premium VPN like CyberGhost for free. Just use its money-back guarantee to get a refund when you’re done using it.
Final Word
If you want to get all of Hotspot Shield Premium’s features for free, I recommend the 7-day free trial. However, don’t forget to unsubscribe from automatic billing before the end of the trial period or you’ll be charged.
For a premium VPN with the fastest connections and better unblocking capabilities, I recommend ExpressVPN instead. Its 30-day money-back guarantee lets you buy ExpressVPN in confidence and not have to worry about 7-day limits or restricted features. If you aren’t satisfied with it, you can still ask for a refund via 24/7 live chat. I tested the policy, and a customer support agent processed my request in under a minute.
Summary: Top VPNs to Try Risk-Free in 2024
Editor's Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.
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