Hotspot Shield Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Inconsistent Speeds Led to Frequent Slowdowns

I was disappointed with Hotspot Shield’s inconsistent speeds. While I had super fast speeds on servers close to my actual location, there were huge drops in my speeds when I connected to servers far away. Unfortunately, choosing a different protocol (like its proprietary Hydra protocol) didn’t make a difference.

If you want blazing-fast speeds in any location worldwide, I recommend ExpressVPN. I’ve tested ExpressVPN’s speeds across multiple countries and have never been disappointed.

Speed Test Results

I tested speeds in the US, Germany, Australia, and the UK. Although the speeds in nearby countries were excellent, there was a massive drop-off when I connected to servers farther away.

On Hotspot Shield’s server in Australia (about 15,000km away), my speeds dropped by almost 90%, and the ping skyrocketed. This inconsistency was really shocking. I was so surprised that I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. I ran another test, but my results didn’t change.

I wanted to see how fast the IKEv2 protocol worked versus the Hydra protocol, so I ran some more tests. The only time I noticed a benefit in manually switching to Hydra was when I was connected to a distant server. Otherwise, the speeds were the same or worse.

There’s also a speed test tool right within Hotspot Shield’s Windows app. I compared its results with Ookla (a popular speed testing system) to see if they were consistent. The Hotspot Shield speed tester always gave different results from Ookla (about 30% different). Still, the in-app speed test was helpful to quickly get a rough idea of my current speeds and switch to a different server if they were too slow.

With Hotspot Shield’s free version, you’ll find that your speeds are throttled to a maximum of 2Mbps. As you’re limited to just 500MB of data per day, you won’t be able to use it for much except basic browsing.

Since your speeds might be different based on a variety of factors, you can test Hotspot Shield’s speeds for free for 45 days. If it isn’t fast enough for everything you do online, you can just get a refund with its money-back guarantee.

Is Hotspot Shield Fast Enough for Gaming? Yes!/No!

I tested Hotspot Shield’s gaming capabilities by connecting to servers close to my location. I played Dota 2 and Rocket League with Hotspot Shield, and the speeds were so fast that I forgot I was using a VPN.

Having the lowest possible latency (server delay measured in milliseconds) is crucial when playing fast-paced games, and Hotspot Shield’s average of 41ms was plenty fast enough.

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Server Network — Reliable Servers Worldwide

Hotspot Shield’s network of 1,800+ servers in 80+ countries is decent for a lesser-known VPN. I was pleased to see it also had some harder-to-find VPN locations, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

I tested common server locations in North America and Europe, as well as some faraway servers in uncommon locations. I never encountered network errors or dropped connections, and I never had to wait more than 5-7 seconds for any of its apps to connect.

The one confusing thing about Hotspot Shield’s network is that some locations and servers are unavailable depending on which platform you’re using. For example, the Windows app has 127 servers available while the Mac app only has 85.

I tried to find extra information about what servers aren’t available on some platforms, but the live chat agent couldn’t answer that question. There is information on the website about what locations are available on specific devices, so I recommend you check those out before making a decision.

Even though I never had trouble connecting to any of the servers, I don’t want to be surprised when a server isn’t offered on one of my devices. If you value consistency like I do, I suggest you try ExpressVPN’s 1,800+ servers in 105+ countries. It has a wider range of servers, and they’re all available on every device.

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.

Security — Simple but Effective Protections

Hotspot Shield keeps things simple with only 2 protocol choices on Windows and Mac:

• Hydra protocol (also known as Catapult Hydra)
• IKEv2 (IPSec)

The app automatically chooses the best protocol for your connection. I never found a speed benefit to switching protocols. Even though the proprietary Hydra protocol is supposed to boost speeds and decrease latency, switching from IKEv2 didn’t always help and sometimes made my connection worse.

On its Android and iOS apps, Hotspot Shield uses Hydra exclusively — you don’t have the option of changing to other protocols.

Across all platforms, Hotspot Shield features 256-bit encryption and RSA certificates with 2048-bit keys — the same level of encryption used by the US military. Hydra takes advantage of ephemeral keys, which generate a fresh encryption key every time you connect. That means that even if a hacker broke into a previous VPN session, they wouldn’t be able to compromise any subsequent ones.

Even with encryption this powerful, your data can still leak and reveal your real IP address, location, and other data to third parties. I ran a DNS leak test and found that my DNS wasn’t leaking, and my real location remained hidden.

To make sure I stayed completely hidden, I tested Hotspot Shield servers for other common types of leaks. This included WebRTC, and IPv6, all of which can reveal information about you while you use the web. I had similar results testing for the other types, giving me peace of mind that Hotspot Shield’s data security was iron-clad.

Hotspot Shield doesn’t have security bonuses like invisibility on LAN (which hides your device from others on the same network) or dedicated obfuscated servers that can work in restrictive countries. While there’s no ad-blocker in Hotspot Shield’s desktop apps, the browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome include automatic ad blocking along with cookies, trackers, and malware.

Privacy — Your Data Cannot be Traced

I’ve read Hotspot Shield’s privacy policy several times over the years, and they’ve improved it significantly since taking some criticism for some of its wording and practices. The policy makes it explicit that the VPN doesn’t collect any information about you or your online activities while you use Hotspot Shield.

According to the company that owns Hotspot Shield, Aura, there’s no way that your data can be linked back to you as an individual.

Hotspot Shield only collects your IP for fraud prevention, to determine your location (so it can connect you to nearby servers), and track how you interact with its product. Your IP is encrypted and then deleted after your session. On mobile, it also uses a mobile IP that allows data to be collected about your specific device without identifying you personally.

The only major downside is that Hotspot Shield has never undergone a third-party audit, so we just have to take Hotspot Shield’s word for it. This is a little worrying considering that it’s based in the US and explicitly states that it will comply with requests from the US government.

I suggest you try ExpressVPN if you’re looking for a VPN that has undergone a third-party audit and has a proven track record of not releasing your data.

There are personalized ads in Hotspot Shield’s free version, but none of the information used to personalize ads (except an approximation of your latitude and longitude) is provided by the VPN.

The free Hotspot Shield app uses Google’s advertising ID system. This doesn’t connect anything you do online with your real-life identity, but just make sure you aren’t logged into any Google accounts. If you’re logged in, Google can track you online while you use Hotspot Shield. If you want a free VPN that doesn’t use Google’s ad services, I suggest you try Proton VPN’s free version instead.

Torrenting — Freely Torrent on Any Hotspot Shield Server

Hotspot Shield actively encourages torrenting on any of its servers with a torrent-dedicated page on its website. It’s compatible with popular torrent clients like BitTorrent and uTorrent, but support recommends using a client called Vuze for the fastest and most reliable connection.

Just make sure Hotspot Shield’s integrated kill switch and IP leak protection are turned on before torrenting (the kill switch wasn’t on by default). This helps ensure your real IP address and other data stay hidden while you download P2P.

I tested Hotspot Shield’s torrenting performance by connecting to a server in Poland and downloading a 1GB copyright-free file. My download finished in under 10 minutes.

Even though I don’t condone downloading copyrighted or illegal material, I still don’t want my ISP or government watching what I do on torrent apps. Hotspot Shield’s encryption, leak protection, and automatic kill switch hid my IP address, location, torrent activities, and other private data while I was connected.

Does Hotspot Shield Work in China? Maybe

Hotspot Shield probably won’t work in China. Although customer support claims that it does, I can’t guarantee that it works because most VPNs don’t.

The Chinese government operates intense surveillance over the internet, including limiting ISPs and “chokepoints” where internet cables enter the country. This means it can monitor internet traffic far more extensively than other countries and implement blocks on VPN services and associated infrastructure.

This defense system is so advanced that hardly any VPNs can penetrate it. To find the few that do, take a look at this list of the best VPNs for China tested and confirmed to bypass censorship in the country.

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You can contact Hotspot Shield’s support team in 3 ways:

• Live chat — 2-minute response rate (paying users only)
• Email support — 15-hour response rate (paying users only)
• FAQ/knowledge base — plenty of articles on topics like setup, accessing streaming sites, or connecting from office or school networks

If you only have the free version or aren’t a subscriber yet, no agent will talk to you except for some basic email inquiries about buying the VPN, which is pretty annoying. I like to ask a lot of questions about servers, security, torrenting, and other issues when I’m deciding which VPN to spend my hard-earned money on.

Even if you’ve paid for a plan, I found it a little tedious to get a hold of a chat agent. After you log into your account, you have to start a conversation with a chatbot before speaking to live chat support. Other providers like ExpressVPN let you start chatting with a real person right away.

Nudging you toward knowledge base answers helps relieve pressure for live chat agents, but it makes for a worse user experience.

There’s also a “Live Chat” shortcut within the support tab of Hotspot Shield’s desktop apps, but it just opens the chatbot so you still have to ask to speak with a real human. Once I made the request, I was always chatting with a real person within 2 minutes. Agents provided polite (although not always helpful) answers to my questions. I asked if it works in China, and the agent said that it does and advised me to make sure I’m connected before I open my web browser in China.

I also tested the support ticket system by asking a question about torrenting. I got a thorough email reply 15 hours later.

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