Hotspot Shield made our list for the top best VPNs and specifically ranked best for streaming. The company is also one of the few to offer a free VPN option, and though it comes with limitations, the free version is a solid choice to consider.
In addition, Hotspot Shield is the most well-reviewed VPN we’ve analyzed. At 1.5 million reviews, it surpasses any other service significantly—all while maintaining higher than a four-star rating across the App Store, the Play Store and Trustpilot.
Pros
Hotspot Shield also offers a free version, which many VPN services do not offer. The free version allows you to connect one device and has limited data of up to 500MB per day. However, if you haven’t used a VPN before, or want to get a sense of Hotspot Shield’s user interface, it could be a good option to start with.
The company also has a large number of servers throughout the world, which increases the chances that a server will be located in the country you’re looking for.
Hotspot Shield allows you to connect up to five devices for its standard paid plan. With the Premium Family plan—which costs INR 991.72 ($11.99) per month annually—you’ll be able to share the VPN with up to five members, and each member will be able to use up to five devices. The company outshines competition with its money-back guarantee policy of 45 days, while the industry standard is 30 days or less.
Cons
There are a few features Hotspot Shield lacks that other VPN companies provide. Hotspot Shield does not offer multi-hop connections, which direct your internet traffic through an additional server for increased security.
Additionally, the company does not have the option for a dedicated IP. If this is a feature you know you’ll need, you’ll want to consider competitors that offer this option as an add-on. Hotspot Shield is also more expensive than many of its competitors such as NordVPN and CyberGhost.
Finally, there are a few security considerations to make before choosing Hotspot Shield, which we cover below, especially considering that security is very often the main reason to use a VPN.
