Learn why the fastest VPN isn’t always the best option

Hotspot Shield is an odd name for a virtual private network service, but it’s one of the fastest you can get. However, speed isn’t everything. You need a VPN that works on all your devices, protects your privacy, and hides your location, and offers good customer service, all at an affordable price.

I went hands-on with Hotspot Shield to see how well it fares against the best VPNs, and whether it’s the right choice for you.

Hotspot Shield offers free and paid versions. We recommended Hotspot Shield’s free app, but we might have to rethink that suggestion since it now has a data cap of 250MB per day and includes ads. There are much better free VPNs to choose from.

Moving on to Hotspot Shield Premium, pricing and availability of subscription plans varies. Navigating the website to find pricing, I see only two options: $10 monthly or $80 annually, which works out to about $7 per month.

When I dug deeper, I found a much better deal. Browsing through blog posts, I came across a link to a VPN offer page with a price of about $3 each month if you pay for three years in advance. The total cost is $108, only $28 more than the annual plan to get two more years of service.

Hotspot Shield isn’t the only VPN with great deals, particularly if you’re willing to prepay for years of service. However, its 7-day free trial and 45-day money-back guarantee are quite generous.

The Hotspot Shield app is easy to install and simple to use. A big, friendly Connect VPN button on the home screen automatically chooses the fastest server. For basic privacy protection, it only takes a click.

Unfortunately, the app’s window is small and isn’t resizable. On the left sidebar, I can do a speed test through the Hotspot Shield app, check my account status, get help, or dig into settings for more advanced options.

The settings tab is where everything of interest is placed. I can set up automatic connection, activate split-tunneling so select sites and apps bypass the VPN, choose which protocol to use, and enable a kill switch that cuts internet access if the VPN unexpectedly disconnects.

Hotspot Shield’s Catapult Hydra protocol is fast and includes obfuscation to help hide VPN use. That’s important when you need to bypass administrative firewalls. The best VPNs for school have similar features.

Those are fairly common features for top VPNs. I couldn’t find an option for port forwarding and Hotspot Shield doesn’t offer dedicated IP addresses.