
However, Hotspot Shield is located in California, USA, so it is subject to some information logging base on locale policies but doesn’t need to keep it for longer than 30 days.Īnother thing we’d like to see from Hotspot is an independent audit of its services. It does keep track of how long you’re connected to the VPN and the bandwidth you use during these sessions. This includes your devices’ IP addresses or other identifiers. It's committed to keeping personal information to a minimum, won’t share your information with other companies or agencies, and won’t keep anything that connects your online history to you. Hotspot Shield’s anti-logging policy is promising. The vast majority of other free options include this important feature, so it’s rather disappointing that Hotspot doesn’t, even if this is only a free service. This mechanism protects your privacy if the VPN ever drops, and Hotspot itself has mentioned the importance of having this feature in a VPN service in articles posted on its website. This program doesn’t include a kill switch. We tested Hotspot and didn’t find any need to worry in these areas. It uses AES 256-bit encryption, which is industry-standard, and it also protects from DNS leaks. Hotspot Shield is an decent solution for keeping your information private and safely secured. Support: online articles Privacy and logging Platforms supported: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android


1 month plan - $0 per month ($0 total cost) (opens in new tab).Hotspot Shield Free subscription options: (Image credit: Hotspot Shield) Hotspot Shield Basic on Paper

For paying customers, server access increases to over 3,200 in 70 countries. Despite this restriction, connection speeds are good and you shouldn’t experience any lag or buffering issues. Hotspot Shield Basic only has one server location for its users and it’s located in the United States. This ensures every device that is connected to the router is protected while also clearing up valuable storage space on the device itself. In fact, several top-rated routers come with Hotspot Shield preinstalled, though many that don’t can still have it installed after purchase. If you choose to purchase a full plan, Hotspot Shield also works on smart TVs, browsers, and routers.

Its free service works on the most common devices - Windows, Mac, and Linux computers, and Android and iOS mobile devices. Hotspot Shield Basic offers a very generous unlimited data cap, meaning you can use the VPN as much as you like, although you will be restricted to only a single device connected at a time. Based in the US, it’s a fairly trusted provider and has been on the scene for some time. Hotspot Shield Basic is a simple free VPN from big-name best VPN contender Hotspot Shield.
