Hotspot Protect VPN quick infoOur score: 3.5 stars out of 5
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Hotspot Protect markets itself because the “world’s quickest VPN.” Whereas it supplies good pace and efficiency, it lacks a transparent no-logs coverage—a key safety function one expects from a VPN.
Hotspot Protect’s contradictory information logging practices make it onerous to suggest for customers who prioritize safety above all else.
Soar to:
Does Hotspot Protect VPN have a Free Model?
It seems Hotspot Protect now not gives its free model and has a 7-day free trial as an alternative. Hotspot Protect’s free VPN had restricted options, in comparison with its premium subscription, however it was freed from cost and limitless to make use of. After I went to obtain the free model to check for this evaluation, I used to be prompted to enter cost info and begin a free 7-day trial. After the free trial, I’d be charged $12.99/month. It was said that I might cancel the subscription anytime and benefit from their 45-day money-back assure.
Determine A
Providing a free trial as an alternative of a limiteless free VPN service is regular. In actual fact, VPN suppliers like Surfshark and CyberGhost VPN don’t have a free VPN however as an alternative supply a 7-day and a 24-hour free trial for his or her premium VPNs.
Nonetheless, it’s unusual that Hotspot Protect nonetheless advertises having a free VPN service regardless of it really being a free trial. Additionally, they haven’t up to date their promotional supplies to replicate this, as they proceed to have testimonials stating they’ve a free VPN.
In equity to Hotspot Protect, it might simply be that they haven’t gotten round to updating their web site and its corresponding info. However this can be a trigger for concern, as transparency is without doubt one of the issues I search for in a VPN.
For these fascinated with trialing Hotspot Protect, you are able to do so—freed from cost—for seven days.
Hotspot Protect VPN Pricing
| Plan Size | Premium |
|---|---|
| Month-to-month | $12.99 per thirty days |
| Yearly | $7.99 per thirty days |
Exterior of their free trial, Hotspot Protect gives two plans: a month-to-month and an annual subscription. I want Hotspot Protect supplied extra plan choices, as different VPNs normally have a month-to-month, yearly and a two- or three-year subscription.
Hotspot Protect’s yearly plan of $7.99 per thirty days is pricey, with opponents normally providing an annual plan for round $4-$6 a month. If you need a VPN with a feature-packed annual subscription, NordVPN’s Plus annual plan at $5.49 is without doubt one of the finest.
Hotspot Protect’s month-to-month plan for $12.99 per thirty days can be a bit expensive however is on par with different VPNs’ related month-to-month subscription. For these searching for a extra reasonably priced month-to-month VPN plan, Proton VPN’s Plus month-to-month subscription at $9.99 is an efficient decide.
Luckily, Hotspot gives a 45-day money-back assure for each plans that can permit you to refund your cost in the event you really feel Hotspot Protect VPN isn’t an excellent match.
Of Hotspot Protect’s plans, I like to recommend going for the 7-day free trial or the extra reasonably priced yearly plan.
Hotspot Protect VPN Professionals
- Quick efficiency and dependable connection.
- As much as 10 simultaneous machine connections.
- Nicely-designed interface.
- Constructed-in pace take a look at.
- 7-day free trial.
- 45-day money-back assure.
Hotspot Protect VPN Cons
- Logs IP addresses and different information.
- Practices contradict no-logs coverage.
- Now not gives limitless free model.
- DNS Leak safety is turned off by default.
- Costly plans.
- No OpenVPN protocol.
Safety: Hotspot Protect VPN secure?
Hotspot Protect doesn’t include the OpenVPN safety protocol—extensively seen as essentially the most safe VPN protocol. As a substitute, it comes with the speed-oriented WireGuard and IKEv2 (IPsec) protocols and its very personal Hydra protocol that’s additionally constructed for pace.
Not having OpenVPN is a miss given its excessive degree of safety. It will’ve additionally given customers a protocol for duties that require extra safety and never simply pace. For encryption, Hotspot Protect has the gold-standard AES-265 encryption.
It additionally comes with safety towards DNS leaks however this isn’t turned on by default—an odd selection on condition that different VPNs have this turned on out of the field. It’s additionally not user-friendly; a novice person could by chance leak their information in the event that they fail to notice the toggle. In my view, Hotspot Protect ought to have their DNS leak safety turned on upon setup.
Hotspot Protect claims to be a no-logs VPN, they usually produce an annual Transparency Report to assist the declare. Nonetheless, it seems the latest report was printed in 2019.
As well as, again in 2017, the Middle for Democracy and Know-how (CDT) filed a grievance towards the Federal Commerce Fee alleging that Hotspot Protect’s Free model logged person information, like incoming and outgoing IP addresses and connection logs, and offered it to advertisers regardless of its claims of being a no-logs VPN. Hotspot has modified possession since and reiterated in a 2022 privateness discover that it “doesn’t report your VPN shopping actions in any method that may be related again to you.”
In the identical discover, nonetheless, Hotspot Protect makes it clear that it collects IP addresses to guard towards fraud and derive non-identifiable gadgets equivalent to geographic location and details about the person’s web service supplier. The VPN says that that is completed to offer a greater person expertise.
Whereas I recognize Hotspot’s transparency with their information assortment, their no-logs coverage is contradicted by its recording of IP addresses.
In the event you’re searching for a VPN with a cleaner no-logs coverage backed by quite a few third-party audits, ExpressVPN and NordVPN could also be higher for you.
Whereas Hotspot Protect will be thought-about secure, it has areas of concern inside its security measures and logging practices.
Key options of Hotspot Protect VPN
Hotspot Protect’s three key options prioritize pace and efficiency.
Constructed-in pace take a look at
Hotspot Protect claims to be the “world’s” quickest VPN,” aligning lots of its options in the direction of pace. Certainly one of these options is its pace take a look at that’s constructed proper inside the VPN’s most important dashboard.
Determine B
With the pace take a look at instrument, we get the usual obtain and add pace readings, ping and packet loss information. It additionally supplies customers a historical past of pace assessments already carried out.
In the event you’re the kind of person who values pace, this can be a useful gizmo that can allow you to periodically test your connection’s efficiency. It’s additionally going to be helpful in the event you recurrently expertise spotty web connection and need a built-in instrument to watch pace.
Cut up tunneling
Hotspot Protect comes with two cut up tunneling options: cut up tunneling apps and cut up tunneling web sites. This enables customers to choose which apps or companies they wish to route by way of a protected VPN connection and which of them they wish to run by means of their common ISP.
Determine C
In my testing, Hotspot Protect’s cut up tunneling for apps labored as marketed; it was capable of cut up my VPN connection primarily based on my chosen apps. Sadly, cut up tunneling for web sites didn’t work as effectively; I recorded DNS leaks on the web site I had operating by means of the VPN.
In the event you plan on utilizing Hotspot Protect’s cut up tunneling function, my testing confirmed that its cut up tunneling for apps is the safer choice. This may be useful for customers who wish to save on bandwidth or need extra pace for duties that don’t essentially want VPN safety.
10 machine connections
Determine D
Hotspot Protect additionally permits for 10 simultaneous machine connections, letting customers defend a number of units by means of a secured VPN connection. It is a delicate however vital function which is able to profit customers who use a number of laptops, computer systems, tablets or smartphones.
Having 10 allowed connections is a lot, contemplating different VPNs usually present solely 6-8 connections. For instance, NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN solely enable six and 7 simultaneous machine connections, respectively.
Efficiency: Is Hotspot Protect VPN quick?
Sure, Hotspot Protect VPN is a quick VPN, nonetheless, it wasn’t the fastest-performing VPN I’ve ever examined.
My testing consisted of doing work in Google Workspace apps, having a number of tabs open for analysis, attending on-line video conferences and streaming 1080p YouTube movies. Throughout my use, internet pages loaded shortly and I didn’t expertise any slowdowns with the VPN operating.
For pace assessments, Hotspot Protect carried out rather well for downloads because it recorded solely a 19.45% drop in pace in comparison with my ISP. In case your kind of workflow includes downloading a ton of massive information, Hotspot Protect is usually a good decide.
Its add pace was much less spectacular at a a lot greater 81.09% drop in pace. In observe, although, I had no hassle importing video information into Google Drive.
After I first examined for DNS leaks, one leak appeared however I noticed the IP leak safety was off. As soon as turned on, Hotspot Protect recorded zero DNS leaks after a number of assessments.
That is an space for enchancment for Hotspot Protect as DNS leak safety ought to ideally be operating upon setup, particularly for much less tech-savvy customers who would possibly blindly belief the VPN to not leak their information.
Hotspot Protect VPN Servers and areas
For its server suite, Hotspot Protect supplies 3,200+ servers from round 85 nations and 112 areas. Its server community falls within the center floor in comparison with different VPNs, with the common VPN having round 3,000 to 4,000 servers throughout greater than 60 nations. Nonetheless, Hotspot Protect’s server community means that you can unblock an excellent quantity of geo-restricted content material.
In the event you’re searching for a bigger server suite, CyberGhost VPN is an efficient selection with its greater than 10,000 servers throughout 100 nations.
Hotspot Protect has specialised streaming and gaming servers, however it solely supplies specialised server areas inside the USA and the UK. In the event you’re not in any of those locations, it could be higher to connect with a server location nearer to you as an alternative.
I want that it additionally included specialised servers for safety or torrenting to offer much more choices to customers, however having these streaming and gaming servers are welcome inclusions to Hotspot Protect VPN’s server suite.
Hotspot Protect VPN app expertise
Determine E
I primarily used Hotspot Protect’s Home windows desktop software on my laptop computer for this evaluation. By way of in-app expertise, Hotspot Protect’s desktop app is well-designed however is a bit unintuitive. Its server checklist doesn’t present which areas or servers are specialised for streaming or gaming. To get to these servers, you need to undergo some trial and error to search out out that they are often present in both the US or UK areas.
As well as, having the “Stop IP Leak” button turned off by default must also be fastened.
I preferred its minimalist design and located its one-click on/off swap dependable.
Is Hotspot Protect VPN value it?
Whereas Hotspot Protect gives quick efficiency, 10 simultaneous machine connections and a wholesome server community, it lacks requisite security measures to be really helpful as a top-tier VPN.
Particularly, its questionable information logging prevents it from being a good selection for these searching for added safety.
I like to recommend Hotspot Protect in the event you’re solely centered on pace and wish to sometimes change your digital location by means of its server checklist. Its built-in pace take a look at can also be helpful for many who wish to shortly monitor their web connection inside the app itself.
Alternate options to Hotspot Protect VPN
If after this evaluation you are feeling Hotspot Protect VPN isn’t for you, we’ve listed three sturdy options that could possibly be a greater match.
NordVPN
If safety is your prime concern, NordVPN needs to be on prime of your checklist. It gives a robust portfolio of third-party testing, quite a lot of security-focused options and a wholesome server community. It additionally gives quick efficiency and a well-designed desktop software.
We rated NordVPN a 4.7 out of 5 stars in our full evaluation. To study extra, learn our NordVPN evaluation right here.
ProtonVPN
For customers searching for a limiteless free VPN, ProtonVPN is without doubt one of the finest. Its free model supplies customers with limitless information and nil advertisements. Via its free tier, you get entry to servers from 5 nations on one machine. It additionally operates on data-friendly Swiss legal guidelines that present a further layer of safety on your information.
We rated ProtonVPN 4.0 out of 5 stars in our full evaluation. To study extra, learn our ProtonVPN evaluation right here.
ExpressVPN
If you need a no-nonsense VPN expertise, you must give ExpressVPN a attempt. It has an intuitive and modern-looking desktop software that gives a pleasing person expertise. On prime of that, ExpressVPN supplies nice pace and efficiency and servers unfold throughout 105 nations.
We rated ExpressVPN 4.4 out of 5 stars in our full evaluation. To study extra, learn our ExpressVPN evaluation right here.
Assessment Methodology
My evaluation of Hotspot Protect concerned a complete evaluation of its key options and real-world efficiency. I had hands-on expertise with Hotspot Protect by means of a one-month Premium plan on my Home windows laptop computer.
To check for obtain and add speeds, I used Ookla’s public Speedtest. For DNS leak safety, I ran Hotspot Protect a number of occasions (with totally different servers) utilizing DNSLeakTest.
I scored Hotspot Protect on varied attributes, together with its security measures and worth, primarily based on an inner algorithm to get a score of three.5 out of 5 stars. I checked out Hotspot Protect each by itself and in relation to different VPNs out there.
