Hotspot Shield
hotspotshield.comUS VPN owned by Point Wild, built around the proprietary Hydra protocol, with a 500 MB daily free plan.
- Owner
- Point Wild
- Operator based in
- United States
- Founded
- 2008
- Devices at once
- 10
What you'll pay
In USD, from Hotspot Shield's own pricing page, checked 2026-10-17.
Month to month
$12.99
per month, cancel any time
Cheapest plan, 12 months
$7.99/mo
$95.88 paid upfront
Then renews at
$95.99
per year
First 3 years, if you keep it
$287.86
45-day money-back
- Free plan:
- 500 MB/day, 1 device, ~2 Mbps, 1 US location.
- About the renewal:
- Checkout terms: 'an autorenewing subscription that will renew annually at $95.99'. A special offer charges $29.00 for the first year.
Audits
Independent checks of the provider's claims, newest first.
2023 Aon
Scope: no-logs. Report for customers only.
Technical review of logging claims; summary public, full report limited. Not a full infrastructure audit.
- Research summary (no single link)
Incidents
Breaches, seizures and court cases on record.
2017
Center for Democracy & Technology filed an FTC complaint over tracking and ad practices.
- Research summary (no single link)
2018
Data-leak reports (pre-Pango/Aura era).
- Research summary (no single link)
Apps and devices
10 devices at once.
- WindowsYesYes
- macOSYesYes
- LinuxCommand line onlyPartly
- iOSYesYes
- AndroidYesYes
- Apple TVNoNo
- Fire TVYesYes
- Android TVYesYes
- RouterManual setupPartly
- Browser extensionProxy onlyPartly
Privacy and features
- Sign up without emailNoNo
- Pay with cashNoNo
- Pay with MoneroNot statedNot stated
- WireGuardYesYes
- OpenVPNYesYes
- Kill switchYesYes
- Split tunnelingYesYes
- Multi-hopNoNo
- Port forwardingNoNo
- ObfuscationYesYes
- P2P allowedNot statedNot stated
- Says it works in ChinaDoesn't claim itDoesn't claim it
