Should you’re excited by higher defending your knowledge, you could be questioning, “Do I want a VPN?” In spite of everything, on-line privateness and safety are of paramount significance, and securing your knowledge can assist you retain private data non-public.
The greatest digital non-public community (VPN) companies supply a number of options for all of your internet-enabled gadgets. From defending your gadget from malware to blocking advertisements and even letting you entry content material that could be blocked in your area — a feature-rich VPN can do all of it.
On this Hotspot Defend VPN assessment, we check out this service that can assist you work out if it’s the suitable VPN for you.
Greatest VPN for iOS
Hotspot Defend provides quick web speeds and is well-suited for these with iOS gadgets. The VPN boasts an easy, visually interesting app that takes little effort to begin utilizing. The app can be suitable with all gadgets working iOS 11.0 or later, which means almost everybody with a contemporary iPhone or iPad ought to be capable of obtain it.
A Premium Hotspot Defend VPN subscription can be a very good resolution for streaming. this plan stage comes with limitless knowledge and connection speeds of as much as 1 Gbps, which is perfect for high-definition streaming. Additionally, the VPN can reliably entry geo-blocked content material from standard platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Twitch and YouTube.
Hotspot Defend VPN execs and cons
- Excessive connection speeds
- Appropriate with a number of iOS variations
- Excellent for streaming
- 45-day money-back assure
- Underwhelming free model
- Worth is on the upper aspect
- Frequent advertisements within the free model
Professionals defined
Excessive connection speeds
Due to its proprietary Hydra expertise, Hotspot Defend permits exceptional speeds whereas linked to the VPN’s servers. This helps keep an uninterrupted streaming, downloading and searching expertise.
The free model of the VPN offers you a most connection velocity of as much as 2 Mbps, however the Premium subscriptions present speeds of as much as 1 Gbps — quick sufficient to play on-line multiplayer video games and stream Extremely HD 4K video with none points.
Appropriate with a number of iOS variations
Whereas hottest VPNs supply an iOS app, not all of them assist older fashions or working programs. Hotspot Defend for iPhone is suitable with all telephones working iOS 11.0 or later. This contains all fashions from iPhone 5S as much as iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Professional, iPhone 12 Professional Max, and iPhone 12 Mini.
Excellent for streaming
Hotspot Defend is a superb choice for followers of streaming international content material due to its potential to unblock and entry geo-restricted content material on standard streaming platforms. Hotspot Defend’s excessive speeds additionally contribute to this by minimizing disagreeable slowdowns and buffering.
Sadly, the VPN’s free model can’t reliably unblock content material outdoors your area from these streaming companies, so that you’ll want a Premium subscription to make use of them.
45-day money-back assure
Hotspot Defend provides Premium and Premium Household plans, each of which have a beneficiant 45-day money-back assure. That is loads of time to check out the service and, should you’re not glad, ask for a refund.
The refund process at Hotspot Defend is simple. Should you’ve bought the service by way of an app or web site, you possibly can contact buyer assist and request a refund. Should you’ve purchased the service by way of Microsoft or Apple shops, you need to apply for a refund by way of the shop itself.
Cons defined
Underwhelming free model
Whereas the paid model of Hotspot Defend is nice, the free model provides what’s clearly a subpar expertise. Its greatest draw back is the five hundred MB every day knowledge restrict — nearly sufficient to stream an episode or two of content material — and the 2Mbps velocity restrict. Typically, you could get even decrease speeds if the community is congested, since free servers are usually probably the most crowded.
Free customers don’t get entry to lots of the perks the corporate boasts about, both. This implies no location choice, no multi-device assist and no stay tech assist. Even security measures like anti-phishing safety are turned off for the VPN’s free model.
Worth is on the upper aspect
Hotspot Defend VPN’s Premium plans are costly in comparison with these of opponents that provide comparable companies. A Premium subscription prices $12.99 monthly or $95.88 yearly. The Premium Household subscription, which raises the gadget restrict from 10 to 25, is much more costly at $143.88 per yr.
Frequent advertisements within the free model
Hotspot Defend VPN’s free model has advertisements, which isn’t too unhealthy by itself. Many free apps have advertisements to assist justify providing their companies without cost. Nevertheless, a number of customers of Hotspot Defend’s Android app have complained about repetitive and disruptive advertisements which can be troublesome to shut. This might considerably have an effect on the expertise of many customers.
Hotspot Defend VPN plans
Hotspot Defend provides two paid plans: Premium and Premium Household. There may be additionally a free model of the VPN that comes with some restrictions.
Primary
Hotspot Defend’s Primary plan is freed from cost however has restricted options and entry. You’ll be able to devour 500 MB value of knowledge in a day, which is sweet sufficient for primary searching. No unused knowledge could also be saved and transferred to the following day.
The Hotspot Defend free VPN lets you join just one gadget and received’t exceed connection speeds of greater than 2 Mbps. Due to its 500 MB every day restrict, the free model isn’t a great tool for data-heavy actions like streaming and downloading giant recordsdata. Furthermore, the free model is supported by advertisements, and customers of the free model can’t contact the stay chat assist workforce.
Hotspot Defend VPN’s Primary plan is an effective sufficient choice should you merely need to take a look at the service earlier than buying a Premium plan or don’t want a lot knowledge. Nevertheless, you might be able to discover different free VPN suppliers with much less stringent limitations.
Premium
Hotspot Defend’s Premium plan permits customers to attach as much as ten gadgets without delay and provides optimized servers for streaming and gaming. With this plan, clients get high-speed entry to Hotspot Defend servers in over 80 international locations. The Premium plan has no knowledge restrict and you’ll count on speeds of 1 Gbps.
Moreover, the Premium plan has malware and phishing safety, in addition to a Sensible VPN characteristic that lets you choose apps and websites that can bypass the VPN. You additionally get entry to 24/7 chat assist.
Premium Household
The Hotspot Defend VPN Premium Household plan lets you’ve got 5 totally different accounts underneath one subscription. With a five-device restrict on every account, you get a complete of 25 simultaneous connections. This plan additionally comes with malware and phishing safety, the Sensible VPN characteristic and 24/7 chat assist.
Hotspot Defend VPN pricing
| Month-to-month | Annual | Three-year | |
| Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Premium | $12.99 | $95.99 | $107.64 |
| Premium Household | $19.99 | $143.88 | — |
Each the Premium and Premium Household plans have a 45-day money-back assure. Hotspot Defend is among the few VPN service suppliers to supply such a protracted refund interval, as most different VPNs supply a 30-day money-back assure.
As for annual plans, these are billed . Hotspot accepts solely bank cards and PayPal. Sadly, this implies you possibly can’t use cryptocurrency to pay for a subscription.
Whereas Hotspot Defend VPN may be thought-about costly, we discovered the service justifies its pricing. The service isn’t exceedingly costly except you go for the Premium Household plan. Even then, with 25 gadgets and the corporate’s total vary of VPN-associated companies, $143.88 per yr is a good deal.
It is value noting that extra inexpensive choices can be found in case your VPN wants are comparatively primary. Nevertheless, if Hotspot Defend’s excessive speeds and quite a few servers meet your necessities, the service could also be value contemplating given its value.
Hotspot Defend VPN monetary stability
Hotspot Defend VPN is a part of Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm Aura. The VPN claims to have tens of millions of customers, and it offsets the price of its free customers with the income produced from its paid subscription members. The Hotspot Defend VPN app has additionally been downloaded over 100 million occasions on the Google Play Retailer.
Neither Fitch Scores, S&P International nor Moody’s — three of the most important credit standing businesses — publish details about Aura. Although we are able to’t vouch for the corporate’s monetary stability, its excessive variety of customers suggests the corporate could also be steady for the foreseeable future.
Hotspot Defend VPN accessibility
Hotspot Defend is obtainable throughout a number of gadgets and working programs. The VPN service is suitable with Home windows, Mac and Linux pc programs. You may as well apply it to iOS and Android telephones and tablets.
The Hotspot Defend VPN may be downloaded as a Chrome extension in your browser, as nicely. Lastly, you possibly can set up it in your Android, Amazon Hearth or common sensible TV, in addition to in your router. This complete gadget compatibility is complemented by a large geographical footprint for the reason that VPN service has servers in over 80 international locations.
Availability
You should use Hotspot Defend VPN from nearly any nation on the planet. Yow will discover the Hotspot Defend VPN app in your gadget on the corporate web site or by way of the Apple and Google app shops.
Contact data
You’ll be able to join with Hotspot Defend VPN customer support by way of a contact type on its web site or on the following electronic mail tackle: assist@hotspotshield.com. You may as well contact the corporate through telephone at 408-744-1002. Premium members get the choice of a 24/7 stay chat assist perform, as nicely.
Consumer expertise
Hotspot Defend has acquired overwhelmingly optimistic suggestions from customers. As of November 27, its app holds a 4.3 ranking out of 5 from over 100 million on-line evaluations within the Google Play Retailer and a 4.5 ranking out of 5 based mostly on almost 230 thousand evaluations within the App Retailer. A number of clients level to the VPN’s excessive velocity and easy interface as sturdy factors; others point out how the corporate responds shortly, often inside a day, to buyer complaints.
Hotspot Defend VPN buyer satisfaction
A lot of the suggestions for Hotspot Defend on-line makes word of well mannered and useful customer support representatives who’ve helped resolve numerous buyer points. Many shoppers say they’ve used the service for a number of years and are nonetheless happy with it, which means that Hotspot Defend VPN has excessive buyer satisfaction.
Hotspot Defend VPN FAQs
Is Hotspot Defend a superb VPN?
Hotspot Defend boasts spectacular speeds, and the corporate has a superb monitor report of buyer satisfaction. Army-grade encryption and a easy consumer interface additional establishes it as a superb VPN service. Despite the fact that the free model of Hotspot Defend is extremely restricted and the premium subscriptions are costly, we consider the corporate’s service is sweet sufficient to justify its value.
Is Hotspot Defend VPN secure?
Hotspot Defend VPN has a no-logs coverage, which means the corporate guarantees to not retailer details about your on-line exercise. The corporate additionally claims to make use of 256-bit AES encryption and powerful protocols — like its patented Hydra VPN protocol — which assist hold your knowledge, IP tackle, location and searching exercise secure.
use Hotspot Defend VPN?
Your gadget is now protected. When you have a Premium subscription, you possibly can change your digital location and decide one other nation. The VPN might take just a few moments to recalibrate earlier than it confirms you are browsing the web by way of a server in your chosen nation or area.
How we evaluated Hotspot Defend VPN
We evaluated Hotspot Defend VPN throughout a number of metrics for this assessment. The most important components we checked out embrace:
- Streaming capabilities: Hotspot Defend works nicely with streaming platforms, however you want a Premium subscription to entry the most well-liked streaming websites.
- Pace and safety: The VPN’s quick velocity and military-grade safety make it good for streaming and gaming.
- Merchandise and pricing: The VPN service provides a free model, a Premium subscription and a Premium Household model. The Premium plan costs are a bit of excessive, however the Premium Household subscription gives a superb worth.
- Monetary stability: The corporate has a considerable buyer base and seems to be financially steady.
- Buyer expertise: Hotspot receives nice buyer suggestions on a number of platforms, and long-term clients are nonetheless glad.
- Accessibility: Providers can be found in nearly each nation and on most working programs, together with as a browser extension for Google Chrome.
Abstract of Cash’s Hotspot Defend VPN assessment
Regardless of a lackluster free model and costly premium subscription, Hotspot Defend’s exceedingly quick and safe connections make it a stable VPN. The truth that it could reliably entry streaming companies and its customer support is responsive and environment friendly at addressing consumer wants additional solidifies its standing as a powerful VPN choice.
