That's okay, since you don't need a VPN to access this free anonymization network. Hotspot Shield doesn't provide access to the Tor anonymization network. (Editors' Note: is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.) Avira Phantom VPN, VPN, Ghostery Midnight, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN all place no limit on the number of simultaneous connections. Several competitors now offer more, and some have ditched this limitation altogether. It also includes a split-tunneling feature, which lets you designate what traffic flows through the tunnel and what can travel in the clear-handy for streaming video or using a bank that frequently blocks VPN traffic.Īs noted, a Premium subscription with Hotspot Shield lets you use five devices simultaneously, which is average for the VPNs we've tested. Cryptocurrency support is also fairly common among VPNs, but it's not an option with Hotspot Shield.Īs with nearly every VPN service we've reviewed, Hotspot Shield lets you use P2P file sharing and BitTorrent on its network. ProtonVPN, Mullvad, and Editors' Choice winner IVPN accept cash mailed to their corporate HQs. Other services offer more privacy-friendly options. You can pay for a Hotspot Shield subscription by using a major credit card or PayPal. Mullvad, an Editors’ Choice winner, costs a mere €5 ($5.55 USD at the time of writing) per month, and a limited ProtonVPN account can be had for just $5 per month. Other standalone VPNs come in significantly less costly than Hotspot Shield. So, grab the short-term deal or free version and then upgrade if the service works well for you. You won't know whether a VPN will work for you until after you try it. We advise readers to avoid long-term subscriptions-at least at first. Again, that's pretty hefty compared to an average of about $71.93 among the services we've tested. The Premium subscription costs $95.88 per year and the Premium Family subscription costs $143.88 per year. You can also opt for a one-year subscription. (Opens in a new window) Read Our Private Internet Access VPN ReviewĪt $12.99 per month, Hotspot Shield is significantly more expensive than the $10.05 per month average from among VPNs we have tested.

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