Owned by AnchorFree, Hotspot Shield is an American base VPN service that promises ultimate privacy to the Netizens.
This Hotspot Shield free VPN review in Australia reveals that the service offers a freemium version to its users. The provider offers its services through servers available in 115+ locations like ExpressVPN and NordVPN
Moreover, you can use an eye-catching 7 days free trial that allows you to check the performance of the service of its premium plans in detail.
However, the service has fallen short in other areas quite considerably like speed, compatibility, and logging as well. Therefore, I don’t recommend the service to netizens across the world. You can head over to our VPN reviews guide if you want to check out the key features of other best VPN services in Australia. You can also check out other VPNs that are free in our best free VPN services blog.
Hotspot Shield Free VPN Review in Australia – Rating Criteria
I examined Hotspot Shield through my own created 8-step criteria that comprise of:
- Pricing – How much is Hotspot Shield in Australia?
- Security – Protocols & Encryption
- Jurisdiction – Belongs to Five Eye Country
- Speed – Quite Slow
- Streaming – Does it Support Netflix & Torrenting in Australia?
- Leaks – IP, DNS, WebRTC & Virus Tests
- Trustworthiness – Logging Policy & Customer Support
- Compatibility – Assists Numerous Platforms & Devices
Pricing – How much is Hotspot Shield in Australia?
This VPN service has two versions: free and paid. Unsurprisingly, the features associated with the free version are limited as compared to paid versions.
Furthermore, the free version is often used as a platform for different promotional campaigns in Australia, which means you are bombarded with advertisements. Now, as for the paid version, the Hotspot Shield presents 3 basic package plans:
You can buy Hotspot Shield Elite through:
- Visa,
- Master Card
- American Express
- JCB
- UnionPay
- Discover
- PayPal
As always, the lack of Bitcoin is disappointing and there are no other anonymous payment methods as well.
With five simultaneous connections, subscribers can connect multiple devices with just a single account in Australia. This means you do not have to pay extra for securing your entire household through this VPN.
Usually, VPNs with freemium service do not offer an extensive refund window. Some do not offer a refund at all… *cough* TunnelBear.
This makes Hotspot’s 45 days refund policy all the more impressive in Australia. With this policy in place, users should be well assured that the provider is not duping them for money. It is also one of the best VPNs for Firestick free of any hidden costs.
You can also make a free Hotspot Shield account to test out the paid service of this VPN. For this, you have to sign up for a 7 days trial after launching the app.
However, you will need to enter the credentials of your credit card to access the trial. Remember, if you do not cancel the trial before 7 days, you will be charged automatically AU$20.11/month.
Also, if you want to get your hands on awesome discounts, we have some amazing deals on VPNs for you to check out.
Security – Protocols & Encryption
Hotspot shield only relies on its own created Catapult Hydra protocol to secure its users’ privacy in Australia. I was expecting to see some other protocols like OpenVPN, SSTP, L2TP/IPsec, and others in its armory.
Sadly, it was not the case though. Therefore, I would recommend people in charge of Hotspot Shield VPN open their doors to these new tunneling protocols.
On the other hand, the service is committed to offering AES industry-standard 256-bit military-grade encryption in Australia. This method is designed to be more secure than the DES.
It offers a larger key size while ensuring that the only known approach to decrypt a message is for an intruder to try every possible key.
Jurisdiction – Belong to Five Eye Country
Unfortunately, Hotspot Shield is a brainchild of AnchorFree, a US-based company. Thus, the service has to abide by mandatory data retention rules because the country is a founding member of the 5 eyes alliance.
Server Locations
In terms of servers network premium version of Hotspot Shield provides 1800+ servers including both physical and virtual from 115+ locations also servers in Australia.
In contrast, the Hotspot free version chooses a server for you. This means this software doesn’t allow you to switch between the servers to your liking.
Speed – Quite Slow
Hotspot Shield does not have impressive connection speeds. When I connected to its Italian server while using a 30 Mbps internet connection, I attained the following result:
As you see, speed is perhaps not the forte of this VPN.
Streaming – Does it Support Netflix & Torrenting in Australia?
Hotspot Shield is somewhat unpredictable when it comes to Netflix. As of now, the VPN service is unblocking Netflix through its US connection in Australia. The provider does work on Kodi and offers good streaming speeds.
Still, I recommend that you keep yourself updated regarding Hotspot Shield’s Netflix compatibility. You can do this by being a frequent visitor to the provider’s website. Hotspot Shield’s Fire Stick VPN app in Australia was also remarkably great at unblocking regions on Amazon device.
In addition, you can opt for the provider for achieving your media streaming mission through torrenting. By doing so, you can download your desired torrent files securely.
Leaks – IP, DNS, WebRTC & Virus Tests
In our Hotspot Shield free VPN review in Australia we tested that the service is safe to use because you will not expose your original IP address, DNS, or WebRTC information while using the VPN online. Here are the screenshots:
IP Leak:
DNS Leak:
WebRTC Leak:
Virus Test
I tested its Android app link available on Google Play Store through VirusTotal and received no malware at all.
Trustworthiness – Logging Policy & Customer Support
Hotspot Shield’s logging policy is a mixed bag. The company states that it does not keep logs in Australia. Nevertheless, there are lots of areas where they mention using customer data for a variety of purposes.
The service also teams up with a few third parties as their free version is supported by advertisement. According to the provider, they only provide anonymized IP addresses to the advertisers, not the actual ones.
In addition, they also state that they do not sell the browsing history of the users to advertisers. Well, I found the stated privacy policy to be a bit problematic.
In my opinion, the VPN’s strategy of handling customer logs merits a certain amount of skepticism.
Customer Support
On the support front, the service offers the following options:
- Live Chat
- Help Center
- FAQs
The help center is highly resourceful as it provides a comprehensive tutorial section that allows you to install the apps on your preferred devices instantly.
Compatibility – Assists Numerous Platforms & Devices
In our guide for Hotspot Shield free VPN review in Australia, we also tested its compatibility with devices like Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
Usually, I do not like apps popping up as soon I log into my computer. However, the attractive interface of this VPN makes for it.
It gets even better.
The sleek blue design of this software and one-click connectivity makes it one of a kind.
There is nothing more to the client. It is a solid software that provides a top-notch user experience. When you use their apps, you may turn on other exclusive privacy features like IP leak and internet kill switches hassle-free.
Similarly, the service also provides dedicated browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox as well. However, you can use Hotspot Shield on your Linux devices through the Chrome extension.
To my surprise, the provider does not support Routers at the moment.
Comparison between ExpressVPN & Hotspot Shield in Australia
I have explained the salient features of both these VPNs. This is how you can decide regarding your digital anonymity appropriately.
| Features | ExpressVPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Price | AU$10.56/mo (US$ 6.67/mo) (Get 49% Off + 3 Months FREE on its 12-Month Plan) | AU$12.45/mo |
| Servers | 3000+ in 94 Countries | 1,800+ virtual servers in 115+ locations |
| Compatibility | All Devices | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Jurisdiction | The British Virgin Islands | US |
| Logging Policy | Zero Logs | Keep Logs |
| Customer Support | Live Chat & Email Support | Live Chat, FAQs & Email |
| Trust Pilot Score | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| Website | ExpressVPN | Hotspot Shield |
Alternatives in Australia
Let’s look at some of the alternatives for Hotspot Shield that work extremely well and have fast speeds:
- NordVPN review
- Avast VPN Review
- ExpressVPN Review
- Hola VPN Review
- PureVPN Review
- Windscribe VPN Review
- AVG VPN Review
- Surfshark Review
- Turbo VPN Review
- ProtonVPN Review
Do I Recommend Hotspot Shield in Australia?
No, I don’t recommend Hotspot Shield in Australia.
The VPN has a staggering 600 million users worldwide. It is one of the most commonly known VPN services thanks mostly to its free client.
On the other hand, the paid version of this software does not have the features to turn many heads. Similarly, it’s a bit on the expensive side when compared to some of the other players in the market. This Hotspot Shield review has highlighted the good and bad of this service. And as you may guess, the bad outweighs the good.
Based on the above Hotspot Shield free VPN review in Australia, I would give Hotspot Shield a 2.8/5.0-star rating.
