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vpnMentor was established in 2014 to review VPN services and cover privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.
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vpnMentor was established in 2014 to review VPN services and cover privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.

Hoxx VPN Review 2024 - Keep This in Mind Before Buying

Our Score: 3.8/10
Ranked 181st out of 198 VPNs
Shummas Humayun Former Cybersecurity Researcher

Hoxx VPN is the product of a US company called VPN1 LLC from Coral Gables, Florida. It is more of a proxy service than an actual full-fledged VPN. It offers a premium and a free plan.

The premium plan uses the outdated 4096-bit RSA encryption while lacking advanced security features such as a kill switch and relies on the Shadowsocks protocol. I also found WebRTC leaks in my security tests.

It provides 50 server locations, and it’s cheap. However, it logs user data.

Hoxx VPN's Windows client also has a barely functional design with lots of bugs. That is not surprising since it mainly focuses on browser extensions.

Along with that, Hoxx VPN has incredibly slow server speeds. Though, it unblocks geo-restricted platforms, including Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and HBO Max.

Overall, the big claims that this company makes are nothing but overestimations. To learn more about VPNs, read our other VPN reviews and guides.

Try Hoxx VPN Today!

Short on Time? Here Are My Key Findings

Hoxx VPN Features — 2024 Update

6.0
💸 Price 0 USD/month
📆 Money Back Guarantee 7 Days
📝 Does VPN keep logs? Yes
🖥 Number of servers 100+
🛡 Kill switch No
🗺 Based in country United States
📥 Supports torrenting No

Streaming — Long Loading Times and Buffering Delays

I tested multiple servers via the Chrome extension to check whether Hoxx’s free version works with popular streaming services.

Based on my tests, I would say that Hoxx is not suitable for UHD or HD streaming.

Unblocked: Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and HBO Max

First, I tested Hoxx VPN with the US Netflix library, and it successfully unblocked it. There were no buffering delays, but the video quality was subpar at best. However, I could only see official movies and shows made by Netflix.

To test whether this was the case with other locations, I connected to the 15 other server locations available on the free plan. See my speed tests on all of these server locations here.

Germany and the Netherlands were the only 2 server locations where I was able to access movie titles not made by Netflix along with official Netflix titles, while France gave me a loading error.

Screenshot of a movie on Netflix Germany while connected to Hoxx VPN.Streaming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Netflix

Next, I ran a performance test on YouTube with each of the servers. While the initial loading time was slow, I was able to play YouTube videos at 720p quality without any buffering delays. However, as soon as I switched to 1080p, I experienced significant delays.

A screenshot of streaming a Pewdiepie video on YouTube while connected to Hoxx VPN US server.Streaming Pewdiepie’s video on YouTube

Then, I tested it with Disney+, and Hoxx seamlessly unblocked its libraries while connected to the servers where the platform is available. There were no delays in the loading times, and the picture quality was decent.

A screenshot of streaming on Disney+ while connected to the Hoxx VPN US server.Streaming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+

Lastly, Hoxx VPN also unblocked HBO Max. However, it took 5 minutes for the movie title to load. Even after that, the picture quality remained choppy, with constant buffering delays.

Screenshot of streaming a show on HBO Max using Hoxx VPN US server.Streaming Girls on HBO Max

Blocked By: Amazon Prime Video and Hulu

I was unable to access Amazon Prime Video with Hoxx’s US server because the platform detected the VPN. To access Amazon Prime Video, consider taking a look at our list of the best VPNs for Amazon Prime Video.

Screenshot of an error message appearing on the Amazon Prime Video homepage while connected to Hoxx VPN.An error message on Amazon Prime Video’s titles with Hoxx VPN

Hoxx VPN failed to unblock Hulu on both the US and Japan servers, as the VPN got detected, and I received an error message.

A screenshot of an error message appearing on Hulu website while connected to Hoxx VPN.An error message appeared on Hulu while connected to Hoxx

Speeds — Slow, With Massive Drop-Off Percentages

I tested Hoxx’s speeds on all of its free server locations and made a comparison with my base 4G internet speed. For that, I used the Speedtest by Ookla.

A screenshot of the baseline speed test results obtained without connecting to Hoxx VPN.My speed test results before connecting to Hoxx VPN

First, I ran tests on some of Hoxx’s server locations that are considerably far from my location, and I got very slow speeds.

A screenshot of my speed test results on different server locations that Hoxx VPN offers.My speed test results on some of Hoxx’s long-distance server locations

Based on the data obtained after running a speed test on every server location available on the free plan, I calculated the drop-off percentage and organized the results in a table.

Ping (ms) Download (Mbps) Upload (Mbps) Drop-off percentage
Base level 16 28.87 9.35 0%
South Korea 760 0.04 0.00 99.9%
Italy 277 5.70 6.13 80.2%
Germany 324 1.16 0.96 95.9%
India 259 2.49 6.64 91.3%
Canada 500 3.75 4.75 87%
United Kingdom 345 14.59 0.00 49.4%
Switzerland 314 1.01 1.36 96.5%
United States 620 10.25 6.63 64.5%
Singapore 218 3.02 7.12 89.5%
Russia 379 6.56 8.10 77.2%
Australia 388 6.80 7.08 76.4%
Japan 615 1.98 5.09 93.1%
Sweden 392 7.98 7.03 72.3%
Netherlands 327 3.13 9.10 89.1%
Poland 355 9.65 5.79 66.4%
France 324 2.83 1.97 90.2%

Though, Hoxx claims to offer 4 times the regular speed on the premium plan.

Are Hoxx VPN’s Speeds Fast Enough for Gaming? No

No, they aren’t because the ping remained above 200 ms on all server locations. Simply put, ping (network latency) measures how fast your device can communicate with any given server (the minimum time taken to send and receive a data packet). For online gaming, a ping lower than 150 ms will give you a better experience.

The best gaming VPNs offer gaming-optimized servers with low ping, but Hoxx VPN isn’t one of them.

However, since Hoxx VPN is primarily browser-based, it can technically only work for browser games. To check its performance, I decided to test it with Pokemon Showdown.

A screenshot of the Pokemon Showdown homepage while connected to Hoxx VPN US server.The Pokemon Showdown website showed no errors

The Pokemon Showdown website loaded without any errors. However, when I clicked on “Battle” to connect to an online match, I received an error message and couldn’t play the game.

A screenshot of a VPN error message received on the Pokemon Showdown website.Unable to connect to a Pokemon Showdown Battle with Hoxx VPN

Server Network — Claims to Offer 50 Server Locations

Hoxx does not state the exact number of servers, but it claims to “have over 100 servers all over the world.”

The website promises unlimited bandwidth and 50 server locations. It also mentions that the server locations change daily while new servers are added every week.

A picture from the Hoxx website detailing the main features that Hoxx VPN offers.The number of server locations that Hoxx VPN offers

However, unlike the browser extensions, the Windows, iOS, and Android apps only show a limited number of server locations.

The Chrome extension contains 37 server locations, out of which 16 are available on the free plan and the rest on the premium.

The Windows client only offers 6 free server locations, including the US, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and Canada, with additional options in the premium plan.

The iOS app shows only 1 server location on the free version, with no information of what is included in the premium plan.

Lastly, the Android application shows 12 server locations in the premium plan and 1 in the free plan.

Security — Not Secure Enough

Hoxx VPN doesn’t state the encryption on the free plan. However, it uses the outdated 4096-bit RSA encryption (which security professionals cracked in 2013) on its premium plan.

Hoxx VPN relies on the Shadowsocks proxy protocol for the Windows and the Android application and HTTP tunneling for browser extensions.

I tested its Windows installer on VirusTotal before running it on my PC, and no viruses were found in the file.

A screenshot of Hoxx VPN virus test results from VirusTotal

Then, I tested its US server for DNS leaks via dnsleaktest.com, dnsleak.com, and ipleak.net.

No DNS leaks were found in any of my tests.

However, a WebRTC test at browserleaks.com while connected to Hoxx’s US server revealed my public IP address.

A picture of WebRTC leak test while connected to the Hoxx VPN.A screenshot of my WebRTC leak test results

The support page on its official website claims that Hoxx blocks certain ports commonly used by spammers, such as port 25,465, to provide protection from attacks, and it blacklists some malicious and illegal websites on its network.

The team also claims to prevent tracking from advertising networks and provide protection when using a public WiFi network.

Hoxx does not offer standard security features like the OpenVPN protocol, a kill switch, advanced AES 256-bit encryption, split tunneling, multihop, Tor over VPN, nor dynamic and shared IPs. However, it supports PAC functionality, but on the premium plan only.

Privacy — Your Data Is Not Safe

On the official Hoxx website, in the FAQs, it says that Hoxx keeps logs for a specific period for abuse prevention but doesn't state for how long exactly.

The company also states they “will only act if some legal authority contacts us and requests logs about your visits.”

Some frequently asked questions on the official Hoxx website.A screenshot of the FAQs on Hoxx VPN’s official website

In its privacy policy, it is mentioned that Hoxx VPN keeps logs of your name, email address, password, contact number, websites you have visited, browser type, access times, IP addresses, pages viewed, and the language used.

A screenshot of Hoxx VPN's privacy policy about the information that it collects from its usersInformation that Hoxx VPN collects through its services

User data is also tracked by Hoxx VPN through Google Analytics and Google Advertising.

Besides being headquartered in the US, a member of the Five Eyes Alliance, it also reserves the right to save all the information it collects, and it doesn’t guarantee the safety of your personal information.

Torrenting — Not Recommended

I wouldn’t recommend torrenting with Hoxx VPN because it isn't safe as it doesn’t have a kill switch. So, I'd suggest you avoid using torrenting services such as The Pirate Bay or the BitTorrent client with it.

Hoxx VPN has an extensive DCMA policy on its website and takes notice of copyright infringement very seriously.

A picture of the DMCA policy from the official Hoxx website.A DMCA Policy screenshot from Hoxx VPN official website

The team and I don’t encourage the violation of copyright laws or illegal torrenting.

Does Hoxx VPN Work in China? Yes

When I asked customer support about its usability in China, their response was affirmative but quite vague.

A screenshot of a response by the customer support team at Hoxx VPN through email.Hoxx VPN support team’s email response

Simultaneous Device Connections — Multiple on the Premium Plan

Hoxx VPN states that it offers multiple device connections per license on the premium package only.

Device Compatibility — Compatible With a Range of Devices

Hoxx VPN is available for Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, and macOS. It also offers browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. Support for Opera and Chrome OS is going to arrive soon.

The company mentions that the current focus is on the mobile and browser market. Though, despite that, the Android app looks rather outdated.

A screenshot of the Android app of Hoxx VPNHoxx VPN’s Android app looks quite outdated

Also, you cannot install Hoxx VPN on routers, smart TVs, and gaming consoles, including Wii, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Pricing

4.0
FREE
$ 0 / month per month
Premium
$ 1.99 / month per month

Hoxx VPN offers a free and premium plan. There are 6 packages available in the premium plan, starting from $3.5 a week.

The premium plan provides all the features available in the free plan, along with a few additional ones.

Screenshot of a comparison between the free and premium plan of Hoxx VPN.The free and premium plan of Hoxx VPN

Hoxx VPN doesn’t offer any trials. However, there is a 7-day money-back guarantee, in case you change your mind after testing the service.

The payment options it offers range from credit cards, PayPal, and Alipay, to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Etherium.

Reliability & Support

4.8

Hoxx offers email, query form, and a FAQ page on the official website. However, it doesn’t offer phone support or 24/7 live chat.

I reached out to the customer support team via email. They responded to me in a little more than 24 hours but failed to refer to my actual concern about the Windows client being glitchy. The support team is available between 8 am and 6 pm (ET) from Monday to Friday.

Screenshot of a response by Hoxx VPN customer support team.The response I received from Hoxx VPN’s customer support

You can also try reaching out to the support team via the Twitter and Facebook accounts. However, social media is not officially listed as a channel for support.

Compare Hoxx VPN With The Top Alternative VPNs
Our Score: 9.9
Our Score: 9.7
Our Score: 9.6
Our Score: 9.5
Editor's Note: Transparency and impartiality are important to us when bringing you our best selection of VPNs. Some of the industry-leading products on our list, including Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company. The VPNs we choose are derived from a thorough testing process.

The Bottom Line

Final Verdict

Hoxx VPN offers a low price and great ease of use. However, its poor logging practices and low-end security are just two of the biggest problems. Its speeds are very slow, especially on the free plan and its customer support isn’t very helpful.

  • Very affordable
  • No bandwidth limitations
  • Minimal configuration required
  • Easy to install and use
  • Offers static IP addresses
  • Provides malicious websites filtering

FAQs on Hoxx VPN

Is Hoxx VPN safe?

Hoxx VPN isn’t the safest option due to its low-end security. You get the 4096-bit RSA encryption at best, which is very outdated. Furthermore, Hoxx VPN extensively logs user data.

Can Hoxx VPN unblock Netflix?

Yes, Hoxx VPN can unblock Netflix, depending on the server location.

Will Hoxx VPN slow my speeds down?

Yes, Hoxx VPN will significantly slow down your speeds, especially on the free plan.

Money Back Guarantee (Days): 7
Mobile app:
Number of devices per license: Unlimited
We review vendors based on rigorous testing and research but also take into account your feedback and our affiliate commission with providers. Some providers are owned by our parent company.
Learn more
vpnMentor was established in 2014 to review VPN services and cover privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.
Hoxx VPN User Reviews (User reviews are not verified)
5.0
Based on 4 reviews in 3 languages

Write a Review on Hoxx VPN

Please rate VPN.

All Speed Streaming Security Сustomer service
Anonymous
Anonymous
8/10
Hoxx VPN a very good service/ un muy buen servicio

Easy to install in Firefox, easy to use, and very good performance, and it is free to connect to few countries as the USA, Canada, and Germany. Facil de instalar en Firefox, facil de usar y tiene buen rendimiendo, y es libre para conectarse a algunos paises como USA, Canada y Alemania.

Roman
Roman
2/10
Это мошенники - банят без объяснения причин

Купил подписку на год, прошел примерно месяц после чего без объяснения каких-либо причин, без какого-либо предупреждения прилетел перманентный бан. При входе в приложении отображается текст "Your account has been banned permanently". Написал им в тех поддержку чтобы объяснили причину и разбанили, а они мне ответили: "We do not disclose any information about ban reasons, sorry. Bans are permanent. This might have different reasons such as not complying with our terms and conditions, payment issues or authority requests". Денег конечно не вернули. Обман!

Андрей
Андрей
2/10
Это просто мошенничество!

Купил годовую подписку, через 2 дня меня забанили. Я не делал ничего противозаконного! Это просто мошенничество! Они взяли мои деньги и все! Также почитал другие отзывы на англоязычных ресурсах, очень много жалоб цитирую: "VPN, которая ведет журналы, предоставляет информацию правительству" и это один из моментов.

About the Author

Shummas is a former cybersecurity researcher and writer who advocates for internet anonymity/privacy. As an AI enthusiast, he aims to broaden the horizons of technology. He also loves gaming on the side to get his creative writing juices flowing.

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