These three VPN vendors are very different with unique services and approaches to privacy. Of the three, VPN Unlimited is the only vendor who does not keep any logs at all. Hotspot Shield keeps partial logs, while Betternet openly collects information related to its financial model and advertising. Hotspot Shield however, which does not openly talk about its privacy policy, has been investigated for its data collection methods. In terms of other security features none of the vendors offer kill switches, yet all three offer 128-bit AES data encryption. Hotspot Shield also offers 256-bit encryption on some operating systems, which is a step up. VPN Unlimited and Hotspot Shield have a similar number of server locations, which is around seven times more than Betternet. VPN Unlimited has the greater number of servers, and like Hotspot Shield offers five simultaneous connections per license. It’s hard to compare these three different VPNs, so read more to see which one is the best.
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Katie Kasunic
Betternet VPN has received a lot of criticism in the past few years after an academic study came out in 2016 that listed Betternet as one of the top five Android VPN apps with the most third-party tracking software. Since then, Betternet has made a few changes to the service, including the release of a paid premium plan in addition to their popular free tier. One continuing downside (okay, two)
Read all Katie Kasunic
Hotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 55+ countries. In fact, the website claims it is the #1 grossing app for productivity in the US App Store. (When we checked the App Store source, it actually indicated #8, which is still an impressive ranking.) One of the features that make Hotspot Shield special is its unique Catapult Hydra protocol,
Read all
Alex (Shurf) Frenkel
VPN Unlimited is headquartered in New York and is the subsidiary of KeepSolid. While the fact that VPN Unlimited is US-based in New York does not thrill us (as opposed to, say, ExpressVPN, which runs out of the British Virgin Islands) VPN Unlimited provides users with a solid VPN service. With its server locations and data centers in more than 39 countries and 50 regions respectively, VPN Unlim
Read all Katie Kasunic
Betternet VPN has received a lot of criticism in the past few years after an academic study came out in 2016 that listed Betternet as one of the top five Android VPN apps with the most third-party tracking software. Since then, Betternet has made a few changes to the service, including the release of a paid premium plan in addition to their popular free tier. One continuing downside (okay, two)
Read all Katie Kasunic
Hotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 55+ countries. In fact, the website claims it is the #1 grossing app for productivity in the US App Store. (When we checked the App Store source, it actually indicated #8, which is still an impressive ranking.) One of the features that make Hotspot Shield special is its unique Catapult Hydra protocol,
Read all Alex (Shurf) Frenkel
VPN Unlimited is headquartered in New York and is the subsidiary of KeepSolid. While the fact that VPN Unlimited is US-based in New York does not thrill us (as opposed to, say, ExpressVPN, which runs out of the British Virgin Islands) VPN Unlimited provides users with a solid VPN service. With its server locations and data centers in more than 39 countries and 50 regions respectively, VPN Unlim
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| Starting price | $0.00/ month | $2.99/ month | $2.78/ month |
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| Best VPNs Overall | |
VPN Unlimited offers the greater number of servers and is the only one of the three vendors that does not keep any logs or data at all. While it offers the same level of encryption as the other providers, its additional features improve the privacy and security of users. All three services can be used to access geo-restricted content, including Netflix, and work across a range of operating systems. Betternet’s free service needs to be weighed against its financial model and data usage policy, while Hotspot Shield’s logging policies needed to be considered against its 45-day money back guarantee and the inclusion of Catapult Hydra data compression technology. Even so, make sure you check out Hotspot Shield's great coupon discounts and take advantage on their limited deals. |
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VPN Unlimited offers the greater number of servers and is the only one of the three vendors that does not keep any logs or data at all. While it offers the same level of encryption as the other providers, its additional features improve the privacy and security of users. All three services can be used to access geo-restricted content, including Netflix, and work across a range of operating systems. Betternet’s free service needs to be weighed against its financial model and data usage policy, while Hotspot Shield’s logging policies needed to be considered against its 45-day money back guarantee and the inclusion of Catapult Hydra data compression technology. Even so, make sure you check out Hotspot Shield's great coupon discounts and take advantage on their limited deals.
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| Best VPNs for Torrents | |
Betternet allows torrenting across all its servers, however, its limited number of servers and data usage may be a cause for concern for users. Hotspot Shield does not allow torrenting at all, while VPN Unlimited allows it through specific server locations only. |
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Betternet allows torrenting across all its servers, however, its limited number of servers and data usage may be a cause for concern for users. Hotspot Shield does not allow torrenting at all, while VPN Unlimited allows it through specific server locations only.
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| Best VPNs for Windows | |
All three providers work on the Windows operating system. Hotspot Shield’s Catapult Hydra technology means that users get faster speeds with a paid subscription, however user guides are unclear and there is no live chat support available. VPN Unlimited connects through OpenVPN on Windows, which supports 256-bit encryption, as well as KeepSolid Wise and other extensions that increase the users’ security and privacy. |
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All three providers work on the Windows operating system. Hotspot Shield’s Catapult Hydra technology means that users get faster speeds with a paid subscription, however user guides are unclear and there is no live chat support available. VPN Unlimited connects through OpenVPN on Windows, which supports 256-bit encryption, as well as KeepSolid Wise and other extensions that increase the users’ security and privacy.
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| Best VPNs for Android | |
All three services work on Android platforms, but VPN Unlimited users can benefit from OpenVPN. The Hotspot Shield app is easy to download and install and users are automatically connected to a proxy browser. The Betternet app is similarly easy to download and use. |
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All three services work on Android platforms, but VPN Unlimited users can benefit from OpenVPN. The Hotspot Shield app is easy to download and install and users are automatically connected to a proxy browser. The Betternet app is similarly easy to download and use.
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| Best VPNs for Mac | |
All three providers offer native apps for the Mac operating system. All are easy to set up and use, however, Betternet’s smaller number of servers limits users’ connection options. Hotspot Shield’s use of Catapult Hydra technology improves speeds for users, while VPN Unlimited’s Mac app connects through L2TP / IPSec and PPTP protocols, rather than OpenVPN. |
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All three providers offer native apps for the Mac operating system. All are easy to set up and use, however, Betternet’s smaller number of servers limits users’ connection options. Hotspot Shield’s use of Catapult Hydra technology improves speeds for users, while VPN Unlimited’s Mac app connects through L2TP / IPSec and PPTP protocols, rather than OpenVPN.
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| Best VPNs for iOS | |
VPN Unlimited’s iOS app includes access to its KeepSolid Wise service, as long as users are running iOS 9 or later. Both Hotspot Shield and Betternet also provide native apps for iOS. |
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VPN Unlimited’s iOS app includes access to its KeepSolid Wise service, as long as users are running iOS 9 or later. Both Hotspot Shield and Betternet also provide native apps for iOS.
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| Best VPNs for USA | |
All three vendors have servers in the USA, although Betternet has far fewer servers and server locations than both VPN Unlimited and Hotspot Shield. All three are currently able to bypass geo-restrictions, although only Hotspot Shield and VPN Unlimited specifically state that they can be used to access US Netflix. |
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All three vendors have servers in the USA, although Betternet has far fewer servers and server locations than both VPN Unlimited and Hotspot Shield. All three are currently able to bypass geo-restrictions, although only Hotspot Shield and VPN Unlimited specifically state that they can be used to access US Netflix.
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All three vendors provide good levels of encryption, offer reasonable speeds, and support all major operating systems. However, VPN Unlimited is the only provider that does not keep logs and offers additional security features to ensure privacy online. Hotspot Shield users benefit from faster speeds due to its Catapult Hydra data compression technology. The major concern with Betternet and Hotspot Shield is their approach to users’ data.
Interestingly, if you compare Hotspot Shield with NordVPN, which is our top ranked vpn, you'll see that Hotspot Shield can learn a lot from NordVPN. Compare Hotspot Shield with NordVPN
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