With so many VPNs out there, finding the one that fits everything that you want can be a difficult task. With these three VPNs, there is a range of different priorities. Even though that might seem like a detractor for some people, if your VPN tried to do everything under the sun, then you would end up suffering because their services wouldn’t be as great as they could have been. If you’re looking for a lower price point, then Private Internet Access is going to be hard to beat. If you are more concerned with bit torrenting, then BTGuard is going to appeal to you more than the other ones as it has dedicated services customized for torrenting. Hotspot Shield is fantastic at protecting your data, but it doesn’t have the best customer support. If you’re looking to protect more devices at one time, then you’d probably like Hotspot Shield or BTGuard better. With the ability to cover more devices, you won’t have to worry about one of your devices being vulnerable.
Features
8.3
Pricing
6.0
Ease of Use
8.8
Reliability & Support
8.5
Features
8.0
Pricing
9.0
Ease of Use
9.0
Reliability & Support
8.6
Features
9.7
Pricing
8.0
Ease of Use
9.6
Reliability & Support
9.8
Rating
Features
8.3
8.0
9.7
Pricing
6.0
9.0
8.0
Ease of Use
8.8
9.0
9.6
Reliability & Support
8.5
8.6
9.8
Reviews
Review by our expert
Guy Fawkes
Anonymous Cybersecurity Experts
8.0
BTGuard is a small VPN and BitTorrent proxy provider that offers a scaled-back but secure service. Although they do offer a full VPN service, their main focus is providing security and anonymity for torrenting.
This is an okay choice for a VPN. However, we don't think 'okay' is enough. 'Okay' doesn't get past Netflix's geoblocks, either. For that, I'd recommend one of these vendors, which are guarantee
Great Service and Value VPN.I used BTGuard for about 4 years with no issues and very professional service! You need to understand that BTGuard will NOT support unethical action, and nowhere in the service contract for the BTGuard service plan(s) does it state they will . So if you have technical issues while trying to accomplish an unethical act, they will not even respond or get involved in your unethical actions willingly, for the simple reason is that they do NOT desire to be an accessory to your unethical action(s). So don't expect Sales or Tech. Support for that. Yes they advertise that you can achieve anonymous torrenting, However, that does not imply unethical torrenting. The only issue I have with VPN service providers is that there is no real definitive way to know if they are actually allowing access to your VPN communications to a third party. The bottom line is, if you are involved in unethical activities, do not expect support from honest company's.
Latest negative user review
Ben Leeth
2.0
Take The Money And Run!Used BTGuard for a few years with really no issues. However, I ran into an issue about a month ago. Have opened tickets through support and sales with no luck. I even tried calling them to no avail. I even informed my CC company and they can't seem to get in touch with them. I just want to inform people to not use BTGuard and hope this review helps someone in the future. -2 stars!
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,
Probably RecommendedI personally would recommend it, I have been using it for quite some times and it works perfectly for me both on Mac pc and phone, In fact, I always give them 5 stars when disconnecting, I don't know if that's why I get a full service, thanks for the service tho love it.
Latest negative user review
Bob Jankins
2.0
A lot of problemsFirst its not easy to use at all, if you are using the free version, it cant change anything. It gave me some rainbow lines on Youtube. I deleted it off my computer and it kept coming back. Its not good, i don't recommend buying it. I got the free version and you cant change your IP, so i cant mask it. The one thing that vpns are suppose to do it didn't, i clicked on everything, so basically you have to pay for it. I am thinking that its a virus.
Private Internet Access (PIA) is one of the most popular VPNs on the market. True to its name, this provider is best known for its strict no-logs policy and commitment to user privacy.
Is PIA truly as trustworthy as they claim when it comes to protecting user privacy and anonymity? How does it perform in other categories like streaming, torrenting, and safety?
We tested PIA ourselves to find
Great Choose of VPNI have used PIA for a number of years without hardly any issues, I get average speed and reliability, I would more blame the NBN CO in Australia for my dropouts. The best parts of this VPN is I can use a gift card to pay for the service and I can enjoy my torrenting and file hosting with no complaints.
Latest negative user review
Marcin
2.0
I am not going to argue but my comment was honestMy review was honest. I have never used services such as IP location changes or whatever you call it. Maybe my problem wasn't difficult but honestly, my issues were resolved within minutes. Maybe I was lucky, I don't know. But in my case the customer service was great. I don't work for this company :) hahaha.
BTGuard is a small VPN and BitTorrent proxy provider that offers a scaled-back but secure service. Although they do offer a full VPN service, their main focus is providing security and anonymity for torrenting.
This is an okay choice for a VPN. However, we don't think 'okay' is enough. 'Okay' doesn't get past Netflix's geoblocks, either. For that, I'd recommend one of these vendors, which are guarantee
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,
Private Internet Access (PIA) is one of the most popular VPNs on the market. True to its name, this provider is best known for its strict no-logs policy and commitment to user privacy.
Is PIA truly as trustworthy as they claim when it comes to protecting user privacy and anonymity? How does it perform in other categories like streaming, torrenting, and safety?
We tested PIA ourselves to find
Great Service and Value VPN.I used BTGuard for about 4 years with no issues and very professional service! You need to understand that BTGuard will NOT support unethical action, and nowhere in the service contract for the BTGuard service plan(s) does it state they will . So if you have technical issues while trying to accomplish an unethical act, they will not even respond or get involved in your unethical actions willingly, for the simple reason is that they do NOT desire to be an accessory to your unethical action(s). So don't expect Sales or Tech. Support for that. Yes they advertise that you can achieve anonymous torrenting, However, that does not imply unethical torrenting. The only issue I have with VPN service providers is that there is no real definitive way to know if they are actually allowing access to your VPN communications to a third party. The bottom line is, if you are involved in unethical activities, do not expect support from honest company's.
Paite
10.0
Probably RecommendedI personally would recommend it, I have been using it for quite some times and it works perfectly for me both on Mac pc and phone, In fact, I always give them 5 stars when disconnecting, I don't know if that's why I get a full service, thanks for the service tho love it.
Anonymously
10.0
Great Choose of VPNI have used PIA for a number of years without hardly any issues, I get average speed and reliability, I would more blame the NBN CO in Australia for my dropouts. The best parts of this VPN is I can use a gift card to pay for the service and I can enjoy my torrenting and file hosting with no complaints.
Latest negative user review
Ben Leeth
2.0
Take The Money And Run!Used BTGuard for a few years with really no issues. However, I ran into an issue about a month ago. Have opened tickets through support and sales with no luck. I even tried calling them to no avail. I even informed my CC company and they can't seem to get in touch with them. I just want to inform people to not use BTGuard and hope this review helps someone in the future. -2 stars!
Bob Jankins
2.0
A lot of problemsFirst its not easy to use at all, if you are using the free version, it cant change anything. It gave me some rainbow lines on Youtube. I deleted it off my computer and it kept coming back. Its not good, i don't recommend buying it. I got the free version and you cant change your IP, so i cant mask it. The one thing that vpns are suppose to do it didn't, i clicked on everything, so basically you have to pay for it. I am thinking that its a virus.
Marcin
2.0
I am not going to argue but my comment was honestMy review was honest. I have never used services such as IP location changes or whatever you call it. Maybe my problem wasn't difficult but honestly, my issues were resolved within minutes. Maybe I was lucky, I don't know. But in my case the customer service was great. I don't work for this company :) hahaha.
With servers all over the world, PIA is a very strong provider in terms of security. Despite its speeds being limited due to strong encryption and data protection levels, PIA managed to maintain stable and decent speed levels, just enough for streaming purposes. What is also impressive is that they strictly follow their no-logs policy. Hotspot Shield is also a strong provider, with fast and reliable service that gives users access to a selection of well-encrypted IP addresses. The only concern is that they do store logs partially. Lastly, BTGuard VPN is a provider that guarantees your anonymity on the web and offers unlimited and fast download speeds. Even so, their server base is rather small and they are overall quite pricey.
With servers all over the world, PIA is a very strong provider in terms of security. Despite its speeds being limited due to strong encryption and data protection levels, PIA managed to maintain stable and decent speed levels, just enough for streaming purposes. What is also impressive is that they strictly follow their no-logs policy. Hotspot Shield is also a strong provider, with fast and reliable service that gives users access to a selection of well-encrypted IP addresses. The only concern is that they do store logs partially. Lastly, BTGuard VPN is a provider that guarantees your anonymity on the web and offers unlimited and fast download speeds. Even so, their server base is rather small and they are overall quite pricey.
If you’re looking for a VPN just to protect your information and help you stream Netflix, Hulu, and other content from around the world, then you’ll probably want to go with Private Internet Access or Hotspot Shield. Private Internet Access does the best overall, but Hotspot Shield (for a higher price) has quality data protection. If you’re more concerned about being able to use bit torrent services, then BTGuard might be the better option. Regardless, all three of the services are decent and should serve you well.
Honesty and transparency – our two core values – make the internet a friendly place. Our reviews are written by users themselves, and are not influenced by VPN companies. When you purchase a VPN, we sometimes earn affiliate commissions that support our work. Here is an explanation of exactly what we do and how to support our work.
Guy Fawkes
Katie Kasunic