Hotspot Shield (HSS) and Hide.me are trusted by millions of users worldwide for the speed and security they provide with their VPN services. Both providers offer a free limited version, which is handy if you’re an occasional VPN user. Hotspot Shield and Hide.me also both offer strong 256-bit encryption, although HSS also offers 128-bit as an option. Hide.me offers dedicated IP addresses on its topmost subscription tier, which is essential for bypassing geoblocks that detect shared IPs. It also supports torrenting and provides dynamic port forwarding for complete anonymity. Hotspot Shield does not support P2P activities, but does offer advanced features like malware protection and a dedicated streaming service. Hotspot Shield offers a pretty large network of 2,500+ servers in 25+ countries, whereas Hide.me has 150+ servers in more than 34 countries. HSS also has a 45-day money-back guarantee, while Hide.me only offers a 15-day refund option. Furthermore, while Hotspot Shield allows up to five simultaneous connections on all its paid plans, only Hide.me’s topmost paid plan allows that many. See below for all the details of this comparison to find out which VPN emerges as our winner.
While both Hotspot Shield and Hide.me appear to offer real value for your money, its provision of more security features and a larger network makes HSS the winner of this comparison. Hotspot Shield’s ability to unblock Netflix-US, support for more simultaneous connections, and more generous refund policy for paid plans also contribute to a decisive HSS victory in this contest. However, Hotspot Shield does not fare nearly as well when matched up against the most elite providers, such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
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
Ariel Hochstadt
Katie Kasunic