vpnMentor contains reviews that are written by our community reviewers, and are based on the reviewers' independent and professional examination of the products/services.
• Ownership
vpnMentor is owned by Kape Technologies PLC, which owns the following products: CyberGhost, ZenMate, Private Internet Access, and Intego, which may be reviewed on this website.
• Affiliate Commissions
While vpnMentor may receive commissions when a purchase is made using our links, this has no influence on the reviews content or on the reviewed products/services. We provide direct links to purchase products that are part of affiliate programs.
• Reviews Guidelines
The reviews published on vpnMentor are written by experts that examine the products according to our strict reviewing standards. Such standards ensure that each review is based on the independent, professional and honest examination of the reviewer, and takes into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users, which may also affect the product's ranking on the website.
Both Hotspot Shield and Hide My IP are VPNs that are both very effective. Hotspot Shield has a large amount of countries on the premium version, while Hide My IP sticks to only the general ones, like US, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, UK, and China. Hotspot Shield works wonderfully with Netflix, but Hide My IP delivers a better streaming experience due to its faster connection. On the other hand, Hotspot Shield is one of the best at hiding data, while Hide My IP is not as efficient, but still does a good job. Both are user-friendly, but Hotspot Shield is a bit more difficult to install and utilize in some cases. Even though Hotspot Shield works in more locations, Hide My IP actually offers support for more regions that are more difficult to get to, like South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. And when it comes to price, Hotspot Shield Elite costs a bit more, while Hide My IP offers come at more than double the price – but for a whole year.
Features
7.4
Pricing
9.3
Ease of Use
8.0
Reliability & Support
8.0
Features
8.0
Pricing
9.0
Ease of Use
9.0
Reliability & Support
8.6
Rating
Features
7.4
8.0
0.0
Pricing
9.3
9.0
0.0
Ease of Use
8.0
9.0
0.0
Reliability & Support
8.0
8.6
0.0
Reviews
Review by our expert
Carli Fish
Cybersecurity Researcher
8.0
When using a VPN, you shouldn’t have to rely on a browser extension with a complex setup just to get the service working. However, that was exactly what happened when I set out to try Hide My IP.
I thoroughly tested the US-based VPN to see how effective it is for unblocking streaming sites, fast downloads, security, torrenting, and providing you with transparent policies. I signed up for the...
I like the Hide my ip lifetime VPN planHide My IP seems to be one of the few VPN services that you can use with a one time payment. I bought it 8 years ago (paid $29.95), and my license still works with the latest version. Most other vpns charge a monthly fee (Hide My IP does too, but it is for the premium plan).
I also like their Chrome extension, the only VPN provider I used that can still unblock streaming sites like netflix, using the extension's Floating IP feature.
I spoke with them a few times on their support line, they were more than helpful, I have been quite happy with them.
Latest negative user review
Alex
2.0
Hide My IP cannot be trusted- do not buy itWhen you subscribe with the premium annual subscription they begin degrading your access by month 2, then totally convert it to standard by months 3-4. At first we thought this was just a glitch, but after subscribing for the second time (Yes! We were naive enough to trust them again), the access limitation and account conversion to standard has happened again. While their product is good their practice is terrible. No stars for these thugs.
Hotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 80+ 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
Steve
2.0
Too slow to be of any useI get 18 MPs without it but down to less than 5. Another VPN is much faster I now use an alternative which is giving around 12 to 14. I bought a lifetime membership a few years ago and since then it has steadily got worse.
When using a VPN, you shouldn’t have to rely on a browser extension with a complex setup just to get the service working. However, that was exactly what happened when I set out to try Hide My IP.
I thoroughly tested the US-based VPN to see how effective it is for unblocking streaming sites, fast downloads, security, torrenting, and providing you with transparent policies. I signed up for the...
Hotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 80+ 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...
I like the Hide my ip lifetime VPN planHide My IP seems to be one of the few VPN services that you can use with a one time payment. I bought it 8 years ago (paid $29.95), and my license still works with the latest version. Most other vpns charge a monthly fee (Hide My IP does too, but it is for the premium plan).
I also like their Chrome extension, the only VPN provider I used that can still unblock streaming sites like netflix, using the extension's Floating IP feature.
I spoke with them a few times on their support line, they were more than helpful, I have been quite happy with them.
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.
Latest negative user review
Alex
2.0
Hide My IP cannot be trusted- do not buy itWhen you subscribe with the premium annual subscription they begin degrading your access by month 2, then totally convert it to standard by months 3-4. At first we thought this was just a glitch, but after subscribing for the second time (Yes! We were naive enough to trust them again), the access limitation and account conversion to standard has happened again. While their product is good their practice is terrible. No stars for these thugs.
Steve
2.0
Too slow to be of any useI get 18 MPs without it but down to less than 5. Another VPN is much faster I now use an alternative which is giving around 12 to 14. I bought a lifetime membership a few years ago and since then it has steadily got worse.
Hide My IP is great for streaming and has very secure connections. Your Internet activities become encrypted and anonymous right from that moment. Even so, it is important to mention that they do keep partial logs. HotSpot Shield is a great VPN for streaming, with hundreds of servers in over 90 countries. Despite the fact that it keeps partial logs, this service has proven to be one of the most effective at hiding data, drastically reducing the risk of interception by employing military grade encryption. We therefore strongly recommend you to visit Hotspot Shield's coupons page and see their amazing deals.
Hide My IP is great for streaming and has very secure connections. Your Internet activities become encrypted and anonymous right from that moment. Even so, it is important to mention that they do keep partial logs. HotSpot Shield is a great VPN for streaming, with hundreds of servers in over 90 countries. Despite the fact that it keeps partial logs, this service has proven to be one of the most effective at hiding data, drastically reducing the risk of interception by employing military grade encryption. We therefore strongly recommend you to visit Hotspot Shield's coupons page and see their amazing deals.
The choice between these two is difficult. Both offer high speeds but Hide My IP is a little better for streaming services like Netflix. Hotspot is one of the best at hiding data, but Hide My IP has support for regions like South Asia, Middle East, and Africa. We can say that the winner is Hotspot Shield, as it protects data better, working as a more practical VPN. However, Hide My IP is still a great option too.
Honesty and Transparency are two core values of vpnMentor. VPN Companies can't pay to change or delete reviews. When readers choose to buy a vpn service, we sometimes earn affiliate commissions that support our work. Here is an explanation of exactly what we do, and how to support our work.
