Hotspot Shield / Perfect Privacy compared
Same criteria, same rules. You see where they diverge.
No winner on this page. vpn-matrix.com assigns no points and makes no recommendations.
Differences (100)
Criteria where the values diverge.
| Hotspot Shield | Perfect Privacy | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal company name | Anchorfree, LLC / Pango GmbH (product under Point Wild / formerly Pango Group)provider claim | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbHconfirmed |
| Trademark holder, if different | Point Wild (HotSpot Shield brand)provider claim | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH / Perfect Privacy brandprovider claim |
| Headquarters (country) | USprovider claim | DEconfirmed |
| Other relevant jurisdictions | United States (Redwood City, California); Pango/Point Wild operatorconfirmed | DE (Hamburg HRB 152750)confirmed |
| Intelligence alliance of the home country | Five Eyesconfirmed | 14 Eyesconfirmed |
| Parent group / holding | Point Wildconfirmed | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH (Hamburg)provider claim |
| Ownership structure | private equityprovider claim | owners undisclosedprovider claim |
| Sister VPN brands in the group | Betternet, Ultra VPN / UltraAV, VPN360, Touch VPN (per Point Wild / Pango portfolio disclosures)provider claim | none documentedprovider claim |
| Group owns VPN review and comparison sites | Comparitech (listed among Point Wild brands)provider claim | none documentedprovider claim |
| Typical commission rate | 50% commission or more on referred VPN sales (1-month $12.99 example)confirmed | Affiliate program exists; commission terms on affiliate page (fetch timeout — program linked from site)provider claim |
| YouTube and influencer sponsoring | occasionalprovider claim | unknownprovider claim |
| Documented misleading advertising claims | 'Military-grade' encryption wording appears on download/marketing pages; Hydra marketed as '#1 for speed'provider claim | none_knownprovider claim |
| Acquisition history / former name | AnchorFree → Pango; Aura/Pango era; Dec 2024 Pango Group merged with Total Security and rebranded Point Wildprovider claim | Originally Switzerland-based (from 2008); later operated by CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH in Hamburg, Germany; technical entity claimed as Webinvest International SA (Panama)provider claim |
| Operating status | activeconfirmed | discontinuedconfirmed |
| Discontinuation date | ? | 01/30/2026provider claim |
| Core statement of the logging policy | Does not store VPN browsing activity tied to a user; logs session duration, bandwidth, anonymized domains, device hashes; source IP encrypted then deleted at session endconfirmed | No user traffic logs; no IP addresses, access times/duration, or per-user bandwidth stored; account holds login, expiry, emailconfirmed |
| Connection logs | per sessionconfirmed | noneconfirmed |
| Storage of the real IP address | transient onlyconfirmed | not storedconfirmed |
| Precision of stored timestamps | to the secondprovider claim | noneconfirmed |
| Recording of transferred data volume | per accountconfirmed | aggregate onlyconfirmed |
| Enforcement of the device limit | Premium links up to 10 devices per accountprovider claim | Unlimited simultaneous connections (vendor claim; mirrored in reviews)provider claim |
| Minimum account data required | Device hashes for free products without account; paid/account flows collect additional account data per general policyprovider claim | username/password, account expiry, emailconfirmed |
| Telemetry in the apps | cannot be disabledprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Trackers and SDKs in the Android app | Free versions: Google advertising ID (AAID) to Google for personalized adsprovider claim | None — vendor claimed in-house development without third parties (Wayback home)provider claim |
| Trackers in the iOS app | Free versions: IDFA to Google for personalized adsprovider claim | No iOS app (CyberInsider con); N/A for first-party iOS SDKsprovider claim |
| Trackers and cookies on the website | Cookies for analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising (site cookie banner)provider claim | Google Analytics with anonymizeIp; advertising cookies disclosedprovider claim |
| Data shared with third parties | Free VPN versions: Google for personalized ads (AAID/IDFA); paid versions do not send to ad partners. Domain names logged anonymized/aggregated.provider claim | Payment processors (Paymentwall, PayPal, Stripe, Bitcoin processors); Google Analytics on website with anonymized IPprovider claim |
| Retention periods stated in the policy | Source IP collected for VPN session then deleted at session end; domains aggregated ~monthly; device hashes retained for analyticsprovider claim | VPN: no connection data retained; account credentials/email/expiry retained for billing/supportprovider claim |
| Independent no-logs audit | yesconfirmed | noprovider claim |
| No-logs audit details | Aon technical assessment for Pango Group, report dated 2023-08-25; free and paid tiers; client+server; concluded policy assertions fairly representedconfirmed | No-logs policy described as involuntarily tested via police server seizures (notably 2016 Golem/heise reporting); vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepageprovider claim |
| Audit report published | summary onlyconfirmed | not publishedprovider claim |
| App and client audits | none published on fetched pagesprovider claim | Vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepage; no named app-audit firm/report URL foundprovider claim |
| Infrastructure and server audits | none published on fetched pagesprovider claim | No public infra audit report found; involuntary 2016 seizure treated as practical no-logs test in secondary sourcesprovider claim |
| Tested in court or by authorities | none documented on fetched official pagesprovider claim | 2016 Netherlands server seizure reported; no customer data recovered (vendor/community narrative on archived pages and reviews)provider claim |
| Transparency report | occasionalprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Warrant canary | noneprovider claim | staleprovider claim |
| Security incidents and data leaks | 2017 CDT complaint to FTC alleging undisclosed data sharing/traffic redirection on Hotspot Shield Free (per Wikipedia)confirmed | Police seizures of VPN hardware/servers reported (heise 2010; Golem 2016); operator framed seizures as validating no-logs (no user data found)confirmed |
| Bug bounty programme | none published on fetched Hotspot Shield/Pango pagesprovider claim | Perfect Privacy responsible disclosureprovider claim |
| Handling of reported vulnerabilities | none disclosed on fetched pagesprovider claim | ? |
| Open source clients | noneprovider claim | someprovider claim |
| Listings by independent bodies | Cited Speedtest/Ookla fastest VPN; TechRadar, CNET, ZDNet, PCWorld quotes on marketing pagesprovider claim | Historically recommended in privacy community reviews; CyberInsider and SafetyDetectives reviewed it; recommendations withdrawn after Jan 2026 shutdownprovider claim |
| Proprietary protocol | Hydra (developed internally by Pango)confirmed | Stealth VPN (DPI obfuscation wrapping VPN to look like HTTPS)provider claim |
| Legacy protocols still offered | Proprietary Hydra primary; OpenVPN/WireGuard not advertised as primary on fetched product pagesprovider claim | SSH2 tunnelprovider claim |
| Default data cipher | AES-256confirmed | AES-256 (OpenVPN)provider claim |
| Key exchange and authentication | Catapult Hydra proprietary protocolprovider claim | OpenVPN / IPsec industry standards (details not fully specified on feature pages)provider claim |
| IPv6 handling | unclearprovider claim | routed through tunnelprovider claim |
| WebRTC protection or guidance | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Obfuscation methods | Hydra proprietary protocol marketed for speed/security; censorship circumvention history (Arab Spring) per Wikipediaprovider claim | Stealth VPN (HTTPS-like masking against DPI)provider claim |
| Usability behind the Great Firewall | per user reportsconfirmed | unclearprovider claim |
| Kill switch | not availableprovider claim | system-wideprovider claim |
| Split tunneling | not offered on Hotspot Shield select-plan/feature lists fetchedprovider claim | yes (app split-tunneling per SafetyDetectives review of the service)provider claim |
| Multihop | not availableprovider claim | freely combinableprovider claim |
| Port forwarding | not availableprovider claim | availableprovider claim |
| SOCKS5 proxy | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| HTTP proxy | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Ad and tracker filtering in DNS | fixed listprovider claim | configurableprovider claim |
| Custom DNS servers allowed | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Local network access toggle | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Auto connect rules | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Traffic analysis defence | Proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol; historical circumvention useprovider claim | Stealth VPN Technology / NeuroRouting historically offeredprovider claim |
| IPv6 inside the tunnel | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Number of servers | 1,800 Serverprovider claim | 55 Serverprovider claim |
| Number of countries | 80 Laenderprovider claim | 23 Laenderprovider claim |
| Virtual locations | not labelledprovider claim | no virtual locationsprovider claim |
| RAM-only servers (diskless) | noprovider claim | entire networkprovider claim |
| Hardware ownership | rentedprovider claim | colocationprovider claim |
| 10 Gbps ports | noprovider claim | some serversprovider claim |
| Public status page | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Known upstream hosting providers | Third-party infrastructure providers (unnamed); Pango states it would leave any provider requiring activity loggingprovider claim | 100% dedicated bare-metal / root servers (no cloud VPS); operators not individually named on fetched pagesprovider claim |
| Linux app with GUI | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Linux command line | not availableprovider claim | manual config onlyprovider claim |
| Android TV app | native appprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Fire TV app | native appprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Router support | Router mentioned as connectable device under Premium (up to 10 devices)provider claim | VPN Routers documentation linked in footerprovider claim |
| Command line documented | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Simultaneous devices | 10provider claim | unlimited / personal multi-device use allowed; no sharing credentialsprovider claim |
| Cash by mail | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Bitcoin | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Retail gift cards | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| PayPal | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| SEPA payment | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Monthly price | €11.99provider claim | €12.99provider claim |
| Effective price on the longest term | €7.99provider claim | €8.95provider claim |
| Price change at renewal | moderate increaseprovider claim | same priceprovider claim |
| Free tier and its limits | Free VPN products (Hotspot Shield free) supported by third-party in-app ads (Unity, ironSource, Digital Turbine, InMobi)confirmed | noneprovider claim |
| Money-back window | 45 Tageprovider claim | 7 Tageprovider claim |
| Streaming unblocking officially advertised | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Netflix regions reported | Marketing claims Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+ worldwide; no audited region list on fetched pagesprovider claim | Poor / largely incompatible with Netflix and Disney+ per CyberInsider testing notesprovider claim |
| Other streaming services | Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+provider claim | CyberInsider: does not work well with streaming sites such as Netflix and Disney Plusprovider claim |
| Bandwidth cap | cappedprovider claim | no limitprovider claim |
| Data cap | Basic free: 500 MB/day; Premium: unlimitedprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Speed measurement references | Claims up to 2.2x faster than competitionprovider claim | VPNmentor maß im eigenen Test von einem UK-Standort aus per IKEv2 einen durchschnittlichen Geschwindigkeitsverlust von 35 Prozent bei nahegelegenen Servern und 55 Prozent bei entfernten Servern, auf einzelnen Servern über 90 Prozent.confirmed |
| Latency and gaming suitability | ? | Die getesteten Erfahrungen widersprechen sich deutlich. Comparitech fand beim Spieletest über nahe Server 'no dropped connections, no lagging, or freeze-ups'. Cloudwards maß dagegen im Schnitt über 1000 Prozent höhere Latenz und beschrieb League of Legends über einen US-Server als kaum spielbar ('each input took forever to load'). VPNmentor erlebte auf einem Schweizer Server mit 65 ms Ping zufälliges Einfrieren des Charakters und stufte Server in Singapur und Schweden als unspielbar ein. CyberInsider maß unabhängig davon reine Downloadraten von 117 bis 141 MBit/s auf nahen und 131 MBit/s auf US-Servern, ohne eigenen Spieletest, und wies auf spürbar schlechtere Werte bei aktiviertem Multi-Hop hin.disputed |
| SMTP and port 25 handling | Not documented on fetched Hotspot Shield pagesprovider claim | Not documented on fetched Wayback/review pagesprovider claim |
| Official support in restrictive countries | Historically used for censorship circumvention (Arab Spring); Hydra marketed for accessprovider claim | Die FAQ widmet China, Iran und der Türkei einen eigenen Abschnitt und empfiehlt dort Stealth VPN sowie kaskadierte Verbindungen über einen erreichbaren regionalen Server.provider claim |
| SSL Labs grade of the website | A+confirmed | Bconfirmed |
| Tracker load of the website | Essential + analytics/personalization/targeted advertising cookies disclosed on siteprovider claim | Privacy policy covered website cookies historicallyprovider claim |
| URL of the warrant canary | none foundprovider claim | Historical warrant canary page (service discontinued)provider claim |
| Length and readability of the legal documents | Long formal ToS with commercial/cancellation sections; not specially simplifiedprovider claim | Technical privacy-focused documentation historicallyprovider claim |
| Marketing claims contradicting the provider's own terms | Markets 'world's fastest VPN' via Speedtest; 2017 CDT/FTC complaint about free-tier data sharing (Wikipedia)confirmed | Discontinued service — historical claims onlyprovider claim |
All sourced criteria (158)
| Hotspot Shield | Perfect Privacy | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal company name | Anchorfree, LLC / Pango GmbH (product under Point Wild / formerly Pango Group)provider claim | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbHconfirmed |
| Trademark holder, if different | Point Wild (HotSpot Shield brand)provider claim | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH / Perfect Privacy brandprovider claim |
| Year founded | 2008confirmed | 2008provider claim |
| Headquarters (country) | USprovider claim | DEconfirmed |
| Other relevant jurisdictions | United States (Redwood City, California); Pango/Point Wild operatorconfirmed | DE (Hamburg HRB 152750)confirmed |
| Intelligence alliance of the home country | Five Eyesconfirmed | 14 Eyesconfirmed |
| Parent group / holding | Point Wildconfirmed | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH (Hamburg)provider claim |
| Beneficial owners publicly known | partly knownprovider claim | partly knownprovider claim |
| Ownership structure | private equityprovider claim | owners undisclosedprovider claim |
| Leadership team publicly named | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Verifiable postal address for legal service | yesconfirmed | yesprovider claim |
| Sister VPN brands in the group | Betternet, Ultra VPN / UltraAV, VPN360, Touch VPN (per Point Wild / Pango portfolio disclosures)provider claim | none documentedprovider claim |
| Group owns VPN review and comparison sites | Comparitech (listed among Point Wild brands)provider claim | none documentedprovider claim |
| Runs an affiliate programme | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Typical commission rate | 50% commission or more on referred VPN sales (1-month $12.99 example)confirmed | Affiliate program exists; commission terms on affiliate page (fetch timeout — program linked from site)provider claim |
| YouTube and influencer sponsoring | occasionalprovider claim | unknownprovider claim |
| Documented misleading advertising claims | 'Military-grade' encryption wording appears on download/marketing pages; Hydra marketed as '#1 for speed'provider claim | none_knownprovider claim |
| Acquisition history / former name | AnchorFree → Pango; Aura/Pango era; Dec 2024 Pango Group merged with Total Security and rebranded Point Wildprovider claim | Originally Switzerland-based (from 2008); later operated by CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH in Hamburg, Germany; technical entity claimed as Webinvest International SA (Panama)provider claim |
| Operating status | activeconfirmed | discontinuedconfirmed |
| Discontinuation date | ? | 01/30/2026provider claim |
| User base migrated to | noneprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Core statement of the logging policy | Does not store VPN browsing activity tied to a user; logs session duration, bandwidth, anonymized domains, device hashes; source IP encrypted then deleted at session endconfirmed | No user traffic logs; no IP addresses, access times/duration, or per-user bandwidth stored; account holds login, expiry, emailconfirmed |
| Activity and traffic logs | noneprovider claim | noneconfirmed |
| Connection logs | per sessionconfirmed | noneconfirmed |
| Storage of the real IP address | transient onlyconfirmed | not storedconfirmed |
| Storage of the assigned VPN IP | not storedprovider claim | not storedprovider claim |
| Precision of stored timestamps | to the secondprovider claim | noneconfirmed |
| Recording of transferred data volume | per accountconfirmed | aggregate onlyconfirmed |
| Enforcement of the device limit | Premium links up to 10 devices per accountprovider claim | Unlimited simultaneous connections (vendor claim; mirrored in reviews)provider claim |
| Minimum account data required | Device hashes for free products without account; paid/account flows collect additional account data per general policyprovider claim | username/password, account expiry, emailconfirmed |
| Telemetry in the apps | cannot be disabledprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Trackers and SDKs in the Android app | Free versions: Google advertising ID (AAID) to Google for personalized adsprovider claim | None — vendor claimed in-house development without third parties (Wayback home)provider claim |
| Trackers in the iOS app | Free versions: IDFA to Google for personalized adsprovider claim | No iOS app (CyberInsider con); N/A for first-party iOS SDKsprovider claim |
| Trackers and cookies on the website | Cookies for analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising (site cookie banner)provider claim | Google Analytics with anonymizeIp; advertising cookies disclosedprovider claim |
| Data shared with third parties | Free VPN versions: Google for personalized ads (AAID/IDFA); paid versions do not send to ad partners. Domain names logged anonymized/aggregated.provider claim | Payment processors (Paymentwall, PayPal, Stripe, Bitcoin processors); Google Analytics on website with anonymized IPprovider claim |
| Retention periods stated in the policy | Source IP collected for VPN session then deleted at session end; domains aggregated ~monthly; device hashes retained for analyticsprovider claim | VPN: no connection data retained; account credentials/email/expiry retained for billing/supportprovider claim |
| EU representative named under GDPR | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Independent no-logs audit | yesconfirmed | noprovider claim |
| No-logs audit details | Aon technical assessment for Pango Group, report dated 2023-08-25; free and paid tiers; client+server; concluded policy assertions fairly representedconfirmed | No-logs policy described as involuntarily tested via police server seizures (notably 2016 Golem/heise reporting); vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepageprovider claim |
| Audit report published | summary onlyconfirmed | not publishedprovider claim |
| App and client audits | none published on fetched pagesprovider claim | Vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepage; no named app-audit firm/report URL foundprovider claim |
| Infrastructure and server audits | none published on fetched pagesprovider claim | No public infra audit report found; involuntary 2016 seizure treated as practical no-logs test in secondary sourcesprovider claim |
| Audit frequency | irregularprovider claim | irregularprovider claim |
| Tested in court or by authorities | none documented on fetched official pagesprovider claim | 2016 Netherlands server seizure reported; no customer data recovered (vendor/community narrative on archived pages and reviews)provider claim |
| Transparency report | occasionalprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Warrant canary | noneprovider claim | staleprovider claim |
| Security incidents and data leaks | 2017 CDT complaint to FTC alleging undisclosed data sharing/traffic redirection on Hotspot Shield Free (per Wikipedia)confirmed | Police seizures of VPN hardware/servers reported (heise 2010; Golem 2016); operator framed seizures as validating no-logs (no user data found)confirmed |
| Bug bounty programme | none published on fetched Hotspot Shield/Pango pagesprovider claim | Perfect Privacy responsible disclosureprovider claim |
| Handling of reported vulnerabilities | none disclosed on fetched pagesprovider claim | ? |
| Open source clients | noneprovider claim | someprovider claim |
| Open source server side | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Reproducible builds | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Available on F-Droid | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Listings by independent bodies | Cited Speedtest/Ookla fastest VPN; TechRadar, CNET, ZDNet, PCWorld quotes on marketing pagesprovider claim | Historically recommended in privacy community reviews; CyberInsider and SafetyDetectives reviewed it; recommendations withdrawn after Jan 2026 shutdownprovider claim |
| WireGuard | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| OpenVPN over UDP | yesconfirmed | yesprovider claim |
| OpenVPN over TCP | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| IKEv2/IPsec | yesconfirmed | yesprovider claim |
| Proprietary protocol | Hydra (developed internally by Pango)confirmed | Stealth VPN (DPI obfuscation wrapping VPN to look like HTTPS)provider claim |
| Legacy protocols still offered | Proprietary Hydra primary; OpenVPN/WireGuard not advertised as primary on fetched product pagesprovider claim | SSH2 tunnelprovider claim |
| Default data cipher | AES-256confirmed | AES-256 (OpenVPN)provider claim |
| Weakest accepted cipher | AES-256provider claim | AES-256provider claim |
| Key exchange and authentication | Catapult Hydra proprietary protocolprovider claim | OpenVPN / IPsec industry standards (details not fully specified on feature pages)provider claim |
| Perfect forward secrecy | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Post-quantum key exchange | not availableprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Own DNS resolvers | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| DNS leak protection | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| IPv6 handling | unclearprovider claim | routed through tunnelprovider claim |
| WebRTC protection or guidance | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Obfuscation methods | Hydra proprietary protocol marketed for speed/security; censorship circumvention history (Arab Spring) per Wikipediaprovider claim | Stealth VPN (HTTPS-like masking against DPI)provider claim |
| Usability behind the Great Firewall | per user reportsconfirmed | unclearprovider claim |
| Kill switch | not availableprovider claim | system-wideprovider claim |
| Permanent lockdown | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Split tunneling | not offered on Hotspot Shield select-plan/feature lists fetchedprovider claim | yes (app split-tunneling per SafetyDetectives review of the service)provider claim |
| Multihop | not availableprovider claim | freely combinableprovider claim |
| Tor integration (Onion over VPN) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Port forwarding | not availableprovider claim | availableprovider claim |
| Surcharge for a dedicated IP | €0.00provider claim | €0.00provider claim |
| SOCKS5 proxy | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| HTTP proxy | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Smart DNS | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Ad and tracker filtering in DNS | fixed listprovider claim | configurableprovider claim |
| Malware and phishing filter | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Custom DNS servers allowed | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Local network access toggle | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Auto connect rules | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Private device network (mesh) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| GPS location override (Android) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Traffic analysis defence | Proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol; historical circumvention useprovider claim | Stealth VPN Technology / NeuroRouting historically offeredprovider claim |
| IPv6 inside the tunnel | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Obfuscation without configuration | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Number of servers | 1,800 Serverprovider claim | 55 Serverprovider claim |
| Number of countries | 80 Laenderprovider claim | 23 Laenderprovider claim |
| Number of cities | 35 Staedteprovider claim | 35 Staedteprovider claim |
| Virtual locations | not labelledprovider claim | no virtual locationsprovider claim |
| RAM-only servers (diskless) | noprovider claim | entire networkprovider claim |
| Hardware ownership | rentedprovider claim | colocationprovider claim |
| Own AS (autonomous system) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| 10 Gbps ports | noprovider claim | some serversprovider claim |
| P2P and file sharing | entire networkprovider claim | entire networkprovider claim |
| Public server list | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Public status page | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Known upstream hosting providers | Third-party infrastructure providers (unnamed); Pango states it would leave any provider requiring activity loggingprovider claim | 100% dedicated bare-metal / root servers (no cloud VPS); operators not individually named on fetched pagesprovider claim |
| Windows app | native appconfirmed | native appprovider claim |
| macOS app | native appconfirmed | native appprovider claim |
| Linux app with GUI | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Linux command line | not availableprovider claim | manual config onlyprovider claim |
| Android app | native appconfirmed | native appprovider claim |
| iOS app | native appconfirmed | native appprovider claim |
| Android TV app | native appprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Apple TV app | not availableprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Fire TV app | native appprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Browser extension | not availableprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| Type of browser extension | no extensionprovider claim | no extensionprovider claim |
| Router support | Router mentioned as connectable device under Premium (up to 10 devices)provider claim | VPN Routers documentation linked in footerprovider claim |
| Native build for Apple Silicon | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Command line documented | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Simultaneous devices | 10provider claim | unlimited / personal multi-device use allowed; no sharing credentialsprovider claim |
| Usable without an account | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Data required at signup | any email addressprovider claim | any email addressprovider claim |
| Account model | email as loginprovider claim | email as loginprovider claim |
| Cash by mail | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Monero | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Bitcoin | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Lightning | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Retail gift cards | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| PayPal | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Credit and debit card | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| SEPA payment | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Monthly price | €11.99provider claim | €12.99provider claim |
| Effective price on the longest term | €7.99provider claim | €8.95provider claim |
| Price change at renewal | moderate increaseprovider claim | same priceprovider claim |
| Flat pricing without permanent discounts | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Free tier and its limits | Free VPN products (Hotspot Shield free) supported by third-party in-app ads (Unity, ironSource, Digital Turbine, InMobi)confirmed | noneprovider claim |
| Money-back window | 45 Tageprovider claim | 7 Tageprovider claim |
| Cancellation path | cancel in accountconfirmed | cancel in accountprovider claim |
| P2P policy in the terms of service | entire networkprovider claim | entire networkprovider claim |
| Streaming unblocking officially advertised | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Netflix regions reported | Marketing claims Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+ worldwide; no audited region list on fetched pagesprovider claim | Poor / largely incompatible with Netflix and Disney+ per CyberInsider testing notesprovider claim |
| Other streaming services | Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+provider claim | CyberInsider: does not work well with streaming sites such as Netflix and Disney Plusprovider claim |
| Bandwidth cap | cappedprovider claim | no limitprovider claim |
| Data cap | Basic free: 500 MB/day; Premium: unlimitedprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Speed measurement references | Claims up to 2.2x faster than competitionprovider claim | VPNmentor maß im eigenen Test von einem UK-Standort aus per IKEv2 einen durchschnittlichen Geschwindigkeitsverlust von 35 Prozent bei nahegelegenen Servern und 55 Prozent bei entfernten Servern, auf einzelnen Servern über 90 Prozent.confirmed |
| Latency and gaming suitability | ? | Die getesteten Erfahrungen widersprechen sich deutlich. Comparitech fand beim Spieletest über nahe Server 'no dropped connections, no lagging, or freeze-ups'. Cloudwards maß dagegen im Schnitt über 1000 Prozent höhere Latenz und beschrieb League of Legends über einen US-Server als kaum spielbar ('each input took forever to load'). VPNmentor erlebte auf einem Schweizer Server mit 65 ms Ping zufälliges Einfrieren des Charakters und stufte Server in Singapur und Schweden als unspielbar ein. CyberInsider maß unabhängig davon reine Downloadraten von 117 bis 141 MBit/s auf nahen und 131 MBit/s auf US-Servern, ohne eigenen Spieletest, und wies auf spürbar schlechtere Werte bei aktiviertem Multi-Hop hin.disputed |
| SMTP and port 25 handling | Not documented on fetched Hotspot Shield pagesprovider claim | Not documented on fetched Wayback/review pagesprovider claim |
| Official support in restrictive countries | Historically used for censorship circumvention (Arab Spring); Hydra marketed for accessprovider claim | Die FAQ widmet China, Iran und der Türkei einen eigenen Abschnitt und empfiehlt dort Stealth VPN sowie kaskadierte Verbindungen über einen erreichbaren regionalen Server.provider claim |
| 24/7 live chat | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Email or ticket support | yesprovider claim | yesconfirmed |
| Telephone support | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| German-language support | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Documentation assessment | workableprovider claim | workableprovider claim |
| Self-hosted chat widget | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Self-service account deletion | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| SSL Labs grade of the website | A+confirmed | Bconfirmed |
| Tracker load of the website | Essential + analytics/personalization/targeted advertising cookies disclosed on siteprovider claim | Privacy policy covered website cookies historicallyprovider claim |
| URL of the warrant canary | none foundprovider claim | Historical warrant canary page (service discontinued)provider claim |
| Length and readability of the legal documents | Long formal ToS with commercial/cancellation sections; not specially simplifiedprovider claim | Technical privacy-focused documentation historicallyprovider claim |
| Marketing claims contradicting the provider's own terms | Markets 'world's fastest VPN' via Speedtest; 2017 CDT/FTC complaint about free-tier data sharing (Wikipedia)confirmed | Discontinued service — historical claims onlyprovider claim |