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AdGuard VPN vs Hotspot Shield

Compare speeds, free options, subscription prices and renewal terms to see which VPN fits your needs.

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Speed

Speed
SpeedAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Paid · Download

170.53 Mbps

No data

Paid · Upload

172.51 Mbps

No data

Free · Download

128.26 Mbps

448.18 Mbps

Free · Upload

24.22 Mbps

252.95 Mbps

30-Day Speed History

Free options

Free options
Free optionsAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Free options

Free access includes 3 GB per month, 10 locations and two simultaneous devices; speed is reduced after the allowance. On iOS, new Unlimited users can try premium features for 7 days with an annual App Store subscription. Check the subscription terms before activating it.

Free Basic offers unlimited traffic, one connection and one virtual location on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS; ads may appear. A 7-day trial is also offered with an annual subscription. It converts to paid access unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the trial ends.

Pricing

Pricing
PricingAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Paid plan

AdGuard VPN Unlimited

Premium

1 month

1 month / $11.99

$11.99 per month

At renewal: 1 month / $11.99

$11.99 per month (Same monthly price)

1 month / $1.99

$1.99 per month

At renewal: 1 month / $12.99

$12.99 per month (+553%)

1 year

12 months / $47.88

$3.99 per month

At renewal: 12 months / $143.88

$11.99 per month (+201%)

1 year / $29.00

$2.42 per month

At renewal: 1 year / $95.99

$8.00 per month (+231%)

2 years

24 months / $71.76

$2.99 per month

At renewal: 24 months / $287.76

$11.99 per month (+301%)

No plan for this term

Direct purchases only. Monthly equivalents include bonus time; the full amount is charged upfront. Taxes and eligibility may differ.

Managing your subscription

Managing your subscription
Managing your subscriptionAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Automatic renewal

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

Credit card, Debit card, PayPal

Renews automatically.

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

Cryptocurrency

No automatic renewal. Another paid period requires a manual payment.

Subscriptions purchased through App Store and Google Play

Automatic renewal is not established.

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website, App Store, and Google Play

Renews automatically.

How to turn off renewal

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

Credit card, Debit card, PayPal

In your VPN account

  1. Open Licenses in the AdGuard account.
  2. Select Cancel subscription for the relevant license.

Subscriptions purchased through App Store and Google Play

If you purchased through the App Store or Google Play, open the subscription settings in that store, select the VPN and cancel the subscription.

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

In your VPN account or Through support

In your VPN account

  1. Sign in to your Hotspot Shield account.
  2. Open Account info.
  3. Choose Cancel membership and complete the cancellation process.

Through support

  1. Alternatively, contact Hotspot Shield support to cancel.

After your paid period ends, your account returns to Basic.

Canceling your subscription does not automatically request a refund.

Subscriptions purchased through App Store and Google Play

If you purchased through the App Store or Google Play, open the subscription settings in that store, select the VPN and cancel the subscription.

Access after cancellation

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

Credit card, Debit card, PayPal

Available until the paid period ends.

Subscriptions purchased through App Store and Google Play

Remaining access after cancellation is not established.

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website, App Store, and Google Play

Available until the paid period ends.

Removing a card from your VPN account

It is unknown whether the saved card can be removed.

It is unknown whether the saved card can be removed.

When to cancel

The exact cancellation deadline is not specified. Cancel well before the next renewal charge to avoid being charged again.

Subscriptions purchased through the VPN website

In your VPN account: At least 24 hours before the next charge.

Refund conditions

Refund conditions
Refund conditionsAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
What can be refunded and under what conditions

Purchases on the VPN website

12 months · 24 months

The provider’s refund guarantee applies subject to conditions.

Within 30 days

Starting from the purchase date

Important limitations

Requests after 30 days are considered at AdGuard’s discretion.

Refund amount & fees

The guarantee covers a full refund within 30 days.

How to request a refund

  1. Contact support@adguard-vpn.com.

App Store & Google Play purchases

If you paid through the App Store or Google Play, you can request a refund through that store. Requests are assessed under the store’s rules; approval is not guaranteed.

Purchases on the VPN website

The provider’s refund guarantee applies subject to conditions.

Within 45 days

Starting from your initial purchase

Refund amount & fees

The website advertises a full refund within the guarantee window.

How to request a refund

  1. Contact Hotspot Shield support by email or chat to request a refund.

App Store & Google Play purchases

If you paid through the App Store or Google Play, you can request a refund through that store. Requests are assessed under the store’s rules; approval is not guaranteed.

What is not covered by refunds

Purchases on the VPN website

12 months · 24 months

Renewal payments are not explicitly covered by the money-back guarantee.

Partial refunds for upgrades or renewals require agreement with AdGuard.

1 month

The provider’s refund guarantee does not apply to this purchase.

Purchases on the VPN website

Renewal payments after the initial 45-day guarantee period are not covered by the money-back guarantee.

Purchases through resellers have separate refund terms.

Ownership & jurisdiction

Ownership & jurisdiction
Ownership & jurisdictionAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Who runs the VPN?

Adguard Software Limited (registered in Cyprus) is the company named as providing the VPN service. Operator/rightsholder named in VPN legal documents. Complete market and reseller allocation not established.

The legal documents name Anchorfree, LLC and Pango Gmbh as possible service operators, but we could not confirm which company provides your subscription. Terms name either Anchorfree, LLC or Pango Gmbh depending on purchase location; the exact mapping was not established.

Which laws apply?

The licence agreement specifies Cypriot law.

The terms specify New York law while preserving mandatory consumer protections. The company may be registered elsewhere.

Audits

Each audit covers particular systems and a particular point in time. A provider announcement is distinct from a publicly available audit report.

Audits
AuditsAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
No-logs policy

No independent audit found for this area.

No-logs review

Aon · 2023

What was checked: Logging behaviour in free and paid clients and a development server node.

Findings: The review found no browsing activity traceable to an individual and no plaintext IP-address logging in the examined setup.

Limitations: This privacy review did not assess the security of data storage or hosting.

Read the auditor’s summary
App security

Android application security

Leviathan Security Group

What was checked: Android app security controls under the Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) programme.

Findings: The provider reports passing the MASA Level 2 assessment. A public auditor report with detailed findings was not found.

An auditor report is not publicly available.

No independent audit found for this area.

Infrastructure security

No independent audit found for this area.

No independent audit found for this area.

Apps, protocols & servers

Apps & devices

Apps & devices
Apps, protocols & serversAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Computers & mobile devices

Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux

Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

TV devices

Android TV

PaidAndroid TV, Fire TV

FreeNot supported

Browser extensions

Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera

Chrome

Manual setup

PaidRouters

FreeNot supported

Not supported

Connection details

Connection details
Apps, protocols & serversAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Simultaneous connections

Paid10

Free2

Paid10

Free1

WireGuard

Not supported

Supported

OpenVPN

Not supported

Supported

IKEv2/IPsec

Supported (Manual setup)

Supported

Provider-specific technologies

TrustTunnel

Hydra

Network

Network
Apps, protocols & serversAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Servers

No data

No data

Countries

Paid54+

FreeNot applicable

Paid85

Free3

Locations

Paid75+

Free10

PaidNot applicable

Free1

Features

Features
FeaturesAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Auto-connect

Supported

Supported

Kill Switch

Supported

Supported

Split tunneling

Supported

Supported (Smart VPN)

VPN traffic obfuscation

Supported

Supported (Hydra)

Multi-hop

Not supported

Supported (Android app only)

Tor over VPN

Not supported

Supported

P2P / torrenting

Supported

Supported

Ad blocking

Supported (AdGuard DNS; Select a filtering DNS server in the VPN settings)

Not supported

Tracker blocking

Supported (AdGuard DNS; Select a filtering DNS server in the VPN settings)

Not supported

Malicious website blocking

Supported (AdGuard DNS; Select a filtering DNS server in the VPN settings)

Supported

Port forwarding

Not supported

Not supported

Dedicated IP

Not supported

Not supported

Shared static IP

Not supported

Not supported

Automatic IP rotation

Not supported

Not supported

Streaming

Based on providers’ published information. “Not supported” means the service was not listed in the reviewed materials; playback has not been tested.

Streaming
FeaturesAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Netflix

Supported

Supported

Amazon Prime Video

Supported

Supported

Disney+

Supported

Supported

HBO Max

Supported

Not supported

Paramount+

Supported

Not supported

Hulu

Supported

Supported

Peacock

Supported

Not supported

Crunchyroll

Supported

Not supported

BBC iPlayer

Supported

Not supported

Viki

Supported

Not supported

DAZN

Supported

Not supported

F1 TV

Supported

Not supported

fuboTV

Supported

Not supported

Kayo Sports

Supported

Not supported

ZEE5

Supported

Not supported

SonyLIV

Supported

Not supported

Canal+

Supported

Not supported

ITVX

Supported

Not supported

Channel 4

Supported

Not supported

NOW TV

Supported

Not supported

France.tv

Supported

Not supported

TF1+

Supported

Not supported

Joyn

Supported

Not supported

ARD

Supported

Not supported

ZDF

Supported

Not supported

U-next

Supported

Not supported

TVING

Supported

Not supported

Wavve

Supported

Not supported

Other services (28)
Streaming
FeaturesAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Apple TV+

Not supported

Not supported

YouTube TV

Not supported

Not supported

iQIYI

Not supported

Not supported

WeTV

Not supported

Not supported

ESPN+

Not supported

Not supported

beIN Sports

Not supported

Not supported

JioHotstar

Not supported

Not supported

Vidio

Not supported

Not supported

RTL+

Not supported

Not supported

RaiPlay

Not supported

Not supported

Mediaset Infinity

Not supported

Not supported

Movistar Plus+

Not supported

Not supported

RTVE Play

Not supported

Not supported

Viaplay

Not supported

Not supported

Coupang Play

Not supported

Not supported

FPT Play

Not supported

Not supported

VieON

Not supported

Not supported

VTV Go

Not supported

Not supported

Vision+

Not supported

Not supported

RCTI+

Not supported

Not supported

Exxen

Not supported

Not supported

puhutv

Not supported

Not supported

M6+

Not supported

Not supported

Videoland

Not supported

Not supported

NPO Start

Not supported

Not supported

Ziggo Go

Not supported

Not supported

RTÉ Player

Not supported

Not supported

RTBF Auvio

Not supported

Not supported

Censorship

Relevant mainly where VPN services are blocked

If you are in the US, a European country, or elsewhere and VPN services are not blocked on your network, these results need not rule this VPN out of your purchase decision. A failed test under blocking in Russia does not, by itself, mean the VPN is poor quality or will not work where you live. Consider its speed, features and price for your needs.

Censorship
CensorshipAdGuard VPNHotspot Shield
Does it work on restricted networks?

In our tests in Russia, this VPN bypassed VPN blocking: we successfully connected to a VPN server and transferred data through the connection.

In our tests in Russia, the free plan bypassed VPN blocking and allowed data transfer. We could not establish a working connection with data transfer on the paid plan.