Comparison
AVG Secure VPN review vs. Hotspot Shield review
⏳ Short on time? Here’s the overall winner.
The better choice between AVG Secure VPN and Hotspot Shield is AVG Secure VPN. Here are all the things which we’ve tested:
- Privacy: AVG Secure VPN has better privacy features than Hotspot Shield
- Features: Same quality
- Speed: AVG Secure VPN is slower than Hotspot Shield
- Countries: AVG Secure VPN has less countries available than Hotspot Shield
- Security: AVG Secure VPN has better security than Hotspot Shield
- Price: AVG Secure VPN is cheaper than Hotspot Shield
- Compatibility: Same price
- Support: Same support
1. Privacy
I’ll start with a comparison of the most important aspect of any VPN - privacy. During review I will consider whether VPN logs anything (IP address, traffic, DNS logs, bandwidth, or any type of timestamps) and the jurisdiction of VPN’s country of origin.
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| IP address | Yes | Yes |
| DNS | Yes | Yes |
| Traffic | No | No |
| Bandwidth | Yes | Yes |
| Timestamps | Yes | Yes |
AVG Secure VPN is located in Czech Republic which is part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is not part of enemies of the internet countries while Hotspot Shield is located in United States which is part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is not part of enemies of the internet countries.
It’s important to note that If you are like me and you will be using VPN only to unblock GEO-restricted content, privacy will not be that important factor but it’s still essential for any VPN.
2. Features
The next category I want to compare are features of AVG Secure VPN and Hotspot Shield such as kill-switch, unblocking of streaming, support of P2P traffic (torrenting). I am a heavy user of various streaming platforms so for me it’s important whether VPN unblocks major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO or BBC. I don’t do much torrenting but it’s always good to use a VPN while doing so. If this is an important factor for you, definitely look for a VPN which supports P2P traffic.
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Kill-switch | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming (Netflix) | Yes | Yes |
| P2P traffic - torrents | Yes | Yes |
As you can see from the comparison table above, AVG Secure VPN has kill-switch, supports streaming services, and supports torrenting. On the flipside Hotspot Shield has kill-switch, supports streaming services, and supports torrenting.
3. Speed
Being hidden behind VPN shouldn’t limit the speed of your connection. I’ve measured the speed of each VPN against a 100mbps connection - which should be sufficient for any activities including heavy streaming in 4K or downloading large files.
In my test AVG Secure VPN was more on the average side while Hotspot Shield had below average speed. If there were no limits in speed on a 100mbps connection, I consider VPN a “fast” one. If the speed is limited somehow but still achieving decent values, I categorize it as “average”. The “slow” is usually used for VPNs which limit your bandwidth significantly.
4. Security
I will start by comparing the type of encryption AVG Secure VPN and Hotspot Shield use, what tunnelling protocols are available, and finally we’ll test whether it leaks the IP address or DNS.
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Tunneling protocols | OpenVPN and HTTPS | OpenVPN |
| IP leaks | Yes | Yes |
| DNS leaks | Yes | Yes |
The most important factor of a VPN service is a strong encryption of the traffic which is forwarded through the VPN servers. The most common encryption types in cryptography are SHA encryption or AES encryption which are not really comparable against each other. There might be different lengths of encryptions (eg. 128-bit, 256-bit, 2048-bit) and while usually the higher is the better, for most use cases you will be fine with any encryption. Watch-out if there is no encryption at all. AVG Secure VPN uses 256-bit and OpenVPN and HTTPS protocol and Hotspot Shield uses 256-bit and es 256-bit and OpenVPN protocols. I’ve tested both VPNs also for IP and DNS leaks and AVG Secure VPN had no IP leaks and No DNS leaks while Hotspot Shield had No IP leaks and No DNS leaks.
5. Price
Probably one of the most important decision factor for the majority of users will be price. Shocking? Not really. We all love to compare things and I am not different. It’s always good to get the best value for your hard-earned money, isn’t it? So let’s see whether AVG Secure VPN or Hotspot Shield is cheaper.
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.49 | $7.99 |
| Trial version | Yes | Yes |
6. Compatibility
AVG Secure VPN supports 5 connections at the same time while it works fine on all the platforms below. You can use Hotspot Shield on 5 devices at the same time with support of all these platforms:
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| MacOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | ||
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
7. Support
Should you have any problems with AVG Secure VPN or Hotspot Shield you can reach out to their support via:
| Name | AVG Secure VPN | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Livechat | No | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Phone | Yes | No |
Summary
AVG Secure VPN ranked in our list on 56. position while Hotspot Shield. is on 92 position. If you are looking for a better choice, see our rankings here.