Hot VPN is a VPN service exclusively available to users on iOS devices. They offer fast servers, strong encryption and responsive customer support. They also maintain a zero-logs policy.
While these are qualities that you should look for in a VPN provider, there are some negatives to Hot VPN’s service as well. Before you decide if Hot VPN is right for you, read on for more details about the service.
Features
Servers
Hot VPN offers over 5,000 VPN servers located in over 50 countries. These countries include:
- Costa Rica
- Chile
- Canada
- Bulgaria
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Austria
- Australia
- Turkey
- Taiwan
- Spain
- Sweden
- Italy
- Germany
- Hungary
- Greece
- France
- Ireland
- United States of America
- Japan
Encryption
Hot VPN uses AES 256-bit encryption and uses the IPSec protocol to ensure the security of your internet connection.
We typically recommend that users sign up for VPN services that use the OpenVPN protocol instead of the IPSec protocol. While IPSec is faster, it’s also less secure than OpenVPN.
That being said, there are hardly any VPN services that offer the OpenVPN protocol for iOS.
Kill Switch
While it was not included when Hot VPN was first released, the app now offers a kill switch. This feature protects users in the event that the connection to the VPN server is lost. Without a kill switch, your data could be left unprotected.
P2P Sharing
Since you can only use Hot VPN for the iOS platform, we do not recommend that you use it for torrenting.
Performance
The speed of your VPN connection is very important, especially when you’re using a mobile device. Mobile devices generally have slower internet speeds when compared to desktop computers and laptops.
This issue, which can be annoying already, will be exacerbated if you also have a sluggish VPN service.
To check if a VPN service is fast enough or not, you can use tools such as Speedtest.net and SpeedOf.Me. Check your connection speed both with and without the VPN turned on, then compare the results to see the effect of your VPN.
With Hot VPN, you can expect a speed drop of about 30% when connected to their U.S.-based servers. This is a relatively low drop when compared to other VPN services.
However, the situation may change if you decide to connect to servers in Europe or the U.K. You should expect an 80% reduction in speed when connecting to Hot VPN’s servers in these locations.
Physical distances between your location and the location of the VPN server greatly affect your connection speed through the VPN server. These speeds do appear to vary depending on the time of day, so your results may be better.
With this information in mind, it’s important to consider that very few VPN services offer fast VPN apps that are strictly for iOS devices.
Compatibility
Hot VPN is perhaps the only VPN service that is truly mobile-first. In general, VPN providers focus on providing VPN services to desktop users and have a mobile app available as well. Hot VPN is strictly for iOS devices.
Users are able to connect unlimited iOS devices to their Hot VPN account. This allows you to protect all of your devices for one price. It also spares you from the hassle of having to remember login information for multiple accounts.
Customer Support
Hot VPN doesn’t offer 24/7 live chat support. While Hot VPN’s website does mention that they 24/7 customer support, this only refers to the fact that you can reach them by email at any time.
While this medium is not as quick as a live chat feature would be, they generally provide email response fairly quickly, sometimes within an hour.
Installation
It’s relatively easy to download and install Hot VPN.
All you have to do is to search for the Hot VPN app on Apple’s App Store (or find it here) and then click the install button. Once it’s installed, you can sign up for the service to get connected to a VPN server.
Be sure that you download the correct app as there are some other VPN services with similar names.
User Interface
Hot VPN provides customers with a simple, user-friendly interface. It’s perfect for someone who just wants to press a single button to connect to a VPN server.
This simplicity does have its disadvantages though. There’s no way to access any advanced settings to customize how your device connects to the VPN server. Experienced users may feel that Hot VPN doesn’t offer enough options to provide a complete experience.
When you launch the app, you’ll see a power button in the middle of the screen with a button below it that has the location of a VPN server. If you want to connect to a server in this location, you can press the power button. Otherwise, you can click on the server location and choose a different one.
To be able to connect to these servers, you’ll need to be a Hot VPN subscriber.
A difference between Hot VPN and many other VPN providers is that you must disconnect from one server before being able to connect to a new one. With other services, you’re able to select another server location and seamlessly switch between the two, but this feature is not available with Hot VPN.
Security and Privacy
In terms of security features, Hot VPN still has a long way to go to compete with some of the best VPN service providers on the market today. That being said, it does provide enough security features to protect users from hackers and other cybercriminals.
Like all quality VPN services, Hot VPN masks the user’s IP address and encrypts their internet connection to protect their data. They also offer dynamic IP addresses to maintain anonymity and prevent tracking.
Hot VPN maintains a zero-logs policy and specifically mentions on their website that they don’t collect any information on user activity or on individual users. This commitment provides context for the relatively small amount of information Hot VPN requires to sign up for their service.
If privacy is the main reason you need a VPN then a VPN that is based outside the US and the other alliance countries are best.
Price
Hot VPN offers three different pricing packages, all of which are expensive compared to other VPN services. Here are the options and prices:
- The one-month package is$12.99.
- The three-month package is $10.99 per month.
- The six-month package is $8.99 per month.
All subscription plans come with the same number of features. There is no money-back guarantee if you sign up for one of these plans and decide you don’t like the service. They do offer a seven-day free trial, though.
Hot VPN’s services can only be purchased through the user’s Apple App Store account. There are no alternative payment methods available.
Hot VPN does offer a free version of their service, but it has advertisements and only allows you to connect to servers located in San Francisco.
Users’ Reviews
There’s no information about Hot VPN on Trustpilot. We could not find much on Reddit either.
However, as of July 2019, the app has garnered a rating of 4.6/5 on the App Store from over 1,200 reviews, so that’s a plus.
Alternatives
If you’ve read this far and you’re still wary about signing up with Hot VPN, then you might want to consider an alternative VPN provider.
As the awareness around the need for internet privacy and security continues to grow, more and more quality VPN providers are making themselves known. Below are several options with links to our reviews for each.
All of the providers we’ve mentioned above are full-service VPNs that come with a money-back guarantee. They’re all less expensive than Hot VPN and offer more features to protect you and your devices.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Does not keep logs | Does not support almost all major platforms (exclusive to iOS devices) |
| VPN servers are fast | Needs to offer more features |
| Unlimited bandwidth | Expensive |
| 24/7 email support | No OpenVPN or IKEv2 |
| A good number of servers | |
Conclusion
Hot VPN offers some good features like a zero-logs policy, a broad range of server locations and the ability to connect unlimited devices to a single account. These strengths, coupled with the fact that the service is strictly focused on iOS devices, will likely be enough to keep Hot VPN afloat in the VPN market.
However, these strengths are not enough for us to recommend Hot VPN over other VPN service providers. The limited number of features don’t do enough to justify the high prices of Hot VPN’s plans, especially when compared to other VPN providers which offer more for significantly less money. Hot VPN will need to offer more advanced features and may need to expand to other platforms if they want to become competitive in the VPN market. Right now, we would point you towards one of the aforementioned alternatives instead. These services, while not exclusively focused on the iOS platform, offer both desktop and mobile apps that make it easy to take advantage of all the features these VPNs have to offer.
