Dashlane VPN Review in 2024

Dashlane’s name should sound familiar primarily because of their password manager service. However, with the 6th version of this tool, to our surprise, they added an integrated VPN functionality after. This new feature has made it interesting enough for us to test the service out to see how it compares to other VPNs.

Especially since Dashlane offers the Hotspot Shield VPN suite as their VPN service. We’ve already reviewed this VPN provider, so this review will take a different approach since we don’t want to rehash the same old details word for word. Instead, we’ll take a look at what additional goodies Dashlane brings into the picture and how well the VPN meshes with other Dashlane tools.

But right from the get-go, we can say this: Dashlane VPN isn’t impressive in terms of features and there are valid concerns about the service’s propensity to logging user data. The fact that Hotspot Shield has a spotty history of various data privacy issues and is based in the US raises eyebrows.

If you want a trusted VPN service with an all-in-one toolkit, we recommend trying NordVPN instead. And it also comes with a secure password manager and a Data Breach Scanner with the Plus subscription!

Dashlane VPN overview

Dashlane VPN, or we should say Hotspot Shield, facilitates decent speeds, is able to unblock some popular streaming services, and offers basic VPN security features. However, it comes with limited functionality and, worst of all, logs some of your data, a practice reputable VPNs don’t partake in. And it’s not the cheapest option out there as you only get it with the pricier Premium and Family plans of Dashlane.

Best Dashlane VPN alternatives

If you want a handful of handy features and ensured privacy, we suggest going for NordVPN or Surfshark VPN. These providers are well-known vanguards of user security & protection that don’t neglect to include perks for tech-savvy users as well, like ad & malware blockers, obfuscation, Smart DNS, etc.

Dashlane VPN plans and pricing

Dashlane in itself differentiates its subscriptions according to either Business use or Personal use. We’ll be overviewing the pricing for Personal use plans.

There are 4 tiers to pick from: Free, Advanced, Premium, and Friends & Family. Most notably, the VPN feature is only bundled with the two latter options. If you were ever thinking about getting Hotspot Shield separately, then getting it bundled with Dashlane is a much cheaper option. If you check Hotspot Shield’s website, its cheapest subscription costs $7.99/month.

However, with Dashlane you get the same service for only $4.99/month or $7.49/month, depending on the plan. And each tier comes with a certain set of perks, like unlimited devices, dark web monitoring, phishing alerts and such, courtesy of Dashlane.

As for payments, you can use your credit or debit card or go for PayPal. Also, Dashlane accepts if you add your bank account details directly. Unfortunately, you won’t get the opportunity to benefit from anonymous payments because Dashlane doesn’t support any cryptocurrencies. This is the first drawback.

If you’re the type of user who first wants to test the VPN’s services, you can go for the Dashlane free trial of 30 days. Therefore, you can be sure whether Dashlane VPN is worth it before making a final decision. Also, Dashlane comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, although it allows you to cancel your plan, you can only do that if you’ve purchased it with a credit card.

The cancellation process is pretty simple. You need to open the ‘Subscription’ section on your account’s dashboard, and that’s it. If you have any issues, you can contact their customer support, but more on this a bit later.

Speed and performance

When you are looking for the best VPN for your needs, one of the criteria you’re exploring is speed. To get a clearer image, you need to keep in mind that any VPN’s speed mainly relies on its server network and the VPN protocols it employs. But let’s get down to business and answer your question: is Dashlane VPN, or more precisely, Hotspot Shield, fast?

Dashlane VPN’s speed isn’t the fastest we’ve seen, although it implements Hotspot Shield’s unique and speedy Hydra tunneling protocol. However, because it has only 1800+ servers across 80+ countries, the servers might be congested at times. In general, the further the server is from you, the slower and more inconsistent performance.

Still, at least it’s a massive improvement above Dashlane’s previous built-in VPN, which had only 20+ servers across 26+ regions. The speeds were notoriously sluggish, making even simple browsing a hassle.

Is Dashlane VPN safe?

No, Dashlane isn’t the safest option out there. While the VPN service includes at least the essential security features, all thanks to Hotspot Shield, neither company takes user privacy as seriously as we’d like them to. Dashlane stores identifiers, customer records, commercial information, and such, while Hotspot Shield takes it a step further by collecting usage time stamps, accessed domains, device hashes, etc.

Also, both operate from the US, which is one of the countries with strict government surveillance and various data-retention laws. As the US belongs to the 5-Eyes Alliance, both services may collect and share your personal data with the government, which is not suitable for activities in which your identity needs to be concealed.

Encryption and tunneling protocols

Dashlane utilizes the bulletproof AES-256 encryption aided by the SHA-256 hash function. It’s a solid, virtually unbreakable combo, so Dashlane gets a point for that.
And the available tunneling protocols you’ll get are:

• Hydra
• IKEv2/IPSec

Hydra is Hotspot Shield’s proprietary protocol, essentially a modified version of OpenVPN. It’s quite fast and secure, pushing Hotspot Shield into the speedy VPN service list. IKEv2 is an older yet reliable protocol that offers stable connectivity and is more suited for mobiles.

Kill switch and IP & DNS leak protection

One of the most crucial features is the kill switch as it prevents your data from leaking in case the VPN connection drops. Hotspot Shield has a kill switch on Android, Windows, and iOS apps, however, they are turned off by default. And we couldn’t find such a feature on macOS at all, which is alarming.

IP and DNS leak protection is also crucial if you want to stay undetected. Hotspot Shield provides yet again by having IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak protection. We ran a few tests for potential leaks and found none.

Again, we must note that this is an improvement compared to the original Dashlane VPN. There was no kill switch on any of the available apps and IP and DNS leaks were all over the place. It was a very unreliable service that put users at risk rather than protecting them.

Privacy-unfriendly location: the US

As we touched upon briefly, both Dashlane and Hotspot Shield operate from the United States, a founding member of the Five Eyes alliance. It’s concerning because this country has been exposed for spying on its citizens multiple times and pushing companies to collect information about their clients.

And Dashlane and Hotspot shield do admit in their privacy policies they collect certain information about their users. What’s stopping them from sharing it with the authorities if the government ever asks of this?

Does Dashlane VPN keep logs?

Neither Dashlane nor Hotspot Shield abstain from logging some of your data. Some of it is reasonable as it’s done for business purposes, like storing a client’s email address and bank account information for paying customers. However, Dashlane additionally logs your social security number, payment history, and, worse yet, geolocation data. And the company gets to keep logs of your IP activity for up to a year.

Here’s what Dashlane collects in their own words. You can also check it out yourself in Dashlane’s privacy policy.

As for Hotspot Shield, it somehow manages to get even worse data-logging-wise. This VPN company collects device information, session time, settings, timestamps, location, and more.

Hotspot Shield’s privacy policy even contains statements that it logs VPN specific information like bandwidth usage and the locations of used VPN servers.

While Hotspot Shield is quick to reassure customers that it instantly erases IP data and keeps zero logs of online activity, we don’t actually know what happens behind the scenes. It never underwent a no-logs policy audit or any security audit at that – there’s no trusted third party verification that Hotspot Shield truly erases all collected data.

Other technical features

In itself, Hotspot Shield comes with:

• Split tunneling. It lets users customize their VPN connection by including or excluding which applications work with a VPN and which don’t. Split tunneling is very useful from those who want to secure only particular apps.
• Malware protection. Hotspot Shield has a built-in antivirus that blocks malicious websites and content farms. However, it’s not as robust since it doesn’t even scan your device for viruses and such, a core feature that any standalone antivirus solution integrates.

As for Dashlane’s benefits, there are actually several neat perks you get with the password manager. The Premium Dashlane subscription includes:

• Password manager
• Password generator
• Dark Web Monitoring
• VPN
• Phishing alerts

As a password manager, Dashlane is a great solution that makes password handling very easy. It’s a bit of a shame that it now comes paired with a VPN service that doesn’t have the best privacy practices and a lackluster security toolkit.

For example, NordVPN respects user privacy, offers a versatile, feature-packed toolkit, and comes with several of its own security solutions. Threat Protection guards against adware, user trackers, and malicious websites. NordPass is a robust password manager that makes password creation, storing, and sharing easy as pie. There’s even encrypted storage – NordLocker – and a Dark Web Monitor that checks for data leaks.

Is Dashlane VPN good for streaming?

Hotspot Shield is pretty decent in terms of bypassing geo-blocks of popular streaming platforms. During testing, we had no trouble getting access to Netflix US, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and a couple of lesser known streaming services. And since Hydra facilitates pretty decent speeds, the video quality was also great with very minimal lag.

However, we had trouble unblocking some regional versions of Netflix, like the Canadian and Japanese libraries. Furthermore, Hotspot Shield couldn’t unlock Disney+ and Max for us. It might not be a dealbreaker for some, but if you want assured access to almost any streaming platform you can think of, there are better streaming VPNs to pick from.

Is Dashlane VPN good for torrenting?

If you open the official Dashlane web page, you’ll see that the company claims it supports torrenting. Hotspot Shield also doesn’t have any qualms about people using their VPN to secure P2P traffic. However, the VPN lacks some P2P-oriented features like port forwarding and a SOCKS5 proxy, although the speeds are good enough for speedy torrent downloads and uploads.

Another issue is that Dashlane and Hotspot Shield log some user information. Torrenting is illegal in a lot of countries and getting caught doing so can land you in legal trouble or even jail. We wouldn’t trust this provider with such sensitive, gray-area online activities. Our suggestion? Secure torrenting VPNs.

Dashlane VPN device support

Dashlane works on just a handful of devices, so you’ll get Hotspot Shield only on:

• Windows
• macOS
• Android
• iOS
• Chrome browsers

As you may notice, Dashline’s devices range only spans desktop and mobile devices. You won’t find apps for smart TVs and routers like DD-WRT, Asus-WRT, GL.iNet, Merlin, and FreshTomato. Moreover, Dashlane VPN doesn’t work with gaming devices, such as Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.

This is understandable, as Dashlane is primarily a password manager. However, as a standalone VPN service Hotspot Shield is additionally compatible with Android TV, routers, and web browsers.

Dashlane VPN desktop apps: Windows and macOS

Now, getting the VPN is a bit of a process as it doesn’t come built into Dashlane’s app. First, you’ll have to log into your account on Dashlane’s website and click on VPN, which is on the bottom left of the list. Here, enter your email address and click Activate account. This will generate your Hotspot Shield account and allow you to finally download it.

Hotspot Shield’s Windows and macOS applications are simplistic yet sleek, making them easy to understand and navigate. If you want to customize the VPN a bit, you can do so from the Settings menu. Here, you can:

• Toggle split tunneling (called Smart VPN)
• Pick a different tunneling protocol (Hydra or IKEv2)
• Tweak Advanced settings (kill switch, Auto protect for public Wi-Fi, and IP leak protection)

However, we must note that Hotspot Shield’s macOS application isn’t as customizable as its Windows counterpart. You can only switch between the available tunneling protocols and enable split tunneling, which only lets you pick websites instead of apps. Furthermore, there’s no indication whether the macOS client has a kill switch or not, which is troubling.

Dashlane VPN mobile apps: Android and iOS

Hotspot Shield’s mobile applications are identical design-wise to the desktop ones, albeit adapted for phone screens. Again, the interface is intuitive, so using either the Android or iPhone app is straightforward.

Surprisingly, the mobile apps have even fewer features than Windows and macOS clients. At most, you can toggle split tunneling and the kill switch. Another notable aspect concerns the tunneling protocols – Hydra isn’t available, only the IKEv2 protocol. All in all, the mobile applications aren’t much to write home about.

Dashlane VPN customer support

If you have any questions or issues with the VPN, Dashlane has several support options:

• 24/7 live chat
• Support ticket via email
• Knowledgebase

For general queries, guides, and tutorials, you can find most answers in Dashlane’s own knowledgebase – the Help Center. It’s very handy and includes detailed instructions and tips on how to get the apps running, how to manage your account, how to use Dashlane on specific platforms, and much more.

Of course, if the issue is more complex, then you can try live chat or email. Naturally, you’ll get a response faster via live chat, however, technical issues are likely to get solved via email instead. At least the agents are polite and responsive.

As far as we’re aware, you can also contact Hotspot Shield’s support agents regarding VPN issues. The VPN service has email and 24/7 live chat.

Conclusion: should you get Dashlane VPN?

One of the biggest selling points of Dashlane is that it’s primarily a solid password manager that offers additional features like Dark Web monitoring. However, if you look at the VPN service Dashlane now includes – Hotspot Shield – it’s not the best they can offer. While speedy, Hotspot Shield doesn’t have the best privacy practices, isn’t that suited for streaming or torrenting, and includes a very minimal security toolkit.

If you want a solid, versatile VPN, we recommend going for a standalone option instead, such as NordVPN. It protects your data with the best security measures and provides impressive speeds and unblocking capabilities on all of its 7000+ servers. On top of that, your identity and actual location remains always hidden.

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You may also like to read:
NordVPN review
Surfshark VPN review
ExpressVPN review
CyberGhost review
Norton VPN review

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FAQ

Is Dashlane VPN trustworthy?

Dashlane is secure but not completely trustworthy. The company is based in the US, a core member of the Five Eyes alliance, and logs some user data, as stated in its privacy policy. Furthermore, Dashlane’s VPN partner Hotspot Shield has had some data privacy issues in the past.

Does Dashlane VPN have a free trial?

Yes, Dashlane has a free trial. You can test it for 30 days and then decide whether you want to purchase the VPN. Also, it has a 30-day money-back guarantee that will give you a full refund if you choose to cancel its plan. There’s also a free plan, however, it doesn’t include the VPN service.

Does Dashlane VPN hide browsing history?

No, Dashlane does not hide your browsing history as it is merely a password manager. But the VPN you get with premium plans employs AES-256 encryption that hides your online activities if enabled.

How many devices can be connected to Dashlane VPN?

There is no limit to the devices you can connect to Dashlane. Because of this, you can use the VPN on desktop and mobile devices simultaneously.