Surfshark vs Hotspot Shield: where each one has servers
Both providers side by side, based on their official server lists: which countries they share, where only one of them has servers and how their features differ.
- Surfshark 100 countries 54 with physical servers
- Hotspot Shield 85 countries 0 with physical servers
- In both 81 countries 0 physical in both
Server countries on the map
Only Surfshark Only Hotspot Shield Both
A country counts even when the location is virtual. The lists further down show which ones are.
Which one to pick
This only uses the data on this page: locations and confirmed features. We don’t test speed or streaming.
Pick Surfshark if you want:
- more countries overall (100 vs 85)
- physical servers in more countries (54 vs 0)
- no device limit
- a physical server in: Cyprus, Nigeria, Serbia, Slovenia
Pick Hotspot Shield if you want:
- a smaller share of virtual locations (1% vs 46%)
- a free plan
Side by side
| Key facts | Surfshark | Hotspot Shield |
|---|---|---|
| Countries | 100 | 85 |
| Countries with physical servers | 54 | 0 |
| Virtual locations | 46 | 1 |
| Locations not confirmed | 0 | 84 |
| Servers (as stated) | 4,500+ | 1,800+ |
| Owner | Nord Security | Pango Group (Point Wild) |
| Headquarters | Netherlands | United States |
| Founded | 2018 | 2008 |
| Devices at once | unlimited | 10 |
| Free plan | no | 500 MB a day, 1 device, US only |
| Independent audit published | yes | yes |
| Open-source apps | no | no |
| Servers run in RAM only | yes | not confirmed |
| Obfuscation to bypass VPN blocks | yes | not confirmed |
| Locations checked | Nov 2, 2026 | Oct 26, 2026 |
Server countries on the map
Only Surfshark (19)
- Albania virtual
- Andorra virtual
- Bolivia virtual
- Cyprus
- Ghana virtual
- Greenland virtual
- Macau virtual
- Mongolia virtual
- Morocco virtual
- Myanmar virtual
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia virtual
- Paraguay virtual
- Puerto Rico virtual
- Saudi Arabia virtual
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Sri Lanka virtual
- Uzbekistan virtual
Only Hotspot Shield (4)
- Belarus not confirmed
- China not confirmed
- Kyrgyzstan not confirmed
- Russia not confirmed
Countries in both (81)
- Algeria virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Argentina virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Armenia virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Australia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Austria not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Azerbaijan virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Bahamas virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Bangladesh virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Belgium not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Belize virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Bhutan virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Bosnia & Herzegovina virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Brazil not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Brunei virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Bulgaria not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Cambodia virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Canada not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Chile not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Colombia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Costa Rica virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Croatia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Czechia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Denmark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Ecuador virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Egypt virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Estonia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Finland not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- France not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Georgia virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Germany not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Greece not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Hong Kong not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Hungary not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Iceland not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- India virtual: Surfshark virtual: Hotspot Shield
- Indonesia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Ireland not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Isle of Man virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Israel not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Italy not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Japan not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Kazakhstan virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Laos virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Latvia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Liechtenstein virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Lithuania not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Luxembourg not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Malaysia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Malta virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Mexico not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Moldova virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Monaco virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Montenegro virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Nepal virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Netherlands not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- New Zealand not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Norway not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Pakistan virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Panama virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Peru not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Philippines virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Poland not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Portugal not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Romania not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Singapore not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Slovakia not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- South Africa not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- South Korea not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Spain not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Sweden not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Switzerland not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Taiwan not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Thailand not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Türkiye not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Ukraine not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- United Arab Emirates not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- United Kingdom not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- United States not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Uruguay virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Venezuela virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield
- Vietnam virtual: Surfshark not confirmed: Hotspot Shield