The MyPublicWiFi Alternative for Sharing Internet with Your Own Devices
Connectify Hotspot is the MyPublicWiFi alternative to pick when you want to share your laptop’s internet with your own phone, tablet, console or laptop in a few clicks. MyPublicWiFi is a good free tool, and for some jobs it is the better choice. Here is an honest look at both, so you can pick the right one.
Download Connectify Hotspot free for 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, or read on to compare.
MyPublicWiFi vs Connectify Hotspot at a Glance
Choose MyPublicWiFi if:
- You run a public hotspot for guests and need a login page with passwords, vouchers or terms to accept.
- You need to log the websites each guest visits, or cap each guest’s speed.
- Your PC runs Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows Server.
Choose Connectify Hotspot if:
- You share with your own devices, family or friends, at home, in a hotel or on the road.
- You want a short setup: pick the connection, set a password, click Start hotspot, and devices join by scanning a QR code.
- You play on a console and want gaming mode for that one device, with UPnP on by default.
- You want to share your phone’s data over a USB cable, so the phone charges while it shares.
Side by side
Where the built-in Windows 11 hotspot stops and Connectify Hotspot keeps going
Windows 10 and 11 include Mobile Hotspot, and for sharing a connection with a few devices now and then it does the job well. Here is where the two differ, so you can tell whether you need more.
If the Windows hotspot covers what you need, keep using it. Turn it off before you start Connectify Hotspot, since running both at once causes dropouts.
For 64-bit Windows 10 and 11
Checked against Windows 11 26H2 and Connectify Hotspot 27, October 2026
What MyPublicWiFi Does Well
MyPublicWiFi is free and still updated: version 31.3 was current when we checked in October 2026. It runs on Windows 7 to 11 and Windows Server, 32-bit and 64-bit. It has router, bridge and repeater modes, a firewall, URL logging, a login page for guests, ad blocking, a speed limit per guest and VPN sharing. Its settings are built around running a guest network: logins, logs and limits.
MyPublicWiFi’s own site offers only Windows downloads, and Connectify Hotspot has no Android version either. On an Android phone, use the hotspot in Settings, or plug the phone into your PC with USB and share it from there.
Where Connectify Hotspot Fits Better
- Your own devices, fast. Choose Wi-Fi hotspot, pick the connection, set a password and start. Friends join by scanning the QR code on screen.
- Consoles. See every device on your hotspot with the data it uses, switch internet access off for any one of them, and turn on gaming mode for a console. Free in every edition.
- Hotels and flights. Sign in to the hotel or in-flight Wi-Fi once on the PC, and your other devices get online through the hotspot.
- Phone data. Share a phone plugged in with a USB cable. The phone charges instead of draining its battery as a hotspot.
- Help when you need it. Connectify has a support site and a support team behind the app.
What Is Free and What Is Paid in Connectify Hotspot
Connectify Hotspot Lite is free. It shares Wi-Fi, Ethernet, a VPN or a USB-tethered phone, with per-device controls, gaming mode and ad blocking, and it runs in timed sessions. PRO removes the time limit, shares 4G and 5G modems, and adds wired router mode and a custom hotspot name. MAX adds Wi-Fi repeater mode and bridged mode.
Repeater and bridge modes are free in MyPublicWiFi and part of MAX in Connectify Hotspot. If those two modes are all you need, MyPublicWiFi costs less.
Switch from MyPublicWiFi to Connectify Hotspot in 5 Steps
First stop the hotspot in MyPublicWiFi and close the app, so the two programs don’t compete for your Wi-Fi adapter. Then:
- Download and install Connectify Hotspot on your 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC.
- Open it and choose Wi-Fi hotspot.
- Under Internet to share, pick the connection you want to share: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, a VPN or a phone plugged in with USB.
- Set a password. Turn on Block ads if you want lighter pages on every device.
- Click Start hotspot. Devices join by scanning the QR code on the Hotspot screen, or with the network name and password, like any other Wi-Fi network.
Devices that saved your old MyPublicWiFi network will need to join the new one once. Connectify Hotspot 27 runs on 64-bit Windows 10 (version 1703 or later) and Windows 11. On a Windows 7 or 8 PC, use Connectify Hotspot 2021 instead: see our Windows 7 and Windows 8 guides.
Available for Windows 10 and 11

