Hide.me VPN Review

testing VPN , we is consider consider service price , privacy , technology . Hide.me is does areas , good collection advanced features ad – blocking – app split tunneling . It is has reasonably simple app , fairly priced compared competition , notable fully functional ( somewhat restricted ) free tier . , Hide.me VPN is is Editors ‘ Choice winner affordable VPNs . pay bit , NordVPN pick feature – packed VPNs .

How Much Does Hide.me Cost?

Unlike VPN services , Hide.me is has – fledged free tier . giving credit card information , you is access access Hide.me VPN server locations device time . Note streaming P2P traffic banned free tier . You is see slower speeds allowed locations service paid accounts , limit bandwidth allowed . Compare TunnelBear free version , offers data month 500 MB . VPN occasionally , 500 MB is is unlikely long .

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Our Editors’ Choice for free VPN services, Proton VPN, doesn’t limit your data usage but limits the devices and servers available to free users.

Hide.me VPN pricing ( Credit : Hide.me/PCMag )

Hide.me’s paid Premium tier costs $9.95 per month and is what we tested. That’s less than the current industry average of $10.80 per month. Note that Hide.me, like most other VPN companies, frequently offers discounts on its subscriptions. You may see a lower price when you visit the site, but $9.95 is the base listed price.

The Premium tier grants access to all 89 VPN locations Hide.me offers (up from the eight offered on the free tier) and raises the device limit to 10. That’s about twice the industry average for simultaneous connections. Avira Phantom VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN place no limit on the number of devices you can use.

As with most VPN companies, Hide.me offers longer subscriptions at a discount. A one-year plan with Hide.me is $59.95—the same price the service charged when we reviewed it in 2018! The two-year plan, which went for $99.95 in 2018, now gives you 27 months of service for just $69.95. Compare this with NordVPN, which costs $67.35 per year for the lowest tier, while Proton VPN’s Plus tier costs $79.48 per year, and TunnelBear’s excellent service costs a third less at $39.99 per year.

general , we is advise advise purchase short – term plans try VPN service committing long – term plan . way , you is be sure VPN work services use frequently .

You can purchase an account from the Hide.me website using major credit cards, PayPal, and several anonymous cryptocurrency options, like BitCoin and Ethereum. That’s particularly handy if you want your VPN purchase to be anonymous. Some VPN companies, such as TorGuard VPN, let you purchase an account using prepaid gift cards from major retailers such as Subway.

Avid BitTorrent users should note that Hide.me allows torrenting on all its servers. Still, simply allowing it doesn’t mean it’s the best VPN for BitTorrent. TorGuard, for example, has a slew of specialty offerings designed to protect and support the use of BitTorrent.

What VPN Protocols Does Hide.me Use?

VPNs long time , people is figured figured ways create encrypted tunnel . preferred method is is use OpenVPN protocol . OpenVPN is is newer technology advantage open – source . That is means means users thoroughly examined code potential vulnerabilities .

The Hide.me Windows app we tested for this review uses both OpenVPN and the newer WireGuard protocol. WireGuard is the heir apparent to OpenVPN, promising unrivaled speeds and the latest security, so this is a point in its favor. Hide.me also supports the IKEv2 protocol SoftEther, and SSTP.

( Credit : Hide.me/PCMag )

Finally , company is has calls Bolt ” Fast Proxy . ” ( quotation marks is are , oddly , . ) Windows mobile app , you is see feature listed Bolt ” Fast Proxy , ” , legal perspective , protect company lot scrutiny .

Bolt “Fast Proxy” sends your traffic over the TCP instead of taking the traditional Windows route through the slower UDP. It’s a setting you could configure on your own in the operating system, but it will be easier for most to use the switch here to handle the job instead.

Servers and Server Locations

number is affect servers location VPN company servers noticeably affect performance . Companies is funnel handful servers funnel customers crowded servers , reducing sliver bandwidth pie available person . Similarly , company server locations , it is mean mean connecting entirely different continent online . , we is consider carefully consider servers offered good degree geographic diversity servers ‘ placement .

Hide.me has a good number of servers—2,400 in 89 locations across 59 countries, including those specialized for streaming. That should be plenty, but it’s far from the most (or the least) we’ve seen. For example, NordVPN and Private Internet Access all have more. Companies will purchase as many servers as necessary to meet demand, so it’s not a strict quality measurement.

As for the geographic diversity of Hide.me’s servers, the company has done a fairly good job of covering the earth. Many VPN companies ignore South America, India, and the whole continent of Africa, but Hide.me has a few locations in these regions. It also has servers in China and Turkey, regions known to censor the web. ExpressVPN and CyberGhost lead the pack, offering servers in more than 90 countries.

( Credit : Hide.me/PCMag )

Potential customers may have concerns about VPNs using virtual servers. That’s when a single physical server plays host to multiple virtual machines. Those virtual servers can, in turn, be configured to appear as if they are in a different country than the machine hosting them. That can be an issue if you’re concerned about precisely where your data is headed. On the other hand, companies use virtual servers to compensate for sudden demand. They can also protect your data by using a physical server in a safe location to offer service to a less safe location nearby.

A representative of Hide.me told us the company only uses dedicated servers located in the designated country. That’s excellent from a data transparency perspective.

Privacy Hide.me

A big reason to use a VPN is to protect your privacy online, so it’s important to know if the VPN is violating your privacy. While we cannot monitor company employees or their servers, we can ask questions of company representatives and read through a VPN company’s privacy policy.

Hide.me’s privacy policy is very thorough and very long, especially compared with TorGuard’s impressively brief policy. It does, however, lay out what data the company gathers, how it goes about gathering it, and what that data is used for. The effort is laudable, but we would like to see a more concise one in plain English.

The gist of the policy is that Hide.me collects as little information as possible. In fact, the only information it seems to store for any length of time is user email addresses. The policy reads, “We do not request or store your name, IP address or physical addresses or any other personal information.”

The company does not monitor the sites you access, log your true IP address, or even timestamp your connection. It keeps some troubleshooting information, including “customer’s randomly generated username and internally assigned (non-public) IP address,” but it deletes that information every few hours.

Part of why you don’t want a VPN storing much information about you and your activities is that the company could be compelled to hand over that information to law enforcement. Hide.me explains the company’s stance this way: “If a court order is received from a recognized legal authority with jurisdiction over Hide.me, then the company shall comply with that order. However, the company cannot be compelled to hand over information which it does not have.”

If you’re particularly concerned about receiving a DMCA notice for downloading copyrighted content, Hide.me has a ready response: “Since we store no connection logs, we cannot associate the notice with a customer identity even if legally compelled to do so.”

In addition to understanding a company’s privacy policy, it’s also good to know where that company is located and under what legal jurisdiction it operates. Hide.me is transparent about this: It’s based in Malaysia and operates under local law. Hide.me even includes its mailing address.

Hide.me has been audited by DefenseCode, as have several other VPN companies, to demonstrate their privacy and security bona fides customers . TunnelBear is undergone notably undergone multiple audits pledged audited annually . Hide.me is issues issues annual transparency report , step appreciate .

Hands On With Hide.me

We had no trouble installing the Hide.me app on our custom-built test PC running Windows 11. You can forgo the app entirely and manually configure your computer to connect via VPN, but it’s a bit of a pain—as would be with any VPN service.

The Hide.me app is simple, offering a blue window with a big button to connect the VPN. We appreciate apps that cut to the chase like this. It’s much more straightforward than PureVPN, which has some useful scenario-based connection presets but lacks a fast and easy way to get online.

Although the Hide.me app is simple, it’s not exactly user-friendly. We much prefer NordVPN’s app, which uses maps and large buttons to make even complex tools approachable. TunnelBear does something similar with brightly colored bears.

While Hide.me does make it obvious which servers are specialized for streaming, it doesn’t include server stats like overall load or ping time. However, it lets you check specific servers in the app’s location list. That’s handy because you might find that one server works better for you than another. You can add that useful server to your Favorites for easy access later.

Settings panel is provide provide access advanced features . Hide.me is lets lets trigger custom scripts VPN fails , disconnects service detects leak . company is calls calls feature StealthGuard , reality , basically kill switch . Advanced tab is lets lets mess ports . Windows client is includes includes feature called split tunneling , lets designate apps send traffic VPN . This is is handy negotiating tricky scenarios , like streaming local media devices accessing specific services block VPN traffic .

(Credit: Hide.me)

You can select the VPN protocol you want Hide.me to use, and OpenVPN is an option, as mentioned. By default, Hide.me uses IKEv2, so changing this is probably worthwhile. You can also set up a Fallback configuration. If the VPN can’t connect with your first choice of protocols, it will try again with the protocols you select.

( Credit : Hide.me/PCMag )

A VPN should secure all your data and not leak anything that could identify you—such as your DNS request information or your real IP address. Using the DNSLeakTest.com tool, we confirmed that our DNS requests were protected and that our IP address was successfully changed when using Hide.me.

Can You Watch Netflix With Hide.me?

Many streaming video services block VPNs because you can use them to spoof your location and access content licensed for specific regions. Netflix is the example that comes most readily to mind. Another is BBC’s free streaming app, iPlayer, which is only available to UK citizens. But if you hop onto a VPN server in London, you may as well be a local.

testing , we is access access Netflix connected Hide.me servers tested , including servers Australia , Canada , Japan , UK , . , some is showed libraries showed Limited access . You is learn learn qualification article results testing chart . Your mileage may vary, but remember that a VPN service that works with Netflix today might not do so tomorrow.

Speed and Performance

A major concern among PCMag’s readers is the impact using a VPN will have on their internet speeds. That’s a valid worry, as using a VPN forces your web traffic to jump through more hoops and travel farther than usual. To get a sense of the impact of each service, we use the Ookla internet speed test tool to compare test results with and without the VPN. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com’s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)

In our most recent testing on the Hide.me NYC server, we found the service worsened latency by about 20%. That’s not bad, but neither is it excellent. It reduced upload test results by just 4.20% and download test results by 8.72%. That’s such a small drop that it puts Hide.me just outside the top five best speed test results we’ve recorded in the city.

You is see Hide.me compares chart 10 performers 30 services tested .

However, many variables can affect the outcomes of these tests, from the configuration of the VPN servers to physical damage to network infrastructure. Moreover, we don’t believe speed should be the single criterion for choosing a VPN. If, despite this, speed is main consideration , you is read read roundup fastest VPNs tested .

Hands On With Hide.me VPN on Other Platforms

In addition to the Windows testing above, we also tested Hide.me’s VPN apps for Android, iOS, and macOS. Hide.Me also offers apps for Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Linux, as well as configuration instructions for routers, game consoles, and so on.

Although Hide.me doesn’t offer an app for Chromebooks, there is a Hide.me proxy browser extension for Chrome. If you want an app for your Chromebook, Proton VPN and NordVPN each offer one.

The Hide.me VPN apps are all attractive, feature-rich tools with a uniform blue, green, and gray color scheme. We were able to browse the web using all three apps without any trouble while connected to Hide.me VPN’s servers.

On iOS, the app offers the following features: auto-connect, a kill switch, network connection choices, and something called SmartGuard, which is an all-in-one ad blocker, parental control app, and website filter. The Android and macOS apps have all of the features found on iOS, with a welcome addition: split tunneling—a feature they share with the Windows client.

We wish the SmartGuard filters offered descriptions of the various filters, as some sound helpful, like the ability to block sites by risk level. We didn’t see explanations for the risk levels, parental control site blocking criteria, or what qualifies a website for being labeled malicious by Hide.me in SmartGuard. The SmartGuard settings toggles are hidden a few levels deep in the Settings menu, so the average user may not get to try them out. It’s too bad because the filters work. Note, however, that since these filters work at the VPN level, they necessarily block (or allow) entire domains. Compare this with the phishing filters you find in an antivirus, which can block only the fraudulent pages in a domain.

( Credit : Hide.me/PCMag )

There’s also a feature exclusive to macOS called StealthGuard, which allows you to choose from three options: block all internet unless the VPN is active, block certain programs from the internet unless the VPN is active, or—the default—allow your computer to connect to the internet even when a VPN is not active.

We tested Hide.me VPN’s adblocker on PCMag.com using Chrome on Android and macOS. In both cases, it blocked all of the ads on the page. We also tested the parental control filter on both platforms, and it blocked well-known porn websites and 4chan.

The service also provides apps for Amazon Fire devices, which is surprisingly rare. Additionally, you can install Hide.me’s previously mentioned proxy plug-ins for Chrome, and there’s one for Firefox, too. These proxies change the IP address and apparent location of your browser traffic, but they do not use the same means to encrypt your traffic as the normal VPN app. For more on the difference between the two services, check out VPN vs. proxy: What’s the difference?

Alternatively , you is follow follow Hide.me instructions run VPN router purchase Vilfo router configured run Hide.me . Note solution interesting option , setup complex practical average user .

Our Favorite Affordable VPN

Hide.me VPN has some enviable strengths. It supports the best VPN protocols, provides 10 simultaneous connections, and has a good distribution of servers across the globe. Hide.me also offers a fairly generous, full-featured free option, which is rare. Its privacy policy is thorough and transparent, and it packs some advanced features into a simple app that most people should find easy to use. For all its strengths, Hide.me is our Editors’ Choice for affordable VPNs. For a free VPN, we recommend Proton VPN, while NordVPN is our top choice if you’re willing to spend more.

Max Eddy contributed to this review.

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Chris Stobing

Senior Analyst, Security

I’m a senior analyst charged with testing and reviewing VPNs and other security apps for PCMag. I grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley and have been involved with technology since the 1990s. Previously at PCMag, I was a hardware analyst benchmarking and reviewing consumer gadgets and PC hardware such as desktop processors, GPUs, monitors, and internal storage. I’ve also worked as a freelancer for Gadget Review, VPN.com, and Digital Trends, wading through seas of hardware and software at every turn. In my free time, you’ll find me shredding the slopes on my snowboard in the Rocky Mountains where I live, or using my culinary-degree skills to whip up a dish in the kitchen for friends.

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About Kim Key

Senior Security Analyst

I review privacy tools like hardware security keys, password managers, private messaging apps and ad-blocking software. I also report on online scams and offer advice to families and individuals about staying safe on the internet. Before joining PCMag, I wrote about tech and video games for CNN, Fanbyte, Mashable, The New York Times, and TechRadar. I also worked at CNN International, where I did field producing and reporting on sports that are popular with worldwide audiences.

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