Hide.me VPN Review 2022

Hide.me is an underappreciated good-quality VPN. Founded in 2012, the service has a free version with a similar experience to the premium version, lacking only some server locations and features.

The jurisdiction of this service is in Malaysia, a country with no data retention laws and not a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance. Plus, Hide me does a good job of hiding you by not keeping any logs and having no IP or DNS leaks. Customers can be certain of this, thanks to the independent audit by Leon Juranic.

Other typical VPN features include a kill-switch, split-tunneling, a good number of supported protocols (including WireGuard), and dedicated apps for a lot of different devices.

All of this seems pretty good on the surface. So what could be the other downsides of this VPN? Let’s take a deeper dive and find out why Hide.me is not on anyone’s radar yet.

Overview

Speed

One of the most important aspects of a VPN is its connection speeds. It’s primarily influenced by tunneling protocols and the scale of the server fleet. For example, the presence of modern protocols such as WireGuard puts providers like Hide.me among the fastest VPN services and way above other run-of-the-mill services.

Meanwhile, the wide-reaching 10 Gbit server network means customers across the globe have access to optimal connection points.

Server coverage

Hide.me VPN has 2000+ servers in 40+ countries, which is a pretty good amount for a VPN like this. The country selection is varied, with servers over much of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Additionally, Hide.me does not use virtual servers, and the provider has full control over its server infrastructure. 

Pricing

In terms of pricing, Hide.Me has these anniversary subscription plans:

• Free version
• 1 month: $9.95/month
• 6 months: $6.65/month
  
• 24 months: $2.49/month

Unsurprisingly, a single month of service is quite pricey and doesn’t include any discounts. Meanwhile, the best possible plan comes with a 77% discount and drops the price significantly.

The list of premium benefits includes 10 simultaneous connections and 2 TB of encrypted cloud storage.  On the other hand, the free plan permits only one connection per account and imposes a 10 GB monthly data cap.

Like most other VPN providers out there, Hide.me offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Payment options include:

• Credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners Club)
• PayPal
• SEPA
• SOFORT
• Bank transfer
• Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Litecoin, and more)

Security and privacy features

Hide me VPN provides a good arsenal of security features at an affordable price. If you like tinkering with settings to customize the connection for your needs, this provider has you covered.

Customers will find many familiar features, such as a kill switch, split tunneling, and double VPN.  Besides that, Hide Me has a few unique tools as well.

Additionally, the free version of the app can be used even without creating an account. This is an excellent privacy feature and quite handy for those who’d like to try out the app quickly. Furthermore, the service offers full IPv6 support, among other great features, which will be expanded further below.

Encryption and tunneling protocols

Hide.me VPN is very impressive when it comes to technical qualities. It uses military-grade AES-256 encryption which is quite standard in the VPN industry. As of this moment, Hide.me VPN uses the following tunneling protocols:

• WireGuard
• IKEv2
• OpenVPN
• SoftEther
• SSTP

This is a respectable suite of protocols, with several choices for beginners and experts. What is especially welcome is that Hide me VPN managed to implement the WireGuard tunneling protocol (although it’s only available to premium users). Even some of the higher-tier VPNs don’t have it available.

Kill switch

Hide.me VPN has a kill switch that is customizable and allows custom scripts on the desktop version. This means that you can add additional commands that will be performed if your connection to the VPN server drops.

If you’re not that tech-savvy, you will still be able to toggle auto-reconnect and limit connection to VPN. Most users will probably stick to these toggles, but experts will surely appreciate the ability to tinker with the software. You can turn the feature on in the Settings menu.

IP or DNS leaks

When it comes to Hide.me VPN IP or DNS leaks, well, there are none. To see how Hideme is improving, I decided to test for IP and DNS leaks myself. I first connected to the US and was assigned this IP address: 185.244.215.133.  Then I went online to check whether my IP address was leaking.

As you can see, my true IP is hidden and there is no information about my real internet service provider.

Similarly, there are no WebRTC leaks and my real DNS address is also not visible.

SOCKS5 proxy

A SOCKS5 proxy is an internet protocol that exchanges data packets using an intermediary server. The Hide.me team couples this protocol with their VPN service to add better protection against IP leaks. It’s also a significantly faster method of data packet exchange but lacks encryption. The Hide.me team recommends using this proxy with VPN encryption that comes with their software to get the best privacy possible. It can be toggled in browsers or used in torrent clients.

Double VPN

To improve security and combat online censorship, the service has added a Double VPN feature, called hide.me VPN Multihop. What makes this implementation stand out is the fact that you are free to choose the entry and exit points. Most providers only allow specific country combinations with a Double VPN. In this case, you have full control.

Bolt

For faster connection speeds while using the VPN, users can activate the hide.me VPN Bolt feature. Basically, this feature prioritizes TCP traffic and avoids UDP whenever possible. It’s also effective at getting around ISP speed throttling and various censorship measures. And just like Multihop, Bolt is still in the experimental phase.

Split tunneling

If you don’t need or want to encrypt some of the apps or traffic from your network, you can always use their Split Tunneling feature. It allows you to determine which apps or traffic goes directly to your ISP and which should be routed via the VPN tunnel.

Where is Hide.me based?

Hide.me VPN is based in Malaysia. This country is not a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance, which is excellent in terms of your privacy. What’s more, there are no data retention laws in Malaysia, which makes Hide.me VPN’s “zero-logs” policy more trustworthy.

However, it might be worth observing the Malaysia-China relations over the next few years to see whether cooperation between both governments may lead to the sharing of personal data in any form. For now, Malaysia is a VPN-friendly country and should pose no safety concerns to Hide me users worldwide.

Logging policy

I looked through the Privacy Policy for this Hideme VPN review. It appears that they log the absolute minimum of data necessary to make the service run smoothly. This isn’t a big deal because almost all VPNs are forced to collect some of your data. Many of them collect a lot more of it. According to their Privacy Policy:

We do NOT keep logs of your VPN sessions, browsing behaviour, websites you visit or any activity related to your VPN connection. In addition we NEVER store VPN connection logs and timestamps that match your incoming and outgoing IP address or session duration.

Their privacy promises seem trustworthy, plus the VPN doesn’t have any documented instances of giving user data to the authorities in the past.

Additionally, the service’s no-logs claims have been verified back in 2015 by Leon Juranic, Founder and CEO of Defense Code Ltd.

VPN Trust Initiative

Hide Me VPN partnered with i2Coalition and joined the VPN Trust Initiative (abbreviated as VTI) in 2020. The organization includes many well-known providers, such as NordVPN, Surfshark, and IPVanish. The goal of this collaboration is to inform users about the benefits of virtual private network technology and to foster trust among service providers.

The five key principles of VTI are security, privacy, advertising practices, social responsibility, and transparency. This means that members of this initiative are market leaders in these areas and follow the best practices to achieve great results.

Anonymous purchase

Hide.me allows you to remain protected at every stage of your transaction with them by allowing you to make subscription payments using anonymous methods like a range of cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Monero, Tron, Ethereum, and Litecoin). By using anonymous payment methods, you can essentially ensure that your identity remains hidden at every point.

Since most VPN providers will usually keep your account information on file when you subscribe, an anonymous payment method further reduces the kind of personally identifiable information they have access to. So, in terms of accepting anonymous subscription payments, Hide.me VPN can be considered safe.

Does Hide.me VPN support my device?

Hide me supports a wide variety of devices. However, the features you get on them might differ. There are dedicated apps for:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• Android
• iOS
• Amazon Fire TV
• Android TV

Additionally, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers have extensions, while some routers can be configured manually.

Hide.me VPN desktop apps

Hide.me works on Windows, Linux, and Mac. It’s worth mentioning that the Windows app offers the Firewall feature for an extra layer of security. This feature makes sure that all your apps use a secure VPN tunnel for online communications – essentially, it’s a kill switch.

The Hide.me Mac client is very similar in look to the Windows version, but the functionality is different – you won’t get to see many options. However, if you’re not a veteran user, the lack of options should not be a problem as its security credentials are still solid.

The Change option takes you to a country list that is easy to navigate because it’s small, and there’s a search option. The IP Details panel shows whether you’re connected, what your IP address/location is. Moving on, you can see the extensive Settings menu.

Many of the options here are quite self-explanatory so I won’t bore you with the details. What’s rather uncommon is that you can contact customer support directly from the app.

There’s also the Stealth Guard option, which sounds very much like a kill switch. It allows you to limit all or a selection of apps to work only when the VPN connection is active.

The Auto Connect feature lets you configure what happens with the VPN connection when you connect to a secured or unsecured network. It adds another layer of protection and customisability.

Furthermore, the Mac app has been expanded with the Multi-hop feature and even specialized servers for specific streaming services.

As you can see, Hideme is quite an easy-to-use tool that also leaves room for customization to veteran VPN users. In that sense, it’s comparable to some of the top VPNs on the market, and in some cases, even manages to provide more options than the cream of the crop VPNs.

Hide.me VPN mobile apps

Hide.me VPN has mobile apps for both Android and iOS. Both mobile versions are also similar in appearance to desktop apps. However, neither offers as many features as their desktop counterparts.

On a more positive note, this is a mobile-friendly VPN and will not annoy you nearly as much as some others.

Hide.me VPN for web browsers

Hide.me VPN has free Chrome, Edge, and Firefox extensions. Users can choose from 3 locations (Canada, Germany, Netherlands). Alternatively, you can enable the SOCKS proxy option to improve your security. The extension is a solid free option as data caps and bandwidth limits don’t bog it down.

Hide.me for Fire OS

Great news for content lovers – Hide me also works with Amazon Fire OS. You can install the app and enjoy your favorite shows on Amazon Fire Tablet or Amazon Fire TV.

Netflix and other streaming services

Thanks to its dedicated servers for streaming, Hide.me VPN works with a wide variety of online streaming services. These include Netflix (US, UK, Japan, etc.), DAZN, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more. Furthermore, the wide array of fast tunneling protocols makes streaming in HD and 4K is possible on supported devices.

Does Hide.me VPN support torrenting?

You’ll have a much better time with torrents than with Netflix. The Hide me VPN has proper encryption and doesn’t log any personally identifiable data – that takes care of the safety issue. 99% of Hide Me servers support P2P traffic and won’t restrict you while torrenting.

Keep in mind that this service also has a SOCKS5 proxy, which can be configured to work with torrent clients. Similarly, you should definitely utilize the split-tunneling feature which is available on desktop.

Customer support overview

The Hide.me VPN customer support is pretty good. They have a knowledge base with a fair amount of guides that are neatly categorized by topic. There’s a community forum as well, but it is not very active.

Most importantly, Hide.me has a 24/7 live chat support option. It says this is only for Billing and sales questions, but they’ll answer some of the more straightforward technical queries as well. In the event of something more complicated, you can open a support ticket. Communication is available in English and German.

Alternatives for Hide.me

Even though Hide.me is pretty good, the price of this service might be too much compared to other VPNs out there. That’s why I would recommend having a look at some cheaper alternatives with similar features.

NordVPN

NordVPN is one of the top VPN providers in the market right now. At $3.09/month, this VPN has unparalleled speeds, can unblock various libraries of Netflix and other streaming services, can secure up to 6 devices, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Windscribe

If you’re looking for a service with a similar free version then look no further than Windscribe VPN. Much like Hideme, you get 10GB of bandwidth per month and a limited amount of servers on the free version, but the premium version is very affordable, starting at $1.00/month and grants you blazing speeds with WireGuard, unrestricted streaming content and an unlimited number of connections.

Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is another cheap service that has confirmed its no-logs policy in court. This VPN will set you back $2.03/month and get you great downloads speeds, won’t limit torrenting and will unlock Netflix without any issues. All of that for up to 10 devices.

Should you get Hide.me?

All in all, the Hide.me VPN does have its selling points. It’s got decent encryption and protocol selection, and it will let you use torrents to your liking. Moreover, it offers good speeds, there’s support for a wide variety of devices, and the Hide.me app is both user-friendly and customizable.

Additionally, the free version of the app is substantial and has a fair number of features to choose from. And the pricing plan of the premium version is pretty good as well.

Do you think Hide.me is worth trying out? Share your opinion in the comments below.

FAQ

Is Hide.me good for Torrenting?

Hide.me provides good download speeds and a SOCKS5 proxy for added security, making it an excellent choice for torrenting.

Does Hide.me work with Netflix?

Yes, Hide.me does work with Netflix.

Is Hide.me free?

Hide.me VPN has a free plan with a few limitations:

• Only 10 GB of bandwidth
• Fewer servers and locations
• No WireGuard protocol

How to remove Hide.me?

Depends on your device, but generally, you will want to go to Settings, then to Apps, find Hide.me and delete it from your device.