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vpnMentor was established in 2014 as an independent site reviewing VPN services and covering privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize the independent, professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.
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vpnMentor was established in 2014 as an independent site reviewing VPN services and covering privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize the independent, professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.

hide.me Review 2024: Find Out if It's Free, Trustworthy & Safe?

Our Score: 9.0/10
Ranked 10th out of 306 VPNs
Matthew Amos Updated on 14th March 2024 Fact-checked by Anneke van Aswegen Senior Editor

Offering a popular free version and cheap premium plans, hide.me claims to be one of the best value VPNs in the world. But will the free version keep you safe online, and how do its paid plans stack up to other premium VPNs?

To find out, I performed extensive tests on every feature that hide.me offers. I explored speeds, streaming capabilities, and safety with the free and paid versions. In addition, I found out everything there is to know about its privacy policies.

After my tests, I recommend hide.me if you want a safe, privacy-friendly premium VPN for a low price. The free version is nice, but it comes with slow speeds, data restrictions, and a limited network. Luckily, you can test all hide.me features using its 30-money-back guarantee. I requested a refund to ensure it was trustworthy, and my money was quickly returned.

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Short on Time? Here Are My Key Findings

Pros

Cons

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hide.me VPN Features — 2024 Update

9.0
💸 Price 2.59 USD/month
📆 Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
📝 Does VPN keep logs? No
🖥 Number of servers 2400+
💻 Number of devices per license 10
🛡 Kill switch Yes
🗺 Based in country Malaysia
🛠 Support 24/7 Live Chat Support
📥 Supports torrenting Yes

Streaming — Excellent for Smooth Online Video Playback

9.8

hide.me is one of the best VPNs when it comes to streaming, but only with a premium account. I could make it work with just a handful of platforms on the free option. For example, I streamed Netflix Originals (a limited version of the site) and Max with the free servers near where I live in the US. However, you won’t be able to stream for more than a few hours a month because of the free plan's 10GB data limit.

I actually didn’t find any streaming platforms that didn’t work with the streaming-optimized servers that are available with a paid plan. There were also only a few instances where I had to do any troubleshooting. The only issue is that some services had long load times, but this wasn't a regular thing.

In the table below, you can see the services our international team could make the VPN work with:

Netflix Disney+ Max Hulu BBC iPlayer Amazon Prime Video
Peacock ESPN+ Paramount+ ITVX Crunchyroll YouTube
All 4 Hotstar India CTV ProSieben Funimation DAZN

Worked With: Netflix

With hide.me’s optimized servers, I could watch movies and shows on Netflix in HD. Its streaming-optimized servers are a little different than some of its competitors because they aren’t designed to work with one specific platform. They’re just situated in different countries and are meant to work well with every service — which was the case for me when I tested the streaming servers where I am in the US.

I had zero playback issues while watching Netflix. That means videos loaded nearly instantly in perfect quality and played without buffering, even when I skipped around. That said, I could only make it work with Netflix Originals with normal servers, so I suggest sticking with the optimized ones.

Worked With: Disney Plus

Free servers don’t work with Disney+, but I was able to watch it with the nearby premium servers.

I encountered a common problem with the free servers that often happens with Disney+. The screen just loaded indefinitely without ever letting me log in. Luckily, there were practically zero load times with the optimized servers. There were no buffering or playback issues either.

Worked With: Max

The hide.me servers worked great with the former HBO Max.

Screenshot of Max player streaming Winning Time while connected to hide.me's US streaming serverIt took about 10 seconds for my video to resolve into HD quality

While it took a while for the quality to warm up, the videos played without load times or buffering. I could also watch it with normal servers. But, I still recommend using the streaming ones to save you time finding the right connection.

Worked With: Hulu

I was eventually able to make the VPN work with Hulu. In my first test with a non-optimized server, I could log in to my account and see all the titles. But every time I clicked on one, it would give me an error. This was strange since I’m in the US and was on a US server.

Once again, the streaming server came to my rescue. It let me load videos in just a few seconds, and they played back in HD right away.

Worked With: BBC iPlayer

I also needed to see if hide.me could work with platforms outside the US, so I called on my international team for testing. The results were positive and my colleague in the UK reported that the VPN worked great with BBC iPlayer, but only when using the premium streaming servers.

As you might expect by now, there were no issues with the streaming experience. I could quickly load videos in HD and watch without buffering.

Also Worked With: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+, Paramount+, ITV, Crunchyroll, YouTube, and more

My team reported smooth streaming on all platforms with hide.me, encountering issues only when not using its optimized servers.

For example, Amazon Prime Video gave me errors with normal servers but worked great with the US streaming location. Crunchyroll had a bit of a fuzzy picture at first, and it took about 12 seconds to load its videos. Other than that, myself and my team found that the tested streaming platforms worked flawlessly.

Important: The vpnMentor team stands against copyright infringement. We recommend VPNs that offer secure, no-logging services to protect your privacy, not for illegal purposes. Always comply with local laws and streaming platforms' rules while using a VPN.

Speed — Fast on Most Servers, but Slow on Very Distant Ones

8.4

We got fast speeds on hide.me’s premium servers unless they were very far away. When they were over 9,000 km away, the speeds would take a substantial dip. The free servers are also quite slow. I tested every free location, and they always dropped my speeds by at least 90%. This was regardless of how far away they were.

There are 3 main categories we look at when recording connection speeds:

  • Download speeds. This shows how quickly you can receive information. It's important for things like streaming, torrenting, and browsing. It’s measured in Mbps (megabits per second).
  • Upload speeds. This lets you know how quickly you can send data. You’ll want this to be fast when you’re sending emails or uploading videos. It’s also measured in Mbps.
  • Ping. References how fast your data can travel. It lets you know how much latency you’ll have, so it’s crucial for gaming. It’s measured in milliseconds (ms).

To make sure we get fair results, we use a dedicated tester that records all our tests from the same location with the same connection. She tests each server at least 10 times at different hours and creates averages. This way, small dips in speed don’t affect our charts. The tests below were done with the WireGuard protocol because it was the fastest.

Screenshot of a chart showing speeds on several of hide.me's premium serversOur tester lost 5% of her speeds on nearby servers, and 50% on distant ones

With its servers in Europe, hide.me never dropped our tester’s speeds by more than 7Mbps. That makes sense because she’s in the UK. So, hide.me gave us some of the best nearby speeds we’ve recorded. I’ve only tested a few providers that are faster at that proximity.

However, on long distance servers, you can find VPNs that are faster. For example, ExpressVPN is about twice as fast once you get on servers over 8,000 km away. There are special 10Gbps servers, but I didn’t notice any speed differences with them. For example, the Brazilian server is marked as such, but it was quite slow.

Local Speed

Since hide.me is one of the most popular VPNs, our tester continuously runs tests on it each week. After looking over results for several months, I can see that the speeds in our chart are representative of how it normally performs. Week after week, we consistently had fast speeds on every nearby server.

Screenshot of Ookla tests showing speeds while connected to hide.me and with no VPN connectedShe only lost 3% of her download speed, and her ping remained low

Ping rates were great, and our upload speeds barely fell at all on nearby servers. So, as long as you stick to servers in your general area, you shouldn’t have any issues while streaming or browsing. Ping rates held up the best on free servers that were local, but they were still too slow for gaming.

Long-Distance Speed

While we got okay speeds on the Los Angeles server (8,300 km away), locations farther away than LA were always twice as slow or more. It seems strange because Sao Paulo is only a little bit farther from the UK than Hollywood is.

Screenshot of Ookla tests done with no VPN connected and while connected to hide.me's Brazil serverWe lost 74% of our speed and the ping was 20 times slower

One good thing is that the speeds never fell much further than this. Even though Australia is almost twice as far away as Brazil, the speeds were similar. However, hide.me has some work to do when it comes to long-distance speeds if it wants to catch up with the very best VPNs.

Gaming — Too Much Lag for Competitive Play

4.8

Even with low ping rates, I still couldn’t use hide.me for satisfying gaming sessions. It’s best to have a ping below 80ms if you want to play games without lag. When it’s higher, there will be a noticeable pause between when you press a button and when your character reacts. This makes it impossible to play at your best, and it’s just not much fun.

Screenshot of Steam running Counter Strike: Global Offensive while connected to hide.meI had problems moving my character and the game kept on freezing up

I tested it out with a fast-paced shooter, so I’d notice even small timing issues. It didn’t take long to load up Counter Strike: Global Offensive, but once the game started, I had big problems. At first, there were tons of glitches that caused my character to fall through the floor. Once we lost and the game reset, I could actually move my character. Unfortunately, the lag meant there was at least a second delay each time I tried to shoot my gun.

Every VPN will raise your ping levels at least a little because your connection is being encrypted and rerouted. I also need to mention that I could still play and enjoy slower-paced card games like Hearthstone with hide.me. Things could get choppy here and there, but it wasn’t a big issue.

However, there are many VPNs that let you play any online game with minimal lag on nearby servers. So, hide.me is falling a bit behind its competitors in this category.

Server Network — A Fairly Large Selection With Great Features

9.0

You get 2,400 servers in 89 countries with hide.me, which gives you a lot of options. This is slightly more locations than the average VPN offers, but some of the very best providers do give you more servers. However, I like that hide.me’s servers are pretty well-distributed around the world.

Most of the servers are in Europe (with 30+ locations). It even has some rarer locations like Bulgaria and Croatia, which you don’t see in a ton of VPNs. There are 10+ in the Americas and 20+ in Asia and the rest of the world. This is somewhat typical for VPNs, but there are some with more servers in Asia and Africa. For example, Surfshark has 25+ locations in Asia and several more African options.

8 countries come with city-level servers: the UK, Switzerland, the US, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Australia. The US has the most locations, with 13 regions offered. These let you pinpoint your location more accurately, so you can find the fastest nearby servers. Some VPNs come with a little more, but this is a solid selection.

Screenshot of hide.me's server network in its Windows appThe Multihop tab lets you route your traffic through 2 different servers

It also lets you connect to 8 different locations with its free tier. These are in the Netherlands, Spain, Central US, East US, West US, Canada, Germany, and the UK.

It owns all of its servers, so you don’t have to worry about any middleman. Many VPNs have to rent at least some of their infrastructure due to costs. So, this is one big benefit of using hide.me. Below you’ll find a few more cool privacy features hide.me’s network offers that help it stand out.

Best Location

I love hide.me’s “Best Location” feature. Most VPNs have a version of this that’s meant to automatically set you up with a fast server. What I like about hide.me’s version is how customizable it is. You can set the “Best Location” to give you the server with the lowest ping, the lowest load, or the one that’s closest to you.

Very few VPNs offer something like this. The only minor issue is I hope it’s a little more transparent with how it calculates this in the future. Currently, there’s no easy way to see any of these measurements for yourself in the app.

No Virtual Locations

Unlike most VPNs, all of hide.me’s servers are physically located. Virtual servers aren’t actually in the country where they set you up with an IP. This does come with some benefits because it lets providers connect you to countries where it’s dangerous to house servers. However, I like that with hide.me, you always know exactly how far away a server really is.

Dedicated IPs

Every subscription to hide.me comes with dedicated IPs, which is pretty rare. Most VPNs make you pay at least a few dollars extra to get static IPs. These can be helpful for avoiding geo-restrictions or if you need a static address for things like running a website. But, it is a little complicated to set up. You have to go to your account on hide.me’s website and enable “Fixed IPs”.

You then select which country you want to switch to a static IP in your app. You’ll get an IP address that you can copy and paste into your VPN’s “Custom Location” section. Afterwards, you’ll connect to this dedicated address every time you access that country/city. While I wish it could be set up quicker, it’s great that you don’t have to pay extra.

Security — Tons of Features to Keep You Safe

9.6

Security is one category where hide.me excels as it has just about every feature the top VPNs offer. First of all, it comes with military-grade AES 256-bit encryption. This is nearly unbreakable, and it’s the standard for all top ranked VPNs.

It also uses Perfect Forward Secrecy, which just means it’s constantly generating new encryption keys for added security. That made sure it passed all of my leak tests on 16+ servers. You also get the standard leak protection, including WebRTC.

It also comes with a kill switch. This blocks your connection in case the VPN suddenly disconnects, and it’s a crucial feature that makes sure you never go online without protection. I also love that it operates its own DNS servers and gives you the option to insert a custom DNS. As you might expect, the app is also completely virus and malware free. I was able to test this by running the .exe file through VirusTotal.

In addition to its more unique features that I’ll elaborate on below, it has a few more interesting options. Bolt “Fast Proxy” is a Windows feature that makes sure you connect via TCP. I’ll explain this further in the protocols section, but it’s meant to increase your speeds. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice any difference during my tests.

You can also set the VPN to auto-connect under several different conditions. This includes automatically connecting when you turn on your device, when you access a new WiFi network, or when you access a certain IP.

StealthGuard

I thought this was obfuscation at first, but StealthGuard actually gives you more auto-connect options. Many VPNs use the word stealth to describe technology they use to hide your VPN use, which is what threw me off. However, StealthGuard just makes sure you don’t go online without a VPN connection. You can also use it to make sure your selected apps don’t go online until hide.me connects first.

SmartGuard

This is hide.me’s ad-blocker, and it comes with tons of options. You can set it up to block ads, malware, trackers, force SafeSearch with search engines, and it even lets you set up parental filters. While it won’t block everything, I appreciate that you get hide.me’s ad-blocker with regular subscriptions (you don’t have to pay anything extra).

Split Tunneling

You can use this feature to choose what traffic goes through the VPN. For example, I like to keep my banking app out of the VPN tunnel. That way, I don’t have to worry about scaring my bank while I’m using hide.me to protect my privacy online.

Protocols

You get a ton of different protocols to connect to with hide.me, including the leading options. Here’s a short breakdown of each one and what they offer:

  • OpenVPN. This protocol is considered the safest protocol because it’s open source. That means it’s constantly being checked for vulnerabilities by security enthusiasts around the world. The company also claims every connection through OpenVPN will be obfuscated.
  • WireGuard. A safe protocol running on newer technology. It’s also the fastest protocol as was seen in our tests.
  • IKEv2. This is an older protocol. But, it works well for mobile devices because it’s good at switching between different networks.

You’ll also have the option of connecting to SoftEther or SSTP protocols. They’re decent choices if the ones above aren’t working, but you most likely won’t run into many situations where they’re necessary.

Multihop

This is a double VPN feature, and hide.me lets you run your traffic through any combination of its servers. I like this because most VPNs only let you connect to set pairs of servers. That’s if they even offer double VPN at all.

I was also impressed by how little this decreased my speeds. Most of the time, routing your traffic through 2 servers substantially lowers your speeds. In this case, it actually only lowered my download rates by about 20 Mbps on average.

However, this isn’t a feature I really use. That’s because hide.me offers such powerful encryption that there isn’t much reason to send your connection through a second server. But, it’s nice that it’s there for people who want to be extra cautious.

Privacy — An Excellent Policy That Has Been Proven

10.0

This is one of the most trustworthy VPNs around due to its independent audits and very clear no-logging policy. It’s also headquartered in a privacy-friendly country. Plus, hide.me is owned by eVenture Ltd, an IT security company that has never had any controversies. Now that it owns all of its server network, there isn’t much more hide.me could do to improve when it comes to privacy.

It’s also involved with i2Coalition — an organization fighting for internet freedom. This means that hide.me follows i2Coalition’s VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), which are a set of principles that ensure a provider is transparent and more privacy-friendly. It makes VPNs promise not to siphon data, practice false advertising, and more.

Does hide.me Keep Logs? No

Hide.me never records your IP address or browsing activities. The only data it retains are your email address and your monthly data usage. For enhanced privacy, you can register using a newly created email.

Screenshot of hide.me's privacy policy highlighting what data it storesAs soon as you delete your account, all of your information is removed

I appreciate hide.me’s policy because most VPNs do store some additional anonymized information like timestamps, details on your device, or even the servers you connect to. You’re also just as safe using the free service because it follows the same policy.

Was hide.me Audited? Yes

Its policy was audited by a reputable firm in 2015. This audit was carried out by Leon Juranic of DefenseCode LTD. He’s a renowned cybersecurity expert, and he reported that the company follows its policy. It’s also been releasing transparency reports since 2012. These show you every time legal requests are made of the company. Each of these reports have proved that hide.me has no relevant customer data to share.

Based in Malaysia

Malaysia is outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance, and it has no data retention laws, so it’s a great place to run a VPN. The 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance is an agreement between several governments to share data on their citizens. It always makes me a little uneasy when a VPN is headquartered within its jurisdiction, so this is just one more reason hide.me is super privacy-friendly.

Does hide.me Work in China? Yes

You can use hide.me in China.

Screenshot of a conversation with hide.me's live support agent where they confirmed it works in ChinaThey recommend you use its obfuscated version of OpenVPN to connect in China

There aren’t many VPNs that reliably work in China, so I’m happy hide.me still can. While many VPNs have been banned in China, the government rarely goes after individuals for using them. However, my team and I don’t condone any illegal activities. We recommend you read up on the laws before deciding to use a VPN in China.

Torrenting — Great Speeds With Solid Security & Privacy

10.0

I was able to increase my torrenting speeds while connected to hide.me. With no VPN connected, it would have taken me 12 minutes to complete a 700 MB file. Once I got on hide.me’s Texas server, I could finish it in only 3 minutes. You can also use its Shadowsocks proxy to potentially increase your speeds further, but it wasn’t necessary for me.

Its solid privacy policy and great security features also make hide.me a nice option for P2P. You never know who you’re connecting to on one of these networks, and it’s easy to download a mislabeled file. So, it’s a good idea to protect yourself with a VPN like hide.me.

It works with a variety of applications including qBittorrent and Deluge, and you can also use port forwarding, but it takes a bit of setting up. You enable it on your account page, and it utilizes a dynamic version of the process called UPnP. This is considered safer than static port forwarding, but hide.me recommends only enabling port forwarding on one device because you’ll get the best protection using VPN protocols.

While torrenting is legal in most countries, downloading copyrighted files isn’t. I recommend you only download files in the public domain to make sure you don’t break any laws.

Installation & Apps

9.2

Installation & Apps — Easy to Set Up on Most Devices

All of hide.me’s apps are simple to use and very easy to set up. It has a nice modern looking UI that’s easy on the eyes as well. The only confusion you may have could come from the amount of customization options it offers. For example, the multihop servers, StealthGuard, and Bold “Fast Proxy” features aren’t necessarily self-explanatory.

Screenshot of hide.me's Windows appEach of the tabs on the bottom of the app take you exactly where you’d expect

So, I’d like to see it provide more information about its features in the future like some VPNs do when you hover over them. A few of its features are strangely named as well. For example, I had no idea what “Custom Locations” did until I looked it up. This is actually how you access static IP addresses, but you’d never know it from that title. Overall, it’s a great app that could just use a few minor tweaks to make it a tad more user-friendly.

Setup & Installation

I was impressed with how easy hide.me is to install, even on Linux. Many VPNs make it easy to set up apps on the most popular OS’, but hide.me has the easiest Linux installation process of any VPN I’ve tested. All you have to do is copy and paste one command from its guide into your terminal and everything is taken care of.

Screenshot of hide.me's download page from the dashboard on its websiteIt’s also nice that it shows you every device you can download an app for

It’s just as easy to install on supported smart TVs as it is for mobile devices. Setting it up on a router is a bit more complicated, but this is always the case. It takes about 10 minutes, and I’d recommend being careful if you’ve never done it before because the process can damage your router.

Quick Guide: How to Install hide.me in 3 Easy Steps

  1. Download the installation file. First, I recommend you get a hide.me subscription, so you can use all of its servers without limits. For desktop devices, you can find the .exe file on hide.me’s website. On mobile, you’ll get it wherever you download apps.
  2. Follow the steps. Once you open the file or click install on mobile, you’ll just need to wait while the installation takes place, and possibly answer a few questions.
  3. Log in and get started. Once the app is installed, you just have to enter your credentials before you can connect.

Device Compatibility

I’m happy with the amount of native apps hide.me offers, but I wish it had smart DNS. This is a feature that makes it easy to change locations on devices that don’t normally support VPNs. It would give you an easy way to access new gaming locations on your consoles or watch HD content on unsupported smart TVs. Overall though, hide.me does a great job of offering a wide range of apps for the most popular devices.

Desktop — Apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux

I like how similar the Mac and Windows apps are, but Linux users miss out on some features. The apps for Mac and Windows largely have all the same security features and both let you connect to the same protocols. This is pretty rare, and Mac apps are usually neglected compared to the Windows ones, so I appreciate this.

The only difference is the Windows app has a few more advanced configuration options like Fallback Configuration and custom ports for protocols. These features are largely irrelevant unless you’re a huge techie.

However, the Linux app only has one protocol and no StealthGuard, SmartGuard, or split tunneling. You do get WireGuard, which is probably the protocol you’d want if you only get one. However, missing out on the ad-blocker and split tunneling are disappointing. But, I do appreciate that you can use the Linux app with a free account since there aren’t many free Linux VPNs.

Android and iPhone (iOS)

I’m happy that you only miss out on StealthGuard and the SoftEther protocol with mobile devices.

Screenshot of hide.me app on Android highlighting the main page, locations, and settingsI like that the main screen and the server network look exactly the same

Otherwise, you get everything that comes with desktop apps. You can connect to every server, use the same protocols, and access all the same features. This includes things like kill switches and split tunneling, which are often left out from iOS apps.

Browser Extensions for Chrome and Firefox

There are free hide.me browser extensions, but I don’t recommend using them. These let you connect to proxies from Germany and the Netherlands. But, that’s the problem; these are only proxies that won’t fully encrypt your device. You can enable SOCKS for a form of encryption, but it’ll only be for your browser (not the rest of your device).

Apps for Amazon Fire TV & Android TVs

For its supported TVs, you’ll simply download hide.me the way you would a new channel or app. That means searching through wherever you browse for apps on your TV and adding hide.me. So, it couldn’t be easier. I just wish there was an easier way to install the app on other TVs.

Router Compatibility

While it doesn’t sell pre-installed routers, hide.me does support installation on several router models. There are guides on its site for AsusWRT-Merlin, DD-WRT, OpenWrt, and Tomato routers.

Installing on your router will let you use hide.me on every device in your network (including game consoles). However, all your tech will be connected to the same servers. ExpressVPN is one of the only services that gives you a full app for routers where you can decide which device connects to which server. I’ve never seen another VPN match them there, but if hide.me could do it, that would be amazing.

Simultaneous Device Connections

You get a generous 10 simultaneous connections with hide.me. It’s a nice feature because the standard is 5 devices with most VPNs. It works great connected to multiple devices too. I had it set up on my Windows Laptop, a Linux desktop, and 2 phones. There were no differences in performance, even with every device hooked up to the same servers and streaming at the same time.

There are a few VPNs, like PIA, that offer unlimited connections. But, most people will be covered with the amount hide.me offers. Also, be aware there is only 1 connection at a time with free accounts.

Pricing

9.6
27 Months + 3 Months FREE
$ 2.59 / month per month
12 Months
$ 3.75 / month per month
1 Month
$ 9.95 / month per month

There are only a few other VPNs available that can match the value hide.me offers. It has 3 plans, and you can get its cheapest subscription for $2.59/month. That’s with the longest term, which includes 3 free months. Every plan gives you the same features; they only differ by length of subscription. I recommend going with the longest plan for the best value. However, its monthly plan is also one of the cheaper ones offered by a top VPN.

CyberGhost and PIA do offer long-term subscriptions for slightly less, but it’s hard to find many other VPNs of this quality for such a low monthly rate. Its free plan is also one of the best around. You get 10GB of data per month with 8 locations to connect to. You can also use it on all the devices hide.me supports, and all of its safety features are activated, so it’s a decent way to get a feel for the VPN.

However, I recommend you use its 30-day money-back guarantee to test it out. I was impressed by how easy it was to get a refund. There is a 24/7 live chat with hide.me, but strangely, the day I asked for my refund it wasn’t available. So, I had to make my request over email.

Screenshot of an email telling me my money had been refunded by hide.meI appreciated that I didn’t have to answer any questions to get my refund approved

5 hours later, I was told that my request would be sent to the billings department in a reply. The next day everything was finished and all of the money was back in my account. So, I’ve never tested a VPN that refunded me faster, and I can confirm its guarantee is trustworthy.

You can pay with credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, SEPA, SOFORT, bank transfers, and several cryptocurrencies. For cards, it accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Diner’s Club. As far as crypto goes, it lets you pay with Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, Horizon, Ripple, ZCash, and many more.

Reliability & Support

9.6

Reliability and Support — Solid Answers Are Always Available

Its 24/7 live chat makes it easy to get your questions answered at any time. There was only one day when I had issues getting it to work. When I asked about it, the support agent seemed baffled, so I’ll chalk it up as a strange glitch.

Screenshot of a conversation with hide.me support where they confirmed the I appreciate that I never had to wait long for them to sign in or reply

I was always able to get in touch with support staff in less than a minute during my other tests too. I love that because it’s so frustrating when a VPN advertises a 24/7 live chat, but then it takes forever to connect with an agent. There’s no phone support, but that’s something I rarely use anyways.

You can also contact it through email, and my emails were always responded to in a few hours. They know their stuff too. For example, when I was having trouble figuring out how to use its dedicated IPs, support helped me set it up in no time. I also like that its staff is enthusiastic about the product, and they consistently linked me to guides where I could find more information.

Speaking of its guides, hide.me’s knowledge base is very thorough. It offers tons of well-organized and easy-to-read FAQs, along with an extensive blog. However, it doesn’t have any video tutorials on its page. There is a hide.me YouTube channel, but it only has 2 videos at the moment. It would be nice if it uploaded more in the future, but the excellent live chat means this isn’t a huge deal.

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The Bottom Line

Final Verdict — Safe & Privacy-Friendly With a Nice Free Option

There’s a ton to like about hide.me. It’s one of the best value VPNs you can get, with a cheap long term plan and a free option that’s not bad for casual browsing. The paid app gives you a network full of features, great security, a proven privacy policy, and fast speeds on a lot of servers. It’s also excellent for streaming and torrenting.

It does have a few minor drawbacks though. Speeds do drop at a certain distance, and I never got it to work well for gaming. I also hope it adds a smart DNS feature in the future and some additional displays on the servers would be nice.

Overall, I recommend hide.me if you want a safe, trustworthy VPN, for a low price. There are a few top competitors that offer more servers, faster speeds, and better gaming performance though. Otherwise, it’s one of the best VPNs around.

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  • Great streaming capabilities
  • Excellent security features
  • Proven no-logging policy
  • Fast torrenting speeds
  • Easy to install and use
  • Compatible with all major operating system

FAQs on hide.me

Is hide.me safe?

Yes, hide.me is safe. It comes with military-grade encryption, and it passed all of my leak tests. Plus, it has a kill switch that blocks your internet connection if the VPN ever disconnects. There are a ton of advanced security features too, like multiple protocols, double VPN, split tunneling, and more.

Is hide.me free?

Yes, you can use a limited version of hide.me for free. This app lets you connect to 8 different locations, and it comes with 10GB of data a month. It’s available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Does hide.me have unlimited data?

You get unlimited data with hide.me’s paid plans, but not with the free tier. With the free version, you’ll be limited to 10GB of data per month. This makes it difficult to stream or torrent for long, but it’s still useful for safe browsing.

Will hide.me slow down my speeds?

Yes, hide.me will slow you down, but not much on nearby servers. During my tests, I only lost 5% of my download speed on average with close servers. That’s impressive because most VPNs drop your rates by 10-25%, even at close range. However, when a server is over 9,000 km away, you can expect much larger speed drops (about 75% and up).

Money Back Guarantee (Days): 30
Mobile app:
Number of devices per license: 10
VPN Plans: hide.me
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vpnMentor was established in 2014 as an independent site reviewing VPN services and covering privacy-related stories. Today, our team of hundreds of cybersecurity researchers, writers, and editors continues to help readers fight for their online freedom in partnership with Kape Technologies PLC, which also owns the following products: ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access which may be ranked and reviewed on this website. The reviews published on vpnMentor are believed to be accurate as of the date of each article, and written according to our strict reviewing standards that prioritize the independent, professional and honest examination of the reviewer, taking into account the technical capabilities and qualities of the product together with its commercial value for users. The rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website. We do not review all VPN providers and information is believed to be accurate as of the date of each article.
hide.me VPN User Reviews (User reviews are not verified)
6.4
Based on 50 reviews in 9 languages

Write a Review on hide.me VPN

Please rate VPN.

All Speed Streaming Security Сustomer service
Anonymous Reviewer
Anonymous Reviewer
10/10
Best VPN for free

It works perfectly fine, the speeds are good, and there are a lot of different locations. I have had no problems with this VPN, and I like that it has a 10GB data limit monthly (more than most competitors). I tried every other free VPN, but all of them are slow and aren't as fast as this one. In my opinion, download this VPN and you will be happy.

Sufhix Cipher
Sufhix Cipher
8/10
Recommended VPN

Good VPN so easy to use and good for beginners its so convenient with so many servers to choose from and it now has UNLIMITED FREE the problem is it cannot bypass Netflix in a Free plan but it's still good with its AES-256 Encryption and it keeps STRICT NO-LOGGING POLICY the Jurisdiction is based in Malaysia which is good I rate this VPN 9/10

Tribal
Tribal
10/10
Smooth experience

Works pretty fast on my macOS Big Sur, previously had it on my Windows laptop, and was blazing fast tbh. I never had any problems, except one time the connection was getting way too slow on an EU server, but after quickly switching to another server, it worked very well. I do not see any reason to switch to another provider, hide.me is as good as a top provider.

About the Author

Matthew is a writer and editor for VPNMentor with a proven track record of providing in-depth analysis of the most highly regarded VPNs, including ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. His unparalleled expertise has enabled him to consistently deliver cutting-edge insights on the most sought-after (and newest) VPN services.

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