hide.me Review: Quick Expert Summary
hide.me offers excellent security, good streaming support, very fast speeds, and intuitive apps. In addition to industry-standard security features like 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logs policy that’s been independently audited, hide.me also has:
- Split-tunneling.
- Full leak protection.
- Multihop.
- Perfect forward secrecy.
- SmartGuard.
- And more …
I really like hide.me, but there are some issues to consider. Its desktop apps have a somewhat outdated design, the Windows app also sometimes has laggy animations, it’s been a long time since its no-logs policy was audited, and it only has servers in 58 countries (most top VPNs have servers in 80+ countries).
hide.me allows 10 simultaneous connections with 1 account, which is well on the upper end of the industry average of 5–10 connections. It has a really good free plan, and the paid monthly and yearly plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
🏅 Overall Rank | #18 out of 82 VPNs |
🌍 Countries with a Server | 58 |
📱 Number of Devices | 10 |
💸 Starting Price | $2.49 |
🎁 Free Plan | ✅ |
💰 Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days |
hide.me Full Review — Solid for All Online Activities + User-Friendly
I spent a few weeks testing hide.me to see how it compares to other top VPNs, and I can safely say it’s a pretty decent VPN.
hide.me has good streaming support, allows torrenting on all servers, and has fast speeds on nearby and distant servers, making it a solid pick for all online activities.
hide.me also provides high-end security and privacy and has easy-to-use apps that are packed with features.
hide.me Plans & Pricing — Reasonably-Priced Paid Plan + Good Free Plan
hide.me has a free plan, monthly plans, and annual plans. Except for the free plan, all hide.me plans come with the same features and allow 10 simultaneous device connections with 1 account.
The free plan is one of the best out there. It’s ad-free, allows unlimited data, and comes with a no-logs policy. But it doesn’t have streaming or torrenting support, and it’s missing port forwarding. Plus, you’re limited to servers in just 5+ countries and only 1 connection.
The provider’s prices start at $2.49 / month, which is pretty affordable. That said, its long-term plans are more expensive than Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN’s long-term plans, and those VPNs provide better value.
Payment options for hide.me include credit cards, PayPal, and cryptocurrencies, and all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
hide.me Features — Basic Security Tools + Good Extras
hide.me has the following industry-standard security features:
- 256-bit AES encryption — Secures your data with bank-grade encryption.
- No-logs policy — Doesn’t log your IP address and traffic. hide.me’s no-logs policy has also been independently audited.
- Kill switch — Disables internet access if your VPN connection drops to prevent data leaks. I like that hide.me’s kill switch is very customizable. You can turn it on for your LAN network to stop local devices like printers from communicating when the VPN disconnects and even whitelist websites that you don’t need for the kill switch.
The StealthGuard feature lets you further configure it — you can block all internet access unless the VPN is connected or only enable it for specific apps where you can’t risk your IP address being exposed, like your P2P client. Not many VPNs offer this level of control — NordVPN is one of the few with a similar app-based kill switch.
hide.me comes with OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, SoftEther, WireGuard, and SSTP. I like that hide.me has support for WireGuard, because it’s very secure and much faster than OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec.
hide.me also provides DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak protection. Not all premium VPNs offer full leak protection. For example, VyprVPN makes you manually disable IPv6 and WebRTC. I ran 10+ leak tests with hide.me and never saw any leaks.
The VPN also has advanced security features. These include RAM-only servers (every server reset wipes all data) and perfect forward secrecy — this changes your encryption key for each session to protect you from hackers compromising past or future browsing sessions.
hide.me also provides additional features:
Split-Tunneling — Choose Which Apps Are Routed via the VPN
hide.me’s split-tunneling tool is actually really good. Split-tunneling means directing certain apps through the VPN while some go through your local ISP connection. This allows you to improve speeds and provides a lot of convenience. hide.me allows you to both include and exclude apps from the VPN tunnel. Split-tunneling is available on Android, Windows, and macOS.
For example, I used it to route uTorrent traffic through the VPN. That increased my P2P speeds by about 10%, and it also worked without any issues. Plus, I didn’t have to constantly turn the VPN on and off when using apps that require my exact location, like food delivery services.
Still, I like Private Internet Access’s split-tunneling feature more, as it allows you to split-tunnel websites as well as apps. I think it’s more flexible to just split-tunnel a site rather than the entire browser.
Overall, hide.me’s split-tunneling feature is pretty good. It allows the exclusion of apps from the VPN tunnel, works very well, and is really user-friendly.
SmartGuard — Blocks Ads + Suspicious Sites & Offers Parental Controls
SmartGuard is a really advanced ad blocker with lots of customization options. On top of blocking ads and malicious sites, it also comes with parental filter settings — once turned on, there are 2 age limit options: 12 years and 18 years. Plus, there’s a setting to force SafeSearch in search engines.
It has a bunch of other cool settings, too. You can choose to filter trackers, filter malicious sites by possible, medium, or high risk levels (or any combination of these), and more. Additionally, you can whitelist and blacklist specific DNS names to control which sites are allowed or blocked by these filters, giving you precise control over your browsing experience and security. I didn’t find the redirect DNS feature very useful, but the others are great for safe browsing.
In my tests, SmartGuard performed pretty well. It stopped me from accessing all HTTP sites I tried to connect to, and it got rid of most ads on search engines and media outlets. But it still wasn’t able to block all ads like Private Internet Access’s MACE feature.
Overall, SmartGuard is a great ad blocker that filters malicious sites, blocks ads, and has good settings for parents. It’s easy to use and offers complex settings for advanced users.
Multihop — Increases Anonymity + Easy to Use
I’m a big fan of hide.me’s Multihop feature. This sends your traffic through 2 VPN servers instead of just 1, providing more security. I really like how user-friendly Multihop is, too — you can choose any entry and exit server you want, either by searching for a specific country or scrolling through the alphabetized list.
Multihop connections are normally slower, but I didn’t experience a big slowdown with hide.me (my speeds only slowed by about 26%). Multihop is similar to Surfshark’s Dynamic MultiHop feature, which also lets you pick whichever entry and exit servers you want.
Overall, hide.me’s Multihop feature is very good — it’s really user-friendly, it doesn’t slow down your connection too much, it lets you choose the entry and exit servers, and it has a large selection of countries to choose from.
Obfuscation — Works on Censored Networks & in Restricted Countries
hide.me has obfuscation on all servers. This feature hides your VPN traffic to make it look like normal internet traffic, providing extra privacy and allowing the VPN to work in restrictive countries.
I really like that it’s enabled by default whenever you use OpenVPN and SoftEther VPN, which is available on all hide.me apps, so you don’t have to manually change any settings. Plus, it works on all servers, which is really convenient. I still prefer ExpressVPN’s obfuscation — it’s available across all protocols, providing more flexibility in different network conditions.
Overall, hide.me’s obfuscation is very good since it’s available on all servers, it’s enabled by default via OpenVPN, and it works in restrictive countries.
hide.me Bolt — Boosts Speeds, but It’s Still in the Development Stages
hide.me Bolt is a super-fast proxy available only on Windows. The acceleration technology works by sending traffic through TCP instead of UDP. This feature significantly increases your speeds — in testing, my speeds with WireGuard were 50% faster when I enabled hide.me Bolt.
But this feature is still under development, so it doesn’t always work well. For example, once it crashed my operating system when I ran speed tests.
Overall, hide.me’s Bolt feature is very good for boosting VPN speeds, but it’s not 100% stable yet.
hide.me Privacy & Security — Has a No-Logs Policy + Publishes Transparency Reports
hide.me has a transparent no-logs policy — it doesn’t log your IP address or traffic. It only collects your email address during signup to activate your account; however, you don’t need to use your email for logging in — you can log in with a username instead. Additionally, hide.me tracks bandwidth usage, but this only applies to the free plan.
hide.me’s no-logs policy was independently audited in 2015, but I’d like to see it undergo a more recent audit, like ExpressVPN and Surfshark.
hide.me is located in Malaysia, which is not part of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances (a group of countries that share surveillance data with each other). It publishes an annual transparency report, disclosing how many data sharing requests it received from the government and proving that it didn’t disclose any data.
Overall, hide.me has a strict no-logs policy that’s been independently audited, publishes an annual transparency report, and isn’t based in a 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances country.
hide.me Speed & Performance — Pretty Good Speeds on All Servers
I ran a series of speed tests on my Windows 11 PC, using servers in all countries where hide.me has servers to determine my average VPN speeds. I first ran a speed test without connecting to the VPN to determine my base speeds:
Then, I connected to a local server in the US — the drop in speeds was super minor, and I didn’t notice it in my tests. All websites and videos in HD loaded instantly, and I could stream buffer-free.
Next, I used more distant servers. I first connected to a VPN in France. The speeds dropped by around 25% compared to my base speeds, but I could still browse and stream HD videos with minimal delay.
Finally, I connected to a server in Australia, and the speeds dropped more significantly, by about 85%, which caused some noticeable slowdowns in loading times and streaming. Websites took about 4–5 seconds to load, and HD videos buffered for about 10–15 seconds but only at the beginning.
Overall, hide.me provided fast speeds on nearby and distant servers, and decent speeds on very distant servers for browsing, streaming, torrenting, and gaming.
hide.me Servers & IP Addresses — A Medium-Sized Network + Dedicated Streaming Servers
hide.me has servers in 58 countries. It has a big presence in Europe, North America, and Asia, but only a few servers in Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Other top VPNs have much larger server networks — ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN both have servers in 100+ countries.
I like that hide.me shows which are the fastest servers. It has an icon next to certain server locations that tells you if the server is operating at 10 GB speeds. During my tests, these servers were always faster than those without an icon. You can also check each server’s ping and distance on desktop, which helps find servers for better speeds.
I really like that hide.me allows torrenting on all servers. Some top VPNs, like Proton VPN, only allow torrenting on dedicated servers.
hide.me has dedicated streaming servers in 20+ countries, including Australia, the US, the UK, France, and Japan that can access streaming services like Netflix. Its regular servers don’t work with popular streaming sites. Other top VPNs (ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access) do work with streaming sites on all servers.
The provider also has Multihop servers, and I really like how it lets you choose whichever entry and exit server locations you want — Surfshark provides something similar via its Dynamic MultiHop feature, though you get more variety than hide.me since you can choose entry and exit servers from 100+ countries.
Overall, I’m happy with hide.me’s server network — it’s pretty big, it allows P2P traffic on all servers, and it has dedicated streaming servers for popular streaming sites in 20+ countries.
hide.me Bypassing Censorship — Great for China, Iran & Other Restricted Countries
hide.me uses obfuscation to work in restrictive countries that censor the internet like China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. These countries block access to things like social media sites, news outlets, and even sometimes VPNs (China has banned VPNs entirely).
hide.me works in restrictive countries reliably, but only the paid version works in China and Iran. I also like how the VPN has servers all over the world, so users in restrictive countries can use a nearby server to get the fastest speeds.
hide.me Streaming & Torrenting — Accesses Popular Streaming Sites + Good P2P Support
hide.me is great for streaming — it works with all top streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer, It can also access Paramount +, ITV, 9Now, and less popular streaming sites like Crunchyroll.
That said, I think ExpressVPN is much better for streaming — it works with 100+ streaming platforms, which is also why it’s one of the best streaming VPNs out there.
hide.me is also great for torrenting — all servers allow P2P traffic and it works with top torrenting apps (I had the fastest speeds with uTorrent). hide.me also has port forwarding, which lets you connect to more peers to get faster speeds. In my tests, port forwarding provided a 5–10% speed boost.
Overall, hide.me is really good for streaming and torrenting. It works with popular streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Also, hide.me supports torrenting on all servers and works with popular P2P apps.
hide.me Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps — Offers Intuitive Apps for Most Operating Systems
hide.me has apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV, and offers browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. The apps are easy to install, intuitive, and bug-free.
How to Install hide.me (Just 3 Simple Steps):
- Step 1: Sign up for hide.me. Visit hide.me’s site, select a plan that fits your needs, and create an account.
- Step 2: Download and install the app. Download the hide.me app and install it on your device. This step should only take about 2 minutes.
- Step 3: Launch the app. Open the VPN app, connect to a server, and start browsing the web securely.
Android — Fully Featured + Easy to Connect to the Fastest Server
hide.me’s Android app is easy to use and feature-rich. It lets you connect to the best server for your location with 1 click on the main screen. You can also manually select a server location from the server location menu.
I like how hide.me lets you browse servers by alphabetical order or by ping — the latter is useful for finding the fastest server location. I also really like how all of its streaming-optimized servers are kept in a separate tab for easier access.
The app supports OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, and SSTP, so there’s plenty of options for different network situations, and it includes essential features like a kill switch and split-tunneling.
Additionally, the Android app comes with SmartGuard and a Lock App feature that lets you set a pin code for the hide.me app, so nobody can tamper with your VPN settings. This is useful if you often share your device with someone else, like your kid.
Overall, hide.me’s Android app is intuitive, offers great features like a kill switch and split-tunneling, and includes some of hide.me’s extras like SmartGuard.
iOS — User-Friendly With Good Automation Options
hide.me’s iOS app is similar to the Android app — it’s simple to use and has a solid set of features. It’s easy to connect to a server, you can let hide.me pick the best server for your location for the best speeds, and you can see the ping of each server (if you choose to browse by ping) in the server location menu.
The iOS app lacks split-tunneling, but it includes the SmartGuard feature, the Lock App option, as well as support for WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2.
hide.me’s iOS also includes some automation features that the Android app’s missing. For example, you can set the app to auto-connect on launch and keep an active connection whenever you have access to the internet.
Overall, hide.me’s iOS app is intuitive, feature-rich, and includes many of hide.me’s extras like SmartGuard.
Windows/Mac (Desktop) — Well-Designed Interface & Customizable
hide.me’s desktop apps for Windows and macOS are well-designed and easy to navigate, with more detailed settings than the mobile apps.
Both apps include a kill switch, split-tunneling, and support for multiple VPN protocols, including SoftEther, which the mobile apps lack. Plus, I like how on desktop you can also browse server location by distance.
The only thing the macOS app is missing is the Bolt proxy, which isn’t a huge disadvantage.
Overall, hide.me’s desktop apps are feature-rich and user-friendly. That said, there are better VPN apps for both Windows and Mac.
Browser Extensions (Chrome, Firefox & Edge) — Good Free Extensions
hide.me offers free browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge that provide unlimited data and access to servers in 2 locations: the US, Netherlands, and Switzerland — plus, there’s an Automatic option that connects you to the best server for your location.
The browsers extensions are great for privacy. You don’t need to log into an account to use them, and they come with useful settings like enabling WebRTC leak protection, which prevents IP leaks that can occur during browser activities. Additionally, the extensions support enabling a SOCKS proxy, and the Chrome extension offers additional options like bypassing the local network.
Overall, hide.me’s browser extensions are solid proxies that are good for privately browsing the web, but they don’t compare to the features offered in the full VPN apps. Also, a lot of top VPNs like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access offer a lot more in their extensions, such as access to all servers.
hide.me Apps: Is hide.me Easy to Use?
hide.me offers user-friendly apps across all major platforms, with consistent functionality and ease of use. I particularly like how they’re all packed with features, such as split-tunneling and SmartGuard. The Windows app only stands out for its inclusion of the Bolt proxy.
Android | iOS | Windows | macOS | Linux | |
Graphical User Interface (GUI) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Kill Switch | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Split-Tunneling | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
SmartGuard | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Multihop | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
StealthGuard | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Obfuscation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
hide.me Bolt | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
hide.me Customer Support — Offers Live Chat, Email Support & Troubleshooting Articles
hide.me provides good customer support, including 24/7 live chat, responsive email support, and a comprehensive support library. However, it doesn’t offer any setup guides for its apps.
I found hide.me’s support section to be excellent, with a plethora of useful FAQs and troubleshooting guides that were easy to follow. In many cases, I didn’t need to reach out to customer support because the provided guides answered my questions.
Upon testing the live chat support, I typically got connected to a representative in less than 10 seconds. The reps provided me with consistent and detailed answers, but they couldn’t answer some of my more technical questions — at one point, the rep just told me to “Google it”!
I also tested hide.me’s email support multiple times, and I usually got a response in 1–2 hours, which is very fast. The reps consistently came back with helpful information.
Overall, I really like hide.me’s customer support — it has an in-depth support library and there’s helpful 24/7 live chat, but I wouldn’t recommend it for more technical questions, and email support is very responsive.
Is hide.me Safe & Fast in 2024?
hide.me is very secure, really fast, easy to use, and it works with top streaming sites. It protects your data with industry-standard security features, including a no-logs policy that’s been independently audited. And it also has advanced security features like full leak protection, SmartGuard, Multihop, and perfect forward secrecy, and extra features like split-tunneling.
Honestly, hide.me is a great VPN with only a few minor drawbacks. Its desktop apps look a bit outdated, the Windows app has some laggy animations, and the provider has servers in 58 countries (it’s pretty good, but most top VPNs have servers in 80+ countries).
You can connect 10 devices simultaneously with 1 hide.me account. hide.me also has a really good free plan and paid monthly and yearly plans, and it provides a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hide.me free?
Yes, hide.me has a free plan, which is pretty good — it provides access to servers in 5+ countries, has unlimited data, and comes with strong security and fast speeds. But you don’t get port forwarding or streaming support, and you’re limited to 1 device.
But I still recommend getting its paid version instead, as it provides access to more perks — good streaming support, up to 10 connections, and access to all servers and features.
Does hide.me work with Netflix?
Yes, you can watch Netflix with dedicated streaming servers in 20+ countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, France, and Turkey. hide.me accesses different Netflix libraries and also works with Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer.
That said, I think ExpressVPN is better for Netflix, as it works with the platform on all of its servers, and it also works with 100+ other streaming apps.
Is hide.me good for torrenting?
Yes, hide.me is very good for torrenting. It allows P2P traffic on all ervers in 58 countries, and works well with top torrenting apps like uTorrent and qBittorrent. The download speeds are very fast, and it has port forwarding. hide.me also has an independently audited no-logs policy, a kill switch, and full leak protection, so it’s safe for torrenting.
Is hide.me safe?
Yes, hide.me is a very safe VPN — it has bank-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy that’s been audited, and a kill switch. It also comes with advanced security features like full leak protection, RAM-only servers, perfect forward secrecy, obfuscation, and double VPN connections.