Hide.me Review

Hide.me keeps a temporary record of connection data for troubleshooting purposes. This includes a randomly generated username and internally-assigned IP address.

This connection data is erased every few hours. Your location, originating IP address, and browsing behavior is not monitored or stored, which means your activity can’t be linked back to you.

In other words, Hide.me is as close to zero logs as most VPN services get.

You only need an email address to sign up, which is typical for most privacy-friendly VPN companies. Some do ask for more personal details, so it’s good to see Hide.me keeping it to the minimum.

The company encrypts and stores your email address and may use it to contact you, but you can opt out of these communications if you prefer. You can also delete your email address permanently after you’ve subscribed.

Hide.me does state that, if requested, it will hand over any information it has on a user being investigated by authorities. However, the VPN service keeps so few connection logs, your online privacy shouldn’t be affected by this.

Hide.me is safe and private

Hide.me’s approach to privacy is a good one. In fact, it was one of the first VPN services to undergo an objective third-party assessment to verify its trustworthiness.

In 2015, Hide.me was audited by analyst Leon Juranic of security-testing firm DefenseCode LTD, which verified its safe logging practices.

Audit certificate awarded to Hide.me from DefenseCode LTD.

We don’t agree with the audit’s conclusion that Hide.me is “absolutely zero logs,” since the VPN service still keeps some temporary connection logs. However, we do agree that Hide.me is a private VPN that is completely safe to use.

Malaysian jurisdiction

The VPN is owned by eVenture Ltd, an IT security company incorporated in Labuan, Malaysia in 2011. Sebastian Schaub, its founder, launched Hide.me VPN in 2012.

Being incorporated in Malaysia is good for the company’s privacy credentials, because Malaysian law does not require VPN companies to keep logs of customer connections or network activity.

Hide.me is clear about this, stating: “We purposefully set up our headquarters in a jurisdiction that cannot, by law, request for us to record your data.”

Malaysia sits outside the surveillance agreements found in most European countries, North America, and China. The Five-Eyes/14-Eyes are “blind” in Malaysia, making it an ideal privacy haven for VPN users.

The company also releases regular transparency reports, which list any legal requests for:

• Illegal activities (DDoS attacks, scams, spam, botnets)
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations
• Law enforcement and police requests

In 2019, Hide.me received 105 requests relating to illegal activities on its network, over 27,000 DMCA complaints, and two law enforcement requests. The company’s official statement on these requests is as follows:

“We do reply and act on every request, but as we cannot store any information, we do not have any data to present when requested.”

Overall, we view Hide.me as a very private VPN. It’s almost no-logs and has worked hard to prove its status as a VPN you can trust. Also, there has never been a security breach in the company’s history.

Hide.me delivers fast speeds both locally and internationally.

While Hide.me is not among the fastest VPNs on the market, at least the free version doesn’t enforce speed caps within the 10GB monthly data limit.

This means free users will experience similar speeds to paying customers, which makes Hide.me one of fastest free VPNs we’ve tested. However, once you pass the 10GB monthly data cap, speeds are limited to 3Mbps.

Local speed test results

We tested Hide.me’s short-distance speeds by connecting to a server close to our physical location.

The VPN reduced our connection speeds by just 7%, which is faster than top services like ExpressVPN and Surfshark.

Here are our full speed test results:

Any speed loss less than 10% is great for a VPN. It’s not the 2% speed loss we recorded testing Private Internet Access, but it’s very good nonetheless.

Long distance speed test results

We also tested Hide.me’s speeds on long-distance connections. We connected to servers in Germany, US, Australia, and Singapore.

A 42% speed loss connecting from the UK to the US is a very good result compared to many other VPNs. In our CyberGhost speed tests, for example, we recorded a 74% speed loss.

However, 42% is nowhere near as fast as the fastest VPNs we’ve reviewed. When reviewing NordVPN, we measured a speed loss of just 21% from the UK to the US.

Hide.me’s speeds compared to top VPNs

We also record speeds using our in-house automated VPN speed test tool.

The graph below compares Hide.me to four other VPNs running on our New York server. Tests run automatically four times a day, and connection speeds are capped at 100Mbps to recreate a typical home internet connection.

The chart below displays the average speed loss percentage of each VPN compared. The lower the speed loss percentage, the better.

Compare Hide.me’s speeds using our speed test tool
As you can see above, during an eight week period, Hide.me’s speed was rather consistent, and therefore dependable. This is what we expect from high-performing VPNs.

While Hide.me isn’t as fast ExpressVPN, NordVPN or PIA VPN, its New York speeds were still very encouraging.

Slightly high latency

While Hide.me’s download speeds are very good, the same can’t be said of ping times. Latency was in fact rather high in our tests, even connecting to nearby VPN servers.

The VPN’s UK average ping time came in at 23ms, which is poor compared to top-rated services. Our ExpressVPN review and Surfshark analysis show how a top VPN should have a ping time of 10ms or less.

Ping time or latency refers to the delay in your internet connection when attempting to connect to another server. Gamers using a VPN need one with low latency to avoid lag. We recommend these VPNs for lag-less gaming.

Hide.me uses industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption to hide your IP address and keep your connection secure on WiFi networks.

The VPN service allows you to use a very wide range of connection protocols, including WireGuard, OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), IKEv2, SoftEther, and SSTP. Both the desktop and mobile apps allow users to choose between all of these protocols. It’s good to see consistency across Hide.me’s apps.

Other security features include built-in leak protection, custom DNS functionality, IPv6 support, and Stealth Guard. There’s also a kill switch to protect your IP address in the event of an unexpected connection drop.

Hide.me recently introduced a multihop tool, too, which means you can establish a double VPN connection for extra privacy. It works by manually selecting an entry and exit server combo, which you can then add to a list of favorites.

Hide.me has a manual multihop solution.

Hide.me has no leaks

Our VPN leak tests prove that Hide.me doesn’t leak any DNS, IPv4/IPv6 and WebRTC address credentials.

We recorded no DNS leaks when using Hide.me.

Hide.me supports IPv6 traffic thanks to a dual stack solution that automatically connects you to IPv4 or IPv6. It’s a neat solution that many other VPNs currently don’t have.

Zero trackers in Hide.me’s Android app

We ran Hide.me’s Android app through the εxodus tool, which generates a report on the trackers and permissions present in the application.

We can confirm that Hide.me’s Android app contains zero trackers and 11 permissions, including two that are considered ‘dangerous’ or ‘special’ according to to Google’s protection levels.

While the VPN app isn’t as permission-free as Astrill VPN’s, which has no permissions at all, there’s nothing that threatening about the permissions we detected.

Hide.me contains 11 permissions.

Hide.me is virus-free

Hide.me is completely free of viruses. We scanned the Hide.me installation software through VirusTotal.com, and no viruses or malware were detected.

Users of Hide.me Free also benefit from exactly the same level of security as its paid subscribers, making it one of the most secure free VPNs available.

Wide range of security features

The VPN comes with a Stealth Guard feature, which lets you choose applications or services that won’t operate unless you’re connected to a VPN server.

Stealth Guard helps make sure you don’t accidentally use an app or service that would compromise your privacy without the security of a VPN.

You can also set up custom DNS functionality and choose to use a random port for every connection, which is sometimes called Dynamic Port or Ephemeral Port. This makes it harder for ISPs to track and block your VPN use.

The VPN service even comes with a password generator and a DNS leak test tool.

Unreliable kill switch

Hide.me’s security is strong, but it’s not without weaknesses.

While testing the VPN we received multiple warnings that the kill switch could not be enabled, suggesting that we contact the support team.

We encountered some issues when using Hide.me’s kill switch.

A fully-functional VPN kill switch is essential for any premium VPN service. It’s disappointing that Hide.me is still experiencing bugs with such an important feature.

We tested both versions of Hide.me to understand how well it works with streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+.

Hide.me’s Netflix servers streamed six libraries: US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Hide.me unblocks US Netflix

Unblocking six Netflix regions is a good feat, but the highest-rated Netflix VPNs can stream over 30 libraries.

Hide.me streams BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Max and Hulu

Hide.me works very well and reliably with BBC iPlayer through its optimized server.

The VPN has three UK streaming servers for BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and UK Netflix and all work effectively.

Hide.me successfully bypasses many streaming US geo-restrictions, unblocking HBO Max and Hulu content.

Hide.me gets around US georestrictions

Hide.me Free doesn’t work with US Netflix

The free version of Hide.me used to work with US Netflix and BBC iPlayer but no longer does. The free version also doesn’t work with other georestricted streaming sites, like HBO Max and Hulu.

Combined with the 10GB data limit, this means we don’t recommend Hide.me Free if you’re looking to stream video content regularly.

In our Windscribe streaming tests, the free VPN unblocked 6 Netflix regions, but not the US library.

To unblock US Netflix with a free VPN, we recommend using either PrivadoVPN or VPNhub (mobile-only VPN).

Hide.me is a suitable VPN for torrenting. It’s P2P-friendly, has robust security in place, and has experienced no data exposure scandals. It also has a good average download bitrate of 9.6MiB/s.

We’ve found the kill switch to be faulty in the past, but Hide.me has improved it since.

Hide.me also offers a specialized SOCKS (shadowsocks) proxy that can be used for faster P2P connections.

We tested Hide.me on qBittorrent

The shadowsocks proxy is unencrypted, but you can use it with the VPN for added protection.

Overall, Hide.me is a secure and P2P-friendly VPN. However, its limited server network and unreliable kill switch means there are better torrent VPNs available.

Hide.me Free allows P2P activity on three servers

There are no speed restrictions on torrenting traffic, and the 10GB data limit is more generous than the majority of competing safe free VPNs.

The service recommends using its Stealth Guard feature for safe torrenting. This option provides additional security by limiting your VPN connection to specific apps and services. This way, you can avoid connecting to your torrenting client without VPN protection.

Hide.me VPN includes a number of features aimed at use in highly-censored countries like China.

Throughout 12 months of China VPN tests, Hide.me has worked 9% of the time. This is quite poor, but it’s not always blocked like some VPNs.

Hide.me should be much more effective as an anti-censorship VPN in countries with less robust firewalls, like Russia, the UAE, and Turkey.

Hide.me’s obfuscation tool

Hide.me’s partial success is down to its proprietary TLS-Crypt obfuscation tool. Described as a “security hardened OpenVPN,” this feature disguises VPN traffic and makes it much harder for web censors to identify and block it.

According to Hide.me, TLS-Crypt:

“Adds a round of encryption and decryption operations on each OpenVPN packet by using a pre-configured static key. This means that each OpenVPN packet gets encrypted twice, once with the static key and once with a TLS symmetric key.”

TLS-Crypt is downloadable from the Hide.me members area once you’ve purchased a subscription.

Hide.me also manages its own encrypted DNS servers that protect your website requests and prevent malicious third parties from monitoring your activity. This is an essential feature of any VPN service looking to bypass censorship.

Nearby server locations include Hong Kong, South Korea, India, and Japan. Servers close to China will typically deliver higher VPN speeds.

SoftEther support

Hide.me also supports UDP and TCP SoftEther connections.

SoftEther is a multi-protocol solution designed to penetrate firewalls by using HTTPS to mask your VPN traffic. This is another tool that can help circumvent heavy censorship in countries like China.

The Hide.me website provides instructions on how to set up the VPN with SoftEther, so you shouldn’t have any trouble using it, even if you’re a beginner.

The Chinese government has blocked Hide.me’s website and listings on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. As such, make sure you download the VPN software before you travel.

Hide.me has an extensive customer support system including helpful setup videos, a comprehensive online knowledgebase, and 24/7 live chat support. Customer support is exactly the same for Hide.me Free users, too.

You can even request a support ticket from within the app, which is extremely convenient and perfect for VPN beginners.

We tested out the live chat feature on the Hide.me website’s main page. Our inquiry was automatically sent as an email rather than commencing a live chat, so it seems the service is not always 24/7.

That said, we found Hide.me’s live chat agents fast and somewhat informed in their responses.

Hide.me has a helpful live chat feature

For more complex queries, we were asked to send a support email. But if you have a simple question, then the live chat team is helpful. The ticketing system is privacy-focused, letting you opt out of sending logs and system diagnostics.

There’s also an in-app messaging system that keeps you up to date on the latest Hide.me developments, including the addition of new servers and extra features.