Hide.me Full Review: All You Need to Know
VPN services vary in their security features, the number of servers, effectiveness in real-life online activities like streaming and torrenting, and many other aspects to consider. We have a long list of reviews for almost all VPN services on the market. To help you decide wisely, we'll discuss Hide.me features, plans, and prices.
In a nutshell, Hide.me has many fascinating aspects compared to other VPN services and in terms of what a user needs. In terms of privacy, Hide.me is based in Malaysia, which is based outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. We'll talk further about this point later. It also has a kill-switch, secure protocols, and a true no-log policy. That's not all. More is waiting ahead! Keep reading.
Pros
Cons
Content
Quick Stats
You can depend on Hide.me privacy policy to go online with zero worries. It also has a handful of servers distributed in Europe, South America, North America, Asia, and Australia. We suppose you know what that means! It means wherever you are. You'll find a server nearby.
Speed is just one more issue users usually care about, and a good VPN service provides both secure and fast internet connection. Can Hide.me provide decent internet speed? The section ahead answers this question in detail.
Hide.me Speed
Speed can not be discussed in isolation from tests, the number of servers, geographic distribution, and types of protocols used by a VPN. This section explains if Hide.me can offer a fast internet connection.
1. Speed tests
Hide.me claims to have blazingly fast servers. Do speed tests tell the same about Hide.me? In different locations, Hide.me speed was above the average, and in some other locations, it was able to manage excellent speed that allowed handling all tasks perfectly.
2. Number of servers and geographic distribution
Short explanation: It has more than 1900 servers distributed over 75 locations.
Long explanation: Hide.me servers have good distribution in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe.
The best VPN services always offer many server locations. The high number of servers (especially when they are quality servers) can relieve internet traffic congestion. When a server has too many users, the speed will drop. Having multiple servers in certain areas helps relieve that congestion pressure.
3. Fastest available protocol
Short explanation: WireGuard is the fastest available protocol by Hide.me (recommended to use).
Long explanation: In the VPN world, many protocols exist, with differences between protocols making the difference in how secure a VPN is, how fast, and whether it can bypass geo-censorship. Typically the trade-off is between speed and security, with the PPTP protocol typically being the fastest but the least secure.
Security and Privacy
Hide.me showed excellent results when tested to check its speed, but what about security? Is it a trusted VPN to use? Let's see what security features Hide.me offers.
1. Encryption and protocols
Hide.me provides AES-256-bit encryption, which is the standard for the industry. It is so secure that governments, militaries, and banks utilize this type of encryption to secure their data.
Hide.me uses WireGuard protocol for speed, OpenVPN and SoftEther protocol for maximum security, and use OpenVPN or SSTP protocol to bypass geo-censorship (obfuscation).
The protocols available for Hide.me include:
| Protocols | IKEv2 | SSTP | SoftEther | OpenVPN | WireGuard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Windows, macOS, and iOS | All platforms | All platforms | Windows, Android, Linux, and Fire TV App | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and Android / Fire TV App |
| Security | IPsec encryption | AES encryption (most secure) | OpenVPN AES 256-bit protocol | AES 256-bit encryption | ChaCha20 for symmetric encryption with poly1305 for message authentication |
| Firewall | UDP ports 500 and 4500, and ESP IP Protocol 50 | Uses 443 port (hard to block) | Uses TCP Ports: 443, 992, and 5555 (hard to block) | Uses 443 port (hard to block) | The port can be freely selected from the high ports range. If no port is specified, WireGuard uses 51820/UDP |
| Speed | Intermediate | Generally fast (faster than OpenVPN) | Very fast | Slowest in this list | Very fast |
2. Logs policy
Short explanation: It has a true no-log policy.
Long explanation: VPN companies often claim to have a true no-log policy, but how to make sure they mean it.
As for Hide.me, they have a transparent privacy policy that confirms the company's strict no-log policy and being edited by an independent security analyst (Leon Juranic from DefenceCode Ltd.). A third independent party is always an extra advantage to a VPN service since it earns users' trust and waves away their worries.
3. Kill switch
Short explanation: It has a fully functioning kill switch feature.
Long explanation: Hide.me was tested to find if it kills the internet connection directly when the VPN network drops. We found that Hide.me has a very responsive kill-switch; it stopped the internet connection directly after turning off the VPN service. The real struggle was when we tried to reconnect after a while. It was unable to re-establish an internet connection. The only way to reconnect was to close the kill-switch manually and reconnect to the VPN network.
A kill switch acts to sever your connection to the internet if your VPN connection fails, therefore protecting your real IP. Kill switch protection is further divided into IP leak protection and DNS leak protection.
4. RAM-based servers
Short explanation: Hide.me doesn't have RAM-based servers.
Long explanation: RAM-based servers mean that instead of the saved data to SSD drives, it is saved on RAMs. This is advantageous to security because RAMs are wiped clean every time the servers reboot.
5. Based country
Short explanation: Hide.me is based in Malaysia.
Long explanation: Hide.me is based in Malaysia, which is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. VPN companies based inside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance are considered a possible security threat as these countries are known to spy on their citizens and share information internally.
6. Warrant canary
Short explanation: Hide.me doesn't have a warrant canary system.
Long explanation: A warrant canary is an indirect method to warn customers of governmental attempts to subpoena, where the presence of the warrant on the company’s official website means the local government hasn’t tried anything yet. However, Hide.me doesn't need a Warrant Canary since it is based in Malaysia outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.
7. Multihop
Hide.me VPN also packs the Multihop feature; it chains your network with two VPN servers and navigates your data through them, providing an extra layer of encryption and privacy. This makes trailing your real location almost impossible for third parties.
The encryption is removed in the ‘last in, first out’ sequence. In practice, when using the Multihop feature, the websites and applications you access can see the second VPN server where traffic exits but not the first one where it enters; this makes the association to your location nearly impossible.
Hide.me in the Real World
Besides being a highly secure and trusted VPN, Is it possible to stream, torrent, or play online games using Hide.me? Let's find out.
1. Streaming
Short explanation: Hide.me unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.
Long explanation: The capability to access restricted websites is an essential part of any VPN's job. Netflix is usually the most significant challenge in unblocking and accessing streaming platforms using a VPN.
2. Torrent and P2P
Short explanation: Hide.me allows torrenting. However, it doesn't have specialized servers for torrenting.
Long explanation: Torrenting goes hand in hand with VPN. Many individuals torrent illegal material and hence require a VPN to cover up both the data going over to their ISP via encryption and their location by masking their IP address.
3. Gaming
Short explanation: It doesn't have specialized gaming servers, but its servers support gaming.
Long explanation: Hide.me supports gaming. It is also compatible with Windows, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Hide.me guards against DDoS attacks usually launched by other malicious games to slow or take down your internet connection, prevents bandwidth throttling caused by your (ISP), and allows playing games that are not accessible in specific regions.
4. Geo-censorship bypass (obfuscation)
Short explanation: It bypasses geo-censorship, including "The Great Firewall of China."
Long explanation: Geo-censorship is the phenomenon where a VPN is banned in a country, and the country proactively takes measures to prevent its use by filtering all outgoing traffic recognized as from a VPN origin. OpenVPN is the protocol of choice when you want to "Obfuscate" your data.
6. Split tunneling
Short explanation: It has the split tunneling feature.
Long explanation: Split tunneling is another security feature that enables you to choose which apps go through your VPN and which apps you regularly access (without VPN).
7. Hide.me Tor over VPN
Short explanation: It doesn't support Tor over VPN.
Long explanation: Torrent onion router (Tor) is a P2P program used to enter the dark web. Using a VPN adds an extra layer of anonymity, especially at the entry node, with the addition of data encryption.
Device Compatibility
Hide.me VPN is compatible with:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Android
- iOS
- Routers
- Game consoles
Extention availability summary:
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User Experience
For both beginners and experts, assistance is needed at some point. Let's see how Hide.me supports its clients and what supported languages are available.
1. Supported Languages
- English
- French
- Italian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Arabic
- Turkish
2. Customer Support
Many VPN services offer support live chat to cover all their customers' questions and queries. Hide.me also offers live chat as one of the support options. Alongside other supporting options, including:
- Live chat
- FAQs
- Tickets
- Guides
- Knowledge base
Pricing and Payment
Hide.me offers a free plan that comes with 10GB per month, 5 locations,1 connection, no-log policy, and no ads. If you're aiming for a more data traffic or better security features, then you'll need to upgrade to one of the following plans:
- 1-month: Available for $12.95 per month.
- 1-year: Available for $8.32 per month, billed $99.95 every 12 months.
- 2-year + 2 months free: Available for $4.99, billed $129.95 every 24 months.
All premium plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Payment methods:
- PayPal
- Bitcoin
- Visa
- American Express
- Mastercard
Conclusion
Hide.me has all it needs to compete with the top VPN services on the market, from multiple protocols to a kill-switch, split-tunneling, a Warrant Canary, and a true no-log policy. Hide.me doesn't have specialized servers for torrenting. Still, it supports torrenting on its servers, especially with the fact that it is located outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. Which allows a private and secure internet connection.
In case you're not sure if Hide.me is your choice or not, you'll have the chance to try it for 30-day before taking the last decision.