hide.me VPN Review

How Do I Use hide.me VPN for Free?

It’s extremely easy to use the free version of hide.me. All you have to do is visit the hide.me website and click on the free plan option. No sign-up is needed, and the VPN service provider doesn’t collect email addresses or names from free users.

There is also a free browser extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. These proxy extensions are a great option for internet users who want to unblock content in other countries solely in their browser.

How Much Are hide.me Premium Plans?

If you don’t want to use the free version of hide.me, then you can sign up for its paid service. The premium plan offers a lot more than the free plan, and there are various subscription lengths at different prices.

• The monthly plan costs $12.95, which is rather expensive, even for a VPN with advanced features.
• The annual plan costs $8.32 per month which is $99.95 every year.
• The 2 year (+ 2 months free) plan is just $4.99 per month, which is $129.95 for the entire period. This plan also comes with 2TB of free cloud storage for a year, which is excellent news.

The above prices are pretty high, especially when compared to other premium service providers. To put it into perspective, NordVPN charges $11.95 for its monthly plan whereas Private Internet Access costs just $9.95 on its monthly plan.

Prices similar to those seen on the high.me plans are usually reserved for the best VPN services, so while we feel that hide.me offers a good level of service, deserving of this high price, we are still surprised to see it costs more than main VPN players in the industry.

What Payment Methods Does hide.me Accept?

You can purchase a hide.me VPN subscription with almost any payment method, since the provider pretty much accepts them all.

Firstly, you can pay with traditional methods such as major credit cards and PayPal. However, the most appealing thing about hide.me and its payment options, is the vast array of cryptocurrencies users can pay with. These include:

• Bitcoin
• Dogecoin
• Ethereum
• Litecoin
• Monero
• Horizen
• ZCash

Paying in cryptocurrency is a great idea if you want to completely anonymize your VPN use and ensure that there is no link between your VPN purchase and your bank account. If you sign up with a burner email when paying with crypto, you further anonymize your purchase.

Is There a Money-Back Guarantee?

Yes, all of hide.me’s paid plans come with a no-strings-attached 30-day money-back guarantee. This month-long cooling-off period gives users time to decide whether or not the service really is for them. If users decide to cancel their plan before the end of the 30 days, they will receive a full refund.

Is hide.me VPN Safe?

hide.me is well known for its free VPN software; however, sometimes, offering a free cybersecurity product can make internet users skeptical of a company’s safety. Unfortunately, not all free VPNs are secure VPNs.

This is where hide.me is different. The VPN goes to great lengths to keep users safe online with advanced security features including military-grade encryption, advanced VPN protocols, a kill switch, and custom scripts to decide what to do if the VPN server connection cuts out.

Overall, it seems that hide.me VPN is a safe VPN service since it comes with plenty of safety features for reliable connections and to protect user privacy.

Does hide.me VPN Sell Your Data?

hide.me VPN operates a strict no-logs policy, meaning no user data will ever be stored on the VPN network or misused by the company. This also means you can rest assured that your data won’t be sold by hide.me to the highest bidder.

Who Owns hide.me?

The IT security company, Venture Limited owns hide.me.

Where is hide.me Based?

hide.me which is owned by Venture Limited, is based in Malaysia. This is good news for VPN users, since Malaysia is known as a privacy haven. Users living there enjoy plenty of internet freedoms, and companies, don’t need to comply with specific data retention laws.

Malaysia is also not part of the Five Eyes, an international alliance between several countries. This alliance shares data in a bid to keep the world safe from terrorists and other global threats. However, many people have an issue with the fact that governments are sharing user data without their knowledge and essentially keeping tabs on citizens. Fortunately, Malaysia plays no part in this.

All of the above means that hide.me VPN customers can rest assured that their data is safe since the VPN is based in a privacy-friendly country.

Where Are hide.me Server Locations?

hide.me has a decent-sized server network, consisting of more than 2,000 servers. Most of its server coverage is concentrated in Europe, in countries like the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland.

There is also good coverage in the Americas, however, most of this is limited to the US. There is only one server apiece in Central and South America. Similarly, there are plenty of servers in Asia, but only one server location in Africa. It would be great to see hide.me expand its server locations as it increases the size of its network.

Does hide.me Unblock Netflix?

Yes, hide.me can unblock Netflix. We tested the premium plan with US Netflix, and we’re pleased to see that hide.me got past the streaming site’s firewall. Not only that but hide.me can also unblock BBC iPlayer, in the UK, meaning users can catch up on their favorite British shows or watch live streams.

hide.me also claims to be an excellent VPN service for watching live sports streams. Whether you want to watch the FA Cup, La Liga games on Spanish networks, or American Football games from outside the US, you can. Just simply connect to a server in the country of your choice and access the platform you use to watch sports.

Does hide.me Support Torrenting?

Yes, hide.me supports torrenting on its servers. Not only does it support this activity, but it comes with some great features for faster downloads including dynamic port forwarding.

Your torrenting activity will always remain secure with hide.me and you can use some of its advanced tools, such as the Stealth Guard or Split Tunneling, to ensure torrenting data always goes through the VPN tunnel.

There is also an automatic kill switch, which will ensure your torrenting data is not exposed if the VPN connection falters for even a second. Combine that with a no-logging policy, and your torrent activity will always be private.

Is hide.me Fast?

Yes, hide.me is exceptionally fast which is one of its main selling points. Our speed test results for the hide.me VPN review displayed excellent download and upload speeds, especially when connected to the nearest server. However, we did not a dip in speeds, especially the upload speed, when connected to further away servers.

For example, we connected to a server in South Africa and experienced longer page loads than normal. While this is to be expected, it may dissuade users from connecting to faraway servers as they’ll want to avoid slow speeds.

Which Devices is hide.me Compatible with?

Each paid hide.me plan comes with support for up to ten devices. There is support for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux, and hide.me offers a dedicated macOS client, Windows app, and mobile apps including an iOS and Android app. The user interface on these apps is great and makes it easy for users to use the software.

You can also enable VPN support on other systems like your Amazon Fire TV, and even connect the VPN to your router. By connecting hide.me VPN to your router, you can protect all devices on your home network including game consoles. This is great news, especially since hide.me doesn’t have a smart DNS tool.

There are even browser add-ons for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. You can encrypt the data solely in your browser, meaning background apps can be tunneled via your regular internet.

How is The hide.me Customer Support?

Customer support is an essential aspect of any VPN service, and hide.me doesn’t disappoint. Along with a live chat feature on the website homepage, a help section with a knowledge base, and FAQs.

As well as the above, there is a community area for users, where they can share questions and advice with one another. If none of the above tools help you, you can also contact the customer service team by using a support ticket.

What Happens if My VPN Connection Fails?

If your VPN connection drops, you don’t need to worry with hide.me. You can activate the kill switch to avoid exposing your data if your server connection cuts off.

Author Madeleine Hodson

Hi, I'm Madeleine. I'm a British writer with a global background, currently based in the UK. I have always been interested in the online world and how it connects people worldwide. My keen interest in the internet led me to ...
Read more about the author