Created by the Malaysian company eVenture Ltd, Hide.me VPN is quite a popular name in the VPN industry. With a myriad of interesting security features, this VPN service seems to be the epitome of online security and privacy. But the key question is, is it really?
If you go with what forums like Reddit are saying, Hide.me sure seems to be the best option! But it could be their own guys getting a good name for their product! After all, there sure are various Hide.me VPN reviews available claiming it to be a bad choice!
But then again what if those reviews are of rivals? In a situation like this, it all comes down to who to believe? So to get out of this mind boggling mystery I tried and tested the service through an intensive process.
With that, I have put together this unbiased review of Hide.me VPN which gives a clear picture of what this service is offering. Grabbed your attention as yet? So read along!
Overview
| Type | Findings |
| Anonymity Level | Through various tests I calculated it to be 6.8 |
| Jurisdiction | It is located in Malaysia which is safe |
| Log Policy | A strict and certified log policy available |
| Servers | Offers servers in 28 various locations |
| Netflix | Out of 11 servers found one working |
| Torrenting | Provides decent speeds and encryption while using P2P servers |
| Refund Policy | 30 refund policy. No questions asked. |
| Pricing | Either free or a premium connection for $5.41 /mo |
| Website | hide.me |
In terms of privacy and security Hide.me seems relatively secure. The encryption protocols its using are secure and all the other standard features like IP leaks protection, DNS leaks, Kill switch etc are working fine.
However, it is not that much of a great catch to use Netflix, but it works well with torrenting. Up surface it seems like a decent and secure VPN service to opt for.
Anonymity Level
To check out the level of anonymity that Hide.me VPN is providing, I ran the service through various tests.
| Method | Findings | Rate |
| Logging | Certified no log and a clean background | 10 |
| Kill Switch | It was working perfectly | 10 |
| IP Leak | Not Leaking | 10 |
| DNS Leak | Not Leaking | 10 |
| Torrent IP Leak | Not Leaking | 10 |
| IPv6 Leak | Not Leaking | 10 |
| Browser Leak | Not Leaking | 10 |
| Encryption | Provides UDP and ESP which are secure protocols | 9.5 |
| Tor/VPN | It was relatively compatible | 9.3 |
| Anonymity Level | After checking it through various tests I calculated the anonymity level | 9.8 |
Encryption Test
Hide.me VPN claims to provide encryption through the following two encryption protocols:
- IKEv2
- OpenVPN
Instead of going through with their word I checked their service through Wireshark to really see for myself, how true their claims are. The tests had me fairly satisfied.
With my connection to OpenVPN, I found the VPN providing encryption through UDP protocol which is a part of the OpenVPN protocol.
I then connected to the IKEv2 protocol and checked the web traffic. With this, the tool showed the traffic encrypted through ESP protocol which is a part of IKEv2.
Looks like Hide.me surely is serious about protecting users’ privacy!
Privacy insights
To get a grasp of how capable a VPN provider is of ensuring your privacy and security, it is crucial to look into how private it is. For this, the following things should be put into consideration:
- Log Policy
- Jurisdiction
- Previous Track records
Log Policy
A VPN keeping logs renders the very use of subscribing to a VPN service! Thankfully though Hide.me follows a strict no-logs policy. However, instead of going through with their word, I further dug deep and found proof of its innocence.
I found Hide.me strict its security which it proves through the certified check by Leon Juranic! Now there is no way we can question that!
Jurisdiction
It is crucial to choose a VPN that has a safe jurisdiction. Preferably one which is away from the eyes and doesn’t have it own data retention laws. In that case, at least we can be sure that it won’t give in user information under judiciary pressures.
When I looked into the jurisdiction of Hide.me VPN I found to be Malaysia. The country is all pro privacy and well away from 5,9 and 14 eyes interference.
Previous Track Records
Although Hide.me seem quite secure I still searched in deep for any data leaks scandal revolving it. For this I looked into various places including forums like Reddit and even the Dark web! There was no tea to spill on it.
Some Prominent Features:
Apart from privacy, Hide.me provides various other features to its users, among which the most prominent ones are as follows:
Netflix (American)
By now you might be aware of the infamous “Netflix block” on VPNs. I therefore checked to see if Hide.me has managed to surpass it or not.
Hide.me offers an altogether of 11 US servers and when I checked I found only one of them working. There is a fat chance of this server facing a blockade too so this definitely doesn’t seems reliable.
Torrenting (P2P Testing)
Torrenting can get you in trouble even if all you are doing is downloading a movie! Which is why it always better to torrent with a VPN connection intact.
I tried torrenting with Hide.me and was somewhat satisfied with its results. With connection to one of its P2P dedicated servers, it provides a speedy connection with secure encryption while torrenting.
Kill Switch
Kill switches protect the network if you accidentally lose the VPN connection by stopping internet traffic. So a VPN without a working internet Kill switch is plain lousy!
Now most VPNs may offer a kill switch but it often doesn’t work. I therefore checked if the Kill switch by Hide.me is working or not and found it in perfect condition.
Tor compatibility
Using Tor with a VPN is always a smart choice. Primarily for added speed and it patches up all the loopholes in the connection. However, only a handful of connection are really compatible with Tor.
When I checked Hide.me with Tor, the results were decent. There was little increase in speeds with a relatively secure encryption standard.
Crypto payments
Crypto payments means complete privacy and anonymity! Although it is now quite a popular payment method, only a handful of VPN providers really offer it. However, while subscribing to the service, I saw crypto payment method available.
Split tunneling
This is a particularly handy feature that allows users to direct only selected internet traffic to travel through the VPN connection. It allows accessing foreign and local internet traffic simultaneously.
Additionally, with split tunneling you can freely access LAN devices and save up your VPN bandwidth!
Stealth Guard
This is quite another innovative feature introduced by Hide.me VPN for its users security. It is designed to make sure that there is no accidental IP leaks and the network remains secure. And the best part? It doesn’t consume any data traffic whatsoever!
Additionally it also allows you flexibility with your VPN connection. That is, with Stealth Guard it is up to you to allow Hide.me to protect some apps or the whole internet connection.
Payment Insights
While choosing to subscribe to a VPN, it is always better to check if it’s easy on the pocket or not. I looked into the payments of Hide.me VPN and found:
- It comes as a free version which has its limitations such as 2GB data transfer, only one simultaneous connection and restriction to 5 locations.
- The premium connection costs $5.41 per month and allows 10 simultaneous connections with 57 locations.
So Hide.me is rather free or too expensive!
Payment Methods
Along with cryptocurrency there are various payment methods available for mainstream users such as credit/debit card, online payments such as PayPal or bank transactions.
Refund Policies
Before subscribing it is crucial to look if there is a chance to withdraw payments if you don’t like the service. I looked into their refund options and it was quite straightforward.
They allow refunds within 30 days of purchasing and they don’t even hassle you with questions. All you have to do is inform at the right time.
Comparison table
| Features | Hide.me VPN | ExpressVPN | SurfsharkVPN | Private Internet Access |
| Servers | 1400+/57+ | 160+/94+ | 1040+/61+ | 3375+/32+ |
| Netflix | 1 working server | USA, CA, UAE, NL, and UK servers working | Servers in US, CA, NL and IR working | Two US servers working |
| Torrenting | Works well with SOCKS proxy and P2P servers | Excellent performance with P2P servers | Decent performance through P2P servers | Works exceptionally well with P2P servers and SOCKS5 proxy. |
| Tor | Fairly compatible with decent speeds and encryption | Significant increase in speeds with good encryption | Slight increase in speeds with IKEv2 protocol for encryption | Significant improvement in speeds along with UDP protocol protection. |
| Encryption | Uses secure OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols | Works with secure OpenVPN protocol | Found it using fairly secure IKEv2 protocol | Secures network through OpenVPN “UDP” protocol |
| Logs | Strict and certified No Logs policy | A strict No Logs policy with a log audit | A strict and proven No log policy with Log audit report | A strict No Logs policy accompanying a log audit report |
| Simultaneous connections | 10 simultaneous connection | Offers 5 simultaneous connections | Allows unlimited connections simultaneously | Offers 10 simultaneous connection |
| Pricing | $5.41 for one month | $12.95 for one month | $11.95 for one month | $6.95 for one month |
Final words
As a sum up it definitely seems secure enough! But the limited servers are a sure drawback for such a pricey connection. But as an overview, it seems to be quite a decent connection.
