hide.me vs Proton VPN: which wins in 2026?
Head-to-head on the facts that decide the purchase: real prices in the provider's own unit, minimum, KYC, proof, payment and terms - every number sourced in the linked reviews.
A rare genuinely usable free plan (no card, P2P allowed on the 10 GB free tier) plus audited no-logs claims twice over - DefenseCode 2015 and Securitum 2024 - from a Malaysia-registered operator outside retention alliances. Paying unlocks multihop, port forwarding and 10 connections at EUR 2.69/mo, and a 'Pricing Guarantee' now promises renewal at the same price and duration. Coverage is thin compared with the majors and the app is more a tinkerer's toolbox than a one-click product, but the honesty per euro is hard to beat.
The most honest mainstream deal in 2026: open-source apps, real audits, a genuinely usable free tier with no data cap, and a transparent renewal model - and in September 2026 it even moved its encrypted DNS trust to Quad9 and published the reasoning. You pay for it in renewal prices (roughly $10/mo if you don't prepay), the Secure Core infrastructure is a black box you must trust Proton's word on, and the 2021 Proton Mail IP-logging case proved Swiss products are still subpoenaable.
Short answer: hide.me wins overall (7.3/10 vs 6.6/10). Proton VPN is the better pick if you care most about security. Facts checked 2026-10-01.
The facts
 hide.me |  Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score (0-10) | 7.3 | 6.6 |
| Privacy & proof | ||
| Logging claim | No logs - 'first VPN provider in the industry who volunteered itself to be audited'… | Strict no-logs (Swiss); only an overwritten last-successful-login timestamp, no IP… |
| Logging evidence | independently audited | independently audited |
| Audits | DefenseCode (Leon Juranic) 2015, Securitum 2024 | Securitum 2024, Securitum 2023 |
| Jurisdiction | Malaysia | Switzerland |
| Owner | eVenture Ltd. | Proton AG |
| Money | ||
| Intro price | €2.69/mo (about $3.04/mo) | $3.49/mo |
| Renewal price | €69.99 / 26 mo (€2.69/mo) | $83.88 / 12 mo ($6.99/mo) 2x |
| Anonymous payment | btc, doge, eth, ltc, xmr, sol, usdt, usdc · fiat | btc, xmr · fiat |
| Account | ||
| Personal info | none | none |
| Kind | Commercial VPNs | Commercial VPNs |
| Facts checked | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-01 |
Score breakdown
hide.me leads on ownership & track record (+3), honest value (+3) · Proton VPN leads on security (+2).
hide.me at a glance
++ What holds up
- One of the first VPNs ever audited (DefenseCode, 2015) and re-audited by Securitum (2024)
- Malaysia-based eVenture Ltd.; 'no data retention laws, not part of the Fourteen Eyes' (operator statement)
- Free plan without credit card, P2P permitted on the 10 GB free tier (echoed by Reddit users)
- Feature depth: multihop, dynamic port forwarding, split tunneling, StealthGuard obfuscation, WireGuard
- New 'Pricing Guarantee': renewal at the same price and duration (live 2026-09-28)
- Crypto payments incl. Monero, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Solana, Tether
-- What to watch
- Free tier: only 8 locations, 1 connection, restricted speeds
- Network (92 locations / 2600 servers) smaller than tier-1 competitors
- Long plans billed in EUR with big upfront totals (69,99 EUR over 26 months)
- Kape-adjacent history: hide.me once published Kape-sponsored blog comparisons (press reports) - trust requires the audits to stand on their own
Proton VPN at a glance
++ What holds up
- Only one of the ten with fully open-source clients + published Securitum audits
- Genuinely free tier (unlimited data, no ads, no logs) - verified on own site 2026-09-27
- Expansion to ~145 countries with owned infrastructure (2026-04)
- ProTUN: Rust-based WireGuard core with public technical write-up (fetched 2026-09-27)
-- What to watch
- Renewal pricing jumps ~3x vs intro; site shows $0.00 placeholders unless JS runs
- No port forwarding - a real loss for self-hosters vs PIA/Windscribe (confirmed by community defections from Surfshark to Proton for the opposite reason)
- Support is increasingly AI-gated (HN: '4 days no human support')
- Email/account still required even for the free tier
FAQ
Which is cheaper, hide.me or Proton VPN?
hide.me is cheaper at $3.04 month versus $3.49 month.
Which has better logging evidence, hide.me or Proton VPN?
Tie - both are at the same evidence level (independently audited).
Which renewal price is honest, hide.me or Proton VPN?
hide.me renews at €2.69/mo and Proton VPN at $6.99/mo - different currencies, so no direct winner. Check the linked reviews for the 3-year totals.
Which needs less KYC, hide.me or Proton VPN?
Both have the same KYC stance (none).
Which has the longer track record?
hide.me has the longer track record (since 2012).
Scores and facts: meta-reviews with dated sources - hide.me · Proton VPN. Method: how we verify. More: all providers compared · all head-to-heads.