Hide.Me VPN Review – Scam or not?
Based in Malaysia, Hide.Me is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) provider built by a team of IT experts from around the world. Previously, members of the team have worked on security for multinational corporations and even governments and they are now offering their expertise to the public.
Hide.me was established on November 1, 2012. The company is a subsidiary of eVenture Limited with head offices located at the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia.
The company currently has 1700 VPN servers located in 70 locations across the globe. Their team is composed of expert IT security personnel who believe that everyone deserves to be protected while using the internet.
Already, Hide.Me has emerged as one of the top VPN providers on the market today, offering users additional security and privacy, as well as a means of accessing blocked, censored or otherwise restricted online content.
How It Works
As with other VPN providers, Hide.Me requires the installation of basic client software, which allows customers to connect to the Hide.Me network. After running the software, users are then able to choose their required settings and find a server they wish to connect to.
Upon connecting, internet traffic is tunnelled through that server and the user also takes on the server’s IP address, making them anonymous online. Their true location will also be obscured and their online activity will appear as if it is originating from the server. This can be used to access content which is usually geo-restricted.
In addition to this, all internet data is encrypted, giving the user an extra level of security. The encryption ensures that all online activity is safe from unwanted snooping, hacking or other threats. In fact, even ISPs will be unable to monitor internet activity while using the service.
Hide.me protects your online data by providing an encryption tunnel between your device and their VPN servers. This tunnel encrypts data and information being sent and received to and from the internet, in order to safeguard your data from individuals and organization that tries to steal or hack information about your browsing activities.
Hide.me also prevents governments, organizations and ISPs from throttling your connection speed and restricting your online access by hiding your traffic from their inspections. This allows you to access your favorite sites without worrying about being blocked or redirected from it.
Furthermore, Hide.me conceals your online identity and location from phishers, hackers and other malicious individuals by substituting your IP address with their own IP address. This process allows you to surf the internet privately and anonymously.
Features of Hide.me
Unlimited bandwidth and server connects
Hide.me provides premium plan users with unlimited bandwidth and server connects. On the other hand free plan users are limited to 10 GB traffic usage per month.
Multiple protocols
Hide.me allows premium users to use all their available protocols. They support SoftEther (128 bit encryption), OpenVPN (AES-256 encryption), SSTP (256-bit encryption), IKEv2 (AES-128) and Wireguard.
Allows torrent
Hide.me allows premium plan users to access torrents. They offer premium plan subscribers with a SOCKS proxy with port-forwarding for faster speed when conducting torrent activities.
Allows Bitcoin Payment
Hide.me allows anonymous payments for their subscription using Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an online payment method used to pay for goods and services online anonymously.
No logging of records
The Hide.me system is specifically designed not to log any user’s browsing activity and information. They do not store customers IP address, phone number, name or any other personal information. The only thing they do keep record of is the email address of the subscriber.
Free Anonymous Proxy Browser
Hide.me provides a free proxy browser for everyone. Proxy service allows users to access geo-restricted sites anywhere in the world.
Device Compatibility
Hide.me supports Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OSX, iOS iPad, VPN iPhone, Android, Linux Ubuntu, Router, Windows phone 8.1 and Blackberry. They also provide an easy to use applications with one click connect, auto server selection, auto reconnect, auto connect on start-up and kill switch features.
Free VPN plan
Hide.me offers a free VPN plan to VPN users.
The free VPN plan allows users to connect to 5 server locations.
The free VPN plan has a monthly traffic limit of 10 GB and users can only connect 1 device at a time.
30 days money back guarantee
Hide.me offers refunds to new customers within 30 days upon activation of account.
Customer Support
Hide.me provides customer support though an online ticket system or 24/7 Live Chat.
Users can also get answers to common questions and installation instructions with their FAQ’s and Setup section.
Benefits of Hide.me
Hide.me Encrypts your online activity
Hide.me protects you from hackers, phishers and other entities by encrypting your browsing activities. Their VPN service secures your personal information and documents, such as passwords, personal files and credit card information, so that you can be free from worries and potential troubles.
Hide.me circumvent censorship
Some countries in the world has internet restrictions and limitations that dictates what sites and application are allowed to be accessed. But, with Hide.me VPN service, you can easily circumvent these conditions and be free to access any site and application that you want, anywhere in the world.
Watch global TV with Hide.me
Hide.me provides you access to global TV and videos from US Netflix, Disney+, Hulu or BBC and other streaming sites anywhere in the world.
Our Hide.me Speedtest Results (median values)
- Upload Speed: 2.00 Mbps
- Download Speed: 17.5 Mbps
- Ping time: 92 ms
Security
In terms of encryption protocols, OpenVPN, SoftEther, IKEv2, SSTP, Wireguard are all supported with up to 256-bit encryption. This is an excellent range of different protocols and guarantees that browsing, downloads and communications are kept extremely secure.
Moreover, the company’s decision to make Malaysia its home is a shrewd move, as it is a country which does not currently have legislation requiring the logging of internet data. Hide.Me insist that they do not keep any user logs and, unlike some other VPNs, they are not obligated to hand over information when asked by authorities.
Servers
Hide.me runs servers for example in the following countries: Canada, Mexico, USA, Austria, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Turkey, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Marocco, Singapore.
Pricing and Payment Methods
Two different package options are available: Free and Premium. The free option limits users to two locations, 10 GB of data. The Premium option allows unlimited data and 10 simultaneous connections.
As the name suggests, the Free package is available at no cost and can be used to sample the product. The Premium package costs $12.99 per month. A huge range of payment options are available, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, Bitcoin and CashU.
Compatibility
Hide.Me’s VPN services are currently compatible with a number of different devices and operating systems, ranging from PCs and Macs to tablets and mobile phones. Manual setup tutorials for some of the most popular devices are listed below:
- Windows 8: https://hide.me/en/setup/wizard/win8/
- Mac OSX: https://hide.me/en/setup/wizard/mac/
- iPad: https://hide.me/en/setup/wizard/ipad/
- Android: https://hide.me/en/setup/wizard/android/
- Routers: https://hide.me/en/setup/wizard/router/
A complete list of all of the available setup tutorials can be found by visiting this site: https://hide.me/en/setup/
Customer Support
The main Hide.Me website includes a number of tutorials, as well as a basic Frequently Asked Questions page, which goes over the most common issues customers are likely to face when using the product. Users are also able to access a forum, on which they may be able to find answers to additional questions.
In the event that neither the website or forum is able to provide an answer to a question or concern, customers have the option of contacting the support team directly. This can be done by using a ticket-based email help system, which generally offers swift response times.
Recently they added a 24hour support with TAT of 24 hours as well as a live chat support – which we havent tested so far.
Hide.me Plans and Pricing Overview
Premium Plan
- $12.99 per month
- Or $99.99 for 12 months
- Or $129.99 for 24 months
- Access to 1700 servers in 70 locations
- Unlimited bandwidth and data transfer
- Up to 10 simultaneous devices connected at a time
- SOCKS proxy with port forwarding
Free Plan
- Free
- Access to 5 server locations
- 10 GB data transfer monthly limit
- Limited to 1 simultaneous device connected
Hide.me Mode of Payments
- PayPal
- Visa
- American Express
- MasterCard
- Bitcoin
- Ukash
- SOFORT
- GiroPay
- CashU
- Electronic Cash
All payments are handled by external payment providers and are linked to a temporary payment ID. This temporary payment ID can not be connected to the users VPN account/activity. After the payment is completed, the temporary payment ID will be permanently removed from the database.
Hide.me: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Unlimited bandwidth and server connect (premium plan)
- Up to 10 simultaneous devices connected (premium plan)
- No logging of records
- Bitcoin Payment
- Free VPN plan
- Allows torrent (premium plan)
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Free proxy service
- Multiple protocols
- Device compatibility
- P2P allowed
- Split Tunneling, Kill Switch, DNS Leak Protection, IPv6 support
- 24/7 Live Chat
Cons:
- Pricey
- Limited free VPN (10 GB monthly limit)
- Live Chat only in English
Hide.me Review Conclusion
Hide.me VPN is one of the best anonymous VPN service providers in the market. It has fast and reliable connections and numerous protocols that subscribers can use to connect their various devices. The only catch is that the premium plan is too pricey.
Go to hide.me
This is a pretty good vpn if you run windows but otherwise useless. They have been claiming to bring it to linux for a long time and have not. For a company that claims to care about privacy and market to people that surely do its funny they only offer it to folks running malware as an os….
I use hide.me on Linux with strongSwan. If you need to use GUI to setup VPN under linux then rather switch to windows. Or just follow this tutorial: https://community.hide.me/tutorials/ipsec-ikev2-with-strongswan-non-gui-method.43/ Hide worked for me really good, their free plan is enough for casual use. Also its very fast.
Best vpn on the market
MAYBE ONLY 1 STAR. THERE’S NOT A FREE PLAN FOR POOR COUNTRIES LIKE VENEZUELA, CUBA, KOREA AND IRAN. PERHAPS ISN’T THE GOOD YOU CLAIM TO BE. IF IT DON’T ENDURES WHERE CENSORSHIP REIGNS, THEN IT IS NOT THAT POWERFUL VPN.
I downloaded in great anticipation what appeared to be an opportinity to log into SBS Tv australia and watch one of their many superb documentries ‘On Demand” SBS messaged I need to donload their On demand App from Google Play.
The next message was the one I always get when trying to play an SBS DOC. “SORRY. THIS APP IS NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR COUNTRY” What now brown cow?
Terrible… does not work in UAE! How do I get s full refund????
Am using it for this month as a trial. I have never used a vpn before but I happy with this one. Easy connection and auto setup. I thought the price is ok. I didn’t get the premium pack and I was limited to 75 gig with the cheaper package but I haven’t even used half yet!