A two-decade-old budget VPN that survives, unusually, as a Belize-registered Russian-origin service now officially declared a 'foreign agent' by the very state it grew up in - it has fought Roskomnadzor in court four times (blocked 2017, blocked 2018, unblocked 2019, TSPU-blocked 2023, lawsuit dismissed December 2023, appeal to the Supreme Court promised). The privacy policy is unusually specific and honest about the short-lived connection log it keeps, but the no-logging posture is policy-only: no audit, tracker-laden website cookies (2023 GDPR study), and third-party support platforms (Zendesk, JivoChat) that hold correspondence. For censorship circumvention and cheap long plans it has a real track record and loyal CIS users; for threat-model-sensitive privacy work, an unaudited Belize 'English-law' entity with Russian roots is a hard sell.
crypto accepted5 red flagsfacts reported - operator pages (VPN product, order page, privacy policy, moneyback guarantee, terms, about page), Google Play and Apple App Store listings, TechRadar and VPNCrew reviews, Kommersant, CNews, Meduza, Roskomsvoboda, the OVD-Info inoteka foreign-agent registry and Reddit arctic-shift archives were all fetched live 2026-11-03; Trustpilot and CoolTechZone returned 403 to our fetcher and are cited from search-result snippets only; Wayback snapshots of safervpn-era pages were used for none of the facts here except historical price comparison
Russian-origin service (hideme.ru / inCloak lineage since 2006) now nominally Belize-based - a jurisdiction with no transparency infrastructure; VPNCrew still names the earlier inCloak Network Ltd as owner, so the entity has been reshuffled at least once
Designated a 'foreign agent' by Russia's Ministry of Justice on 2023-11-17 - the first VPN provider ever - for disseminating 'fake information' about Russian authorities; this is a badge of honor for censorship resistance but creates real risk for Russian customers (future administrative liability was being drafted per CNews)
The site has been blocked in Russia since mid-2023 via off-registry TSPU filtering; access from Russia now requires mirrors/alternate domains (hidemyna.me was used after the 2018 block), and the December 2023 court loss means the block stands
+2 more red flags - expand before signing up
Unaudited logging claims; short-lived but real connection log (username + internal IP) plus traffic counters; website itself ran consent-less trackers (2023 study)
Refund window is fine print-heavy (traffic cap, commissions deducted, once-only) - VPNCrew's reviewer warned refunds effectively cost money
Review
draft generated by Qwen3, fact-checked by the vpncomparison editorial desk · review version 3 · prose updated 2026-11-04 · facts as of 2026-11-03 · how we verify
Honesty note: we have not run our own tests on HideMy.name yet (leak tests, speed, kill switch). Everything on this page is source-based meta-research with dated links. When we test it, results appear here and on the change log.
Overview
HideMy.name homepage - live capture 2026-09-29
HideMy.name is a commercial consumer VPN service with roots in Russia (launched 2006 as hideme.ru), now operated by Belize-registered hidemy.network Ltd. It offers a full suite of anonymizer tools alongside its VPN, including proxy checkers and leak tests. While it has fought Russian censorship in court and gained a loyal CIS user base, its unaudited logging claims and 2023 designation as a "foreign agent" by Russia create real privacy and legal risks, especially for users in repressive jurisdictions.
Logging & privacy
The provider claims it logs only a non-persistent troubleshooting log - random username and internal IP - cleared every few hours, plus traffic volume counters. This is disclosed transparently in its policy, but the evidence class is "policy-only": no independent audit has ever verified these claims. The website itself was found in a 2023 study to set Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics without consent, a GDPR breach. Support data is stored in third-party platforms (Zendesk, JivoChat), and while the DMCA section states they cannot link infringement notices to users due to no connection logs, the lack of audit undermines trust. Jurisdiction is Belize, with the company stating it operates under English law - offering no transparency guarantees.
Pricing & the renewal trap
HideMy.name pricing page - live capture 2026-09-29
HideMy.name charges a flat $4/month with no introductory discount. The renewal price is identical at $4/month, resulting in a renewal ratio of 1 - no price hike. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies, though refunds are capped at 5 GB of usage and deduct payment processing fees (e.g., 7% for cards). There is no permanent free plan, but a 24-hour free trial requires only an email. Payment options include fiat (via G2A Pay, Paymentwall) and multiple cryptocurrencies, including Monero for full anonymity. The three-year cash total is not computable from available data due to lack of multi-year billing events.
Features & performance
HideMy.name apps / download page - live capture 2026-09-29
The service supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP, PPTP, and WireGuard via AmneziaWG configurations. It includes a kill switch, Chameleon obfuscation to bypass blocks, and allows P2P and streaming. However, it lacks split tunneling, multihop, and browser extensions. Servers total 250 across 42 countries, with dedicated IP available as a paid add-on. Native apps exist for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, routers, and Android TV. Performance claims (e.g., speed, uptime) are not self-tested; user reviews report inconsistent app stability and long connection times.
Ownership & track record
The operator is hidemy.network Ltd, registered in Belize, with origins tracing back to the Russian project inCloak Network Ltd. The company was designated a "foreign agent" by Russia’s Ministry of Justice in November 2023 for disseminating "fake information" about state policies - likely due to its Telegram channel activity. This marks the first such designation for a VPN provider. The service has been blocked in Russia since mid-2023 via off-registry TSPU filtering, and its legal challenges against Roskomnadzor have so far failed. Data quality is reported from live operator pages and third-party sources, but ownership transparency remains limited.
Censorship resistance
HideMy.name offers Chameleon mode, which obfuscates OpenVPN traffic to evade deep packet inspection, and ships an AmneziaWG client for Windows. These tools have been used effectively by Russian users to bypass blocks, including for gaming and remote work. However, the service is officially blocked in Russia via TSPU, requiring mirror domains for access. While it has a track record of resisting censorship and challenging blocks in court, its effectiveness in high-censorship environments like China or Iran is undocumented. It is not recommended for users in such regions without additional verification.
Verdict
For budget-conscious users in Russia or CIS countries needing a working circumvention tool with crypto payment and legacy support, HideMy.name has real utility and a long-standing presence. But for privacy-sensitive users, its unaudited Belize entity with Russian roots and active "foreign agent" status make it a risky choice. The money-trail is unclear - no public affiliate program or review site payments are disclosed, but its survival depends on visibility in pro-censorship-resistance circles.
++ What holds up
Very low long-term prices: $48/year ($4/month) on the live order page, with Monero and other crypto accepted for anonymous payment
Privacy policy is unusually specific: discloses the hours-lived troubleshooting log, the internal-IP-only logging design, and explains why DMCA notices cannot be linked to identities
Censorship pedigree: 'first service that dared to sue' over off-registry TSPU blocking (Roskomsvoboda), won its 2019 case, survived the 2023 foreign-agent designation without changing service
24-hour full-access free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee with only modest conditions (5 GB traffic cap, once per customer)
Honest tooling bundle: proxy list, DNS/WebRTC leak checkers, anonymity checker - a legacy of its anonymizer origins that still works
Large install base: ~27,000 Google Play ratings (4.3) and 378 US App Store ratings (4.4), app described as protecting clients 'for over 15 years'
-- What to watch
No independent audit of any kind - the logging claims rest entirely on the operator's word (TechRadar 2020 and this dossier both flag it)
The provider's own website set Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics cookies without consent per the 2023 PrivacyTutor study - 72% of the industry failed the same test, but a privacy VPN should not
Support runs through JivoChat and Zendesk, so support correspondence with name/email is held by third parties
Outdated protocol surface: PPTP still marketed for Windows, BF-CBC legacy cipher selectable; no documented split tunneling or multihop
Refund guarantee has strings: max 5 GB total traffic for a no-questions refund, payment-processor commissions deducted (e.g. 7% cards), 7-15 days processing
Russian origin plus a 'foreign agent' label means Russian users face legal uncertainty just for paying the service (Kommersant/CNews analysis)
Pricing reality check
Intro price
$4 /mo · renews $4/mo
Renewal price
$4/mo
Refund window
30 days
Notes
Live order page 2026-11-03: 1 month $11; 6 months $30 total ($5/month, 'saving 38%'); 1 year $48 total ($4/month, 'saving 50', marked most popular). Up to 5 simultaneous devices. Subscription auto-bills every 30/183/365 days per the Terms of Service; cancellation requires contacting support. Prices have roughly doubled since 2020, when TechRadar recorded $8/1mo, $3/1yr and $2/5yr plans.
none - signup requires only a working email address; no name, phone or government-ID verification per the privacy policy
Payment
bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum (ERC20), USDT (TRC20), tron, monero, TON, SOL, others, fiat
Money-back window
30 days
Apps
windows, mac, linux, android, ios, router …
Check the renewal price above before any multi-year plan - true-cost calculator.
Is HideMy.name legit?
Legal domicile: Belize - hidemy.network Ltd., Suite 102, Ground Floor, Blake Building, Corner Eyre & Hutson Streets, Belize City (operator's own privacy policy and about page, fetched 2026-11-03); the policy also says the company 'operates under English law'. The service originated in Russia in 2006 (formerly hideme.ru, earlier operated as inCloak Network Ltd.) and on 2023-11-17 Russia's Ministry of Justice designated hidemy.network Ltd a 'foreign agent' - the first VPN provider ever so designated (CNews, Kommersant, OVD-Info inoteka registry). Logging claim: A non-persistent log of connection data, that includes customers' randomly generated username and internally assigned, non-public IP address, is maintained by us for troubleshooting purposes. We safely clear out the troubleshooting log every few hours. To lessen our legal liability, we purposely and strictly do not record any other data. Your browsing behavior is not monitored or recorded by us. It is impossible to log your browsing behavior with our technical backend. - evidence class: promise only (no proof). No incidents on file in our research - absence of evidence is not proof of innocence. Facts reported - operator pages (VPN product, order page, privacy policy, moneyback guarantee, terms, about page), Google Play and Apple App Store listings, TechRadar and VPNCrew reviews, Kommersant, CNews, Meduza, Roskomsvoboda, the OVD-Info inoteka foreign-agent registry and Reddit arctic-shift archives were all fetched live 2026-11-03; Trustpilot and CoolTechZone returned 403 to our fetcher and are cited from search-result snippets only; Wayback snapshots of safervpn-era pages were used for none of the facts here except historical price comparison (not fully verified) as of 2026-11-03 - read the sources below.
The money trail - what review sites earn by recommending this
affiliate status not verified yet
If we sign up for this program, every link here becomes rel="nofollow sponsored" and routes through /go/. Until then our links point straight to the provider's website with zero tracking. Ranking logic physically cannot read affiliate fields - here is the proof.
On the website
Captured by our screenshot bot from the live site (or its public archive). A capture is evidence of what the page showed at capture time - not an endorsement.
HideMy.name homepage - live capture 2026-09-29HideMy.name pricing page - live capture 2026-09-29HideMy.name apps / download page - live capture 2026-09-29
Before you pay: check the renewal price, the refund window, and whether a cheaper or free path covers your use case - the honest checklist.
Based on our checks as of 2026-11-03: HideMy.name scores 5/10 in our weighted review. We logged 5 red flags (listed above). User reports, ownership and the incident record are documented with dated sources in the meta-review below.
What do I actually get with HideMy.name?
Full access to 250 servers in 42 countries, native apps for major platforms, Chameleon obfuscation, kill switch, P2P and streaming support, plus anonymizer tools like proxy and leak checkers. No split tunneling or multihop. A 24-hour free trial is available with email signup.
What is the renewal price and total cost over three years?
The monthly price is flat at $4 with no increase on renewal - the renewal ratio is 1. The three-year cash total cannot be computed from current billing data, as no multi-year cycle is offered beyond one year.
What proof is there that HideMy.name doesn’t log?
None beyond its own policy. The logging claim is "policy-only" - no independent audit has ever verified it. The provider admits to short-lived connection logs (username + internal IP) and traffic counters, and its website runs tracking cookies without consent.
Does it work in heavily censored countries like Russia, China, or Iran?
It is actively blocked in Russia via TSPU and requires mirrors to access. Chameleon mode helps bypass DPI, and Russian users report success, but there’s no evidence it works reliably in China or Iran. Not recommended for those environments without firsthand testing.
Can I pay and sign up anonymously?
Yes. Signup requires only an email address. For full anonymity, pay with Monero or other supported cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, TON, etc.). Fiat payments via card or PayPal go through third-party processors that may collect identity data.
What happens if HideMy.name shuts down or gets blocked?
The service has survived multiple Russian blocks since 2017 and uses mirror domains (e.g., hidemyna.me). It has appealed court rulings and continues operating. If shut down, no automatic migration to another service is offered - users must find alternatives independently.
Is there a reliable free or cheap alternative?
A 24-hour free trial is available. For long-term free use, consider Mullvad (flat-priced, audited, independent) or IVPN (transparent, privacy-focused), though both cost more. Among budget options, hide.me offers limited free plans, but HideMy.name’s crypto support and circumvention tools give it niche value despite risks.
The meta-review: what the internet says about HideMy.name
We do not expect you to trust us. This review is a meta-review: below you see what other review sites claim - with their conflicts of interest labeled - what users report on Reddit and forums, and who actually operates HideMy.name. Every claim links to its source so you can verify it yourself.
What other reviewers say (3)
Every source carries a conflict label from our review-site database. "Affiliate-funded" means the site earns money if you buy what it recommends. We include critical voices deliberately.
Fetched 2026-11-03: 3.5/5 verdict - good speeds (13-20 Mbps observed), cheap multi-tier pricing then ($8/mo down to $2/mo on 5-year), native simple apps, Netflix/BBC iPlayer unblocking, free trial + 30-day money back; but 'small server network', few extras, and an explicit demand: 'we would be even more convinced if the provider had... invited outside auditors to confirm' the no-logging claims; quotes the non-persistent-log policy verbatim; notes P2P allowed but copyright-complaint ports closed by default on some servers; Belize City HQ; Chameleon obfuscation; kill switch.
Fetched 2026-11-03: identifies inCloak Network Ltd. (Belize) as the owning company; ~100 servers in 40+ countries at review time; 5-year plan $119; average connect time 7.16s; ~15-19% speed loss; praises live chat replies within a minute; criticizes no own DNS servers (default 8.8.8.8), no IPv6 leak protection, no browser extension, no server sorting, refund commission deductions and 5 GB cap; confirms Chameleon mode, kill switch, port forwarding.
Returned 403 to our fetcher on 2026-11-03; title and 2022 dating seen via search snapshot of the CoolTechZone sitemap. Treat as reported only; not used for any dossier fact.
What users say (3)
Reddit, forums, HN - paraphrased and linked, never quoted out of context. Anecdotes, not proof - but refund complaints and leak reports are the best early-warning system this market has.
Fetched 2026-11-03 via arctic-shift API (72 comments retrieved): OP lists Hidemy.name among providers 'that have ties with or are related to Russia' to avoid; in 2026 replies a Russian user defends continued use ('I use it... seems like a normal VPN'), others discuss Browsec scareware popups and which VPNs still work inside Moscow.
Fetched 2026-11-03 via arctic-shift API (32 comments retrieved): a Russian EVE Online player explains remote-recruitment workflow via RustDesk/Supremo/RuDesktop and relies on a VPN pairing 'AmneziaVPN and hidemy.name' because the EVE launcher stopped working correctly from their location without one.
Returned 403 to our fetcher on 2026-11-03; rating 3.7 from 207 reviews seen via search snapshot; a recent review quoted there: 'I used this service for about two weeks, and the experience was awful from the very beginning. The app constantly lagged on both Windows and iOS.' Treat summary figures as reported, not re-verified.
AI fact summary - everything we know, compressed
Generated by Qwen3 on 2026-11-04 from our fact database plus the linked sources. It summarizes - it does not add facts. Check anything that matters against the linked sources.
Bottom line: HideMy.name is a long-standing budget VPN with roots in Russia, now nominally Belize-based, offering basic privacy tools and circumvention for Russian blocks. It has a loyal CIS user base and works for streaming and low-cost long-term use, especially with crypto payments. However, its privacy claims are unverified, and it carries real jurisdictional and operational risks.
The logging truth: The provider claims a short-lived troubleshooting log (random username + internal IP, cleared every few hours) and no browsing logs, but this is policy-only - no independent audit exists. Jurisdiction is Belize, but the company says it operates under English law, while originating from Russia and now designated a "foreign agent" by Moscow for content reasons, not logging.
Pricing reality: Pricing is $4/month for a 1-year plan, with no intro discount - renewal is the same rate. A 24-hour free trial requires only email. Refunds are allowed within 30 days but capped at 5 GB of traffic; exceeding that incurs commission deductions (up to 8%), making refunds costly.
What reviewers say vs what users say: Affiliate reviewers (TechRadar, VPNCrew) note decent speeds, Netflix access, and obfuscation but criticize the lack of audits, IPv6 leaks, and refund traps - calling the jurisdiction risky. Users are split: some praise reliability and legacy support, while recent app reviews complain of lag, broken updates, and poor support, with Trustpilot sentiment notably negative.
Who runs it: Operated by hidemy.network Ltd, registered in Belize, with origins in the Russian project hideme.ru (2006). The owner is not publicly disclosed. The Russian "foreign agent" designation in 2023 was based on content dissemination, not data sharing, but raises concerns for users in Russia.
Sources & how this review was built
Every external source used on this page, with the date we fetched it and its evidence class [A]-[D] (A = primary/operator, B = serious press/research, C = community, D = our own measurements). Methodology: how we verify. Sources disappear or change - if a link is dead, tell us via contact.
Evidence classes on this page:[A] A: 7[B] B: 9[C] C: 3[D] D: 0(D stays empty until our own test phase)
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