Hide.me VPN 2020 for Windows — Review & Test

Hide.me is a popular VPN service provider founded in 2012 and registered in Malaysia. The company's website claims they have more than 15 million users.That's probably largely due to the fact they are running a freemium business model, so their entry app is completely for free

They also offer premium plans that offer better speeds, no ads, and complete customer support. The free version offers only 2GB per month and there are only 5 locations you can connect to.

You can use it for trial but you’ll need to move to the premium plan ultimately. You can also have a look and check our ultimate comparison of all Free VPNs out there including Hide.me Free VPN.

While they have good VPN services, they also have a free proxy if you’d like to try that. Don’t want to install an app? Just visit their proxy page and open your desired website there. It could happen that you won't be able to visit some of your favorite websites, in that case, you can try another Free Proxy provider which we have listed in our Free Proxy Comparison article.

Hide.me offers military-grade encryption so your data is practically unhackable. Your ISP or the government cannot see what you’re doing when you’re connected to Hide.me. And since they offer apps for all major platforms, you can run it effortlessly on the device you’re using.

While Hide.me has pretty standard offerings, one thing that sets it apart from other VPN providers is its thriving community. You can visit the community forums of Hide.me and have discussions with experts there.

It is among the big players in the market. They have all the features you’d want in a VPN – high speeds, a decent sized network, ability to run on multiple devices, and good customer support.

You can try their free services. If you like them, upgrade to premium services. And if you don’t like premium, they offer a 30-day money back guarantee.

Is there a free trial?

There isn’t just a free trial but also a free proxy. If you don’t want to install an app or configure anything on your device, you can just visit the free proxy and unblock any site you want.

And if you want a secure VPN for free, they’ve got that too. However, the free trial is limited. You can access 2GB per month and access only 5 locations. You’ll need to register for the free plan and can connect only one device on it.

Since there are only 5 servers on the free trial, all free users connect to them, which means slower speeds. That’s one issue with all free services. To get better services, you can get the premium version.

They have a risk-free 30-day no-questions-asked money back guarantee. So if you’re not happy with their services, you can just ask for a refund and they’ll pay you back in full.

Pricing and discounts

Hide.me is available in free and paid versions. The free version is limited to 2GB per month and 5 locations. The speeds are limited too, which is why you’d want to shift to the premium version.

Hide.me offers the same speed on all servers. However, as a large number of users connect to only 5 servers (because they are free), they get overloaded and the speeds go down. The only way to increase your speeds would be to connect to the servers that aren’t overloaded. So you’ll need to switch to premium.

The premium version is available in three packages: monthly, yearly, and two-yearly.

The monthly plan will cost you $14.95 per month. This is a bit expensive compared to the average market VPN monthly price of $10-$11. If you subscribe to the yearly plan, your costs will reduce to $9.99 per month and if you get the two-yearly plan, your prices drop to $5.41 per month.

You can pay via a number of payment options, such as credit cards, PayPal, and coin payments. If you’re not happy, you can claim a refund within 30 days of placing the order.

The only condition is that you shouldn’t have consumed a significant amount of data. The refund policy doesn’t mention what “significant amount” means but if for some reason you’ve changed your mind, it wouldn’t be too difficult getting a refund from Hide.me.

User interface

Hide.me apps are available for all major platforms and are easy to install and use. You can run it on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, Windows phone, Amazon Fire, and router. There are also plugins for Chrome and Firefox.

There are step-by-step installation and configuration guides on their website. If you’re a novice, you can read the steps for your particular device and operating system.

The app opens with a blue interface and shows the status of connected/disconnected. You can connect with just one tap.

There’s a list of servers that allows you to select the country you want to connect to. There are also options for protocols. You can select OpenVPN, SoftEther, IKEv2, SSTP, IKEv1, PPTP, or L2TP/IPSec.

You can install the Android app directly from the Google Play store. But if for some reason, you’re having problems with the play store, you can download the apk file from their website and install it. While selecting protocols, keep in mind that OpenVPN is the most secure and PPTP is the least secure.

Hide.me offers AES-256 bit encryption that’s military standard so you can rest assured that your data is completely secure and practically unhackable.

Your ISP cannot see what you’re doing when you connect to Hide.me. You can securely connect to a public Wi-Fi network without worrying about any hackers trying to steal your data.

There are P2P-friendly servers so if torrenting is on your mind, make sure you connect to the right servers. While a non-P2P server will also secure your connection, your torrenting might get blocked on them.

The app comes with a kill switch, IP leak protection, and split tunneling features. This ensures you get the maximum protection and can use the VPN just the way you want.

Server locations and countries

Hide.me has 1400 servers in 55 locations all over the world. This includes Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Most servers are P2P friendly but some are not. It’s important to connect to a P2P friendly server if you want to download torrents.

You can visit their server page and check the currently active servers. You’ll see blue dots on the world map. Click on a dot and you’ll see its current status. It will give a brief introduction to the location along with the traffic load on the server.

You will also see a P2P symbol on the top right corner of the popup window. If the symbol is blue, it means that the server supports P2P. And if it’s greyed out, it’s not a P2P friendly server.There will be a Read More button on the popup window. Click on it and it will take you to the page for that location.

Selecting servers on the app is very easy. When you open the app, you’ll see a list of servers. You can click on any one of them to connect to it.

Does Hide.me Unblock Netflix?

Yes 🙂

There are several users who use VPN services only to unblock their favorite content libraries. A large part of these users want to access Netflix, which is why it’s important to know whether a VPN unblocks Netflix before you can subscribe to it.

Hide.me can unblock Netflix on California (US) and Nevada (US) servers. Their services are blocked by BBC iPlayer so Hide.me isn’t the best option for users looking forward to watching the BBC.

It can also unblock YouTube so the content that’s blocked in your geographical region will be visible to you once you connect to Hide.me.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay for a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription in order to access these streaming services. A VPN merely allows you to access restricted libraries on your location. The streaming rates still apply.

VPNs that currently work on Netflix might get blocked the next day. So make sure you confirm from Hide.me support if they are currently able to unblock Netflix.

Customer Support

While the website does show a live chat option at the bottom right corner, it’s hardly ever active. This means 24/7 live chat support is out of the question.

However, this doesn’t mean Hide.me support is bad.

There are three types of support you can get – setup guides, community, and support ticket.

There are setup guides for various devices and operating systems. Just select the right operating system and it will show you the guide to install or configure the VPN on that particular device. And since these are step-by-step guides with photos, following them is super easy.

Hide.me has an active community that makes it different than the other VPN services. There are several experts on the community and you can ask any question there. The forum members will reply or guide you to the right page where you can find the answers.

If none of this solves your issues, you can open a support ticket. Just enter your email address and question, and send it to the support. You’ll get an answer within a few hours.

All this is great, but sometimes a user needs immediate support. For example, let’s say you’re unable to connect to the VPN and enjoy a very important match that’s streaming right now.

Opening a support ticket and getting a reply will take a couple of hours and that will be too late. This is why many users prefer a VPN that has a 24/7 live chat support.

Privacy Policy

When it comes to privacy, Hide.me has a clear policy. They don’t track or log any user activity. They don’t keep connection logs, timestamps, session duration, or anything that can be considered a violation of your privacy.

They maintain a troubleshooting log that is used to find out if the app crashed and the problems related to it. Since none of the user activities are monitored, it’s a safe choice and any user looking for privacy can safely opt for Hide.me.

If the government ever tries to contact them for data related to a particular user, they will not get any substantial information since there are no records to be shown in the first place.

Also, Hide.me was the first VPN company that was comprehensively audited. Leon Juranic, Founder of Defense Code Ltd., certifies that Hide.me is among the most anonymous VPN companies.

Conclusion – Is Hide.me Worth Your Money?

Hide.me isn’t a new name in the VPN industry. They have been offering top-notch services for many years and offer many amazing VPN features such as IP leak protection, split tunneling, and a kill switch.

With AES-256 encryption and OpenVPN, you get the best online security that will keep you secure from your ISP, the government, and hackers.

While there is a free offering, the premium version is much better in terms of bandwidth, speed, and locations. Hide.me keeps no logs, which means you can browse the internet with complete peace of mind.

And since it has apps for all major platforms, you can use it, no matter which device you use.

The prices might be considered a bit over the average market rates but with a 30-day money back guarantee, you can try their services and claim a refund if you think you aren’t getting the best value for your dollar.

Hide.me always had a free proxy offering. And they still do. While a proxy isn’t as safe as a VPN, if you want to open a blocked website for a short while without having to install something, you can visit the proxy link.

Since Hide.me is P2P friendly, you can download as many torrents as you want. However, make sure you connect to a P2P friendly server. The good thing is that most Hide.me servers are P2P friendly.

With their thriving community, no logs policy, free VPN plan, money back guarantee, military grade encryption, and several additional features. Hide.me has the ability to become your favorite VPN service. If you are still hesitating you can have a look also at other VPN providers.

80%

80%

Good

Pros

• Apps for all major platforms
• Premium version offers high speeds
• Free package available
• OpenVPN supported
• AES-256 bit encryption
• 56 locations in 35 countries and 1400 servers

Cons

• No 24/7 live chat

• Overall

  8
• User Ratings (1 Votes)
  9.3