Compared to many VPN providers, Hide Me is a relative newcomer to the scene. The company has its home in Malaysia, so it sits well outside any 5-eyes jurisdiction and the data retention laws that come with it.
Within a short time, they have amassed an enormous number of Hide.Me VPN downloads and built a customer base that runs into the millions.
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Can this Hide Me review be a simple matter of praising a top-class VPN provider, or are there problems under the surface?
- Headquartered in Malaysia, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, with no data retention laws.
- Certified no-logs VPN, independently audited since 2015 (most recently by Securitum) and re-accredited by the VPN Trust Initiative.
- Free plan: unlimited data across 8 locations, with restricted speeds and one connection.
- Premium plan: 2,600+ servers in 92 locations, 10 simultaneous connections and WireGuard support.
- Premium from $2.69 per month on the 26-month plan, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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Pros
Cons
Key Features
Hide me does come with different plans, so features will vary depending on which one you choose.
One area they support is that of SoftEther, a VPN protocol based on HTTPS. Apart from this protocol users have a full range which includes OpenVPN, IKEv2, SSTP, WireGuard and older versions such as PPTP.
Traffic that runs using this protocol looks like regular traffic, and it is hard for firewalls to detect and block. As a result, it has been reported to work in heavily restricted networks such as China and Egypt.
Automatic Wi-Fi is another feature where the VPN is enabled once it detects an unsecured wireless network.
Hide.Me also comes kitted with a built-in kill switch, which keeps you protected even if the VPN connection fails momentarily. There is StealthGuard too, which goes further than a traditional kill switch by blocking all traffic until the VPN is safely connected, plus SmartGuard content filtering that blocks ads, trackers and malware. Split tunneling rounds out the package for users who want some apps inside the tunnel and others outside it.
IP leak detection and DNS leak protection are well catered for. They also block IPv6 connections if you are provided one by your ISP, and recent independent tests report no IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks.
DNS leaks are plugged as by default, a public DNS is created, which gives access to the Hide.Me network. With this in place, all DNS requests are routed through their VPN and are invisible to anyone watching.
If anyone is concerned about user data retention, Hide.Me holds no logs whatsoever, and they have had external audits to substantiate their claims. The network runs on RAM-only servers that wipe all data every time they reboot, and the no-logging stance was verified again by European security firm Securitum in 2024. Hide.me also publishes annual transparency reports, and it was re-accredited by the VPN Trust Initiative in 2025. Privacy-first readers should also compare our ProtonVPN review, another certified no-logs provider.
Such is their stance of no-logging; they used this as a primary focus when building their VPN service rather than deciding not to maintain a no-logging policy once they were already running.
Ease of Use
The Hide me website looks nice, although you’ll fall short if you are looking for technical details. The company redeems themselves with some well-written set-up guides which cover most platforms users might encounter. They also offer plenty of multi-lingual support, including some not so familiar languages.
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The Windows client is clean and fresh, and most users will be up and running within a couple of minutes. New users are offered sensible defaults, with no confusing setup required.
The interface is as simple as many other VPN providers, and it seems this is the way they are all going.
Users have some options to choose should they wish to vary away from the default, but nothing is too extreme.
Across all platforms, the interface has the same clean look apart from the Mac client, which opens a guide window once you open the app.
There are fallback options for protocols to use, but these aren’t the most secure, and it would be advised to change these before any first usage of the app.
Performance and Servers
Hide.Me has grown enormously since our last review, from 35 servers in 28 countries to 2,600+ servers across 92 locations today. That still isn’t the largest network by any means when compared with the market leaders, but coverage now spans Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, including some of the more obscure locations such as Morocco, Mexico, Brazil, and India.
As there is now just one paid plan, unlimited data is included across the board, whereas the free plan carries no data cap either but comes with restricted speeds and a single connection.
When conducting tests for this review, the kill switch and leak protection held up across both WireGuard and OpenVPN connections, and independent testers such as TheBestVPN and Top10VPN also reported zero IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks. Speeds have improved considerably since our last look, with Top10VPN calling hide.me one of the fastest VPNs it has tested, although other reviewers 
note that results can fluctuate on more distant servers. The free tier remains heavily throttled, so expect modest throughput unless you upgrade.
Customer support is not the best, although it is by no means the worst. It could just do to be a little better.
They provide 24/7 live chat, email, and ticketing systems for assistance, which is better than many others. They do fall on live chat technical support, which is slow and handled by a ticketing system.
Hide.me Pricing in 2026
Hide.me keeps pricing simple: one premium plan billed over three terms, plus a genuinely free tier. All paid plans include the full feature set and the 30-day money-back guarantee.
| Plan | Billing term | Effective price | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free forever | $0.00 | Unlimited data, 8 locations, restricted speeds, 1 connection, no logs |
| Premium | 1 month | $11.99 per month | Unlimited data, 92 locations, 10 connections, streaming support |
| Premium | 13 months (12 + 1 extra) | $4.23 per month, billed $54.99 | Unlimited data, 92 locations, 10 connections, streaming support |
| Premium | 26 months (24 + 2 extra) | $2.69 per month, billed $69.99 | Unlimited data, 92 locations, 10 connections, streaming support |
Pricing verified 17 October 2026 against hide.me/en/pricing. All prices in USD; VAT may apply.
Is this the Service for You?
What is Hide Me? Well, it is one of those VPN services which offers plenty and falls in equal measure. When you consider it, unlimited data and a 30-day refund window should be the baseline for any paid VPN, and hide.me now delivers both. (Unlike many of the free VPN reviews we have, the free tier here is genuinely unlimited.)
The free plan might be okay for light browsing, although for media streaming and torrenting, the restricted speeds and blocked streaming services will push you toward the paid version before the month is over.
Adding to this, you only receive one connection on the free tier. Unless you sign up for the 13 or 26 month plans, it works out expensive for a service that doesn’t compare with other market leaders on raw performance.
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There is plenty to like about their service, and some of the faults we found in earlier versions have been fixed since our last review.
Hide.Me can grow, and one of the first areas they need to remedy is their network size.
As of yet, they don’t justify the price over the shorter terms. There is better and cheaper out there, and if you want the most reliable option in Australia, we would point you to NordVPN, which pairs a far larger network with dependable streaming performance for around the same money on its long plans. ExpressVPN is the other standout if you want the easiest setup, as our ExpressVPN review explains. Hide.me is one to keep an eye on for future reference, and the always-free plan is well worth taking for a spin in the meantime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hide.me VPN trustworthy?
Yes, on the evidence so far. Hide.me is based in Malaysia, which sits outside the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence alliances and has no data retention laws, and it operates a zero-logs policy that has been independently audited since 2015. Security firm Securitum confirmed the no-logs policy again in 2024, the network runs entirely on RAM-only servers that wipe data on reboot, and hide.me publishes annual transparency reports and holds VPN Trust Initiative accreditation.
Is Hide.me VPN free?
Yes. Hide.me offers a genuinely free plan that stays free, with no trial period, no credit card and no sign-up required. It includes unlimited data across 8 locations with the same zero-logs security as the paid plans, but speeds are restricted and you get a single connection. Unblocking streaming services and torrenting require the premium plan.
Does Hide.me work with Netflix in Australia?
The premium plan supports streaming, with streaming-optimized servers that have been reported to unblock Netflix, Max, Hulu and Disney+ libraries. The free plan does not unblock Netflix or BBC iPlayer, so you will need to upgrade if streaming access is your main goal. As with all VPNs, streaming availability can change at any time.
Can you torrent with Hide.me?
Yes, on the premium plan. Hide.me permits P2P traffic on premium servers, with dynamic port forwarding available to boost download speeds, and the kill switch and zero-logs policy keep your real IP address out of the swarm. The free plan does not permit torrenting and restricts speeds, so you will need a paid subscription for serious file sharing.
