Hide.me is an experienced VPN provider with exceptionally powerful apps and an intriguing free VPN plan.
The free product caps your data usage at 10GB per month, but that's better than some providers (TunnelBear only offers 500MB) and could protect you for many hours of browsing.
While paying customers get 70 locations, the free plan limits you to five: US East and West Coast, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands. That's well behind Windscribe's 14 locations, but on the other hand, it's a big step up from Hotspot Shield's US plan, and well within the range we'd expect from a decent free VPN.
- Windscribe subscription options:
- 1 month plan - €9 per month (total cost €9) (opens in a new tab)
There's a good range of apps, with clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux, as well as Chrome and Firefox browser extensions. You can install Hide.me on as many devices as you like, but the free plan only supports connecting one device at a time (you'll need to disconnect Hide.me on your laptop before using it on your iPhone, for example).
There's some bad news on the feature front: Hide.me's free plan drops support for the fast WireGuard protocol. There are still more protocols available than you'll see with anyone else: IKEv2, OpenVPN, SoftEther, SSTP, but none match WireGuard for speed.
Look past the WireGuard omission, though, and Hide.me stacks expert-level features, settings, and options throughout. The free plan just gives you more control over the VPN than paid plans from other providers.
Privacy and registration
Hide.me uses various tools and technologies to protect your privacy. Sign up and your account will be protected with optional two-factor authentication via appropriate apps (Google Authenticator, Authy). Strong encryption, private DNS, and other VPN features protect your data while you're connected. And if you decide you no longer need the service, there's no need to leave your details behind: deleting your own account is as easy as clicking a button on the Hide.me web panel.
Hide.me's privacy policy (opens in a new tab) clearly explains how it protects your account data, what usage details it records, and what it doesn't do. Essentially, it doesn't collect sensitive information (browsing history, downloaded files, etc.), and any information it logs seems harmless and as we'd expect (logging your data usage to enforce the 10GB limit, for example).
The website goes further, saying that "Hide.me is audited by independent security analysts who certify that our system cannot store user data." C'est vrai, mais ce qu'il ne dit pas à l'avance, c'est que l'examen dates from 2015, et il ya peu d'informations sur ce qu'il a examiné, ou précisément sur ce qu ' Has found.
We have no reason to believe that Hide.me is doing something slightly questionable with your data, but we would like this to be backed up by a new audit, covering the entire service (applications, servers, infrastructure), with a detailed report. free for anyone to download and read.
windows app
The Hide.me Windows app has a simple look and feel that makes it easy for anyone to get started. A large "Enable VPN" button on the home screen ensures even newbies will know what to try first, and its other features are organized into sensibly named tabs (Locations, Settings).
The location picker helpfully displays your free locations at the top of your list, making sure you're not (as with Atlas VPN) scrolling through each location to see what's available.
Locations and features that are only available on the paid plan are clearly highlighted. If you've ever used a free app where it's not so obvious, and keep getting irritating "Not available in free app" warnings with every click, you'll appreciate this added touch.
Hide.me's free apps stand out for their tremendous power and configurability, which is far beyond what we see almost anywhere else. Not only does it have a kill switch, a wide variety of protocols, split tunneling, auto-connect when accessing unsecured Wi-Fi, and more, but each of these areas also has more unique settings (see our full Hide. me for more).
Don't be discouraged if you're not the technical type, though: you won't even know these more advanced settings exist unless you look for them. And at its core, the app is as easy to use as any. Press the button, the app connects and starts protecting you in about three or four seconds, and press again when you're done; Easy.
mac application
Hide.me's Mac offering looks nearly identical to the Windows version, and it works just fine for us. It's easier to use - learn one and you'll know how to use the other - and it shows that Hide.me pays attention to detail, striving to make your life as easy as possible.
The Mac's list of features can't match its Windows cousin for power, but there's still more here than we see with most competitors: a kill switch, automatic connection when accessing untrusted Wi-Fi networks, highly configurable split tunneling, helpful interface customizations, the ability to create a support ticket from the app, and all with app display support in no less than 17 languages.
These individual features can be difficult to understand and use, and beginners can get confused at times. But just like with the Windows app, all the more complicated stuff is tucked away in the Settings area and can be safely ignored if you don't care.
If you're more interested in VPN basics, the app is pretty easy to use. Clicking "Enable" connects you to the nearest server, other locations are just a few clicks away, and in many situations you never need to know or explore anything.
Apps for Android and iOS
Hide.me's mobile apps fit right in with the rest of the range: they look and feel very similar, are easy enough to use that anyone can connect right away, but have plenty of power available if you need it.
We immediately noticed some nice usability touches. Many VPN apps have a fixed horizontal or vertical interface, for example, which may not always work for your device, but Hide.me apps can use either, much more convenient.
The iOS app stands out in particular for its long list of features. Many VPN providers seem to think that iOS apps just need a connect button and a list of locations, but Hide.me adds support for IKEv2 and OpenVPN; a circuit breaker; custom DNS settings; automatic connection when accessing untrusted networks; interface settings; Support for Siri Shortcuts and more.
Put it all together and there is a lot to like here for mobile users, regardless of their VPN needs or experience. It is worth taking a closer look.
Performance
Hide.me makes big claims about speeds, promising "no throttling" and saying the plan is "so fast you won't believe it's free." This sounds promising and very plausible, especially since the paid version of Hide.me hit an incredible 900 Mbps in recent tests.
However, the reality was disappointing, with tests at three sites in the UK showing downloads of around 25 Mbps on average. That's more than enough for emailing, browsing, or even streaming, but falls well short of most free competitors. TunnelBear's free plans, Atlas VPN, PrivadoVPN, and Proton VPN have delivered 300 Mbps or more in recent reviews.
What's going on? We asked this question and Hide.me explained that free speeds are not guaranteed. If too many free users accumulate on the servers at once, speeds drop. However, this could mean that you might see better results if you log in off-peak; it is best to try the service and see for yourself.
Hide.me's free plan does not include their streaming-optimized servers, a strong indicator that you shouldn't have any hope on Netflix. Our tests confirmed that with (like most free VPNs), the service was unable to unblock Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney Plus from the US or Canada.
There was better news on the torrent front. Hide.me has lived up to their P2P promises by allowing us to download seamlessly from their US and Canadian sites.
The free plan also includes email support. We submitted a test question and received a helpful response in about 12 hours. It's a fair result that even beats some paid VPNs, and it's likely to fix most problems within a day or two.
final verdict
Hide.me is a solid free VPN, especially for advanced users who will make good use of its highly configurable features and apps. Performance is well below average, but there's enough here for browsing, streaming, and other tasks, and overall it's worth a shot.
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