HideMy.name Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Fast and Consistent Speeds With All Servers Tested

HideMy.name ranks high when it comes to speed. This VPN provider has an average connection speed of 20Mbps on most of its servers, outperforming some VPN providers when it comes to distant servers.

I ran speed tests on both servers close to where I live and long-distance servers to determine what HideMy.name could deliver. The company offers a cool feature where you can run speed tests within the client to find the fastest connection. It would have been nice to see an automatic server selection feature. This is something offered by many top VPNs.

Please note that the outcomes of these tests may not necessarily reflect the actual performance you will experience while using the service. Due to the unpredictable nature of the internet, it is important to consider that these findings cannot be considered conclusive or definitive. You may see smaller or larger discrepancies depending on your internet connection speed.

Speed Test Results

My tests showed that HideMy.name does not significantly slow down your connection. As usual, my upload speeds suffered more than my download speeds. The service, nevertheless, remained completely reliable, even for bandwidth-intensive tasks such as streaming, gaming, and torrenting.

Before connecting to the VPN, I had an average download speed of 32.47 Mbps, an average upload speed of 19.61 Mbps, and a ping time of 2 ms. Following that, I compared my base speed result with those obtained from servers located in the US, UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Australia.

My download speeds dropped by 33.7%, 24.6%, 34.7%, 34.6%, 46.4% and 39.6% respectively. On the other hand, my upload speeds dropped by 60.9%, 46.9%, 56.3%, 51%, 26.4%, and 33.3% respectively.

According to my speed test, HideMy.name is a good choice if you want sheer speed. You shouldn’t experience any difficulty playing online games, downloading content and streaming in high definition. But remember to pay attention to my upload speed caveat.

Server Network — Limited Server Network

HideMy.name has 100+ servers in more than 40 countries. In terms of geographical coverage, most of the company’s servers can be found in North America and Europe, but there are some servers in Asia, South America, and Africa as well. Especially impressive is that it offers servers in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, North Macedonia, and even Israel.

The client does not present separate lists of P2P or streaming servers. Also, switching between servers requires you to disconnect from the previous one before choosing and connecting to the new one.

The only server filtering feature available in the client is “Favorite Servers.” This feature enables you to filter the servers manually based on your experience of which servers are best for you. If you wish, you can choose to display only your favorite servers as opposed to the entire list. You can easily choose your favorite servers by checking the pings for each server in the speed test tab. Note which servers have the lowest ping, then add them to your favorite server list.

Considering that HideMy.name offers a limited number of servers to choose from, it’s no surprise that it could not unblock most streaming services. Adding more servers reduces the possibility of server overload while maintaining stable download and upload speeds. In this regard, a VPN service with a large number of servers, such as ExpressVPN, is the best choice any day. ExpressVPN provides 3,000+ servers in 105+ locations, so you will never need to worry about overcrowding.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Security — Industry-Standard Encryption

HideMy.name utilizes well-chosen protocols and high-grade encryption to safeguard your privacy. Among the protocols used by the provider to protect your privacy are OpenVPN, IKEv2, and L2TP/IPSec. The absence of WireGuard alongside these protocols is disappointing, as it is the most secure VPN protocol available. It also employs multiple encryption methods, including AES-256-CBC (the most secure option), AES-128-CBC (the fastest option), and BF-CBC (outdated).

As an added benefit, its Chameleon technology allows you to bypass active VPN blocking in countries with stricter regulations. This is especially relevant in countries that do not allow the use of VPNs, such as China.

In terms of security features, HideMy.name offers a few, including a kill switch (called Connection Protection). The kill switch is not activated by default upon download, so you will have to activate it to block your internet access if your VPN connection fails. This security feature is available in the apps for Windows, iOS, and Android, but not for Mac.

Along with military-grade encryption and strong security protocols, HideMy.name offers additional tools to prevent data leaks. Its IP and DNS leak protection will ensure that you won’t have to worry about your IP address and DNS information getting leaked out.

I connected to several server locations and ran multiple IP and DNS leak tests to determine whether HideMy.name was susceptible to leaks. HideMy.name passed all my tests with flying colors.

There are some improvements that could be made to HideMy.name and its security features. For example, it could integrate an ad-blocking feature to keep users safe from malware, trackers, and phishing. The use of this security feature is becoming increasingly popular among VPN providers, because it provides additional protection online.

Privacy — No-Logs Policy but Yet to Be Audited

HideMy.name is an excellent choice if privacy is your primary concern when purchasing a VPN. The VPN provider adheres to a strict no-log policy, and this is clearly outlined on its Privacy Policy page. It further asserts that its technical backend is such that no information can be gathered regarding your browsing habits.

HideMy.name assigns its users a non-public IP address and a randomly generated username. This way, you can maintain your anonymity and your internet browsing activity cannot be traced to your real IP address.

The provider retains a temporary log of connection data with the randomly-generated username as part of its troubleshooting procedures. The company purges this log every couple of hours. To keep track of how much internet traffic its users generate, the company tracks aggregate traffic. However, this poses no privacy concern for anyone using the service.

HideMy.name only collects your email address when you buy its service. The email address you provide will be encrypted for your own safety. This service does not collect any other personal information like your name or address. Instead, it provides you with a digital code that you can use to connect to its servers.

HideMy.name also explicitly states that it does not share or sell the personal information it collects. You can request that HideMy.name delete any data you have provided to them after you discontinue using its service. The company states that it processes personal data in compliance with applicable laws.

The no-logging policy of HideMy.name appears to be sound, but no third-party audit has been conducted and no transparency report has been released. Most of HideMy.name’s competitors take this step to reassure clients that their information is secure.

Considering HideMy.name is based in Belize, a country with a reputation for the lack of undue government intervention, the company is unlikely to share data with third parties. Belize is not part of the Eyes alliance, which is a pact between the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to share specific information regarding the internet.

Torrenting — Supports P2P Sharing but on Limited Servers

HideMy.name welcomes and supports P2P file sharing on a limited number of servers. According to the provider’s customer support team, you can only torrent via the Moscow servers. The combination of HideMy.name’s fast speeds, safe privacy policies, and functioning kill switch make it an excellent torrenting choice for those within this server’s range.

HideMy.name performed well with a number of torrent clients, BitTorrent and qBittorrent included. It took me less than ten minutes to download a 1GB torrent file in each case. While the Moscow server performed well in my torrenting tests, the service may not be suitable if you live far from its location.

I found ExpressVPN to be one of the best VPN services for torrenting, and despite having a lot of features, it is still relatively simple to use. In addition to supporting full torrenting on all servers, the program features WebRTC leak prevention, private DNS servers, and Perfect Forward Secrecy, which generates a new key each time the client connects and every hour thereafter. However, my team and I don’t condone illegal torrenting so be sure to consider your local laws before downloading copyrighted files without permission.

Does HideMy.name Work in China? Maybe!

The Chameleon protocol offered by HideMy.name gives it an edge if you need a VPN for China or any other restricted network. This feature runs on an OpenVPN protocol which employs 256-bit encryption to avoid blocks and censorship.

Since I was unable to personally test HideMy.name myself, I contacted the HideMy.name support team to inquire whether the service was available in China. I was told that there is no guarantee, and that I will have to experiment until I find the right server.

If a VPN in China is what you’re mainly looking for, there are other premium providers that have full functionality. The protection of a VPN doesn’t give you a license to commit illegal acts, so please exercise a basic level of caution when using a VPN in China. The common practice is that China fights VPNs by technologically blocking them, and not by chasing after the people who use them.

HideMy.name’s support begins on its website, where a knowledge base includes setup instructions, troubleshooting ideas, and how-to guides for various device configurations. The knowledge base appears impressive at first glance, providing guides on how to use the service across multiple platforms. Unfortunately, the articles are quite short and lack much content.

The setup guides are mostly stripped down to the essentials, providing only a few screenshots to help illustrate their points. FAQs are also pretty basic, containing only a few lines of text. Despite that, the site contains some worthwhile content, and an effective search function that returned relevant results based on my search terms.

Should you not be able to find the information you need in the knowledge base, instant assistance is available via live chat. The support agent quickly responded to my few questions, and provided information that was useful and informative. There is also the option of sending an email. I sent a question regarding the protocol used by the Mac client and I was provided with a detailed response within eight hours.