HideMyAss VPN Review & Comparison
If you know that it’s going to rain today will you put an umbrella into your bag? Certainly, yes. The same is with the internet trip. If you know that there is a risk to get under the rain of hackers’ attacks, malwares and other irksome sniffers, will you take care of your protection? The answer is obvious again. The question is not is it safe to use a vpn because that is a clear yes, the more important question is does a vpn make you anonymous? And the answer is yes.Â
Though HideMyAss VPN Provider cannot save you from being wet in case of heavy shower, it won’t let you be tracked or hacked during your net surfing.
HideMyAss VPN service is a well-known UK based VPN supplier and you can find a range of articles discussing pros and cons of this service. Our Hide My Ass VPN review is based on the results of various tests we put this VPN to. We’ll try to find out how does hide my ass work. So, is is hide my ass good? Read more to find out.Â
On the whole, this top VPN provider is not bad and at least deserves your attention. HideMyAss VPN has a great locations list which guarantees VPN service in different corners of our world. Thus you won’t need to look for alternative virtual protection having a rest somewhere in Europe or a business trip in Asia.
HideMyAss is also good at compatibility and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. What is more, it has a free trial. No leaks as well as easy setup make this provider a good competitor for some best VPN services like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
Still, it does have several perplexing points which you should be aware of before becoming HideMyAss subscriber.
Let’s read the Hide My Ass vpn review.
About VPN
If you are making your first steps into the world of best VPN services, let us help you grasp the key issues of this service.
VPN service has come through a real evolution before becoming popular with common users like us. At first it was aimed only at internet security in business world. Companies needed to keep their data safe from peering eyes of their competitors.
Later, VPN service came to be in great demand among private users, too. One of the main reasons for such deep interest was the adoption of laws, according to which ISPs had to keep users’ data in such countries as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and others.
Since that time VPN has become almost an integral part of online security and privacy. This VPN service hides users’ online activities from hackers, government control and protects from being trapped by various malwares.
back to menu ↑HideMyAss VPN All Features Table
Technical Features |
|
| Protocols: | PPTP, OpenVPN, L2TP |
| PGP Key Available: | No |
| IPv6 Supported: | Yes |
| Kill Switch: | No |
| P2P: | Yes |
| Own DNS Servers: | No |
| Compatibility: | Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, Linux |
Apps and Extensions |
|
| Windows: | Yes |
| Mac OS: | Yes |
| Android: | Yes |
| iOS: | Yes |
| Linux: | Yes |
| Steam: | No |
| Google Chrome: | Yes |
| Mozilla Firefox: | Yes |
| Other Apps: | |
Security and Privacy Features |
|
| Data Encryption (Max), bit: | 256 |
| Data Encryption Type: | RSA RC4 algorithm, OpenSSL with algorithms 3DES, AES-256, RC5 |
| Handshake Encryption (Max), bit: | 2048 |
| Handshake Encryption Type: | DH Key |
| Timestamps Logs: | Yes |
| IP Logs: | Yes |
| DNS Leak: | No |
| SSL, Class: | Class B, Self |
Locations, Connections, Bandwidth |
|
| Number of Countries: | 190 |
| Number of Servers: | 850 |
| Connections / Devices: | 2 |
| Bandwidth Limits: | No |
Support and Customer Care |
|
| Immediate support (chat, toll-free): | Yes |
| 24/7 Support Availability: | Yes |
| Support Languages: | English, German, French, Spanish, Russian , Italian, Turkish, Arabian |
| Knowledgebase, F.A.Q.: | Yes |
| Video Tutorials: | Yes |
Pricing, Freebies, Discounts |
|
| Monthly price (annual plan) | $6.55 |
| Monthly price (1 month plan) | $11.52 |
| Free Trial: | Yes |
| Moneyback (days) | 30 |
| Accepts Bitcoin: | No |
| Anonymous Payment: | No |
| Referral Program: | Yes |
| Discounts and Special Offers: | |
Other Info |
|
| Based in: | United Kingdom |
| Launched in: | 2011 |
| Ratings and Trophies | |
| Our visitors rating: | |
| TrustPilot Rating: | 7.5 out of 10 |
| PCMag Rating: | Good (3.5 out of 5) |
| Bestvpn.com Rating: | 3.0 out of 5 |
HideMyAss VPN Plans and Pricing
Hide My Ass VPN company doesn’t belong to the category of those providers which offer their services for $4 per month – they are after all one of the best and most secure vpn and among the most the most trusted vpn in the world as we’ll see shortly. Still, it has some special discounts for loyal subscribers.
This VPN service offers 3 pricing plans which differ in time period and price. The first package for just one month costs $9.99. Of course it is quite pricey but it only incites you to have a look at other plans with lower prices and longer time periods.
The next plan presupposes 6 months use and $6.66 per month. And the best deal – 6 months use and $4.99 per month.
There is no doubt that every customer would like to get a free trial before making a final decision concerning any VPN provider. Strange as it may seem, but HideMyAss VPN supplier seems to hide this fact. We did not find any information about this on their official website but it didn’t stop us and we went further.
It was hard to believe that a VPN service with such pricing policy doesn’t offer any free trial option. So, our next step was to use Live Chat in order to find out whether HideMyAss offers any free trial or not.
And, ta-dah, we got the answer “YES”! A customer service agent gave us a link, so you can follow it and make use of free trial.
The general time included into free trial covers 7 days. But keep in mind that firstly you have to go through the short registration process.
Besides, you need to enter your credit card details. Here the key point is not to forget to cancel this free trial (if you want, of course) because in 7 days you will automatically get an annual subscription.
Another issue to take into consideration is 30-day money-back guarantee which gives you a full right to change your mind and ask for a refund. As to the payment methods, you can use PayPal, BitCoin, Qiwi or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard etc). We like Bitcoin and Paypal and hate to buy vpn online with credit card because it’s a real hassle to put all those details in plus Paypal is a lot safer.Â
There are also special VPN offers for business and multiple accounts making them one of the good vpn solutions for small business. HideMyAss VPN provides monthly and annual packages for 5, 10 or 20 devices which sufficiently differ in prices.
But if you need some other options you can contact HideMyAss and send its team a request.
back to menu ↑HideMyAss VPN Technical Features and Compatibility
Review further. HideMyAss has a set of technical features which are worth your attention. There is a Nat Firewall option due to which this top VPN service can take care of users’ privacy and security. The point is that Nat Firewall is able to modify network address information and in such a way to masque users’ IPs.
Thus, HideMyAss VPN company has a dynamic and shared IP type. It means that the IP address can change from time-to-time and you can use different IP addresses for your online activities. On the whole, this VPN provider offers more than 110,000 IP addresses thus making them one of the best vpn to hide ip address.
This VPN provider provides three most popular protocols – PPTP, L2TP and Open VPN (though only OpenVPN is available in the 3rd version). There are also two different data and handshake encryptions. There is a weaker MPPE-128 data and RSA-RC4 handshake encryption. As to the stronger ones, HideMyAss provides AES-256 data and RSA-1024.
Unfortunately, there is no PGP key as well as Kill Switch. What is more, HideMyAss VPN service provider doesn’t support IPv6 and doesn’t provide its own DNS servers. Besides, if you are a regular user of torrents HideMyAss won’t suit you as it doesn’t offer an option of P2P.
HideMyAss VPN has 4 external trackers and IP address detection. Timestamps are also available. This provider leads a no log policy.
HideMyAss VPN supplier is compatible with the most popular devices and their platforms. It supports Windows (Windows XP, 7, Vista, etc), Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android (and they can easily be included in the top 10 vpn apps for android).
The list of devices compatible with HideMyAss is also impressive – iPhone, iPad, Android, Nokia, Blackberry, Boxee, Xbox 360, Apple TV, iTouch DDWRT Router and others. Nevertheless, this VPN service allows no more than two simultaneous connections.
back to menu ↑HideMyAss VPN Security & Privacy Features
As we have mentioned above – HideMyAss has a range of protocols you can choose from – PPTP, L2TP, and Open VPN. Still, OpenVPN is considered to be the best option as it combines a nice speed and a good security level.
Nat Firewall and 110,000+ IP addresses make this top VPN provider almost impossible to track. However, having no Kill Switch HideMyAss cannot guarantee security as well as privacy in case of unpredicted connection drop.
HideMyAss offers a reliable AES-256 data encryption and a hefty RSA-1024 handshake encryption. But keep in mind that if you use PPTP protocol you will be allotted only 126-bit encryption which is not as powerful as AES-256.
Note that HideMyAss VPN provider doesn’t own DNS servers. IPv6 leak protection isn’t provided as well.
Although this VPN service states that it leads no log policy, it’s a UK-based VPN which means HMA is a subject to UK laws (and they are quite strict).
As to the privacy policy itself, HideMyAss VPN supplier notifies about collecting users’ names, usernames, email addresses, passwords (encrypted) and IP addresses during the registration policy.
At the same time, HideMyAss explains why it needs these data:
- We may collect your name to personalize the services we offer to you, and collect your username and password in order to provide you with access to the web based control panel and to our downloadable VPN software.
- We collect your email address in case you forget your password or wish to receive email newsletters. Your IP address is logged by us so that we can prevent any spam, fraud or abuse of our Site and our services.
- In general, we use the data we collect to provide our services to you, prevention of fraud and abuse. From time to time we may email you news, updates and sales offers which you can easily opt out of receiving by clicking the “unsubscribe” in the relevant email.
HideMyAss VPN service provider stores all this information as long as you are their subscriber and up to two years after that. They may also keep these data for an expended period of time in case of certain legal obligations, dispute resolves or agreement enforcements.
In a nutshell, we recommend you to get acquainted with the full version of HideMyAss Privacy Policy as well as Logging Policy before becoming its subscriber. Of course, it’s a boring and time-consuming process but you should do that in order to make sure that this top rated vpn for mac corresponds to all your requirements.
back to menu ↑Setup Process
Desktop VPN client
Installation process is quite typical and won’t surprise you with anything unusual.
The general look of app is simple and nice.
What is more, there is no need to disconnect in order to choose a new server. In fact, this little detail saves time and nerves.
You can also easily change the IP address within the city or country you are in. The whole process is quite convenient.
Mobile VPN client
Mobile app of HideMyAss VPN service is as convenient as its desktop version.
You can choose a necessary server either from the standard server list or from the list of your favorites.
As to the settings, there are almost no options to change or to choose from.
What we really like about this mobile app is its Be Smart option. Thanks to it you can select the most suitable connection based on your personal needs.
HideMyAss VPN Locations (Countries and Servers)
To tell you the truth, we are in raptures over the number of servers (and countries) HMA has available. There are not so many VPN services which can offer you 330 locations in almost 200 countries and a high number of VPN servers including up to 880 items with 113,990 IP addresses. When it comes to the number of locations, HMA is the best vpn in the world.Â
The locations map covers all parts of the world:
– US
– Canada
– EuropeÂ
(UK, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey etc)
– AsiaÂ
(Armenia, Cambodia, China, India, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka etc)
– OceaniaÂ
(Australia, Christmas Island, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Samoa etc)
– Central America
(Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama etc)
– South AmericaÂ
(Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru etc)
– AfricaÂ
(Angola, Benin, Algeria, Chad, Congo, Nigeria, Mali, Togo, Sudan, Zimbabwe etc).
Note that HideMyAss is one of those VPN providers which offer its servers in such countries as Saudi Arabia, Philippines and Indonesia often being one of the best vpn solutions for small business in those areas.
back to menu ↑HideMyAss VPN Speed and Performance
In fact, HideMyAss VPN company showed rather positive results of its speed test. As to the desktop version, the best download as well as upload speed was in the UK (30,4 mps and 39,5 mps). Servers in Germany had also good uploading speed (30,69 mps). US servers were also OK (download – 9,37 mps and upload – 11,94 mps). We were expecting a bit more here since they are the vpn with most us servers.Â
Servers in Australia were quite slow for downloading (5,06 mps) but uploading speed was almost the same as on the US servers.
Hong Kong servers, on the contrary, were a real trouble. Three speed tests out of five just failed. The other two tests showed the average download speed of 21,55 mps what means that potentially this server can have a nice performance but it fails to show it.
Also, we didn’t have any IP or DNS leaks.
Speaking of the speed on the mobile app, the results here are somewhat different. UK servers showed slower speed than that one on the desktop version. Download speed reached only 18,84 mps and upload speed – 28,83 mps.
US servers on the contrary had better speed results – 20,11 mps during downloading and 22,82 mps during uploading. Servers in Germany had improved performance as well (download – 29,03 mps and upload – 28,24 mps).
Unfortunately, Australian servers were slow at both processes of downloading (1,21 mps) and uploading (0,93 mps) (but, to be fair, we are far from Australia). As to Hong Kong servers, there wasn’t any internet disconnection as on the desktop app, but the average speed was poor as well (download – 0,93 mps and upload – 5,88 mps).
As well as desktop version, Hide My Ass VPN mobile app didn’t show any leaks.
HideMyAss VPN Support
As we know sometimes there may be certain difficulties in using the service and we need a qualified consultation and professional recommendations. The provider we are talking about copes with such task by means of various support options.
You can either look for you solution surfing Forum notes or visiting social networks like Facebook or Twitter. You can also write an email or use ticketing system.
But if the problem is urgent then you’d rather contact a customer service agent via Live Chat. You will get a quick answer and there is a great chance that it will be exactly the one you wanted to get.
To tell the truth, there is a wide range of options and it’s up to you which one to choose, taking into account the type of the problem or misunderstanding which has occurred.
back to menu ↑Pros and Cons
HideMyAss VPN service is full of pluses and at the same time has several sufficient minuses which may cause certain doubts in making a final decision.
The pricing policy is somewhat controversial. On the one hand, its monthly plan is really expensive. On the other hand, the annual subscription has rather reasonable price – $4.99.
Such bonuses as 7-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee add more pluses to the general characteristics of this VPN service. However, we haven’t found the reason why there is no information about a free trial option on HideMyAss website.
HideMyAss won’t offer you the heftiest security and privacy level. This VPN provider has no Kill Switch and IPv6 leak protection. Still, our tests didn’t find any DNS or data leaks. Besides, there is no PGP key or P2P option.
Nevertheless, there are some features this service can be proud of – this is NAT Firewall, AES 256-bit data encryption and the set of the most popular protocols. There are also more than 110,000 IP addresses – this alone puts them in the top vpn in the world and one of the best vpn service for Netflix as you can watch us Netflix in UK using it.
This service has a good compatibility and great server coverage – 850+ servers in 190+ countries. By the by, there are servers even in such countries as Indonesia, Arabia and Philippines. The only minus here is the absence of HideMyAss server in UAE.
The speed tests are not bad. On whole the results are good and the only big minus is Hong Kong server. It definitely requires additional improvements.
Customer support is rich in options. Thus you can make use of Live Chat, forum, knowledge base or FAQ, social networks, email and ticketing service.
back to menu ↑VPN Review Summary
To sum up the VPN review, HideMyAss can be a good option of a VPN service if it corresponds to all your needs and requirements. Therefore we highly recommend you to check its Privacy and Logging Policy and see whether there aren’t any issues which are not suitable for you.
If you are looking for security and anonymity as requirement number one, then you’d better find other providers with more powerful privacy system.
What we really appreciate about this top VPN service is its amazing server coverage and high compatibility. HideMyAss is one of the best vpn on the market plus, as stated above, probably the best vpn for US Netflix.
HMA is what my brother has been using for the last year or so and he recommended it to me. I know next to nothing about internet security and he is a systems administer and recommends them. So yeah, I am going to take his word for it, specially after reading this review!
I am a little disappointed that I am not seeing more options that are compatible with Steam. This one has a lot of nice extensions and add-ons, but no Steam. I guess I will just have to keep looking!
LOL This name is HILARIOUS! I am going with them just for that. But in all seriousness, they sound good. I read some other reviews and HideMyAss not only gets the job done easily but you can tell the company has a sense of humor and that is something I like to see.
Short, sweet and to the point if you ask me 🙂 I have read many things about this VPN and they are all good. Even though the name seems sort of amateur, the services that are provided are second to none!
HydeMyAss VPN is one of the best VPN supplier I have worked with. Their speed is very good in most cases, they have plenty of locations and servers which means more anonymity and security. The 7 day trial makes it easy to test them out and see how they fare and their prices are among the lowest ones in the industry.
Been with HMA for a long time and I’m very happy with their service. I don’t know if they are the best VPN company out there because I haven’t tried others but I think HMA is surely very good. I had no major problems ever since I become a member and when there were little hiccups, I just asked for help and their support staff quickly fixed everything. If you try them for 7 days, you’ll probably like them as much as I do.
I really just want to know about the speed of the network. I will pay whatever it takes to ensure the speed on my end does not go down at all.
Thank you for your full review of this product. I would like to know what other VPN’s are being used on a regular basis. There has to be a comparison chart somewhere that will tell me the popularity of these types of services all over the world, right?
Not only does this VPN have a great name, the features are outstanding. I really cannot believe the popularity of VPN services these days. It is not hard to hide on the internet. But I guess if you are lazy and just want to pay, HideMyAss is a great investment.
Is hide my ass good? Also, is this a vpn that works with Netflix? I’m from the UK and would like to watch US Netflix in UK if possible.
We think they are good, yes. They work in the UK and you will be able to see Netflix from there.
I for one am a big fan of HideMyAss. Been with them for some time now and while they’ve had some down I mostly experienced ups so I’m happy. I would include them among the top 5 vpn for windows and (probably) the most powerful vpn for android out there.
I agree that HMA is most likely the fastest vpn app for android and I also like that you can use it on five devices at the same time. Not every vpn has this option.
I really like HMA. It’s very easy to set up even for complete beginners as they will help you learn how does a vpn work for dummies and I do mean for dummies. They make it super easy to understand.
I heard of express vpn not working with Netflix and also strong vpn not working with Netflix but hidemyass seems to be working.
Yeah, just like Manuel said, right now Hide My Ass works for Netflix. I would actually say that at this moment, HMA is the best vpn for US Netflix.
There were some issues in the past and even this year with hide my ass not connecting to Netflix but they released something called the Liberty Island Server that makes things easy. You can now connect to Netflix without any worries. Is it the best vpn service for Netflix? Not sure, but it’s pretty good.
Up until Liberty Island there were some serious issues with Neflix connection. Back then I wouldn’t have recommended HMA to people wanting to watch US Netflix in UK, China or any other country.
How is hide my ass better than a web browser with built in vpn? Should I pay for a vpn or is it not worth getting a vpn? Does a vpn hide your internet activity so that no one can see it or is that just a myth?
A GOOD VPN will hide your internet activity but make sure you get a GOOD company and not the cheapest option you find. And yes, a paid VPN is definitely (1000 times) better than a web browser with a built in vpn.
A browser like Opera offers the possibility of vpn but how safe is opera vpn? Not as much as you’d think. I wouldn’t count on Opera for important things.
Does a vpn hide your activity? Yes, the better vpns out there do this. HMA is among the best 10 vpn in the world.
Plus, HMA or any other vpn service is pretty cheap and the features of vpn virtual private network are so many that it’s a no brainer not to get one.
Thank you for the answers. I’m now going to get an account with Hide my ass. I don’t want others to snoop in on my online activity. Considering how much does a vpn cost (especially when you get the 1 year option which is the cheapest usually) it makes no sense not to get an account.
A browser with built in vpn is ok for regular browsing the internet but once you want to use things like Netflix or make sure no one is going to steal your data or you want to make an online payment, then a vpn is very needed.
Does using a vpn use more data?
HMA is a good option as they are in the top 5 vpn for pc and one of the top rated vpn for mac so no matter what you are using, you are in good hands.
Sometimes that isn’t the case but from what I saw, the more data is used the safer you are online. The top ten vpn in the world with HMA being among them will use more data as they need it for the special encryption they use.
So, what you are saying is that I shouldn’t be looking for vpn services that use less or no data at all as those are not as good, right? I want the very best vpn for privacy and speed and if that means more data usage then so be it.
Is vpn safe for iphone? If yes, which is the best vpn for iphone?
Yes and HMA. HideMyAss is the best vpn to hide ip address on your iPhone imho.
Do you happen to know how to setup vpn on iphone 6?
They will let you know how to get vpn to work on iphone (any model) so don’t worry. They’ll show you everything you need from how to connect to vpn on android, PC, mac, iPhone etc.
I don’t know about other countries but HMA is the best vpn to use in Australia. Tested it for the past 3 months and there wasn’t any site that I couldn’t see plus Netflix works fine for US movies and TV series.
Great to hear that HMA works so well in Australia.
A few months ago I was looking for a cheap vpn solution for small business and then someone recommended HMA. Got the account and never looked back ever since.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Was HMA all that you thought it could be?
Anyone not using a vpn nowadays is just crazy. HMA is one of the easiest vpn to set up and it offer privacy and security which equals peace of mind for me.
Agreed. We should all be using a VPN, which one depends on our personal preferences.