hide.me

A VPN company with a free tier, sold in euros

hide.me is a standalone VPN service; the VPN is the product, with a free proxy, a SOCKS proxy and a set of leak-test tools alongside it. The copyright line on every page names eVenture Ltd., and the about page says the team built hide.me in 2012. The "why hide.me" page says the service is used by "more than 30 million users globally", a figure that is the provider's own. Anyone can download the free plan without an account: the pricing page promises "No credit card required", and the no-logs explainer says free users need no email address and no payment details at all. Paid plans are shown in euros, with the note "All amounts are in EUR. VAT may apply." The site itself is offered in many languages, from Czech and Croatian to Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, which fits a service that sells worldwide, but no page lists countries it serves or refuses. Payment is broad: the pricing FAQ lists credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners Club), PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, SEPA, SOFORT and bank transfer, plus cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, Solana, Tether and USD Coin. The site does not link specific app store listings, though its no-logs explainer mentions that the Android client is distributed through the Google Play Store.

The audit trail, the logging policy and the legal home

hide.me names its auditor. Its announcement post, dated July 4, 2024, says it contracted Securitum, which the post describes as a European security auditing firm founded in 2009, to examine its server configurations and check that the no-logs policy "is being complied with as described in our documentation." The post lists the questions Securitum set out to answer: whether user activity is tracked on VPN servers, whether DNS or similar logs are stored, whether servers monitor or log traffic, whether the services a user or a particular server uses are logged, whether logging is enabled in the VPN configuration files, whether the server a user is connected to is logged, and whether there is a process that raises an automatic alert when someone changes a configuration, for example by switching logging on. The post quotes Securitum's conclusion: "the audit did not reveal any issues on VPN container that could lead to a compromise of user privacy."

A later explainer on the blog adds the dates and the method. It says the Securitum review ran from 19 March to 6 June 2024 and assessed the product as it stood on 15 March 2024, and that the auditors examined an example LXC container, the VPN configuration files, the deployment process and interviews with staff. It is candid that the report "does not claim the auditors independently inspected every live production server", resting instead on the point that all servers are deployed from the same container image. The same blog names an earlier no-logs audit in 2015 by DefenseCode Ltd. It also reports a VPN Trust Initiative accreditation running through 2026 and an "Independent Security Review" badge on the Android app from a mobile app security assessment; that second item is an app security review, not a no-logs audit, and the blog describes it as a point-in-time review of the app's security.

Separately from the audit, the provider states its own policy. It says it does not store browsing history or DNS queries, does not write the user's real IP address to disk after a session ends, and does not log connection timestamps. It says the real IP is held in memory during a live session and that it keeps aggregate connection counts and bandwidth load per server for capacity planning. Paid accounts store an email address and a payment record, with card data held by the payment processor. The about page says hide.me first published a transparency report in 2013 and has now released its data for 2025.

On jurisdiction, the blog says hide.me "is incorporated in Malaysia, specifically in the federal territory of Labuan", and the homepage FAQ says it is based there because Malaysia has "no data retention laws" and is not part of the Fourteen Eyes countries. That reasoning is the provider's. The homepage also calls it a "100% independent provider" run and owned by its team; beyond the eVenture Ltd. name in the footer, the site does not name the people or entities that own it.

Apps, protocols and the network

The app menu is long. There are clients for Windows, macOS and Linux; Android and iPhone or iPad; privacy-minded mobile systems including Volla OS, Ubuntu Touch, LineageOS and GrapheneOS; Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV; extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge; and router guides for GL.iNet, Asus, MikroTik and FRITZ!Box. The "why hide.me" page lists IKEv2, OpenVPN, SoftEther, SSTP and WireGuard as protocols and describes AES-256 bit encryption "with 8192 bit keys". Bolt is the provider's own speed technology, which the homepage says brings its fastest speeds on Windows.

The pricing page lists 92 locations and 2600 servers for Premium. The "why hide.me" page advertises a 99.99% uptime guarantee and "gigabit speeds"; neither comes with a published test. Features include Multihop, which lets the user choose both an entry and an exit server; split tunneling; Stealth Guard, described as app control that can restrict certain apps to the VPN and cut the connection if the VPN drops; SmartGuard, a blocker for ads, trackers, malware and phishing; dynamic port forwarding on paid plans; a fixed IP address on Premium; and native IPv6 over a dual stack, with protection the site says covers DNS, IPv4, IPv6 and WebRTC leaks.

On streaming, the homepage says it has "optimised streaming servers around the globe" and the pricing page lists "Streaming Support" for Premium, but no page names a streaming platform it works with. The menu carries use-case pages for YouTube, instant messengers, Tinder, gaming and travel. For file sharing, the homepage says port forwarding helps connections "for games, P2P, and more"; the site says nothing further about torrenting.

Plans, prices and the free tier

The pricing page shows three featured plans, each with a 30-day money-back guarantee:

• 1 month at 11.99 euros, billed monthly.
• 12 months plus 1 month extra at 4.23 euros per month, billed 54.99 euros every 13 months.
• 24 months plus 2 months extra at 2.69 euros per month, billed 69.99 euros every 26 months.

The page carries a "Pricing Guarantee" that the plan "always renews with the same price and duration", which answers the renewal question directly, in the provider's words. The pricing FAQ adds that 3, 6 and 36 month terms exist, without listing their prices. Premium includes unlimited data and 10 simultaneous connections.

The free plan is listed at 0.00 euros with "Restricted speeds", 8 locations and 1 connection, and the pricing page describes its data as unlimited. The homepage FAQ, however, says free users get one device and "10 GB per month". The two pages disagree on the data allowance, and the site does not reconcile them. The about page says the free plan carries no ads and that the company does not sell user data or throttle connections. Support is described as 24/7, by email at support@hide.me or by live chat.

What stays open, and who it suits

The audit is the strength of this listing, and the provider's own account of it is unusually specific about scope and limits. But it covers a window in 2024 on a sample container, and the blog itself points out that any audit is a point-in-time check; the site does not say when the next one is due. The free plan's data limit is stated two ways on two pages. Prices are shown only in euros, and the 3, 6 and 36 month plans are not priced. The streaming claim names no services, so a reader who wants a particular platform is left to test it during the refund window. Ownership beyond the eVenture Ltd. footer name is not spelled out.

hide.me suits readers who want a named, dated no-logs audit with its method described, a free tier that needs no account or email, the option to pay in Monero or other cryptocurrency, and apps that reach routers, TVs and de-Googled phones. The fixed renewal pricing and the 10-connection Premium plan will appeal to households. Readers who need a published streaming list, or a clear answer on the free plan's data cap before they install, will find the site less definite on those points.