Black Friday, in yellow
hide.me’s homepage was in full sale mode when I dropped by. A black strip across the top read ‘Get 30 months for $2.33/mo!’ next to a yellow ‘Grab the deal’ button, and the hero was a giant 3D ‘+6 EXTRA MONTHS’ sign wrapped in yellow ribbon and shopping bags. Behind the sale, the layout is tidy: white background, a navy ‘Own Your Privacy’ headline, a short menu (Why hide.me?, VPN Apps, Servers, Pricing, Help, Blog) and a tiny ‘since 2012’ under the logo. There’s also a ‘Get started with hide.me VPN for FREE’ row with app links, which points to the free tier.
Where it’s based and what it promises
The site leans hard on jurisdiction. It says hide.me is based in Malaysia, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, with no data retention law to follow, and that its no-logs policy has been independently audited with the report published. I liked one section in particular, titled ‘What we protect. What we can’t.’, which is more candid than most VPN marketing. Then there’s the price-guaranteed renewal: your plan renews at the same price and length. That’s a rare promise, and frankly worth more than any flashy first-year discount.
The power-user corner
This is where hide.me gets interesting. Multihop routes your traffic through two locations (the example on the page enters in Berlin and exits in Zurich), and there’s split tunneling, SmartGuard, StealthGuard for obfuscation, Dynamic Port Forwarding and a fast proxy called Bolt. WireGuard is the default, IPv6 is supported natively instead of being blocked, and every server is listed at 10 Gbps. The stated network is 2600+ servers in 92+ locations, with 57+ countries mentioned elsewhere on the page.
What it costs
Prices on my visit, in USD: $11.99 for a single month, $3.44/mo for 12 months plus 4 extra (billed $54.99 every 16 months), and $2.33/mo for 24 months plus 6 extra (billed $69.99 every 30 months). Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee and covers up to 10 devices. Sale prices won’t last forever, so check the pricing page before you buy.
Apps, including the unusual ones
Besides the usual Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS apps, the menu lists Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, browser extensions and a group you almost never see from a VPN: GrapheneOS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch, Volla OS and Freifon. Anyone running a privacy-focused phone will appreciate that.
Speed, ads and verdict
The site loaded at a reasonable pace and, unusually, made zero third-party requests on my visit. No ad networks, no analytics trackers. For a VPN company that’s walking the walk, and the only noise is the sale banners. If you want a privacy-first VPN with proper advanced options and honest renewals, hide.me belongs on your shortlist.
