HideMyAss VPN Review: Worth It in 2023 or Not?

With a name like this, there’s no doubt what HideMyAss VPN is all about. The name is not only memorable but also well-known because HMA is among the oldest VPN providers in the industry. This becomes evident when your read our review of StrongVPN or when you remember that HMA offered free web proxies when using a VPN wasn’t so prevalent. Although those still have their use nowadays, it’s mostly for a one-off website or service unblocking. In other words, they’re inferior to getting a free VPN or buying a VPN. With that advice out of the way, let’s get into our HideMyAss VPN review.

HideMyAss VPN Features

To begin our review of HideMyAss, let’s mention some features of HideMyAss VPN that make it appealing to users:

Headquarters

HideMyAss was founded back in 2005, which makes it one of the longest-running privacy-oriented companies. HMA VPN is based in London, Belgrade, and Prague. All 3 cities are in countries with data retention, and members of the 5, 9, and 14-Eyes Alliance, which is far from ideal.

Server Base

HideMyAss VPN has the largest server network in the world – more than 1070 servers across more than 210 countries and 290 different locations. Among that number, 165 servers are optimized for streaming.

Zero-log Policy

The VPN provider offers a no-log policy, which means they store no logs of your activity online nor connections history. An independent security firm, VerSprite, audited their claims and confirmed their validity.

Speed

Onto the meat of our HideMyAss VPN review, HMA VPN prides itself on offering high-quality VPN servers in their data centers that operate at 20 Gbps. The remainder of VPN servers usually has a throughput close to 10 Gbps. To see this in practice, we began the test from a country in Europe. When we connected to a server in the UK, download speed went down by 4% and the latency increased by 3 ms.

Connecting to a US server increased latency 5 times, but the speed reduction didn’t cross the 10% threshold. A connection with a Japanese VPN server saw a reduction in the download speed of close to 75%, which isn’t terrible based on the distance. The latency worried us, however, since it increased seventeenfold.

This is the speed test results in 2022 for HideMyAss VPN. The updated table is further down in the article –

Server Location	Download Speed (Mbps)	Upload Speed (Mbps)	Ping (ms)
New York	75.62	22.18	28
London	58.91	19.76	54
Tokyo	42.87	15.32	112
Los Angeles	81.24	25.76	38
Paris	64.35	18.49	43
Sydney	38.72	12.98	135

Does HideMyAss VPN have IP/DNS leaks?

No. We used a few different VPN test sites to check a VPN and found no IPv4, IPv6, or DNS leaks.

Bandwidth and Data Usage

The VPN provider doesn’t limit your data usage nor data speed.

Encryption

HideMyAss VPN offers a 256-bit AES encryption protocol across all the devices they support.

Unblocking Streaming Services

HideMyAss VPN bypassed a VPN block on the following streaming services:

• Netflix
• BBC iPlayer
• Amazon Prime Video
• TenPlay
• NBC
• Hulu
• Now TV
• Fox Sports
• BT Sport
• DAZN Germany

Security protocols

HideMyAss VPN supports OpenVPN (TCP/UDP) and IKEv2/IPsec.

Concurrent Connections

The base HideMyAss VPN plan supports up to 5 simultaneous connections. If you buy a Family Plan, you get the same features, but the limit increases to 10 VPN connections. Purchasing an HMA VPN for your business expands this limitation to 20 or 30 connections at the same time.

Does HideMyAssVPN work in China?

Yes, but not with 100% success. We had no trouble accessing Chinese content when connecting to the HideMyAss VPN server in China. People who live and work in China report mixed results. For one, HideMyAss VPN URL is blocked by the government. Also, the Chinese government is putting tremendous effort into banning VPN server IP addresses. So, HMA VPN works in China, but you’ll have to experiment by changing a VPN server a few times.

Additional Features of HideMyAss VPN

The following is a list of some extra features of HideMyAss VPN:

P2P Support

HideMyAss VPN offers P2P-optimized servers that mask your IP while having a minimum impact on your speed.

Proxy and VPN Proxy

The primary service is a free Web-based proxy with 3 locations. The secondary includes VPN proxy-based SOCKS5 servers, allowing you to connect using a client such as Shadowsocks.

IP Shuffle

This feature changes your IP address while maintaining the same location at random intervals (once in 10 minutes to once per day).

IP Refresh

IP Refresh allows you to get a new IP address from the same location with one click. Otherwise, you’ll have to disconnect, then reconnect to switch servers manually.

DNS Servers

HideMyAss VPN utilizes its own DNS servers. This eliminates third-party involvement and ensures no data is collected.

Smart Kill Switch

The VPN app will automatically launch a separate tunnel for every app your open on Windows, Mac, or Android. If your connection to the VPN server drops, HMA VPN will instantly kill Internet traffic to prevent IP/DNS leaks.

Fully Encrypted Servers

One of the features we appreciate about HMA is undoubtedly the presence of encrypted servers. Even though the vendor employs an optimum no-logs policy, the addition of encrypted servers simply adds more security to your data. Even if the servers come under attack, your data will remain safe as everything on the server will be scrambled.

DDoS Protection

The provider has also taken advanced security measures for its servers. Even under duress, such as a DDoS attack, the data on these servers will remain intact, and your VPN connection will be stable. Hence, HMA is a great choice for those working with sensitive data.

Optimized Servers

Lastly, HMA offers custom servers for specific web traffic. These servers generally support one type of traffic much better than others, as they are optimized to do so. HMA servers can support P2P traffic, streaming, and gaming and have exclusive servers for such activities.

Split-Tunneling

An industry-standard feature that allows you to select which applications use HideMyAss VPN, and which will be taken out of the VPN tunnel.

24/7 Customer Support

HideMyAss VPN Customer Care representatives are available 24/7. Submit a ticket or open Live Chat on the website or call their phone line.

HideMyAss VPN Installation and User Interface

This is a likely section of the HideMyAss VPN review most people are looking for. The interface of HMA VPN is among the most user-friendly in existence, largely thanks to the Lightning Connect feature. By this, we mean that it will automatically find the fastest possible server and connect you to it. The choice can be narrowed down if you select a specific location beforehand. Best of all, the app allows you to add your favorite servers to the menu for quick access.

Additionally, HideMyAss VPN apps for Windows and Mac also come with a built-in Speed Test tool that ranks VPN servers by speed and latency.

What is HideMyAss VPN Compatible with?

HideMyAss VPN works on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Smart TV, Xbox, PlayStation, and even routers. The VPN provider also offers VPN browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

HideMyAss Speed Test Results 2023

Server Location	Download Speed (Mbps)	Upload Speed (Mbps)	Ping (ms)
New York, USA	75.42	42.18	28
London, UK	82.76	39.85	34
Tokyo, Japan	68.23	35.91	145
Sydney, Australia	71.58	37.24	179
Frankfurt, Germany	79.31	41.52	41
Toronto, Canada	76.12	40.67	52
Singapore	69.75	36.82	158
Sao Paulo, Brazil	72.89	38.51	148
Johannesburg, South Africa	74.03	39.16	175
Mumbai, India	70.48	37.79	161

HideMyAss VPN Pricing

The following is the price of HideMyAss VPN’s base plan:

• 1-month plan (only exists in Europe) – 10.99€/month or close to $13.4/month
• 1-year plan – $4.99/month with a discount ($11.99/month regularly)
• 3-year plan – $2.99/month with a discount ($10.99/month regularly)

Family Plan

This is the regular price of HMA VPN’s Family Plan:

• 1-year plan – $7.99 per month ($12.90/month regularly)
• 2-year plan – $6.99 per month ($12.99/month regularly)
• 3-year -$5.99 per month ($12.99/month regularly)

How does HideMyAss VPN compare?

We’ll compare the base plan as many other VPN providers offer 10 (see our IPVanish review, for example) or even unlimited concurrent connections, as seen in Windscribe review, for cheaper. With that said, HideMyAss VPN is on the higher-end in terms of prices. It’s not as expensive as Hotspot Shield, Hide.me, or ExpressVPN, but other, better-rated VPN providers such as CyberGhost VPN or StrongVPN, are between $1 and $4 cheaper per month.

Does HideMyAss VPN have a free trial?

Yes. It was also highly ranked in our list of the best VPNs that offer a free trial. They allow you to try it out for 7 days with no strings attached. On top of that, the VPN service offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is an industry-standard at this point.

Conclusion

To summarize our HideMyAss VPN review, the VPN provider is a perfect choice for first-time users, because the apps are extremely easy to use. The VPN service also offers a 7-day free trial where others offer 1 or 3 days in the best-case scenario, and often no free trial whatsoever. As for the downsides, the main is the price. If it went down, even by a dollar or two monthly, it would make HMA VPN’s value-for-money skyrocket. We’d also love if they got on board with paying with cryptocurrency – support for Bitcoin, at the very least. Some of their features also need to have their compatibility expanded, for sure.