Snapshot
HideMyAss, part of the Avast family (which are one of the largest security companies in the world!), offer its users incredible speeds from their impressive network of servers for a pretty affordable monthly outgoing. It’s ideal for P2P torrenting or watching geo-restricted content, and their apps are beautifully made and highly user friendly.
Compatible with
Rating
Our score:
4.6
★★★★★ 4.6/5
Pricing
Price from:
$2.99
per month
Pros
- Insanely fast, reliable severs with up to 278Mbps download speeds
- Access to over 1,100+ servers spanning 190+ countries
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer and all other popular streaming sites
- Military grade AES-256 encryption
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting permitted
- Protect 5 devices with one account
- One of the quickest VPNs available
Cons
- Based in the UK
- Limited encryption and security on Apple devices
Introduction
HideMyAss (HMA) is an insanely fast VPN provider ideally set up for users wanting to the very best in speeds for streaming geo-restricted HD/4K content such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other popular services and well as P2P torrenting users thanks to its optimised servers delivering reliable and impressive performance.
With a fantastic network of 1,100+ servers located in 290+ locations covering 190+ countries around the world… it’s hugely impressive! They are strategically spread in popular locations so wherever you live or plan on travelling around globe, you can be sure to get incredible speeds from a nearby server.
With their super user-friendly app turned on, your internet browsing activity will be protected by military grade encryption, and their service runs on the preferred Open VPN protocol meaning you’re getting great protection from prying eyes. As long as their logs policy holds up… you’re in safe hands!
They offer a 30-day money back guarantee and friendly 24/7 customer support, all contributing to making this a pretty good choice as your next VPN provider. They also offer some pretty good deals when signing up to longer terms!
Pricing
Plans can be purchased on a yearly basis (1, 2 or 3) with all currently heavily discounted by HMA. Their 3 year plan represents the best value for money and is currently on special offer with 67% off when purchased through our website. You can also try before you buy with a free 7-day trial on offer, and all plans come with an up to 30-day money back guarantee.
For payment, HMA currently accepts a wide range of options including most major credit and debit cards (including American Express). They also accept PayPal, UnionPay, Skrill Wallet and Neteller.
SAVE 75%
Features
HideMyAss offers a tremendously large network of servers to its users with 1,110+ servers located in 290+ locations covering 190+ countries. Included in this are some of the most exotic and remote locations possible, venturing to places where other providers simply do not go! The major benefit of this… speed isn’t compromised!
Because of its market leading speeds, HMA is a fantastic choice for streaming, allowing users to access all the content they wish without any limitations including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, live sporting events and other popular streaming sources. Geo-restrictions are unblocked with a click of a button! With P2P file sharing allowed on all their servers, this unrivalled speed means their service is also a great choice for torrenting.
Military grade encryption paired with advanced security features such as DNS leak protection and a kill switch will keep users safe online (not available on all devices), and it’s also worth noting that HideMyAss have recently updated their logging policy to become a full zero logs provider which is a welcome addition and matches them against the best VPN services available!
Platforms and devices
HideMyAss lets you protect up to 5 devices with just the one account ensuring all your internet connected devices can be protected. Whether you’re at home, in work, on public wi-fi or travelling abroad, HMA have you covered. Their user-friendly apps can be installed on macOS, Windows and Linux operating systems as well as iOS and Android mobile devices.
They have also recently added support for Smart TV and Android boxes as well as the newly added browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox… something which they had fallen short of offering in the past.
Users can also benefit from configuring their router directly with the HMA VPN, protecting their entire wi-fi network with one simple sweep.
Streaming
With its insanely quick speeds and tremendous server availability, HideMyAss is a brilliant choice when it comes to streaming. With dedicated servers labelled specifically for streaming, users won’t need to spend anytime searching for the right one to connect to, and unlike a lot of other VPN providers, they consistently unblock the likes of US Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other popular sources. It’s perfect for watching geo-restricted HD/4K content!
Torrenting
HideMyAss is an ideal choice for users who want the protection of a VPN with all servers optimised for torrenting coupled with great speeds, all whilst fully concealed from their ISPs eyes. It’s good to know that HMA does come with the all-important VPN kill switch to keep users safe on Windows, macOS and Linux in the event your VPN loses connection.
Speed
HMA delivers uncompromising speeds when using their VPN putting them way up there with the top providers in this category! Their user-friendly apps will automatically suggest the quickest and least congested server based on your location, so they take care of the hard part for you!
During testing from our offices in London, local connection download speeds maxed around 278Mbps. This speed really did surprise us and puts them up there with the very best for speed! When we connected to neighbours France, speed did drop a little to around 215Mbps, but this is still unbelievably quick, and finally, connecting to the US saw speeds fall to about 69Mbs which is still more than sufficient for most user’s needs.
Their low latency means gamers can really benefit using HMA, plus with upload speeds reaching around 120Mbps for us, P2P file sharing and torrenting on this service will be one of the best around.
Security
HMA deploys industry standard AES-256 encryption paired with our preferred Open VPN protocol ensuring all online data and communications are kept fully secure. Advanced features such as DNS leak protection and the must have VPN kill switch are also available, but disappointingly the VPN kill switch is not currently built in to their iOS mobile apps and does not work with MacOS Catalina (the latest release of Apple’s desktop operating system). They also support Point-To-Point Tunnelling (PPTP) and Layer 2 Tunnelling (L2TP) so there’s a fair bit of flexibility with their service.
HideMyAss also announced a major update to their log policy in May 2020 becoming a totally zero logs provider, which is a huge step forward and a big plus for the privacy conscious VPN user.
Applications
The HideMyAss apps are a real pleasure to use from a user point of view. Take away the disappointment of the iOS / MacOS apps missing the pretty important VPN kill switch and they are pretty perfect. Visually they are pretty, and they are super easy to navigate! If you are stepping into the VPN world for the first time, they certainly are a good choice based on app usability alone.
Once inside the app, users are greeted with a nice big quick connect button which offers complete no-frills protection, as well the standard location select listing which shows all the servers in the 190+ countries plus those highlighted for streaming. There’s even a favourites section where users can add to over time which we feel is a really nice addition.
Customer service
HMA has live chat available 24/7 meaning you can receive great customer service and technical support in the unlikely event you should need it any time of day. They also have a support section on their website with some really handy videos, as well an online form users can fill in and receive a timely response back. We tested out their customer service via live chat and over the form submission and received more than acceptable levels of care from both a personal level as well as a knowledge base level.
Log policy
HideMyAss announced in May 2020 that they were switching their log policy to completely zero logs which is great news as far as we are concerned as there is no reason for a VPN to be collecting or storing any user data.
For additional reassurance, HMA have also engaged third-party cyber-security firm VerSprite who will verify the anonymisation of user behavioral data and the disconnection of this data from personal identifiable information (PII) that HMA stores for legal and billing purposes. This ensures that all online user activity remains private, even from HMA.
As a result, HMA will not log any identifiable user activity defined as follows: Original IP addresses (which could be used to identify the user), no DNS query data (which would let them see what sites users visited when browsing and probably helped them identify them, and lastly any online activity (which includes sites logged into, services interacted with, apps running, and streams being watched… basically anything done online!).
Jurisdiction
HMA is located in the UK which clearly isn’t the most sought-after destination for data privacy! The UK is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence network which shares online communications and data between other members. The UK has strict privacy laws and allows law enforcement agencies to issue warrants and force the handover of data should they require this. This however is now less of a concern thanks to HideMyAss becoming a completely zero logs VPN service as even if they received a request for data, they simply do not have anything to share as it isn’t stored in the first place.
The verdict
With its insanely fast speeds aided by its fantastic network of worldwide servers, you’ll be pushed to find anyone better in this regard! It’s an ideal choice for streaming geo-restricted content such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer, torrenting, general internet browsing and keeping you secure on public wi-fi, and is a pretty solid VPN too when it comes to security.
They have also taken strides to improve their service to match their competitors by adding multiple browser extensions as well as now supporting SmartTV and Android boxes which we feel is a fantastic yet necessary improvement. They are now also a fully audited zero logs VPN provider!
As mentioned in the article, the lack of a VPN kill switch built into iOS and MacOS apps is a real dampener for Apple users and disappointing from HMA that they are still not on par with nearly all other market leading VPN providers. However, their apps are very easy to use making them an ideal choice for both beginners and experienced VPN users. Furthermore, the fact they offer a free 7-day trial as well as a 30-day money back guarantee with all their plans, it’s a nice little sweetener for giving them a go!
Melvyn and the team at comparemyvpn.com had a good all round experience with HideMyAss and we can happily recommend their service to our readers!