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HideMyAss is a controversial VPN provider, with a somewhat compromised reputation, a high number of restrictions/limitations and missing tools, but it somehow manages to even things out with some free, useful features and especially with its remarkably diverse distribution of servers. It is not the most affordable VPN provider out there, but it is definitely worth a shot.
HideMyAss is a somewhat controversial VPN provider, with a ‘not so good’ reputation due to its questionable logging policies. HideMyAss allegedly handed over customers’ logs to the authorities several times in the past.
The parent company, Privax, was founded in 2005 in Norfolk, England and was acquired by AVG Technologies in 2015.
Privax is now based in London and AVG in The Netherlands. The fact that HMA is headquartered in England is not exactly good news, because the British have severe Internet privacy laws.
HideMyAss (HMA) has servers in more than 280 countries around the world. This is by far the most diversified spread of servers we’ve seen in any VPN provider, which makes HMA valuable, in spite of its compromised reputation.
HMA has a 30-day money back guarantee, although it is quite hard to actually get a refund from them, due to their strict policies.
In terms of payment methods, HMA accepts payments through credit cards, PayPal, e-check, wire transfer, gift cards, UnionPay and some more. A minor drawback is the fact that they don’t accept coin payments such as Bitcoin and others.
HideMyAss allows you to connect 5 devices at the same time.
HMA works on all devices and operating systems: Macs, PCs, iOS and Android, Linux devices.
You can install the software in several languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian and Deutsch.
HMA supports the following protocols: PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and OpenVPN.
In terms of features, HMA is not as fully packed as other providers. For instance, HMA doesn’t have an ad/tracker blocker or optimized servers for specific online activities: streaming, gaming, etc.
Also, as we already mentioned, the company keeps logs (connection time, user IP address of the server, the amount of data uploaded/downloaded). These records are kept for approximately 2, 3 months.
On the bright side, HMA has a very user-friendly interface, simple and well organized. There is a horizontal menu, with customer support sections: knowledge base, email support, live chat and forums and a vertical menu, where you have the settings: country selection, IP address settings, proxy settings and others.
This VPN also comes with Wi-Fi hotspot protection, which is useful against various types of cyber-attacks, VoIP support that helps you save on long distance calls, a free (kind of basic, but still) web proxy service that is available with all plans, P2P support and BitTorrent and a free anonymous email (available for up to one year).
It also unblocks geo-restricted websites and services such as Hulu or Netflix.
HMA’s biggest strength though remains its geographically diverse distribution of servers. It has over 850 servers in more than 280 locations, in 190 countries worldwide. It covers even areas like Africa, Central and South America.
HMA has 3 plans: a 1 Month plan, 6 Months and 12 Months plan.
The 1 Month plan costs $11.52/month
The 6 Months plan costs $8.33/month
The 12 Months plan costs $6.56/month
HideMyAss managed to obtain good overall results in our speed and performance tests. It scored very well in our latency, download/upload speed tests and proved to be stable throughout the entire period. It didn’t succeed to surpass competitors such as PureVPN, Private Internet Access or ExpressVPN in terms of speed, but it really held its own.
Social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HideMyAssCom
HMA offers 24/7customer support by live chat or via their ticketing system. Their response time is decent and the reps friendly and knowledgeable enough.
In terms of self-help resources, they have an extensive knowledge base, a forum, a lot of guides and helpful articles you can browse through.
Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
By: Matt | Last updated September 15, 2017 
