When comparing Hide Me vs Roll your own VPN, the Slant community recommends Hide Me for most people. In the question“What is the best VPN provider? ” Hide Me is ranked 8th while Roll your own VPN is ranked 75th. The most important reason people chose Hide Me is:
Because Hide.me is based in Malaysia, where there are no laws that would require a company to retain their data, the VPN service has chosen to avoid logging any personal data. Actually, no logs of any kind are kept. This saves them from liability and ensures your privacy. Additionally, if the Malaysian government would change laws requiring retention of logs or customer data, Hide.me promises to change countries to be able to protect your privacy.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro No logs are kept, it's completely anonymous
Because Hide.me is based in Malaysia, where there are no laws that would require a company to retain their data, the VPN service has chosen to avoid logging any personal data. Actually, no logs of any kind are kept. This saves them from liability and ensures your privacy.
Additionally, if the Malaysian government would change laws requiring retention of logs or customer data, Hide.me promises to change countries to be able to protect your privacy.
Pro Free plan
The free plan allows for 1 connection that's limited to 3 servers (Canada, Netherlands & Singapore), 2GB of data, 3Mbit/s of bandwidth speed and it doesn't support OpenVPN. There's also the "plus" package that uncaps bandwidth speed, increases data limit to 75GB and adds OpenVPN support. Finally, there's the "premium" package, that uncaps data, allows for 5 simultaneous connections and port forwarding.
Pro Softether support
Accepts tor network, encryption upon itself using another protocol, no server throttling.
Pro Supports multiple devices (premium)
With the Hide.me Premium Plan (9.99 $/mo) you can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously including mobile devices and routers, meaning you can safely browse even on devices without VPN support.
Pro Pass-through of any kind of encrypted or tor traffic
Accepts passthrough of even self re-encrypted traffic of any protocol, any provider and tor traffic, this is proof of transparency.
Pro Fast
Hide.me is among the fastest VPN services available. It does not impose any limits on their services and the speed is mostly determined by your own internet connection speed and chosen exit country.
Pro IPsec over IKEv2
IPsec over IKEv2 is one of the fastest, most reliable VPN protocols and as secure as OpenVPN, but you can choose other options if you prefer. Hide.me supports OpenVPN, Softhether, IPSec (IKEv1 & IKEv2), L2TP/IPSec and PPTP protocols.
Pro Quick setup
Setting up requires downloading and installing software that asks once for your e-mail.
Pro No traffic or protocol restricitions except for US
You can use any and all protocols at your disposal, no traffic is restricted, except for US where P2P and BitTorrent traffic is restricted with a firewall. Additionally, users are encouraged to avoid US/UK locations for their filesharing activities.
Pro Watch IPTV
With Hide.me you can watch popular streaming services such as Netflix, HBO and Hulu even in countries where they are blocked. Hide.me also guarantees that speeds stay fast so you aren't waiting at an endless buffering screen.
Pro Cross-platform
Hide.me software works on OS X, Windows, Android, Windows phone, Windows RT, Ubuntu, and iOS. Not only this but it also works on devices like Xbox, Roku, Routers, etc.
Pro Over 80 international payment methods
Including Paypal, credit cards, bank transfer, PaySafeCard, and UKash.
Pro Supports popular devices
Hide Me specifies that their services are compatible with PC, Mac, and Android gadgets. However, no additional operating systems are mentioned.
Pro Anonymous signup
You don't need to enter your street or phone number, etc. You just need a valid email address.
Pro It supports every device, not just Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS
Hide.me VPN supports all devices and platforms available out there, including Linux and routers. They also have a well-maintained blog which has a how-to section, which gives you a step by step guide to set up Hide.me VPN even on devices like PlayStation, Roku, X-box, etc..
Pro Single IP
Quite often with VPN services you get a shared IP, here you get one all to yourself. This means you are far less likely to be blocked.
Pro Cheap
Depending on your use case, a cheap unmetered VPS can cost very little.
Pro You control everything
"Is there logging?" "Do I get my own IP?" So many questions, easily answered by running your own service!
Cons
Con Guides for DDWRT, OpenWRT, and Pfsense missing details and not working
No stealth VPN to defeat DPI.
Con Mac OS software is leaking IP address
Con Wireguard is only allowed within the app. No Config generater that allows use on routers for Example
There should be config Generator like any other VPN provider to allow use outside the app like openWRT router or pfsense firewall
Con Incompatible with Windows RT
While Hide Me clearly puts forth effort to maintain compatibility across devices, Windows RT is incompatible with this service.
Con One location only
Unless you set up multiple boxes, you have to think about where you are getting your server. The advantage of many VPN services is that you can pick your location to get around geo-blocks.
Con Tougher to set up
OpenVPN in particular is not exactly trivial to set up.
