Hide Me vs Private Internet Access

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.

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.

Accepts tor network, encryption upon itself using another protocol, no server throttling.

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.

Accepts passthrough of even self re-encrypted traffic of any protocol, any provider and tor traffic, this is proof of transparency.

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.

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.

Setting up requires downloading and installing software that asks once for your e-mail.

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.

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.

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.

Including Paypal, credit cards, bank transfer, PaySafeCard, and UKash.

Hide Me specifies that their services are compatible with PC, Mac, and Android gadgets. However, no additional operating systems are mentioned.

You don't need to enter your street or phone number, etc. You just need a valid email address.

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..

For a single year of service the total cost is $39.95, which comes out to $3.33 per month. Making Private Internet Access one of the cheapest providers of VPN services on the net.

If the VPN goes out, the internet will be disconnected so users will be protected from browsing without protection.

All users are able to access P2P networks without having to download a 3rd party client. Private Internet Access uses separate VPN gateways for browsing and P2P access, so both are optimized without interfering with each other.

Including IP cloaking, encryption, firewall, complete anonymous browsing & complete uncensored access to the internet.

Private Internet Access is compatible with MacOS X and iOS, without having to use a third party client. It also works on Windows, Android, Linux & more. In total, Private Internet Access is compatible with almost 40 operating systems.

You can use any and all protocols at your disposal, no traffic is restricted.

Private Internet Access allows for up to 5 devices in use simultaneously.

When you sign up, you will instantly get a user id and a password to use in their provided software (Windows and Macintosh) and they have tutorials and FAQs for Android, iPhone, Linux and other devices such as routers.

They are very eager to answer any questions that you may have.

You can pick where you will appear to be from: the US (multiple), Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Romania, Canada, or Hong Kong.

Payments are accepted through Bitcoin, Ripple, PayPal, Google Play (Mobile), OKPay, CashU, Amazon and any major Gift Card.

Payment plans are by the month, half year and by the year.

Currently $6.95/mo, $35.95/half year, $39.95/year.

Truly anonymous payments can be made by gift cards or Bitcoins.

A $25 Starbucks gift card gives you 100 days.
A $32 Best Buy gift card gives you 129 days.
A $50 Walmart gift card gives you 366 days.

According to Private Internet Access in 2013:

We absolutely do not maintain any VPN logs of any kind. We utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it is not possible to match a user to an external IP.

According to Private Internet Access in 2014:

We absolutely do not log any traffic nor session data of any kind, period. We have worked hard to meticulously fork all daemons that we utilize in order to achieve this functionality.