HideMyAss VPN Review: The Not-So-Private VPN (2026)

Only a few VPNs can boast of a history like HideMyAss (HMA) VPN. Started by then-teenager Jack Cator, it now belongs to Gen Digital Inc., which also manages the Norton and Avast cybersecurity suites, including their VPNs that we also tested.

HMA was involved in logging scandals, so we verified its current policies. We also tested its speeds, streaming performance, app usability, and what features it offers.

Although there are palpable improvements since our last review, HMA is far from the top performer. We’ll break down all the good (and bad) — from connections to network speeds and more — in this HideMyAss review.

HideMyAss Overview

HMA was launched in 2005 to bypass school network restrictions, but quickly grew into a VPN with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Although marketed as a no-logs service, it handled IP and timestamp logs to UK authorities in 2011. In 2017, it also gave some logs to the US authorities.

Although we do not justify illegal VPN use, logging is not something that a reliable VPN should ever do. In 2015, HMA was sold to AVG Technologies, which, after a few rebrands puts it under Gen Digital ownership with headquarters in the UK.

Another interesting fact is that HMA’s previous owner was interviewed by Carole Cadwalladr, a journalist essential to exposing the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In other words, this VPN has quite a history, so let’s see how its performance lives up to its colourful reputation.

OVERALL RANK:	#20 Out of 30 VPNs
USABILITY:	Simple and Easy To Use
LOG FILES:	No-Logs Policy (Lacks Recent Audit, Logged in the Past)
LOCATIONS:	100+ Locations, 3,400+ Servers
SUPPORT:	Social Media, Email, Ticketing System
TORRENTING:	Limited
NETFLIX:	Germany and Japan Netflix Support
ENCRYPTION/PROTOCOL:	256-bit AES, ChaCha20; OpenVPN, WireGuard, Mimic
COST:	From $2.99/mo
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:	www.HideMyAss.com

HideMyAss Pros

HMA passed the speed test well, excluding distant Asia servers. Its streaming performance lacked, and the kill switch demands improvement. Let’s dive deeper.

1. Pretty Consistent Server Speeds

HMA’s combined speed tests place them at number 20 out of 30 VPNs on our list.

That doesn’t sound amazing, but there’s not a lot that separates the people at the top. All VPNs that run on WireGuard have improved a lot speed-wise, and HMA is no different.

Here’s how the process works.

We start by getting a baseline reading of our normal internet connection. Then, we connect to various VPN servers around the world and use a reputable third-party tool (SpeedTest.net) to get current performance readings. Here are HMA results.

Baseline

• Download: 251.47Mbps
• Upload: 247.62Mbps
• Ping: 1ms

Nearest Server

• Download: 238.33Mbps
• Upload: 239.33Mbps
• Ping: 12ms

These are good results in reality.  They’re not the fastest compared to top runners. But the US, EU, and UK servers were all pretty consistent, which is a good indicator of overall performance across their other servers.

Unfortunately, that Asia one tanked and dragged them down a bit. However, after implementing WireGuard, HMA is up there with all speedy VPNs. For example, PrivateVPN does not yet have WireGuard as a built-in protocol, and the speed difference is clear.

2. A Good Server Coverage With City-Level Targeting

HMA’s servers reach out across all six inhabited continents.

That’s over 3,400 servers in 100 locations.

They reach remote destinations like Greenland, cover Africa and the Middle East really well, plus a few in smaller Pacific Islands, too. It seems like the only place they don’t have a server is Antarctica.

That’s significant, because many other VPN companies tout huge server lists, only to have them all highly concentrated in North America and Europe — leaving the rest of the world high and dry.

However, data from Netify.ai shows a different picture:

The significant difference is because HMA uses virtual servers that aren’t precisely located in the declared country, but make it appear like they are.

Generally speaking, the more available servers, the better.

Now, it’s not the end-all, be-all metric. Many VPN companies lie about their servers, in fact. They might lease or rent many of these servers from other companies, thereby ‘artificially’ boosting their total number.

But overall, total size is a pretty good indicator of expected performance. It means your chances of finding a less-crowded server are better. As well as one closer to your physical location (which tend to be faster than ones further away).

3. Good Device Compatibility

HMA has pre-built apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. It does not support Linux, however.

The last time we reviewed HMA, each account only allows for two different devices to be used at one time. This has changed now, and as at March, 2026 you can use your HMA account with up to 10 simultaneous devices.

They also offer a business VPN plan for larger numbers of devices (up to 30). But it’s also more expensive, too. Also, HMA no longers supports routers as they aimed towards a simplified app instead of advanced configurations.

You can protect all supported devices with OpenVPN (256-bit encryption) or WireGuard with ChaCha20. It’s not the most extensive protocol list we’ve ever seen, but again, it covers the basics well. Most people should just stick with WireGuard by default, anyway.

4. Easy-To-Use App

The HMA app is really simple to use.

Sign up for an account, grab your install files and authentication code, and you’re good to go. The app is even available in multiple languages, so you’ve got tons of potential options.

Simply login with your access credentials, and you’re a click away from connecting.

You can get connected instantly. Or, switch up your location and adjust settings. That’s about it!

It is evident that Gen Digital decided to make HMA as easy to use as possible, so it’s not packed with features at all. In some cases, it’s beneficial, but HMA maintains pricing that should offer more.

The app also has a built-in kill switch which helps with security. You can also specify which apps don’t work unless connected to a VPN, which is a great feature.

No complexity or technical skills required. One of the more user-friendly apps we’ve tested.

HideMyAss Cons

HMA delivers basic features you’d be looking for to bypass geo-blocks and encrypt your connection. No issues or glaring holes there.

Speed is pretty good. Tons of servers. Available for most devices.

But it’s what’s under the hood that scares us a little bit. Read on to find out.

1. Lacking Protection

VPN connections aren’t always as secure as they appear to be.

The little green icon on your app looks good to go. But your ISP (and everyone else) can actually see where you’re sitting if your VPN is leaking.

We ran HMA through a series of DNS and WebRTC leak tests to specifically look for this problem, and they came out clean in each one.

IP address leak test:

DNS leak test:

WebRTC leak test:

The tests above are all successful, but the kill switch requires improvement. It only blocks connections if the HMA app notices a sudden disconnect from the VPN server. However, when we switched between servers while pinging Cloudflare, it also defaulted to our original ISP connection briefly.

Because an efficient kill switch is a must-have, HMA’s cybersecurity features fall under the cons section.

2. HideMyAss Logging History

HMA was caught twice handing over logs, and its previous owner stated they cooperate with law enforcement regarding user data, on some occasions. Under Gen Digital, it continues to position itself as a no-logs service.

To fix the reputation, HMA also underwent an independent audit by VerSprite. This is a great direction, but on the downside, the last audit is 2020. Considering all of HMA’s history, a half-decade-old audit doesn’t do much to fix its reputation.

When you take a few historical events into consideration, you can see where the warning spots start popping up.

“Recursion” was the online name used by Cody Kretsinger, a hacker involved in the Sony Pictures hack of 2011.

“Was” is the keyword there. Because Cody’s now sitting in jail. For a very long time.

HMA handed his information over to the FBI, which was instrumental in Kretsinger’s conviction.

HMA did their best to justify their actions, but they haven’t managed to live down their reputation.

Of course, we don’t condone using VPNs for illegal activity. But the fact that the VPN provider had information on Kretsinger’s activities and handed it over to law enforcement is worrying for many people.

Especially when you take into account their jurisdiction.

3. Inside Five Eyes Security Alliance

HMA is owned by Gen Digital, a multinational Czech-US cybersecurity company, but HMA headquarters are in the UK.

First off, the UK is among the most aggressive when it comes to spying on their own citizens. But as a card-carrying member of the Five Eyes security alliance, it means they also have the help of other aggressive governments like the U.S.

That’s not good.

You already saw why in the last point. When courts come calling, HMA will hand over your data instantly. In the past, they always had a connection to the user personal data.

Other HMA users have been complaining about having their accounts suspended for violating Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) statutes.

So guess what’s happening?

HMA is likely logging some of your activity. They’re willingly sharing it with UK courts. And then those courts are turning around and sharing it with government agencies across the world.

Using a VPN isn’t about concealing illegal acts. It’s about keeping your private information private.

And the evidence all says that HMA fails significantly here.

4. Spotty Netflix Streaming and Torrenting Discouraged

HideMyAss was a very popular choice for streaming Netflix several years ago. Unfortunately, that’s not the same case today.

We were only able to get German and Japanese Netflix running, while the UK and US remained blocked. However, the German one worked on the first try without buffering.

Their site makes bold claims about unblocking content, but that’s only partially true. For us, it didn’t work on Amazon Prime and HBO, but granted access to Paramount+ and Disney+.

They might not block your torrent client, but users have reported either extra-slow data transfer or outright blocking of torrent servers.

About a decade ago, DMCA warnings didn’t add to anyone’s confidence level, either. If you’re getting a warning or an account suspension for violating copyright restrictions, it’s probably because of HMA’s records of your torrenting activity. And although they changed ownership since then, it remains a stain throughout all of HMA’s history.

5. Awful Support Speed

HideMyAss!’s support team is available on social media and email.

Except, they don’t respond quite as quickly as we like to see here. Many support requests on Twitter are simply referred to the standard channels:

There are some situations in which they’ll ask for a DM with additional information, though:

(Though you’d think the above question would be a rather simple one to answer).

We manually test each customer support department, too. Just to make sure you won’t be left high and dry when you run into an issue.

So we fired off a short support question to HideMyAss!’s team.

It took about a day to simply get a confirmation email.

And since then?

No response…

It wasn’t exactly a hard-hitting question or anything. I just asked about routers and protocols.

Yet, all I’ve been met with since is radio silence.

I even did a few manual inbox searches just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Of course, that was back in the day, but we left the screenshots because nothing has improved.

Firstly, we requested HMA to issue us a refund for its 30-day money-back guarantee.

 

We didn’t receive any response, and no refund. Also, even though we canceled our subscription a day before the renewal date, HMA still tried to charge our card. Customer retention is one thing, but this is simply a scammy practice.

HideMyAss Pricing & Plans

HMA has three individual price tiers and a 7-day free trial. You get the same exact features with each one. The only difference is a slight price break for longer pre-payments.

• $11.99 monthly
• $59.88 every 12 months ($4.99 per month)
• $107.64 every 36 months ($2.99 per month – 75% discount)

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, but we did not get it. An annual commitment for $4.99/month is not the cheapest VPN out there. To summarize, HMA pricing is far from the best in the industry.

Do We Recommend HideMyAss?

No, we don’t. HideMyAss starts out relatively well. Speed and server numbers were respectable.

But in the end, the privacy concerns are just too overwhelming.

We’re sure HideMyAss wants to do the best they can in supporting their customers’ privacy. But combine their past logging activities, infamous court cases, and aggressive jurisdiction are just too much to overlook.

Plus, this affects other activities you might be looking for, like Netflix or Torrenting. Both are of very average performance at the moment, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon.

We’d recommend you look elsewhere for a better well-rounded VPN.