🟡 Trust Rating: Moderate
HideMy.name has been running since 2006 and survived a real fight with Russian censors, but it has never had an independent no-logs audit and its own marketing gives two different jurisdictions for the same company.
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Try HideMy.name →What is HideMy.name?
HideMy.name has operated since 2006, originally under the name InCloak, before rebranding to HideMy.name in 2017 and now running under the short domain hide.mn. All three names refer to the same service and the same company. It's one of the older VPNs still operating, older than NordVPN, Surfshark, or most of the "audited since 2020" crowd.
Critical Privacy Concerns
⚠️ Important Considerations
- Conflicting Jurisdiction Claims - the company says it's "based in Belize and operates under English law," two different legal regimes cited for the same entity
- No Independent Audit - the no-logs claim has never been checked by an outside auditor, unlike NordVPN or Surfshark
- PPTP Still Offered - a legacy protocol with known, publicly documented cryptographic weaknesses; a VPN offering it in 2026 is offering a broken option alongside the good ones
- Small Server Footprint - about 40 countries and 70 cities, concentrated in Europe, smaller than the big-budget competitors
Jurisdiction Analysis
The Company's Own Story
- Registered as hidemy.network Ltd (also referenced as inCloak Network Ltd), which the company says is based in Belize
- The same company materials also say it "operates under English law," despite Belize registration
- Roots trace back to Russia, where the original InCloak/HideMy.name service was blocked in 2018
But Consider
- In 2019, Russian prosecutors withdrew their case against the blocked service, effectively an admission the block didn't hold up
- In November 2023, Russia's Ministry of Justice designated the parent company, Hidemy.network, as a "foreign agent," a formal adversarial label reserved for entities the Russian state treats as opposed to its interests
- Being blocked and formally targeted by an authoritarian government is a real signal, but it doesn't substitute for an independent audit of what the company actually logs
Technical Specifications
Security Features
- Protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP/PPTP (PPTP included despite its known weaknesses)
- Kill Switch: Available
- Chameleon Mode: Obfuscated connections for restrictive networks
- Simultaneous Connections: Up to 5 devices per subscription
Server Network
- 40+ countries, roughly 70 cities
- Concentrated in Europe, thinner coverage elsewhere
Pricing Structure
Standard Plans
- Monthly: $11/month, no commitment
- 6-Month: $5/month
- Annual: $4/month
HideMy.name vs. Privacy-Focused Alternatives
HideMy.name vs. Mullvad
- HideMy.name: Longer track record, no audit, confusing jurisdiction claims
- Mullvad: Anonymous signup, cash payment, independently audited
HideMy.name vs. NordVPN
- HideMy.name: Smaller network, no audit history, older company
- NordVPN: Larger network, has Deloitte/PwC no-logs audits, own 2019 breach history
Performance Analysis
Reliability
✅ Long operational history, still running after 20 years
✅ Chameleon mode works on restrictive networks
❌ Smaller server count means more crowding on popular locations
❌ PPTP option is actively bad practice for a 2026 VPN to still ship
When to Use HideMy.name
Acceptable Use Cases
✅ General privacy from your ISP
✅ Bypassing basic geo-blocks
✅ Public WiFi protection
Not Recommended For
❌ High-threat situations (activists, journalists)
❌ Anyone who needs a verified, audited no-logs claim
❌ Users who want jurisdiction clarity (the company's own story doesn't add up cleanly)
Audits and Transparency
What Exists
- A warrant canary, updated by the company itself
- A stated policy of non-persistent connection logs (username, internal IP), said to be purged within hours
What's Missing
- No independent, third-party no-logs audit of any kind, ever, as of 2026
- A warrant canary is self-reported; it's a weaker signal than a Deloitte or PwC audit
- No public post-mortem explaining the Belize-vs-English-law jurisdiction contradiction
The Bottom Line
Consider HideMy.name if:- You want a long-running service with two decades of operating history
- You're doing basic privacy tasks, not facing serious threats
- Budget pricing on longer plans matters to you
- You need an independently verified no-logs claim
- You want a jurisdiction story that actually makes sense
- You're in a high-risk situation
⚠️ Final Assessment
HideMy.name has survived longer than most VPNs and has a real, documented history of friction with an authoritarian government, which counts for something. But it has never opened its no-logs claim to an outside auditor, still offers the broken PPTP protocol, and its own marketing can't settle on one jurisdiction. Consider Mullvad or IVPN if an audited claim matters to you.
Better Alternatives
For True Privacy
- Mullvad - Anonymous, minimal data, Sweden
- IVPN - Audited, transparent, Gibraltar
For a Bigger Network
- NordVPN - Larger network, real third-party audits