Despite being a premium VPN service with millions of users worldwide. HideMyAss faced a lot of criticisms from the public for logging user’s personal data and sharing it with other members. So, we started there itself in this comparison to make it clear. 📝Note: HideMyAss official website being unresponsive frequently.
Quick Glance of both VPNs
VPN Company Background
VPNs are used to 👽hide your identity & online tracking. Have you ever thought about what will happen if a VPN is based on some surveillance country? The government will force them to leak their user details (loss of your privacy). So, we are looking at their headquarters location first. Herewith NordVPN, you will be a free bird as it doesn’t keep any logs and is strictly based on Panama (a good jurisdiction) not listed under the surveillance groups or any intelligence organization that we knew of. NordVPN company has been there around for more than 2 decades with a good reputation, to enhance their further with independent audits by third-party companies. Whereas the HideMyAss government forces telecom to keep a log of everything, the activities you do on the internet. HideMyAss headquarters story is a mystery that started 15 years ago in England and was owned by AVG in 2016. Moreover, it is stated in the HideMyAss user agreement that any dispute will be shared with the United States (even the company has nothing to do with the USA). 📝Note: UK government is very typical (logging everything) when it comes to privacy. So, the clear winner here is NordVPN🥳
Speed Test
A VPN is used to router your traffic in a secure tunnel, but it should be fast enough (rapid) for a smooth experience. So, we have tested these VPNs side by side with a base internet speed of 500 Mbps. We believe that every VPN should be safe & fast, it’s fact that HideMyAss drops more speed compared to NordVPN. While there are only a few 1100 servers around to quickly connect for the testing but comes with good (10GB) bandwidth to stream content. Whereas NordVPN offers unlimited bandwidth to enjoy streaming or torrenting in your own style. During this speed test, NordVPN maintains 9ms PING but HideMyAss gets 23 ms which isn’t bad either but the speed drop is really bad with more than 70%. Whereas NordVPN drops only 30% at max extent connecting to a server located too far. Though upload speeds are quite similar in both VPNs 📝Note: Keeping the upload speeds aside (as they are mostly equivalent). NordVPN is the winner🥳
Features Overview
Both NordVPN & HideMyAss are good VPNs, let’s see how HideMyAss could compete with NordVPN. HideMyAss offers OpenVPN protocol and there is no mention of other VPN protocols like IPSec/IKEv2 for devices. But this comes with AES 256 bit encryption capable of handling all your online activities. HideMyAss maintains 1100+ servers spread across 290 locations. This is great but one thing to notice is that HMA uses a large number of virtual servers (Servers are located in one place but assign you IP coming from somewhere). We have tested whether any DNS & IP leaks might reveal your identity. But, luckily Both VPNs(NordVPN, HideMyAss) are protected against DNS & IP leaks. Also, there is a kill switch feature on both VPNs to protect your identity when your internet connection is lost. You can also enable the split tunneling feature on both VPNs allowing specific apps to use the VPN connection. HideMyAss specially offers an IPshuffle feature that changes your IP frequently (for a specific duration), this will improve the security level spying on you. Keeping this aside, NordVPN offers a huge set of new features compared to HideMyAss like a set of specialized servers. NordVPN also supports split tunnel on all device platforms you can also find this feature on Surfshark vs NordVPN. Those who want additional privacy “Onion over VPN” support, in this way your traffic will be routed through NordVPN encrypted server and then through Tor network. Tor is the most secure browser available (routing through different servers). Additionally, the CyberSec feature in the NordVPN will block all kinds of ads and trackers (malware) or phishing domains to boost your device security to the next level. Though HideMyAss is offering its own dedicated features all of them are 💪overpowered by NordVPN.
Security & Encryption
NordVPN hits distinction in every test we put it on with flying colors whereas HideMyAss struggles in the security test due to its unreliable kill switch as there are some occasional IP leaks found during our test. But both VPNs offer the same level of encryption which is more comparable.
NordVPN– AES-256 bit coupled with SHA 256 hash authentication using 4096 RSA keyHideMyAss– AES-256 bit coupled with SHA 256 hash authentication using 4096 RSA key
Since they offer the same level of encryption, we consider both are secure.
Audits
All NordVPN audits will be checked by third-party PWC in-depth confirming that they are not storing any logs about users on their standard, obfuscated, double VPN or P2P servers. While their app infrastructure security audits are conducted by VerSprite. HideMyAss has also gone through VerSprite audits to verify their no-log claims, but it commended for no log audits “No one knows the results“. If they are true about their words it’s good but if they are just bluffing and doing everything behind the scene like PIA in ExpressVPN vs PIA.
Servers
NordVPN runs everything on RAM Servers without any hard drives and restarts them every 2 weeks to maintain secrecy. Even when anyone server of the VPN freeze, everything in the server will be wiped (so you are safe all the time). They are still in the process of deploying self-owned servers in all locations (replacing servers rented from data centers). This will give NordVPN full control over the hardware and yet HideMyAss depends on the rental servers (third-party servers). So the clear winner is NordVPN🥳
Device Compatibility & Ease of Use
Both VPNs offer a wide variety of device platforms you can think of. But the Windows interface for the NordVPN is the best service we have seen connecting to a VPN server with a single click-through “Quick Connect” and classify the servers on the left. While NordVPN offers a wide range of protocols available in the market with dedicated apps for each platform. Both VPNs has simple & minimal user interface. It’s a tie🙌
Setup
Both VPNs are quick & easy to set up for their respective versions on any of your devices. NordVPN has dedicated installation guides for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. While there were no issues either after installation or during installations. It’s also simple to install on mobile devices, you can claim their refund taking 30 days money-back guarantee program. Also, the setup wizards are available for other devices (for quick installation) or you can visit their website for tutorials. But for HideMyAss installation, you need to visit the official website and download your device-specific app. So it’s a tie🙌
Streaming
Definitely majority of the people will use VPNs for streaming, millions of people primarily use VPN to watch Netflix geo-blocked content. So, we tried to unblock all the streaming services available with both VPNs. Since it’s very hard to test & list all the streaming services, we did our test on primary streaming services like Netflix. There is no doubt NordVPN is one of the best Netflix VPN. But HideMyAss seems to be struggling to change the Netflix region, so it seems HideMyAss is not a better deal in terms of streaming. Though HideMyAss struggles to unblock streaming services it manages to unblock website content. Even when we tried to unblock BBC iPlayer with HideMyAss VPN it literally fails, to explain in short it’s not a good VPN for Hulu and other streaming services as well. Combining this will the speed it delivers in our testing making me hard to recommend this VPN for streaming media. When it comes to NordVPN it easily unblocks anything and did a great job in unblocking Netflix 15+ regions in my test, here is the sample US Netflix streaming. NordVPN is the clear winner of this round🥳.
Torrenting
Torrenting is another 😘craving feature that users wait for. In fact, HideMyAss shines here with great speed when it comes to torrenting. While NordVPN is rated as the top VPN for torrenting. We are not sure how many servers among 1100+ support torrenting. Since we can’t judge the winner just by server numbers so we ran a simple test in downloading some torrent files on the browser. Well due to slow speeds, HideMyAss downloaded the files a bit slower compared to NordVPN. Also, the leak protection is not as good as NordVPN’s But, this is not the case which we found on NordVPN vs CyberGhost. So, NordVPN will be a winner again😎
Customer Support
It’s as important to serve customers in trouble that they can answer any question you have in mind. NordVPN stands as one of the best customer VPN services in the market whereas HideMyAss offers its support over email or 24/7 live chat support. Huge disrespect that the HideMyAss website is being unresponsive, even customers complaining about it. Also, you can connect the customer care in case of any other queries regarding unblocking, torrenting, setup, etc. Both of the VPN customer care is quick in response (if you don’t find a solution for your issues in guides or tutorials). NordVPN’s live chat is a great feature connecting to humans within seconds, even I found it more convenient describing my issue to a person rather than choosing options provided by a bot. Whenever I contact customer support a representative attended it quickly and provide a solution to my issues (very experts). So, the clear winner is NordVPN🥳
Pricing & refund policies
Both VPNs have different subscription plan options, but you can get some amazing deals if you sign up earlier (for a long-term plan). Here are the hidden discount links reducing the prices further (grab them before they expire). As the refund policies are also interrelated to the subscription. We are going to deal them here itself. NordVPN is cheaper even when compared to a 1-month subscription plan. but it will benefit you more (this won’t bother you much about spendings). Also, they providing 3 months free (for 2 years plan). Thanks to NordVPN they are offering 30 days money-back guarantee program (risk-free) to test their services. If you don’t like the service claim your refund from here. You will find HideMyAss relatively costlier when you opt short term plans. But you will find it cheap on choosing 3 years plan. Also, they do offer 30 days money-back guarantee program so you can cancel the subscription anytime within this duration. It’s a tie🙌
Conclusion
Though HideMyAss is in the VPN market for more than NordVPN, they still have to improve a lot in many perspectives understanding & serving users to beat NordVPN. After this extensive review test, we can clearly say that NordVPN is a better VPN service with impressive features on-device platforms and has been a reliable VPN. I am not saying to completely avoid using HideMyAss VPN, just reminding you about better value for service VPN to fulfill the needs. If you still want to consider some other VPN service providers check out our best VPN services guide. For more comparisons check NordVPN vs Surfshark
