HideMyAss: Fast, Easy, and Massive Global Coverage—but Weak for Streaming

HMA VPN’s streaming performance is subpar, only unblocking BBC iPlayer and Disney+.

While this isn’t awful, HMA can’t compete with the top streaming VPNs. For example, NordVPN reliably unblocks US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Disney+, and more, without buffering.

Another drawback for streaming is HMA’s limited compatibility with TV-connected devices. There’s no app for Fire TV and no Smart DNS for Apple TV or game consoles.

However, there is an Android TV app, and you can install HMA on certain routers—though the setup can be complicated.

HMA Consistently Unblocks BBC iPlayer

We were able to unblock BBC iPlayer using HMA’s dedicated UK streaming server, “Donkey Town.” It appears in the default server list with a play icon next to its name.

Using HMA, we streamed on-demand and live BBC iPlayer content in HD without buffering or drops in video quality.

We’re impressed by HMA’s consistency, but we’d like to see more dedicated UK streaming servers to reduce demand on Donkey Town. This would help prevent congestion and minimize downtime issues.

No Longer Works with Netflix

Despite past success, HMA hasn’t worked with US Netflix for over a year of testing. We tried all of HMA’s dedicated streaming servers across multiple devices, but none could unblock US Netflix. As a result, we reduced HMA’s streaming rating to 0.8 to reflect its decline in performance.

Although HMA has dedicated streaming servers for the UK and Germany, we couldn’t unblock those Netflix regions either. In fact, HMA VPN doesn’t work with Netflix in any location.

If streaming Netflix is a priority, we recommend a top Netflix VPN like ExpressVPN, which consistently unblocks 18 different libraries.

HMA Struggles to Unblock Disney+

HMA can unblock Disney+, but it often takes several attempts. In our latest tests, we had to switch between multiple HMA servers before finding one that worked.

For greater consistency, we recommend one of our top Disney+ VPNs. Surfshark performed best in our testing, unblocking Disney+ on every server in its network.

HMA Doesn’t Work with Hulu or HBO Max

HMA VPN can’t bypass geo-blocks on Hulu or HBO Max. This has been true for more than three years of our testing.

Using a VPN with HBO Max and Hulu is popular among VPN users. We tested NordVPN with both platforms, and it worked flawlessly.

Uses Secure VPN Protocols & Encryption

HMA VPN encrypts internet traffic with AES-256. This cipher is virtually unbreakable and is used across all HMA apps to keep your personal data secure.

The HMA Windows app supports WireGuard, OpenVPN, and Mimic. WireGuard and OpenVPN are trustworthy, open-source VPN protocols that securely tunnel your traffic.

Mimic is a proprietary protocol developed by Avast RSO. It is closed source, and our Avast review found it too experimental to recommend. We suggest using OpenVPN or WireGuard instead.

Currently, HMA’s Android app only supports OpenVPN. While OpenVPN is secure, we’d like to see WireGuard added in a future update.

Both the iOS and Mac apps use the IKEv2/IPSec protocol. IPSec is older and is generally considered less secure and more vulnerable than OpenVPN and fully patched WireGuard implementations.

We’d like HMA to implement WireGuard and OpenVPN across all apps to strengthen the service’s overall security.

Using Wireshark, a packet-sniffing tool, we tested whether the VPN’s traffic is truly encrypted. We can confirm that HMA securely encrypted our data transfers.

HMA’s Kill Switch Prevents IP Leaks

A VPN kill switch is available on the Windows, Android, and Mac clients. It prevents data leaks if your VPN connection drops. The Windows client also offers an application-level kill switch that lets you select specific apps to disconnect from the internet.

Application-level kill switches are rare among VPNs, and even top-rated services like ExpressVPN do not provide one.

We tested HMA’s Windows kill switch using our in-house tool:

HMA’s kill switch is not available on iOS. This is disappointing and could put your data at risk. We’d like HMA to address this in the future.

HMA VPN Leak Test Results

We ran HideMyAss through a series of leak tests and found it leaked our IP address on iOS (due to a dropped VPN connection).

HMA’s other apps did not suffer IP or DNS leaks, thanks in part to built-in IPv4 and IPv6 leak protection.

HideMyAss also owns and operates its own private DNS servers, which helps keep your browsing activity hidden from third parties.

The screenshot below shows how the HMA app masked our real IP address, WebRTC, and DNS requests on Windows:

To install and start using HMA, create an account on the HMA website and choose a pricing plan. Then download the app on your device and log in.

For us, the entire process took about 10 minutes, and we didn’t encounter any issues.

On desktop, the HMA app launches a second installer after the initial download. It’s quick and only happens the first time you open the Windows or Mac app.

HMA hasn’t updated its app design since 2019. Despite that, the apps remain easy to use, with a streamlined, intuitive interface.

Below is an in-depth overview of our experience using HMA on every major operating system:

Desktop & Laptop (Windows & Mac)

HMA’s Windows and Mac apps use the same user-friendly interface but differ in their available features.

Upon launching HMA for the first time, you get a quick tutorial that explains how the app works and what each feature does. This is especially helpful for VPN beginners.

You can expand the side panel at any time to read clear explanations of HMA’s advanced settings.

Starting a VPN connection is as simple as toggling the central button to ON. You don’t need to dig into the settings or server list.

Once connected, you can click the shuffle button next to your VPN IP address to quickly get a new one. We like this feature, but we wish the protocol-switching option was located nearby. It’s inconvenient to open a separate window for this.

HMA’s desktop apps make it easy to browse all 195 server locations. Servers are grouped by continent, P2P-optimized, and streaming, and there’s a search bar to find a specific location.

However, we don’t like that the settings open in a separate window that blocks the home screen. It’s not obvious that you need to close this window to return to the main app.

In the settings, the VPN protocol option appears under Advanced rather than Connection. This feels unintuitive and may confuse both beginners and experts.

We also don’t like that you can’t resize the Windows or Mac app. This makes it harder to use alongside another window, like a torrent client.

Mobile (iPhone & Android)

HMA’s mobile apps are easy to use with a clean, uncluttered interface. You can connect to a server by tapping the connect button on the home screen.

Both apps support Lightning Connect (Optimal Location on iOS) if you want to connect quickly without choosing a location.

The iOS app is the least capable of HMA’s apps, offering very few options.

In fact, Connection Rules is the only setting, limited to basic toggles for cellular data and trusted Wi-Fi networks.

There’s no kill switch, protocol selection, or split tunneling.

The Android app offers far more control than iOS. Features include IP Shuffle (from desktop), a kill switch, TCP-only mode, and split tunneling.

You can access these options quickly using the tabs at the bottom of the home screen.

We’re disappointed that HMA hasn’t added any mobile-specific features to either app. There’s no dark mode, and the apps don’t make use of iOS or Android integrations.

The result is mobile apps that don’t feel fully optimized. They’re essentially identical to the desktop apps in most ways.

Android TV App

HMA’s custom Android TV app carries over the same user-friendly design found on desktop and mobile.

You can use Lightning Connect to connect to the nearest server or choose from HMA’s 195 locations.

There’s a search function to simplify navigation and continent tabs for quick browsing.

In our tests, we streamed US Netflix and BBC iPlayer directly on the TV without issues.

The Android TV app works on all Android-powered smart TVs and streaming devices, including Chromecast with Google TV.

It also includes useful settings such as split tunneling, a kill switch, and IP Shuffle.

We tested HMA VPN using the qBittorrent client and downloaded a torrent file without any issues.

HMA likely does not own all of its P2P servers, as it openly rents some from third parties. This can introduce privacy and security risks since another party is involved. However, HMA states that it maintains full management control over its rented servers.

Additionally, HMA’s first-party ownership of all its DNS servers ensures that any torrent sites you visit are only visible to the VPN service.

In the past, HMA suspended user accounts that received DMCA notices for torrenting copyrighted material. Since the launch of its improved logging policy, HMA VPN no longer has a way to track your torrenting activity.

This means you can safely use HMA VPN to torrent.

If HMA VPN wants to compete with the top torrenting VPNs, we’d like to see port forwarding added to maximize its already fast speeds. We’d also welcome more P2P-optimized servers to better serve users in different regions.

Inaccurate & Unreliable Customer Support

For a paid service, HMA VPN has one of the worst customer support teams we’ve encountered.

The lack of new content on its website since 2021, and the fact that the HMA copyright expired in 2022, leads us to suspect that HMA may have disbanded its support team.

Its live chat has also been discontinued—despite advertising the opposite—and several members of our testing team experienced wait times of up to six months for an email response.

Thankfully, HMA is backed by a large online knowledge base that includes detailed guides, FAQs, and video walkthroughs.

However, the written guides vary in quality; one article even incorrectly claims that HMA only supports OpenVPN.

We were also disappointed to find that HMA has shut down its community forum.

Supports Split Tunneling & Randomized IP Addresses

Split tunneling is available on HMA’s Android app. This lets you choose which apps use the VPN tunnel and which operate normally without protection.

We appreciate this feature, but its exclusivity to Android is disappointing.

There’s also the “IP Shuffle” feature, which assigns a new IP address in the same location if your current IP is blocked. This helps bypass IP bans and avoid potential trackers.

Unfortunately, this feature isn’t available on iOS.

Overall, this is a limited set of advanced features, and we’d like to see HMA add more in the future.

Technical Features We’d Like to See

Many of the technical features we expect from a premium VPN are missing from HMA’s apps.

We suspect no further features will be added, as the HMA development roadmap has been removed from the provider’s website.

That said, here are some features we’d like to see added to HMA VPN if its development team is reinstated: