# hide.me review: KYC policy, privacy and safety grades > hide.me is a VPN operating since 2012. Its terms put it at KYC level 1 of 4: no ID mentioned. NoKYC Score grades it 6.8/10 for privacy (fair) and 6.2/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no-logs policy. To watch: it is closed source. No incidents are on record. Source: NoKYC Score, "hide.me review", reviewed 23 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/hide-me ## Key facts - **Category:** VPNs - **KYC level:** 1 of 4: No ID mentioned - **Grades:** Privacy 6.8/10, Safety 6.2/10 - **Sign-up:** Email optional - **Fees:** Free plan; premium subscriptions with a 30-day money-back guarantee - **Jurisdiction:** Malaysia - **Incidents on record:** 0 - **Last reviewed:** 23 Oct 2026 - **Official website:** https://hide.me ## What it is hide.me is a VPN operated by eVenture Limited, registered in Labuan, Malaysia (registration LL09685), which says it has operated since 2012. Its free plan is advertised as needing no registration or sign-up. Premium accounts are created with an email address, which the privacy policy says is the only personal information collected and is stored encrypted. The pricing FAQ lists cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, SEPA, SOFORT and bank transfer, plus Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Polygon, Solana, USDT, TUSD and USDC. The privacy policy says browsing is not monitored or logged, with only a short-lived troubleshooting log. The Linux client is published on GitHub under GPL-2.0; the other apps are not open source. ## What the terms say about ID No identity documents are mentioned; the free tier needs no account and premium needs only an email address. ## Features and warnings - **Identity:** ID never required: not stated; No account needed: yes; No email needed: yes; No phone number: not stated - **Payment:** Accepts Monero: not stated; Accepts Lightning: not stated; Accepts cash: not stated - **Access:** Tor onion address: not stated; Works without JavaScript: not stated - **Trust:** Open source: no; No-logs policy: yes; Independent audit: not stated; Company named: yes; 5+ years operating: yes - **Warnings:** May ask for ID: not in terms; Email required: not in terms; Phone number required: not in terms; Closed source: yes; Nobody accountable: not in terms ## Questions ### Does hide.me require KYC? hide.me is rated KYC level 1 of 4 on this site: no ID mentioned. No identity documents are mentioned; the free tier needs no account and premium needs only an email address. ### Is hide.me safe to use? hide.me has a Safety grade of 6.2 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 6.8 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed. ### Is hide.me legit? hide.me is a working VPN that has operated since 2012. It publishes the company that runs it, in Malaysia. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 6.2 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents. ### Is hide.me a scam? NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for hide.me. ### Do I need an account or email to use hide.me? Email optional. ### What fees does hide.me charge? Free plan; premium subscriptions with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Fees were recorded from hide.me's own pages and can change; check before you send. ### Does hide.me have a Tor onion address? No official onion address was found on hide.me's own pages. ### Which cryptocurrencies does hide.me support? hide.me supports BTC, DOGE, ETH, LTC, POL, SOL, USDT, USDC, and fiat payments in USD, EUR. ### Can I use hide.me over Tor? hide.me does not publish an official onion address. ## Sources - https://hide.me/en/legal - https://hide.me/en/pricing - https://hide.me/en/privacy - https://hide.me/en/free-vpn - https://github.com/eventure/hide.client.linux How grades are calculated: https://nokycscore.com/methodology