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Astrill vs Hide.me pairs two providers that appeal to people living in Asia, for different reasons. Hide.me operates from Labuan in Malaysia, outside every intelligence alliance, and has an audit from 2024. Astrill has built its name on getting through China’s Great Firewall, where GreatFirewallGuide scored it at 98% in April 2026.
The price gap is wide. Hide.me costs around $2.69 a month on its 26-month plan and has a free tier. Astrill costs $12.50 a month on its two-year plan, or $30 month to month, and has no audit.
Astrill vs Hide.me: The Short Answer
Choose Astrill over Hide.me only if you need to get through the Great Firewall. It rates 3.0 in our Astrill review.
Choose Hide.me for everything else in Asia and beyond. It rates 3.6 in our Hide.me review, runs its own servers, and offers a free tier with no email.
Using an unapproved VPN in China is a regulatory violation, with an individual fine of up to RMB 5,000, as our China legality page explains.
Privacy: Audited and Offshore Against Unaudited
Hide.me has an audit from 2024, with sources naming the auditor as Securitum or Altius IT, and the VPN Trust Initiative re-accredited it in 2026. eVenture Ltd has run it since 2012, and its servers are self-managed rather than rented.
Astrill has no audit, and it logs your IP address, connection time and device details during a session, deleting them afterwards by its own account, according to VPN.com. Reviewers disagree on whether it is based in the Seychelles or Liechtenstein. Our audit tracker and our no-logs guide explain the difference.
| Provider | No-logs audits | Auditor | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 6 | PwC, Deloitte | Panama |
| Surfshark | 2 | Deloitte | Netherlands (9 Eyes) |
| ExpressVPN | 3 | KPMG (28 security reports in total) | British Virgin Islands, Kape-owned |
| CyberGhost | 3 | Deloitte | Romania, Kape-owned |
| PureVPN | 4 | KPMG | BVI, operated from Pakistan |
| IPVanish | 2 | Leviathan, Schellman | United States (Five Eyes), Ziff Davis-owned |
| Windscribe | 1 | Packetlabs, production infrastructure | Canada (Five Eyes); Greek case dismissed, no data to give |
| Proton VPN | 5 | Securitum | Switzerland, moving infrastructure to EU |
| Private Internet Access | 3 | Deloitte | United States (Five Eyes), Kape-owned |
| Mullvad | 10+ | Cure53, Assured AB | Sweden (14 Eyes) |
| TunnelBear | Annual since 2017 | Cure53 | Canada (Five Eyes), US parent |
| Norton VPN | 2 | VerSprite | United States (Five Eyes) |
| Hotspot Shield | 0 | protocol audited, policy not | United States (Five Eyes) |
| AirVPN | 0 | none — the client is open source instead | Italy (14 Eyes) |
| IVPN | 8, annual since inception | Cure53 | Gibraltar (status disputed) |
| Hide.me | 1 modern, in 2024 | Securitum, though one source names Altius IT | Malaysia (outside the alliances) |
| PrivadoVPN | 0 | none in six years of operation | Iceland (moved from Switzerland, 2026) |
| TorGuard | 0 | none; settled a lawsuit without disclosing records | United States (Five Eyes) |
| FastestVPN | 1, in 2023 | Altius IT | Cayman Islands (outside the alliances) |
| StrongVPN | 0 | none in over two decades | United States (Five Eyes), Ziff Davis-owned |
| VyprVPN | 1, in 2018 | Leviathan Security, before the 2023 sale | United States (Five Eyes), Certida-owned since 2023 |
| PrivateVPN | 0 | none; support says there is nothing to audit | Sweden (14 Eyes), ownership disputed |
| ZoogVPN | 0 | none; support describes one as planned | Greece (outside the alliances), run from Ukraine |
| Malwarebytes Privacy VPN | 1, in 2026 | X41 D-Sec, white-box over two months | United States (Five Eyes), runs AzireVPN infrastructure |
| Astrill | 0 | — | Disputed: Seychelles or Liechtenstein |
Astrill vs Hide.me on Price
Hide.me costs around $2.69 a month on its 26-month plan, with a renewal reported to stay at that rate, though one source disagrees. Its free tier needs no card, though sources disagree on its data limit.
Astrill costs $30 for a month, $180 for a year or $300 for two years, and the price repeats at renewal. Our renewal price table compares both.
Refunds: for Astrill, several reviews report none and two sources describe seven days; confirm with support. Our refund guide explains what to ask.
China and Restrictive Networks
Astrill’s StealthVPN and OpenWeb protocols target the Great Firewall, and GreatFirewallGuide suggests Hong Kong or Japan servers. Our obfuscation guide explains how stealth protocols work.
We have no published China figure for Hide.me. For short trips, our travel guide explains why setting up before you fly matters with any provider.
Astrill vs Hide.me on Features
Port forwarding: Hide.me offers dynamic forwarding on paid plans; Astrill lists port forwarding among its features. Our port forwarding guide covers the others.
Free tier: only Hide.me has one, with the kill switch on by default. Our free VPN guide compares it with the rest.
Streaming: neither is a specialist. Hide.me streams on paid plans only, and reviewers call Astrill’s streaming hit and miss.
Ease of use: both reward technical users. Hide.me offers wide protocol choice and multihop; Astrill asks you to pick its stealth protocols yourself.
What Each One Lacks
Astrill lacks an audit, a settled home country and a low price. It also logs session data while you are connected, and reviewers dispute its refund policy and device limit.
Hide.me lacks depth of verification and any published China record. Its single audit is a snapshot, and its published figures, from server counts to the free data limit, vary between sources.
Both suit technical users more than beginners. For a simpler app with audits behind it, Proton VPN vs TunnelBear covers two friendlier options.
Which One
Astrill if you live or work in mainland China and reliability there justifies $300 every two years.
Hide.me for privacy with an audit, an offshore base and a low price almost anywhere else. ExpressVPN vs Astrill and TorGuard vs Hide.me set each against another rival.
How We Research
Astrill’s prices come from its pricing page, read on 25 September 2026, and its logging, refunds and jurisdiction from the sources named in our Astrill review. The China score comes from GreatFirewallGuide’s April 2026 review. Hide.me’s audit, ownership, free tier, price and features come from our Hide.me review. We do not run our own tests. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
Astrill vs Hide.me FAQ
In Astrill vs Hide.me, Hide.me rates higher, 3.6 against 3.0, with an audit, an offshore base and a far lower price. Astrill is the better choice only for getting through China’s Great Firewall.
Astrill has the published evidence: GreatFirewallGuide scored it at 98% on China Telecom in April 2026. We have no comparable figure for Hide.me.
Hide.me, at around $2.69 a month on its 26-month plan, with a free tier as well. Astrill costs $300 for two years or $30 for one month.
Hide.me had an audit in 2024. Astrill has none and logs some session data while you are connected.
Hide.me operates from Labuan, Malaysia. Reviewers disagree on Astrill, naming the Seychelles or Liechtenstein.
The Verdict
Outside China, Astrill vs Hide.me goes to Hide.me: audited, offshore, cheaper, and with a free tier to try.
Inside China, Astrill’s record justifies its price. Whichever you choose, install it before you travel and keep a second option ready.