NordVPN vs HMA
How does NordVPN and Hidemyass vpns compare?
If you are considering purchasing a vpn service in 2021 then you must have come across these two popular vpn services because they are among the most popular vpn services out there.
In this NordVPN vs HMA comparison were are going to look at the pros and cons of both NordVPN and Hidemyass vpn.
We will compare NordVPN with HMA along the lines of performance, speed, ability to unblock geo restricted content… among others.
Let’s get started…
Here is a quick summary.
| NordVPN | Hidemyass | |
| Website | nordvpn.com | hidemyass.com |
| Servers | 5,800 | 1,000 |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | United Kingdom |
| Streaming | Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, iPlayer | Netflix US |
| Speed | 4.1/5 | 3.9/5 |
| Torrenting | P2P servers | P2P servers |
| Kill Switch | YES | YES |
| Works in China? | YES | YES |
| Devices | 6 | 5 |
| Pricing | $ 3.49/month | $ 3.99/month |
About
NordVPN is a VPN service company based in Panama that enables you to access the internet privately and securely.
Here is a detailed NordVPN review.
HMA is a VPN service provider based in the UK that provide secure internet access services through their VPN servers.
Here is a more detailed HMA review.
Server collection
NordVPN has a collection of 5,200 servers that are based in 59 different countries spread across different continents.
HMA on the other side a collection of 1,000 servers located in 190 different countries and continents.
While NordVPN has a larger collection of servers, their as not very well distributed across the different continents.
If you a vpn services that will avail a server is almost every country that you visit, then I recommend HMA.
Streaming
According to recent studies, the majority of people who purchase vpn services do so in order to be able to access geo restricted entertainment content.
So most people want to know if a vpn service will be able to unblock their vpn service of choice before they commit themselves to a paid plan.
In this HMA vs NordVPN comparison we will look at the ability of these services unblock some of the most popular streaming services in different countries.
Some of these streaming services include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer among others.
NordVPN is able to successfully unblock Netflix in different countries. It is also able to unblock Hulu, Amazon Prime Video as well as BBC iPlayer.
HMA on the other side is able to unblock both Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
Clearly NordVPN will enable you to unblock more streaming websites than HMA.
So if your primary reason for purchasing a vpn service is to be able to stream geo restricted content through sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and iPlayer then I recommend NordVPN.
Speed
VPN connection speeds is a very controversial factor when deciding which vpn service to purchase.
This is the case first because every vpn services claim to the fastest vpn which it hard for you to know who really is saying the truth.
Secondly, successful testing vpn connection speeds is not easy because the results can never be conclusive. Apart from the fact that vpn server speeds are dependent on the current server load and your distance from the server, companies also keep changing their server arsenal… upgrading some while also completely removing some.
So test results taken today easily be obsolete tomorrow.
Nevertheless we still have to perform tests in order to get a general idea of what to expect in terms of connection speeds.
In order to compare NordVPN vs HMA speeds, I connected to three different servers located in three different locations for each server.
I connected to locations in the USA, UK and Hong Kong.
If you want the detailed breakdown of how each server in each location check my complete NordVPN review and complete HMA review.
NordVPN gave me average drop of 83% of my original connection speeds which gives its connection speed a rating of 4.1/5.0 stars.
I consider any vpn that can keep at least 80% of my original connection speed to be a fast vpn.
HMA on the other side had an average drop of 78% of my original connection speeds.
Since the connection speeds dropped below 80%, I would consider HMA one of the fastest vpn services out there.
Its connection speeds are rather average.
If you’re looking for a fast speeds vpn then I recommend NordVPN instead of HMA.
Torrenting
Torrenting, commonly known as P2P files is another very common activity on the internet today.
Because of tough anti piracy laws, most vpn providers have blocked torrenting activities on their servers.
This also means that you should never download torrent files before first connecting to a vpn or proxy service in order to stay safe and anonymous.
Luckily both NordVPN and HMA allow torrenting on their network but only if you connect to their P2P optimized servers.
So while their other vpns that allow torrenting on all their servers, NordVPN and HMA only on certain servers.
To access these P2P server you head over to the settings menu, click on P2P servers and youll be presented with a list of torrenting servers to choose from.
If you are looking for the best VPN for torrenting in 2021 that will keep your torrenting activities completely private and anonymous then I recommend NordVPN over HMA.
Privacy Policy
Privacy and anonymity online is one of the main reasons people purchase vpn services online in 2021.
While are supposed to make invisible to your government and ISP while online, all your online activities are visible to the vpn service.
So it takes for a great privacy policy implementation to ensure that any sensitive personal information is not logged about you and your internet usage.
Does NordVPN keep user logs?
NordVPN does not keep logs of your IP address, connection timestamps, bandwidth usage or DNS queries.
Secondly it is based in Panama, a country with no mandatory data retention laws that obligate a vpn services to keep internet usage logs of their users.
So all your internet access while using NordVPN is completely private and you are invisible online.
HMA on the other hand logs your original IP subnet mask, the IP of the vpn server you connect to, your server connection timestamps as well as your bandwidth usage.
In addition to this HMA logs your complete original IP address if you are connected to their proxy servers or browser extensions.
HMA is also based in the UK, one of the founding members of the 5 eyes countries that constantly surveille their citizens and share this information among themselves.
It is therefore not a privacy friendly country for a vpn to be located.
As you can see HMA is not a great vpn for privacy and anonymity online.
In fact I strongly discourage you from downloading torrent files using HMA vpn because your internet usage is not completely private and anonymous.
So when comparing NordVPN vs HMA privacy policies, it is clear that NordVPN offers you complete anonymous browsing while HMA logs too much of your usage data.
Encryption and data protection
Using a strong encryption protocol ensures that your data is safely transmitted across the internet.
Both NordVPN and HMA use AES 256-bit encryption technology to encrypt your data during transmission.
It is one of the best encryption algorithms out there that is used by government agencies and militaries for encrypting sensitive classified information because it is impossible to hack.
In addition to encryption technologies, vpns also use connection protocols to ensure safe and fast transmission of data between their servers and the destination device.
NordVPN supports OpenVPN, IKEv2 and IPSec protocols.
HMA on the other hand supports OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP vpn protocols.
Ad Blocker
Most vpn apps today come inbuilt with ad blockers to enable you block ads from displaying on the sites that you visit.
It is more of a requirement for most vpn apps today.
NordVPN has a feature called CyberSec that when turned on enables to disable ads from being displayed on the sites that you visit.
This feature also protects your device from being infected by malware which be on various other websites that you visit today.
Even if you devices was already infected by malware, CyberSec will block your device from being accessed by remote botnets that can use your device to launch DDoS attacks on other machines.
Does HMA vpn have an ad blocker?
While an ad blocker is a common feature among most vpn apps, unfortunately HMA does not have an inbuilt ad blocker or malware blocker.
So you won’t be able to protect yourself from malware from the internet or block those intrusive video ads from autoplaying.
If you are looking for a vpn that will enable you ads then I recommend NordVPN.
Dedicated IPs
Sometimes you need to connect to the internet using the same IP address.
This is especially the case when for example you need to access your banking app because most of these apps are designed to block whenever you try to login with a strange IP address.
Because a vpn assigns you a new IP address each time you login to its servers, you can’t always connect to the same IP address.
Once you have a dedicated IP address you can whitelist it in your apps so that you can still use your vpn to access your most sensitive apps.
NordVPN has a dedicated IPs features that enable you to choose to connect to the internet using the same IP address.
Since this dedicated IP is not shared with anyone you’ll get an IP that is dedicated only to you that you can then whitelist in your app.
Does HMA have a dedicated IP?
Unfortunately, HMA vpn does not have a dedicated IP address feature in any of its apps.
If you are looking for a vpn with a dedicated IP for connecting to the internet then I recommend NordVPN.
Kill Switch
Your connection to the internet is only secure as long as you remain connected to the vpn servers.
If for any reason your connection drops and you are disconnected from the vpn servers for any reason, your vpn app will disconnect from the server and your real IP address is exposed.
It then means your internet access is not secured anymore and your ISP can see and log the sites that you visit.
In order to remedy this you need an internet kill switch.
A kill switch will ensure the internet access for your entire device is blocked anytime your vpn app disconnects from the server.
This you’ll only be able to access the internet through your vpn
NordVPN has a powerful internet kill switch that enables you to block internet access to your entire device anytime your internet connection drops and your vpn disconnects from the server?
Does HMA have an internet kill switch?
HMA vpn also has a powerful internet kill switch that when turned on will ensure that your internet access is only through your vpn.
If you are looking for a vpn with an internet kill switch then either NordVPN or HMA will do.
Split Tunneling
In some cases you might want to exempt certain apps on your device from have their internet traffic routed through a vpn.
This could be the case for example for you backup software because you don’t want it to experience the speed drops caused by vpn connections.
A good vpn should provide you with a split tunneling feature to enable you specify certain apps to be excluded.
This another area where there is a tie when comparing NordVPN vs HMA.
Both NordVPN and HMA have split tunneling features that enable you to specify certain apps that should have continued internet access even if the vpn disconnects from the server.
Do they work in China?
In some countries like China, UAE, Iran etc, internet access is heavily controlled and access to certain websites is completely blocked.
For example access to most social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is blocked in China.
It requires a vpn with a powerful obfuscation technology to be able to bypass the DPI (deep packet inspection) technology of the great firewall of China.
NordVPN has an obfuscated servers feature that enables you to bypass the great firewall of china by connecting to its obfuscated servers.
So you’ll be able to use NordVPN in China without a problem.
What about HMA, will you be able to use it in China
Luckily HMA also have the ability to make your internet traffic look like normal https traffic and bypass the DPI technology of China’s firewall.
Both NordVPN and HMA will be able to work in China.
Pricing
Lets now compare HMA vs NordVPN in terms of their pricing?
What will it cost you to use either HMA or NordVPN?
When it comes to cost both NordVPN and HMA compare pretty favorable.
NordVPN has its cheapest 3 year plan going for $ 3.49/month while HMA has its 3 year plan going for $ 3.99/month.
However, NordVPN is slightly cheaper in this case.j
Payment Options
What payment option does HMA and NordVPN have?
When comparing NordVPN vs HMA payment options I am particularly looking for a vpn that allows anonymous payment methods that do not reveal your real identity.
NordVPN supports all the major credit cards and payment platform except PayPal.
It also allows cryptocurrency payments through Bitcoins.
So if you want complete anonymity you can sign up with a disposable email address and then pay with some bitcoins.
HMA on the other hand supports all the major credit cards and payment platform as well as PayPal.
Unfortunately, at the time I was writing this NordVPN vs HMA comparison, HMA does not support crypto payments.
If you are looking for a vpn that will enable you pay for your subscription through anonymous methods like bitcoins, then I recommend NordVPN.
Devices
Lastly let’s finish this HMA vs NordVPN comparison by looking at the number of devices that these vpn supports.
Currently, NordVPN supports upto 6 devices connected at the same time while HMA supports upto 5 simultaneous connections.
Both vpns also have dedicated apps for Windows, Mac, Android as well as iOS.
In conclusion
While both NordVPN and HMA look like great vpns each one has their strength and weaknesses.
But clearly HMA is not a great vpn for you if you particularly looking for completely anonymity and privacy online.
It is also not the best vpn for you if you want a vpn that would deliver you great connection speeds.
In every aspect that you compare HMA and NordVPN, NordVPN either comes on top in most of the cases or ties it with HMA vpn.
But considering that NordVPN is still slightly cheaper than HMA even though it offers more superior features, I would strongly recommend that you by NordVPN instead of HMA.
Have you used either NordVPN or HMA before?
Please share your experience in the comments below.
