Best HideMyAss Alternatives: Which VPN Is Faster?

There aren't many alternatives to a VPN if you're interested in online anonymity and streaming otherwise geo-restricted content. HideMyAss (HMA) is one of the most well-known VPNs available, however, not necessarily the best as quite a few other services excel in different areas.

In our EXPERTE.com VPN comparison series, we carefully assessed 27 providers. Below, we'll let you know the best alternatives to HMA and their strengths and weaknesses.

You might be wondering why you need an alternative to HideMyAss in the first place. The VPN doesn't do anything wrong per se, as our review showed, however, it does have some weaknesses that its competitors don't, such as:

As the above has shown, HMA is far from perfect. At the same time, none of its competitors are either, with some simply doing better in specific areas. Below, we'll introduce you to our Top 5 alternatives to HideMyAss:

NordVPN was the best service from our VPN sample with the Panama-based provider offering an unbeatable combination of user-friendliness, reliability, and security at an affordable price. Applications are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Android TV, as are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browser extensions.

NordVPN excels in the core features of a VPN but also offers a number of extras, such as ad and malware blockers. Split tunneling and a kill switch are also included.

In addition, there's a visually-appealing user interface, excellent performance, and a large server network to look forward to. Overall, NordVPN does everything just a bit better than its competitors, including HMA.

There's no doubt that NordVPN offers a better overall package: Its performance is stronger (as shown by our speed test), more features are available (including split tunneling for desktop users), and streaming is more reliable. As if that wasn't enough, NordVPN's two most affordable packages cost less than HMA's.

Our price-performance winner, Surfshark, has only been on the market since 2017, however, it's quickly and rightfully established itself as one of the leading VPNs. Based in the British Virgin Islands, the VPN offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, as well as Android TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV.

Surfshark's relatively low cost is definitely a big advantage, however, that's far from the only thing we liked about the VPN: The program scores owing to its top security standards, powerful performance, and a wide variety of features. Alongside split tunneling, you'll also get access to MultiHop and static IPs.

The program can be installed and used on an unlimited number of devices as well. Rounding things out, we found its app to be well-executed.

Surfshark is more affordable than HMA (when signing on for a 12 or 24-month contract; HMA's monthly rates are slightly lower). The VPN also finished several places ahead of HMA in our speed test, offering more features, such as Smart DNS and desktop split tunneling. In terms of streaming, Surfshark was far more reliable than HMA.

Our list continues with ExpressVPN, which, like Surfshark, is based in the British Virgin Islands. Both versatile and reliable, this VPN's quality impressed across the board, however, its developers have priced the service accordingly.

ExpressVPN is available for all typical operating systems and can also be installed on routers and gaming consoles.

During testing, ExpressVPN was always near the front of the pack: Its apps are some of the best on the market, it put in a strong speed test performance, and with its 3,000 servers across 94 countries, surpasses many of its rivals. Another positive: ExpressVPN regularly allows its commitment to security to be independently audited by third parties.

ExpressVPN surpasses HMA both in terms of its appearance as well as what's under the hood. Said differently, it offers more power in a better-looking package.

The service is especially good at streaming content from abroad and bypassing geo-restrictions, as we were able to access catalogs on all four services we tested it on. Even HBO Max couldn't prevent ExpressVPN from giving us access to otherwise unavailable content.

Proton VPN is a Swiss open-source VPN that has continually improved over the past few years and is now just a step or two away from our winner's podium. It offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, as well as Chromebooks and Android TVs. If desired, it can also be manually installed on routers or other hardware.

There are two things in particular that we like about Proton VPN:

Proton VPN is open source, whereas HMA isn't. Alongside useful security features that HMA doesn't offer, Proton VPN also includes split tunneling. During our speed test, Proton VPN finished a few places ahead of HMA, staking out second place overall. Rounding things out, for streaming, the Swiss provider also did well, allowing us to access otherwise unavailable content catalogs on all four providers we tested.

Private Internet Access (PIA), from the US, belongs to the same (somewhat dubious) parent company as ExpressVPN. Its apps are offered for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

PIA's unique app is the reason it features on this list: Its modules can be customized to your individual preferences. With other types of software, this might seem unremarkable, however, it's a true rarity in the world of VPNs. And we couldn't be happier.

The Quick Connect module displays your favorites and recently used servers, while Quick Settings is where you can turn things like port forwarding on or off. In other words, you can choose which features and information should be displayed in the VPN's app.

Beyond that, PIA scores with its large server network and solid streaming performance (we only had trouble with Disney+).

PIA offers a much better app and was more reliable in terms of streaming than HMA. Its selection of features is also wider: Split tunneling is available for desktop users, as is Smart DNS. Rounding out the positives, the WireGuard protocol is integrated.

Of course, there are more than just 5 alternatives to HideMyAss. In our VPN review series, we thoroughly assessed 27 providers across five categories, "Configuration and Usage", "Server Network", "Performance", "Security and Privacy", and "Customer Support".

Below, we've included our complete ranking as well as links to each individual review:

HideMyAss is a decent VPN, however, it suffers from a few shortcomings. Thankfully, there are a number of good alternatives that are a step ahead of HMA:

NordVPN offers what is likely the best overall VPN package on the market, Surfshark excels in terms of its price-performance ratio, ExpressVPN is a user-friendly, streaming-focused all-arounder, ProtonVPN is all about security and open source, and Private Internet Access serves up a fully customizable app.

Other alternatives to HideMyAss can be found in our comprehensive EXPERTE.com VPN comparison series.