AirVPN vs hide.me

Comparing: two VPNs
Decided by: Independent no-logs audits
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

AirVPNTakes bitcoin

Activist-run since 2010, taking bitcoin straight to its own wallet, with a three-day plan for two euros and no audit to its name.

hide.meTakes bitcoin

One of the first VPNs ever audited, re-audited a decade later, with a free tier that does not cap your data at all.

Verdict: hide.me

hide.me carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 2 against 0 for AirVPN. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides.

Criterion: Independent no-logs audits
AirVPN: 0
hide.me: 2

AirVPN and hide.me, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

AirVPN and hide.me compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	AirVPN	hide.me
Independent audits	None	2, latest 2024 (favoured on this row)
Real-world tests	0	0
Incidents on record	0	0
Market exits	0	0
Owner	AirVPN di Paolo Brini	eVenture Limited
Jurisdiction	Italy	Malaysia
Eyes alliance	Fourteen Eyes	Outside
Price	EUR 2 for 3 days, EUR 99/3yr	Free tier, or from $2.59/mo
Money-back	30 days	30 days
Crypto accepted	bitcoin, monero	bitcoin, monero, ethereum, litecoin, dogecoin, solana
Anonymous signup	Yes	No
Free tier	None	No data cap, 8 locations, one device, reduced speeds, no card needed
Servers	Vendor runs a modest network of owned and rented servers across roughly twenty countries	Vendor states roughly 2,600 servers across 92 locations, with free users limited to eight of them
Last reviewed	2026-08-26	2026-08-26

No-logs evidence, side by side

Dated audits and real-world tests from each review. An empty column is a finding: the claim has not been independently checked.

AirVPN

No independent audit or real-world test on record.

hide.me

2024Audit by Securitum: no-logs policy and the RAM-only server infrastructure, with a published summary report
2015Audit by DefenseCode: one of the first independent examinations of a VPN provider's logging claims

Frequently asked questions

Is AirVPN or hide.me better for privacy?

hide.me carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 2 against 0 for AirVPN. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides. Audits, court and seizure records and incidents are dated on each review with their sources.

Can I pay AirVPN or hide.me with bitcoin?

AirVPN takes bitcoin and monero (processor: In-house). hide.me takes bitcoin, monero, ethereum, litecoin, dogecoin and solana (processor: In-house). Each review quotes the vendor's own refund sentence for crypto purchases verbatim.

Which is cheaper, AirVPN or hide.me?

AirVPN: EUR 2 for 3 days, EUR 99/3yr. hide.me: Free tier, or from $2.59/mo. Money-back: AirVPN 30 days, hide.me 30 days. Prices are from each vendor's own page as of the review date.

Where are AirVPN and hide.me based?

AirVPN: Italy (fourteen eyes member). hide.me: Malaysia (outside the five, nine and fourteen eyes alliances). A jurisdiction matters less than a court record showing what the provider could hand over; the reviews carry those where they exist.

The full reviews: AirVPN and hide.me, each with its sources, and every VPN we review.

More comparisons

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