Hidester used to be a familiar name among free web proxies. When we checked, hidester.com no longer ran a proxy: it redirected to vpncentral.com. The site now drawing the traffic for the name is hidester.one, a different operation.
hidester.one is a thin page titled "HideSter VPN | Free Online Web Proxy Server", with a "Click here to use Proxy" link and AdSense. It does not name its operator, and it is not the company that ran the original Hidester. Its proxy page has no location picker, and in our test it exited in Poland through OVH, a hosting company. We could not find its limits or any statement on what it logs. That does not mean it is unsafe, but it does mean you cannot tell who handles the pages you open through it.
If you are looking for a Hidester alternative, the useful question is who runs the proxy and what it does with your traffic. Shifter Web Proxy is run by Shifter, a residential and ISP proxy provider. It names its 54 countries, exits through residential IPs, shows no ads and does not log the pages you visit. The free allowance is 30 minutes and 100 MB a day.
Shifter Web Proxy vs Hidester
| Feature | Shifter Web Proxy | Hidester |
|---|---|---|
| Countries | 54 countries | No location choice |
| Exit IP | Residential | Datacenter |
| Ads | None | Yes |
| Allowance | 30 minutes and 100 MB a day | No published limit |
| Account | Not required | Not required |
| Logs | No page logs | No policy |
| Operator | Shifter | Not disclosed |
| Original owner | Not applicable | No |
| Log policy | No page logs | None found |
Facts checked on each site's own pages. Where we could not confirm something, the table says so.
What we measured
Hidester figures come from our scripted browsing session. Shifter Web Proxy figures come from its own service configuration and code.
| Test | Shifter Web Proxy | Hidester |
|---|---|---|
| Median page load | 1287 ms | 7781 ms |
| Pages that loaded | 100% | 100% |
| Ad slots added to proxied pages | 0 | 1 |
| YouTube playback | Worked | Failed |
| Countries listed / verified in our test | 54 listed | No location choice |
| Ad-network requests per page | 0 | 0 |
| Exit IP observed | Residential | Datacenter |
Why people switch from Hidester
The original Hidester is gone
hidester.com now redirects to vpncentral.com, so the proxy many people bookmarked no longer exists at that address. Shifter Web Proxy is an actively run tool at shifter.io/web-proxy.
A named operator
hidester.one does not say who runs it. Shifter Web Proxy is operated by Shifter, a proxy company with paid residential and ISP plans, and the tool sits on its main site.
A published privacy position
hidester.one's proxy page links to a privacy policy, but we found no statement on what the proxy logs and no named company behind it. Shifter publishes what its gateway keeps, which is no browsing history, and the TLS session to an HTTPS site starts in your own tab.
54 countries you can choose
hidester.one's proxy has no location picker; our test session came out in Poland on an OVH hosting address. Shifter shows all 54 in the launcher, and you can switch from the toolbar while browsing.
No ads
hidester.one's landing page carries AdSense, and in our test the proxy added an ad slot to every site we opened. Shifter Web Proxy has no ads on its own pages and adds none to the sites you open.
The proxy is on the page you land on
hidester.one is a short page that sends you onward through a "Click here to use Proxy" link. Shifter's launcher sits on the page itself: pick a country, pass the reCAPTCHA check and the site opens in a new tab, with no extra hop in between.
Hidester pros and cons
- Free, with a one-click link straight to the proxy
- Still reachable under a familiar name
- Every test page loaded in our check
- Not the original Hidester; the operator is not named
- No location picker, and no published limits or logging statement
- Visitors have to click "I agree" on a terms box before typing into proxied pages
- AdSense on the page
- Thin landing page with little information about the service
Verdict
The Hidester many people remember now redirects to another site, and the page that ranks for the name tells you almost nothing about who runs it. Shifter Web Proxy is a transparent replacement with 54 countries, residential IPs and no ads, as long as 30 minutes and 100 MB a day covers your use.