Websites using the HDMovieHub branding typically operated within the "torrent streaming" or "cyberlocker" ecosystem. They did not host the massive video files on their own servers to avoid immediate takedowns. Instead, they usually operated as indexing sites.

Despite its illegal nature, HDMovieHub attracted millions of visitors. Here’s why it became so popular in 2021:

In 2021, the Indian government's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued hundreds of blocking orders against piracy sites. In response, HDMovieHub would simply abandon the .com domain and migrate to a new one—like hdmoviehub.in, hdmoviehub.pet, or hdmoviehub.live. However, the original .com remained the brand anchor for most of 2021.

Unlike many ad-riddled piracy sites, HDMovieHub had a relatively clean, categorized layout. Movies were sorted by: