It was co-founded in 2015 by Tom Grundy, who believed that the territory's press freedom was in decline, to provide an independent alternative to the dominant English-language newspaper of record in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post.

[6] He established HKFP in response to concerns about eroding press freedom and media self-censorship in Hong Kong, with the aim of covering breaking news and topics such as the pro-democracy movement.

[5] HKFP aimed to provide quick news reports with context, which Grundy said Hong Kong's largest English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, does not do.

[21][22] In the long term, HKFP plans to achieve financial sustainability through "continued crowdfunding efforts, advertising and sponsorship events" and by operating with minimal overhead costs.

[9] Tom Grundy, a freelance journalist, stated that the site would "start with simple local news, and investigative pieces about Hong Kong" and that "we have no political agenda.

[9] Hong Kong Free Press was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Liberal Party politicians Ola Elvestuen, Terje Breivik and Jon Gunnes.