Hola VPN Review: A Free VPN Service that is Too Expensive

HolaVPN is a service provided by Hola Networks Limited, which is out of Israel.

If we had any household names in the VPN industry, Hola VPN would probably be among them. It’s been around since 2012 and boasts of having served more than 200 million users ever since. It presents itself as the foremost P2P VPN in the industry. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s the best thing.

This P2P thing doesn’t mean you’re in the best torrent VPN. It means that your internet access becomes a P2P resource. Let me explain it further.

A typical premium VPN service charges you a fee, and that’s how it pays its bills and stays in business. On the other hand, free VPNs collect your online data for sale to data mining companies. Unfortunately, Hola’s business model is not exactly either of those. The network is not supported by the members’ fees but by imposing dubious practices that are far from secure for its users.

Let’s start at the beginning. In Hola, you have to share your bandwidth with other users on the VPN. So your IP address won’t be hidden from the world at all. Instead, it will be shown as somebody else’s address – another user in the Hola network, and vice versa; your IP will be reported as somebody else’s. That’s what a peer-to-peer VPN is.

HolaVPN is very committed to its P2P VPN model. P2P in VPN networks is a novel thing for sure, but does it bring any value to you as a user? Is it just an intelligent managerial move that’s good for the company and risky for you?

As I stated earlier, the business model in HolaVPN is unusual. The service is offered as freemium (you don’t pay for it with money), but you can sign up for the Plus package and receive additional features. As we continue exploring Hola’s features, let’s remember something: in the digital world, you are the product for sure whenever you don’t have to pay for a product with money. So let’s investigate a little deeper.

The P2P VPN thing is the most peculiar thing about HolaVPN by far, but it’s not the only thing I don’t like about it. For example, one of the most frequent questions I always look to answer about any VPN is: does HolaVPN work with Netflix? Well, it doesn’t, and it’s not a point in its favor.

So, as a HolaVPN user, you have to put up with this ridiculous P2P feature, and you can’t use Netflix. So, even this early in this honest HolaVPN review, we need to ask if Hola can do anything well. Let’s keep looking.

HolaVPN key features at a glance

Servers	950+
No-logs policy	Yes
Torrenting	Yes
Kill switch	No
Price	3.89 USD/month for one-year plan
Country-based	Israel
Simultaneous devices	10
Customer support	FAQ knowledge base
Money-back guarantee	30 days

Hola VPN pros and cons

Hola VPN server locations

Hola VPN free apps list 41 server locations, although the number differs with the number of peers available at a specific time. However, connecting to a server location without a peer will expose your IP address, making your online privacy unsecure.

According to Hola VPN, users may connect to servers in the following locations:

Continents	Number of countries
North America	3
South America	4
Oceania	2
Europe	24
Asia	8
Africa	0

Unlike other VPNs, Hola VPN doesn’t include a typical server network but employs a P2P network to redirect your web traffic. This means there is no limit to the number of locations you can connect to. Also, you are assigned another user’s IP address each time you connect.

Moreover, the VPN informs users when a server location is unavailable due to the lack of online peers. Also, our true IP address is constantly leaked by connecting to hypothetical servers. Even though our IP remained unaltered, the app continually showed we were connected to a specific server location.

In a future update, Hola VPN should add a correct server network on its free version or block your connections if peers are unavailable in a certain location.

HolaVPN and multimedia streaming

Surprisingly, Hola VPN free accessed BBC iPlayer, Netflix US, and other platforms in our streaming tests. Unfortunately, the videos constantly buffered, were capped at low visual quality, and were extremely slow. Therefore, Hola VPN cannot compete with top-notch VPN services such as ExpressVPN in streaming.

The following is a list of major streaming sites that are compatible with the free version of Hola VPN:

Streaming site	Does it work with Hola VPN Free?
BBC iPlayer	Yes
All 4	No
Amazon Prime Video	Yes
US Netflix	Yes
ITVX	No
YouTube	Yes
Hulu	Yes
HBO Max	No
Disney+	Yes
Hotstar India	No

During our tests, Hola VPN unblocked many streaming platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and US Netflix. However, we do not recommend this service because of its unsecure P2P network, invasive logging policy, and malware history.

Moreover, it compromises your online privacy and security. Also, we cannot guarantee that the service will always work with popular streaming sites because of its P2P service. Therefore, getting a top-tier VPN service like ExpressVPN for streaming is more secure and easier.

Unblocks Netflix US, but poor picture quality

Hola VPN unblocked Netflix US. However, the video quality was poor throughout our test. Also, we encountered regular buffering, even on short videos.

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Struggles to access HBO Max

We could not move past the login page of HBO Max while using Hola VPN. The VPN may have allocated us an IP address in a location where HBO Max is blocked, stopping us from using the streaming platform.

In addition to Hola VPN’s security and privacy risks, you cannot be certain that the IP address allocated to you is registered to your chosen location.

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Slow load times when accessing Hulu

We used this VPN service to unblock Hulu but encountered prolonged load times. Also, the official Hulu website failed to load completely, had some floating text, and had missing images. However, you can easily unblock Hulu by using a reliable VPN service like ExpressVPN.

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Speed performance in HolaVPN

The one thing you must know about HolaVPN is this: it’s not a VPN at all. It’s a P2P proxy service. I am not splitting hairs; it’s just what it is.

So the advertising is misleading for sure. But if speed is your priority, I have good news for you.

Server	Download (Mbps)	Download %	Upload (Mbps)	Upload %	Ping (ms)
No server	97.10	100%	48.05	100%	4
United Kingdom	94.89	97.91%	46.11	94.10	88
United States	90.03	92.0%	44.95	94.01	111
Australia	88.14	91.02%	44.12	93.87	118

I tested HolaVPN on an 80Mbps connection. I had a 3ms ping time, 74.5 Mbps for downloads, and 35 Mbps for uploads. This drop in speeds is utterly meaningless, especially considering that a real VPN will cause you to lose at least 15% in speeds, depending on your host OS and other factors.

In all honestly, these are among the best speeds I have seen in any VPN I’ve reviewed. Of course, that’s because this is not a true VPN, but many users will overlook that as a mere technicality if their connections remain fast. Gamers, for instance, will be very well served by this feature.

Is HolaVPN’s speed fast enough for online gaming?

Nearby servers offered adequate gaming speeds, but the distant servers strained. The ping rate is essential to online gaming as it captures how fast your connection reacts to commands. A suitable ping rate for online gaming should be less than 100ms, yet Hola VPN’s ping on a distant server was too high during our tests for gaming without lag.

Moreover, we tested the VPN service by trying the Call of Duty game on Australian and New Zealand servers, which offered us an average ping of 40ms. This was about a 48% increase from our ping rate without VPN, but it did not affect our gaming. The Japan and US servers also had a relatively high average ping of 274ms. We had to quit the game since it took too long to load.

At least 50 Mbps of download speed is needed for lag-free gaming. Given the VPN’s poor speeds, gaming on its premium nearby servers would require at least 40 Mbps of base connection.

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Hola VPN device compatibility

Hola VPN offers apps for popular operating systems like iOS, Windows, and macOS. The Android app has been withdrawn from the Google Play store because of security concerns. In addition, the VPN has browser extensions for Opera browser, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge.

Apps

Hola VPN is available for macOS, Windows, routers, and iOS devices. Its Android app is no longer available on the Google play store due to allegations that it had malware. The VPN service launched custom apps for Huawei and Samsung devices, but this still excludes most Android users.

Unlike most VPNs, Hola VPN has a low level of device compatibility. This is because most free VPN providers typically offer apps for Android and iOS.

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Browser extensions

Hola VPN provides extensions for Opera, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Chrome. Hola VPN’s Chrome extension was deleted from the Chrome web store in 2021 because of malware concerns, but it was later restored.

Remember that the browser extensions do not modify your IP address for any traffic connected to apps outside the browser and do not employ encryption. Furthermore, Hola VPN claims that its extensions function as a typical VPN provider. This implies that they are not part of the P2P network, so other users cannot access your IP address.

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Hola VPN interface and ease of use

Hola VPN browser extensions and apps all have an identical, simple design. The installation and configuration processes differ on every device, with the desktop being a bit complex.

For iOS, the Hola VPN app is pretty simple to use. During our test, the whole procedure took only a few minutes. You just need to download the app from the Apple store, agree to the requests, and start using it!

The macOS and Windows apps are a bit hard to use. This is because tapping the download tab installs the app as well as a browser extension. As a result, deciding on which software to utilize is a bit confusing.

Moreover, when creating an account, you must verify your email address, which is unusual for a free VPN service.

Laptop & desktop (Mac & Windows)

The desktop apps for Hola VPN appear similar. Both employ a modest white background with a big power button in the center. It is simple to use, and you may toggle between platforms seamlessly. Also, you can resize the desktop apps if you wish to use the VPN on a smaller display.

The key distinction is that the Hola VPN’s Windows apps include various extra settings, while the macOS app is restricted to a connect button and server list. The Windows app allows you to adjust encryption standards and select apps for its kill switch feature. In addition, the ‘manual server selection’ option enables you to see the server load percentage of individual nodes. This helps you evade congested peers and enhance your connection rates.

The Hola VPN macOS app offers a much poorer user experience. This is due to the annoying requirement of accepting a prompt for ‘VPN settings change’ each time you connect to a new server. Unfortunately, the macOS app constantly failed to load websites, preventing us from doing all of our tests.

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Mobile (iOS)

The Hola VPN iOS app is similar to the macOS regarding layout and how it functions. It is smooth and well-designed, with a white background ideal for iOS dimensions. In addition, it does not include advanced features such as encryption, tunneling protocols, and a kill switch.

However, Hola VPN limits your free usage to one hour before asking you to upgrade or wait a minute to reconnect. This constantly disrupted our test process, which we found annoying.

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HolaVPN and torrents

If torrenting is a big part of your daily internet experience, stay away from HolaVPN.

We begin by saying that HolaVPN doesn’t allow torrent traffic on the network. That’s not the worst thing. Furthermore, if you should try to use a torrent client on HolaVPN, you’d be assuming a severe risk.

The BitTorrent network is a P2P service, as HolaVPN is. That’s why it’s so effective and resilient. And that’s also why it can be so dangerous at the same time.

If you want to torrent safely, you need to have all your traffic encrypted so that no outsider can sniff around your online activity. Encryption is the hallmark of a good VPN service, which Hola is not – more on later.

So Hola’s interdiction of torrent traffic is not bad, after all. On the contrary, it works in your favor because it saves you unnecessary risks. But, again, if torrenting matters to you, you need a VPN that supports safe torrenting. Again, ExpressVPN comes to mind.

Security in HolaVPN

Hola VPN does not have the fundamental security features of a VPN provider. It routes the web traffic via other users’ gadgets rather than a secure VPN server, uses outdated protocols, and lacks a kill switch and robust encryption on mobile devices.

The table below shows the limited features Hola VPN offers:

Features	Available in Hola VPN Free
Protocols	IKEv2/IPSec, L2TP/IPSec, and PPTP
Encryption	Undisclosed
Security	Kill Switch
Advanced Features	Ad Blocker

Unsecure P2P network

Hola VPN Free directs your web traffic via other users’ gadgets to mask your IP address and circumvent site restrictions. On the other hand, other users may utilize your IP address as they see fit, putting you at risk since it can be exploited for illicit purposes.

Adios, Hola!, a site developed by security analysts, alleges that Hola VPN is generally dangerous to the internet and specifically to its users. The researchers also found multiple flaws in the VPN, such as allowing anyone to launch programs on your PC. In addition, the site states that Hola VPN resolved some issues, but others are still present.

Furthermore, according to a Trend Micro cybersecurity company report, this VPN service is also vulnerable to IP address leaks and allows data scraping.

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Hola VPN omits basic security features

The mobile apps for Hola VPN offer no encryption and employ the unsafe and outdated PPTP protocol. This means your web traffic is not encrypted and can easily be hacked, making it unsecure to use Hola VPN on mobile.

Also, this VPN service employs the IKEv2/IPSec protocol by default on Windows. However, its site states that the app can toggle to PPTP to bypass particular geo-restrictions. 

Moreover, we discovered a drop-down list for encryption standards, where AES 256-bit was listed as default. We confirmed this by using Wireshark, a packet-sniffing tool, where all our data packets showed unreadable symbols shielded by the protocol, making our online activity anonymous.

However, the IPSec /IKEv2 protocol is closed-source and has security flaws. To enhance users’ privacy, Hola VPN should introduce open-sourced protocols like WireGuard or OpenVPN in a future update.

We could not test the macOS app since it restricted our web access. Also, we could not find any appropriate tunneling protocols or encryptions in its settings.

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Defective kill switch

Only the Windows app for Hola VPN includes a kill switch. MacOS and mobile users are at risk if their VPN connection drops. However, when we tested the Windows kill switch, we discovered it leaked our actual IP address.

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Technical features Hola VPN should consider

Hola VPN lacks some essential features that most VPN services have. The VPN should consider the following functionalities in a future update:

• AES 256-bit encryption: This feature should be included on all apps to safeguard user data and mask your online activities.
• Server Network: This would allow you to safely direct your web traffic without requiring other users’ IP addresses.
• A reliable kill switch: It protects your data from leaking in case the VPN connection fails.
•  Robust VPN protocols: Modern protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard ensure your web traffic remains secure. In addition, they have no security vulnerabilities and are open-sourced and fast.
• IPv4 and IPv6 leak protection: This ensures your IP address remains anonymous.

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HolaVPN and log-keeping

This VPN service records metadata, such as your IP address and browsing history. Also, it sells your personal data to third parties and has been caught stealing user bandwidth. Therefore, this VPN provider significantly risks your online privacy.

Below is a summary of all data logged by Hola VPN:

Data type	Logged by Hola VPN Free
Device Information	Yes
Individual Bandwidth Usage	Yes
Browsing Activity	Yes
Date of last connection	Yes
Account Information	Yes
Individual Connection Timestamps	Yes
DNS Queries	Yes
VPN Server Location	Yes
Originating IP Address	Yes
VPN Server IP	Yes
Simultaneous Connections	No
ISP	No

Hola VPN logs the most data compared to other VPNs. The VPN service is based in Israel and collaborates with the Fourteen Eyes Alliance to share data.

Additionally, you avoid subscribing to Hola VPN using your social media account to avoid giving them access to more of your personal data. Hola VPN has one of the worst logging policies on the market, putting your personal data at constant risk each time you access the VPN.

Hola VPN uses your IP address and personal bandwidth

Hola VPN is a P2P proxy service that employs P2P caching to access blocked materials effortlessly. The VPN directs your web traffic via other users’ IP addresses in unrestricted locations to circumvent geo-blocked platforms. Every user acts as a node, just like in the Tor network.

Likewise, your IP address may be used by other users. This can include accessing illegal content that will be linked to your online identity. Free users share their dormant resources, like cellular data and Wi-Fi, with Hola VPN, allowing Hola VPN to sell your bandwidth to other consumers.

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Concerning ownership and privacy-unfriendly jurisdiction

Under Hola Networks Limited, Derry Shribman and Ofer Vilenski developed Hola VPN. This company offers a free VPN service for users, a paid subscription, and a corporate service known as Luminati. In addition, Luminati utilizes free users’ bandwidth by charging per gigabyte and does not refund them. Cybersecurity experts have criticized this practice.

The VPN service is headquartered in Israel, which is not an official member of the Fourteen Eyes Alliance but cooperates with the members. Given the VPN’s invasive logging, they may hand over your data if petitioned. Moreover, its privacy policy confirms this by declaring it will comply with the law and share your personal data if necessary.

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Does the HolaVPN service include an Adblocker?

The answer is surprising. In service in which security measures are conspicuously absent everywhere, the only feature reminiscent of security is, precisely, the adblocker.

There is no kill switch in HolaVPN because, not being a VPN, the traffic is not encrypted, so you don’t have a secure tunnel from which you can disconnect, thus triggering the switch. It would be best if you had a real VPN for that.

The utter lack of security architecture in HolaVPN means that your IP address leaks everywhere.

When I review other VPNs, I test for DNS and WebRTC leaks to understand how secure the network is. No need for that with HolaVPN. Your information leaks everywhere, all the time, because the network is making no effort at all to mask it.

Does HolaVPN work in China?

Not at all.

Several VPNs will allow you to bypass the Great Firewall of China. But doing that requires encrypting your traffic, and since HolaVPN does not encrypt your data at all, it won’t help you with the Chinese firewall.

Pricing in the HolaVPN services

The primary HolaVPN service is free. And it’s terrible value for money if you ask me because your privacy status is worse within HolaVPN than in the open internet environment.

Still, a paid service (Hola VPN Plus) in the network offers some value for your fee if you’re willing to see past all of its failures.

The main advantage of the Plus service is that you are removed from the P2P network. That’s the only improvement in terms of privacy.

Do you also get your traffic encrypted? Is your data to be out of the logging system? OpenVPN support? Are there any of the features you could expect from any paid premium VPN service? No.

It would not be worth it if the HolaVPN Plus service were free. But it’s priced at more or less the same monthly rate as some of the world’s most robust and well-reputed VPNs in the market.

And no, there is no free trial for Hola VPN Plus.

Hola VPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for HolaVPN Plus.

But trying to redeem it is not an easy thing. The customer support in HolaVPN is as bad as everything else in the network (except speeds), so getting your money back, if you want it, is a long, excruciating process.

Encryption in HolaVPN

If you’re here because you skipped the previous sections so you could find out about encryption quickly, we’ll make it easy for you.

There is no encryption whatsoever in HolaVPN. None at all.

The industry standard is AES-256 encryption, which is military-grade, and most of the best VPNs work on OpenVPN for secure connections. And you will find none of that in HolaVPN.

HolaVPN customer service

If you’ve read so far, you could think I don’t like HolaVPN. You’d be right.

Maybe you would also think that nothing I write in what’s left of this extensive HolaVPN review could get any worse. You’d be wrong. This is where I tell you about the network’s customer service.

The first problem with customer service is that it’s pretty hard even to find a link to the customer service page if you look at the website. It’s in the bottom corner, probably because the admins are hoping for you never to find it.

There is no live chat and no ticket system. All the customer service you get is via email, and the chances are that the email you send will be blatantly ignored.

The HolaVPN user experience

Since your first contact with HolaVPN will probably start with the website, let’s start there.

You’ll find two (and only two) valuable items on the web page: the FAQ and the download links. The rest is nothing but a massive ad for the free HolaVPN service. The emphasis is on the “free” aspect of the network.

Then, we downloaded and launched the Windows client. It’s not a client. It’s a glorified browser tab. So we uninstalled it. It is yet another tricky thing in HolaVPN that’s borderline fraudulent. Why bother with a false app when you can just develop a browser extension and make it available to the public?

The navigation is easy but not intuitive. For example, it starts with a list of services to unblock – not a list of countries to which you can connect. So, we just chose a random thing to unblock. After that, we were finally shown the country list.

The variety in the country list is impressive as it includes some rather exotic places. That’s useful for P2P networks but irrelevant for most users.

We would very much like to tell you now about the settings menu. But there are none. You can see the recent sites you’ve visited. There’s nothing else.

The only setting worth discussing is the language selection, which offers thirty languages. Unfortunately, we only speak about six languages and did not try them all, so we can’t attest to the accuracy of the translation of those 30 languages.

And this is where we will tell you the one good thing I can say about HolaVPN. It’s very user-friendly, and even newcomers to the VPN world will learn to use it quickly and easily – but they won’t be in the VPN world.

Hola VPN alternatives

1. ExpressVPN

This is the best VPN service provider on the market. It boasts a robust server network that avoids VPN bans and includes stealth surfing features to assist users in high Censorship countries like Russia and China. ExpressVPN also offers blazing-fast speeds across its over 3,000 servers globally.

Furthermore, this VPN provides advanced security and anonymity features such as a strict no-logs policy, AES 256-bit encryption, Lightway tunneling protocol, RAM-only servers, and an automatic kill switch.

In addition, it offers user-friendly apps for popular operating systems, including macOS, Android, routers, Windows, Android, Linux, games consoles, and iOS.

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2. Private Internet Access (PIA)

This VPN service has a large network, with over 28,000 servers in 84 countries. The servers provide reasonable and consistent speeds that are perfect for online gaming, streaming, and torrenting. Furthermore, the VPN offers dedicated servers for streaming.

PIA additionally provides top-tier security measures with the ability to customize settings. A reliable kill switch, split tunneling, and 2-way encryption of 128-bit and 256-bit ciphers are among its features. In addition, the service allows for an unlimited number of simultaneous connections from a single account and a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

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3. NordVPN

This VPN service is compatible with major operating services like iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, and macOS. In addition, it has reliable 24/7 customer support via a live chat feature, a searchable help library, and email.

It is a well-known VPN provider which boasts superfast speeds, top-notch security, and robust privacy. NordVPN offers an intuitive app interface with customizable server options. Also, the VPN service has a vast server network of over 5,500 servers in 59 countries globally.

Furthermore, it is one of the most secure VPN services, with features such as secure tunneling protocol, robust AES-256-bit encryption, RAM servers, kill switch, dark web monitoring, threat protection, and double VPN.

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Conclusion

You use a VPN to have extra protection for your anonymity, your security, and your privacy. Unfortunately, HolaVPN adds nothing and subtracts a lot.

Let’s be optimistic and give the best-case scenario: a VPN-like network allows you to access some blocked content. But, unfortunately, the other side of the coin is there too: it’s a risky network with no security or privacy features, which carries a history of misbehavior towards users.

Let’s put aside the lack of privacy issues for a moment. The speeds are outstanding, better than in any VPN (because it’s not a VPN), and the P2P nature of this beast will help you deal better with regional blocks.

But since the connection you’ll get depends on the other users in the network, whatever good behavior you can achieve in HolaVPN is inconsistent.

A VPN’s ability to unblock Netflix is essential for many users. Unfortunately, HolaVPN will not help with that.

So what we have is a P2P proxy network marketed, falsely, as a VPN that includes no encryption whatsoever; it doesn’t hide your IP address but merely assigns it to another user; it leaks your address everywhere; it collects too much data; it’s useless for streaming websites; it abuses your bandwidth; it does not allow torrents; it doesn’t work in China.

So, the verdict on HolaVPN is straightforward. I can’t recommend it as a VPN because it’s not one. As a P2P proxy service, the best I can say is that it’s speedy. But it’s suicidal to use it if your privacy and your safety are priorities.

The VPN industry offers many great options that will give you everything that HolaVPN does not (encryption, security, Netflix access, no logs kept, and many other features) at reasonable prices. Make a quick VPN comparison, and you will more likely agree with me.

If you adopt HolaVPN, you won’t be using it. However, it will use you and your resources on behalf of its paying customers. So when it comes to HolaVPN, the only word that comes to mind is “adiós.”

FAQs