Hola Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Reduced Speeds on Distant Servers

Hola’s speed is one of the few outstanding benefits it offers to its customers. The UK server had the fastest internet speed, while the US was second. Next, I tested France and Australia servers, and both yielded very satisfactory results.

While it’s inevitable that a VPN will slow down your connection, Hola makes it as minimal as possible. In other words, Hola’s speed is without question one of the fastest VPN services available today.

Speed Test Results

Hola delivers the best speeds if you opt for servers closest to your location. Before testing out Hola servers, I gauged the base speed of my ISP and it read 64.74 Mbps. If you are located in Western Europe or North America, using a VPN may not even be noticeable because speeds average just a few Mbps less than base speeds.

When I connected to the US server — which is the closest to my location — the download speed declined by just 29% at 45.33 Mbps. The UK server performed better at a download speed level of 49.16 Mbps. My experience with the France server was quite similar, with just a 34% slowdown in speed.

Despite the fact that long-distance connections tend to be more resource-intensive than their localized counterparts, Hola provides excellent performance. A 64.74Mbps east coast US connection dropped to 39.89Mbps over an Australian server, a difference only noticeable during very heavy downloads.

On the other hand, Hola’s free version doesn’t offer reliable enough speeds to make browsing enjoyable. I experienced an average dip of 81% while connected to servers in the US, UK, France, and Australia. So, you should stick with Hola’s premium and ultra subscription plans if you want a VPN with faster and more stable speeds.

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Server Network — A Unique P2P Server Infrastructure

Hola is not a traditional VPN, rather it operates as a peer-to-peer network of more than 1,500 servers spread across 195 countries. This means you have access to servers in almost every country around the world, but that also means that your device’s resources may be used by others.

You may upgrade to either the Premium or Ultra version if you do not wish to be used as a peer. That way you’ll gain access to Hola’s hybrid network of peers and a dedicated VPN server infrastructure for more stable connections and higher speeds.

Hola took around 10-15 seconds to connect to each of the servers I tested. While this is a longer wait than most other VPNs I’ve tested, it’s still a reasonably short time to wait. Disappointingly, its manual servers don’t show you an exact city-level location, so you can’t immediately choose the closest one to you — which will potentially further increase your wait times.

Hola’s standard server list mostly comprises countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. I couldn’t locate servers in Africa or the Middle East.

Security — Does Not Encrypt User Traffic on Free Plans

Hola’s P2P infrastructure undermines security. The provider’s free plan works by redirecting your internet traffic through the devices of other users. Thus, traffic from your computer may pass through the devices of other users and vice versa.

The following are some of Hola’s most important safety features:

• Strong traffic encryption – The company uses AES 256-bit encryption to protect its premium users’ data but does not provide encryption to its free users. When I installed Hola, I was prompted with a message box that alerted me of the lack of encryption if I use the free service. There is also an option for Windows users to choose between AES 128, AES 192, or DES3 encryption.
• Regular connection protocols – Premium users can choose between IKEv2/IPsec and PPTP/L2TP protocols. No information is available on which protocols are accessible to free users.
• Auto-connect – The Auto-connect settings ensure all of your internet traffic is encrypted from the moment you turn on your device.
• App kill switch – The app kill switch shuts down specific apps when the VPN stops working. The feature is limited to Windows users.

Considering the free version’s limited features, it may be worth purchasing the paid version if you’re interested in taking advantage of additional features. But then, I don’t think these security integrations are sophisticated enough to keep users safe as exclusively as ExpressVPN which maintains solid encryptions even on free plans and features an automatic kill switch as well as a functional adblocker.

One of the snags associated with Hola’s P2P infrastructure is the possibility of other people intercepting your data or visiting illegal websites using the same IP address as you. This situation could get you into trouble even if you didn’t do anything illegal yourself. However, I was pleased that Hola did not expose my real IP to the open internet when I conducted IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests. Similarly, the results were positive on all tested premium servers.

Hola also has a history that might trigger suspicions. The service faced a DDoS attack in 2015 after operating as a botnet, which is a network of computers used to execute illicit activities without the knowledge of their original users. Although this played out years ago, I’m yet to detect significant security improvements since then.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Privacy — Retains Data

Your personal information is made available to the virtual private network provider when you create a free Hola account. Hola collects a variety of information, including the IP address assigned to you by your local internet service provider. This alone is a serious violation of internet privacy. Moreover, this provider monitors and records all of the pages and websites you visit while connected to the VPN.

You should also be aware that the time and date of your visit to a website will also be recorded. The time spent viewing and accessing a certain webpage will also be recorded. As if that was not enough, I discovered that Hola also records the browser type and applications installed in your local computer system. VPN service providers or hackers may be able to track your internet browsing habits and patterns based on these logged data.

A Google Play Store account for Hola VPN was reportedly compromised by hackers on July 9th, resulting in the exposure of private client information. Reports indicate that a fake Hola VPN version was uploaded to the app store, leaving MyEtherWallet users vulnerable for a few hours before it was removed. There is yet another reason to be cautious with this provider.

Hola has its headquarters located in Israel. Although Israel isn’t a member of the 14 Eyes Alliance, it is a partner of the allegiance. The 14 Eyes is an allegiance of nations that keep surveillance over internet use in their jurisdictions for security purposes and since Hola is resident in one of the affiliated jurisdictions, I have my doubts about its privacy policy.

Hola made it clear in its privacy statement that it retains your data for as long as the service deems necessary. This might upset a lot of privacy-focused users, and it didn’t sit well with me either. I do not recommend Hola to persons that would rather remain anonymous while using a VPN as it has a very poor privacy arrangement. I would only use Hola if an independent auditory body confirms its privacy to be safe like ExpressVPN.

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Torrenting — Unsupported

Hola blocks BitTorrent protocol traffic on its network, meaning you can’t download content from any torrent site or use software like Popcorn Time. This is likely for the best due to Hola’s lack of logging protections, user privacy, and encryption on its free plan. Hola is also clear about not permitting the distribution of peer-to-peer files with its service as seen on the website.

Does Hola Work in China? No!

Due to Hola functioning as a peer-to-peer proxy service, the possibility of it breaking through the solid wall of internet censorship in China is too slim. Hola customer service confirmed as well that their service can’t be used in China.

VPNs that can break this wall must have top-level encryptions and the ability to hold access without implicating the original IP addresses of users; sadly, Hola is yet to offer this level of encryption. You would have to opt for a VPN like ExpressVPN which a proven ability to unblock geo-restricted firewalls.

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Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Customer support is mostly prioritized for users that have gotten a premium plan and not for free users. Hola offers a live chat service that is available 24/7 to respond to your inquiries. Alternatively, you can submit a request through the website’s support system if you have more detailed questions.

While these inquiries may take longer to answer, they can provide more helpful information when it comes to resolving complex problems. When I inquired about how to scale my connection speeds with the service, I was pleased to receive a response in less than 1 hour.

Alongside ticket submission, Hola maintains a FAQ/knowledge base. This page is the only real option for free users that have inquiries. Unfortunately, there is little information in the knowledge base about the service and its features.

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