Launched in 2012, Hola VPN is a well-known VPN provider based in Israel. Unlike most VPN providers, Hola VPN offers free services to help its loyal customers overcome Internet censorship. Having been installed over 189 million times, Hola VPN is one of the most popular Internet services for secure browsing and geo-unblocking.

Fun fact about Hola VPN – it is the first community-powered P2P VPN, where users help each other make the web accessible for all by sharing their idle resources. This unique VPN provider runs in a hybrid model – combining traditional VPN architecture and peer-to-peer technology.

What it is that makes Hola VPN that special for users to be tempted to download the app 189 million times? This Hola VPN review will look at the answers, but our ultimate conclusion is that you’re better off going with a provider from our Top 5 Cheap VPNs instead.

Features

Hola VPN isn’t packed with the traditional features we usually find in a VPN provider. That seems about right, given that Hola VPN is not a traditional VPN provider. Anyway, here are some of the features that Hola VPN offers:

• Connect 10 devices simultaneously.
• Browse from any country.
• Easy to install and use.
• Access to 30+ million IPs all around the world.
• Functional on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
• Supported on Apple TV, Smart TV, gaming console, and router.

Even though there are some good features, like allowing you to connect 10 devices simultaneously, Hola VPN lacks certain fundamental features. They have no kill switch feature, and there was no mention of the type of encryption method they use. Plus, they don’t support the use of torrents on their network. These are not quite the features that you would expect from a top VPN provider.

Servers & countries

Hola VPN fails to provide any concrete information about the countries where they have servers. On their website, they don’t disclose any information about the countries from which you can connect to their VPN servers.

The only information we were able to find is that users can browse from “any country.” In their FAQ section, they explain how users can change their GPS location with Hola VPN. Of course, this is not nearly enough to provide any conclusive proof of their server network and the countries they cover.

Speed & reliability

Once again, there was very little information on their website about the speed and stability of their VPN connection. In their FAQ section, they advise users to connect to the VPN server with the closest physical connection, but apart from that, they don’t disclose any information about whether or not they limit your bandwidth and speed. That’s very disappointing.

Pricing & payments

Hola VPN is free, but there are also paid plans. Obviously, the paid plans allow users to have access to bigger perks than the free version. There are five different pricing plans available:

• One-month: $11.95 per month.
• Six-months: $9 per month.
• One-year: $6.99 per month.
• Two-year: $3.99 per month.
• Three-year: $2.99 per month.

Their three-year plan offers the biggest savings, allowing users to save up to 75% by committing to this long-term subscription plan. That is a long commitment, especially for a VPN with their unusual business model.

Payments can be made via PayPal, Credit Cards, AliPay, GiroPay, and others.

Support

There are a couple of ways you can reach Hola VPN’s support team. Additionally, there is a wide range of useful content that is found on their website. The customer support found on Hola VPN’s website can be divided into the following categories:

• Blog
• FAQ
• Report abuse
• Press kit
• Contact us
• General troubleshooting

Unfortunately, there isn’t a live chat feature. That means that if you want to contact their support them, you’ll have to do it in an old-fashioned way, by contacting their email support. While we liked their customer support, content-wise, we can’t say the same for their accessibility, as there isn’t an easy way to contact their support team.

Policies & logging

A top VPN provider is expected to offer iron-clad customer protection policies. Let’s see how Hola VPN protects its customers:

• Privacy policy: The company claims that it does collect personal data, including your IP address, location, name, email address, payment and billing information, and more. The company will use this information to set up your account, provide you with support, communicate with you for updates, offer marketing promotions, and conduct analytical research. They also use cookies as well as other tracking technologies like beacons and pixels to customize your use of their website.
• Security and confidentiality: Hola VPN claims to use industry-standard information, security tools, and measures, to prevent information misuse and data leakage. Their employees are supposedly subject to confidentiality obligations, meaning that the company uses measures and procedures which reduce the risk of data misuse. However, the company can’t guarantee that their systems will remain absolutely safe.
• Refund policy: We couldn’t find a refund policy on their website, even though they state that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. We contacted their customer support through email to ask them about their refund policy, and 15-hours later we received a response.

Furthermore, Hola VPN states that the company may disclose your personal information to their trusted third-party service providers or partners. All in all, without a no-logging policy and with a weak privacy policy, Hola VPN can’t compete against the top No-Log VPN providers in the industry.

Expert recommendation

Creating this Hola VPN review was tricky. We tried to give this provider leeway given their popularity, but our strict professionalism doesn’t allow us to recommend them for any kind of online activity:

• They don’t support torrenting, even though their free VPN plans work on a P2P model.
• There is a lack of fundamental information about their features, the physical location of their servers, and the speed and stability of the VPN connection that they provide.
• They don’t have a no-logging policy, and their privacy policy is filled with loopholes.
• They monitor your logs and keep your personal data with the possibility of your personal information being shared to third-parties.

In other words, choosing Hola VPN as your VPN provider would basically mean you’re shooting in the dark. There is no conclusive information on their website that would describe the nature of their VPN services, thus, we’re unable to give any positive recommendations.

Overall, Hola VPN looks average at best, and we can’t recommend their services to you. If you want to indulge in safe, anonymous, and secure online browsing, we recommend that you check out our reviews of other top VPN providers.