Fact-tested by Himanshu SharmaAre you looking for the Hola VPN Review in detail? You are at right place. Here is a complete Hola VPN Review.
Is really Hola VPN trustworthy? Is Hola VPN safe and secure? Can Hola VPN unblock the streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer etc? Is Hola VPN best over all other VPN’s? You will get answers of all the questions in this guide.
I am sure you all know that why vpn is used. A VPN can protect you from cyber-attacks. VPN makes your IP unique. You can access the blocked content or websites using the VPN. We have tested all the VPNs but found Hola VPN very secure and fast.
Hola VPN comes with a few impressive features, some of which include, Peer-to-peer VPN, Uninterrupted web browsing, Community powered VPN and it Enables users to share their bandwidth.
How Safe Is Hola VPN?
The most eye-catching reason and one of the biggest factor attracting consumers is the fact that Hola VPN is available for free.
All you are required to do is simply download Hola VPN browser extensions or the app and you will be ready for joining the network.
You might be thinking the catch here is.
The major flag here is the fact that this VPN uses your bandwidth for the purpose of processing power for routing some of the traffic. In easy words, what this means is that when you use Hola VPN, you will be making your internet connection available for other users.
Hola VPN states it very clearly that this sharing does not mean that other users would be able to access any of your data or your system.
But, if you are still not comfortable with the thought of making your connection available to complete strangers, you can eliminate this by paying a premium which will ley you stay out of the network sharing web.
What You Must Know Before Paying Premium To Hola VPN
However, if you are going to buy a VPN, then you must know there are better options available to you which provide far better services.
So, if you are to spend your money, then it is recommended that you properly explore all the possible options and then select the one that not only provides you better services and more features but is also worth the money being spent.
Popular Claims
Now that we are familiar with what a VPN is needed for, we must evaluate whether our VPN is serving the purpose that it is supposed to.
While there are claims that Hola VPN helps in protecting privacy, it is also popularly said that the main focus is not on privacy but on unblocking inaccessible websites.
Is It Advisable For Businesses To Use Hola VPN?
Since this is a serious question which must be satisfied in every way before choosing an option, we absolutely will not beat around the bush on this question. The straightforward answer here is NO.
Hola VPN is definitely not a recommendable option for use in businesses. It is understandable that since it is free of cost, you are more inclined towards saving your money.
However, you have to realize what you are putting at stake here. You are risking the safety and security of your business data.
Why Not Hola VPN For Your Business
The first reason is that Hola VPN has no business-friendly features. It does not have a control panel for managing accounts. It does not provide centralized billing, and it also does not provide your IT team to control the security of your company.
Since you cannot keep a track, all you are doing is hoping that it is working but you can never be sure of its proper working.
Moreover, there is nothing much that is offered in the advanced security option either.
The most needed features for proper security such as, two factor authentication and kill switches are not present, making it very less likely option for any company prioritizing their security.
The Positives Of Hola VPN
While it is not a particularly feature-rich service, it has many merits. For providing services to the users without any charge it works well and is definitely worth giving a try.
It is a very good choice for those users who are choosing a VPN for the first time and not sure if getting a VPN is worth spending money or not.
Unblocking Any Blocked Service
Hola performs exceptionally in the process of unblocking any of the regionally-blocked web services or websites, even though it isn’t successful everytime. For example, Hola was successful in unblocking the US- locked Comedy Central from Europe.
However, it was not able to crack open the Netflix in the United States when it tried to access it from overseas as Netflix works very well in detecting all the VPNs.
No Need To Login Data
A very good thing about Hola is that it does not require any user to login in their personal information or any information about their browsing activities while using it.
Good Speed
Hola VPN comes under the list of the VPNs having very good speed. The plus point here is that it is very rare to find a free VPN with such good speed at its work.
Hola has been able to provide some of the fastest speed/ connections among all the VPNs available.
The Not-So-Good Of Hola VPN
Not Really Good For Anonymity
Hola is not very good at keeping things anonymous or at maintaining privacy when compared with other VPNs.
When tested it was found out that in many cases the ISP as well as the real IP address was leaked or traced which makes using it risky.
Therefore, choosing this VPN is not very safe when online anonymity is the main consideration of any user.
Concerns Of User Policy
It has been found out that Hola has sold users’ bandwidth to other parties including spammers. This could lead to other people having access to the user’s internet connection which is supplied by Hola company as a part of peer-to-peer bandwidth sharing.
By having access to any user’s connection the third party may use it to access some illegal sites or for conducting spam attacks on some sites.
Hola in its terms and conditions have mentioned that there would be a check on any kind of illegal activity done through this VPN.
It was further stated that in the above mentioned cases the perpetrator’s IP address would be taken instead of the innocent Hola user whose connection has been hijacked by the third party.
But just stating this could not ensure safety and privacy and thus the users are going to doubt after knowing about the selling of bandwidth, if it’s safe to use Hola VPN.
How Does a Hola VPN Work?
There are various technologies used by Hola.
The standard data center proxy server is where all the users are connected to using IKEv2 or https proxy. When the proxy server receives a request, it sends the user to one of the 3 given pathways:
- To the proxy, directly
- Directed to another data center, internally
- Sent to P2P network
There is an internal algorithm which decides the most reliable, efficient, as well as cost effective path. This is decided based on the need of the consumer.
Hola VPN makes use of P2P technology.
But P2P might not always be the right option for accessing sites all the time. It would not be helpful in case we are trying to reach sites like iplocation.
Prices Of Hola VPN Plan
Most of the Hola VPN users prefer to choose the free services plan because of some downsides associated with this VPN.
Other paid premium plans of Hola VPN range between $5 for one month to $45 for one year.
However, in case the users are willing to spend around $45 for getting premium services of a VPN, it’s advisable to spend that money on better VPNs like NordVPN or ExpressVPN as they provide much better services and are completely safe to use.
Conclusion
Hola VPN, like all VPN services, is the product that routes all users’ internet traffic through a remote server run for customer’s good convenience. What attracts most customers is the fact that Hola VPN is available free of cost.
Hola VPN is praised for its P2P feature, however after investigating the major internal working processes of Hola VPN services, we can say that it is not the best option available at your hand. It should definitely not be used by any business organization.
If you take the safety and security of your data very seriously the this might not be the right option for you, especially not the free version.
But if you are going to spend your money on paying the premium, you might as well want to take some time to discover other options which provide better services at the same price.
It is recommended that you invest in some better VPN services such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN famously known for their strong features and their enormous network services.