Hola VPN is a free Virtual Private Network that advertises itself as the first community-powered peer-to-peer VPN service on the market. It claims to provide ad-free access to blocked content without disclosing your identity and internet activity.
To verify this claim and see what Hola VPN offers, we put it to a series of tests and share our findings here. We started by analyzing the VPN’s privacy policy and how it handles your data and web activities. We also tested its unblocking capabilities and conducted DNS leak tests to see if it’s safe to use.
Overview: Our Key Findings
Hola VPN was launched in 2012 and quickly garnered attention in the VPN space. From a humble beginning of 80 downloads per day, the number soon rose to 40,000 downloads per day by January 2013. As per the official website, Hola VPN is now used by more than 242 million people around the globe.
Hola VPN offers both a free and paid-for VPN service; however, we will focus on the free Hola VPN Chrome extension. Cybersecurity experts have been critical of the VPN, and they have plenty of reasons for it. Here's an overview of our findings:
- Completely Free Service: Hola VPN offers a 100% free service without ads.
- Community-Powered VPN: It’s a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) VPN service that shares your IP and bandwidth with other users. While the company prides itself on this model, we're not sure it’s a good thing.
- Doesn’t Support Torrents: Hola VPN doesn’t allow the use of torrents apps and blocks all torrents traffic on its network.
- Subpar Security: The VPN doesn’t have a kill switch, IP leak protection, or standard encryption. It also keeps logs and offers no extra security features.
- The VPN Chrome Extension Doesn’t Work: Google blocked the Hola VPN Chrome extension from its Web Store in September 2021, alleging that it contained malware.
Does the Hola VPN Chrome Extension Still Work?
Hola VPN is one of the Chrome extensions we've advised against installing. Sure enough, on 14 September 2021, Google blocked the Hola Chrome extension over allegations of containing malware. This means the extension is now removed from Chrome, and new users can no longer download it.
The extension also won’t work for users who have already installed it on their Chrome browser. It still appears under the “Manage Extensions” tab, but users can’t actually use it. Hola refutes Chrome’s allegations and hopes to resolve the matter soon.
Contrary to what Hola claims on its website, we couldn’t find the extension in the Firefox add-ons store. It was probably taken down the same time Google blocked the extension from the Chrome Web Store. Although the Microsoft Edge and Opera browsers still support the Hola VPN extension, privacy concerns make it highly undesirable.
Why Should You Avoid Hola VPN?
Google Chrome removing the extension isn't the only concerning thing. Hola VPN uses a P2P system, which allows users to share their IP and bandwidth with one another. This not only slows down your connection but also leaves your IP address open for others to use in illegal online activities.
Hola VPN doesn’t have a kill switch or DNS leak protection, so anyone with a little tech knowledge can intercept your online communications. Hola also has a track record of putting its users at risk on several occasions. In 2018, a popular service for generating crypto wallets, MyEtherWallet, claimed that users who accessed the service using Hola VPN were at risk of a cybersecurity hack.
There are several other controversies surrounding Hola VPN, and many experts advise against using this service.
Security: Lacks Key Features for Protection
When using Hola VPN, users’ web traffic is routed through other nodes (devices) to get around geo-blocks. This means that other users can use your IP address and perform online activities as they please.
The Hola VPN extension doesn’t have a kill switch, which means your IP address would be exposed if you suddenly lose the VPN connection. It lacks encryption and offers unreliable IP leak protection. I tested it several times for IP leaks and got mixed results.
Privacy Policy: Overly-Invasive Logging Policy
Hola VPN is based in Israel, which isn’t a member of the Five, Nine, or 14-Eyes Alliance countries. However, the VPN itself offers little consideration to users’ privacy. It openly admits to collecting information about users using its free VPN version. There are various reasons we advise you avoid VPNs that log your activities; Hola VPN has one of the most privacy-unfriendly policies I’ve come across and logs data, such as:
- Your real IP address, name, and email address.
- Billing and payment information.
- The websites you visit.
- The access time and date.
- The applications installed on your device.
- Your profile picture, birthdate, and friends list, if you register via a social network.
Hola VPN likely shares this information with third parties for a fee to keep the free service afloat. This is one of the main reasons we advise our readers to avoid this service.
Streaming and Torrenting: Unreliable
Since the Chrome VPN extension is blocked, we couldn’t test whether it can unblock streaming platforms. We tried to access the US Netflix library using the Opera add-on and succeeded after a few failed attempts.
Hola VPN blocks torrenting and P2P traffic on the network. But even if you could use torrents apps, I’d strongly advise against it due to the frightening logging policy.
Is the Hola VPN Extension Fast?
Unlike most free VPN services, Hola VPN doesn't take a performance hit in terms of speed. We tested our internet speeds on several servers and didn't notice any significant speed drop using the Hola VPN Edge extension. We were able to seamlessly browse normal websites and stream HD content without lags. Here are the full test results.
Internet Speed Before Connecting to Hola VPN
- Ping: 38 ms
- Download Speed: 38.16 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 38.08 Mbps
Internet Speed After Connecting to Hola VPN
- Ping: 38 ms
- Download Speed: 38.34 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 28.28 Mbps
As you can see, the Hola VPN extension doesn't seem to have any significant slowing effect on the internet speeds.
Customer Support: Almost Non-Existent
Hola VPN offers an FAQ section and basic customer support on its website. In the FAQ section, you’ll find answers to a number of questions; however, most of them are more like disclaimers rather than genuine help.
You won’t find any live chat support as expected from a free service. If you want to contact the service, you’ll have to use the email address provided on the website. However, be prepared for prolonged delays before they get back to you.
Avoid Using Hola VPN
Hola VPN is fairly fast and useful in bypassing website blocks. It’s free and doesn’t use ads, which sounds tempting, but beware!
It uses a P2P system that shares your bandwidth with other users. The service also has one of the most intrusive logging policies and stores all sorts of users’ information. It is limited in terms of security features and offers shaky Netflix access. If you want better security and peace of mind, check out our free alternatives to Hola VPN for Chrome.