PrivateVPN and Hola At a Glance
PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN’s comprehensive online security and privacy protection makes it a good choice for those looking for solid online protection. However, its global server coverage and multi-platform app support could stand some improvement.
Hola
Hola provides reliable, well-protected, and fast connections. However, some of Hola’s “protective features” are less than private. The provider’s free VPN services make your computer part of a network of other free Hola users, while sharing your spare bandwidth with the network.
Choosing a VPN
When you’re deciding which VPN provider is best for your unique needs, always carefully consider each VPN provider’s features, as well as its performance in each VPN service arena.
By the time you reach the end of this article, you should have more than enough information to allow you to make an informed VPN buying decision.
Features of PrivateVPN and Hola
I’ll be investigating two VPN providers, PrivateVPN and Hola. I’ll compare their performance in each important VPN service category, add up the scores, and name an overall champion.
Connection Speeds
What’s your favorite online pastime? No matter what your favorite online activity, a fast internet connection is your friend.
I run VPN connection speed tests on a regular basis. The tests are performed as follows:
- Tests are performed on a North American Windows server with a gigabit Ethernet connection.
- I connect to three different VPN server locations – London, New York City, and Hong Kong – at three different times of the day.
- The Windows version of the VPN apps are used, connections are made using the Wireguard protocol when it is available.
- Using the Speedtest app, I measure both VPN download speeds after connecting to each VPN server location. I restart the app between each test.
While both providers delivered bandwidth sufficient for most online activities, one provider delivered download speeds nearly five times faster than its challenger.
PrivateVPN’s average download speeds were 38.4 Mbps.
Hola delivered impressive average download speeds, clocking in at 186.7 Mbps.
Keep in mind that your connection speed test results will likely differ from what I saw. VPN connection speeds will depend on your unprotected connection speeds, where you connect from, and the location of the VPN server you connect to.
Average Connection Speed Winner: Hola
| Provider | Avg. Connection Speed | Link |
| Hola | 186.7 Mbps | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 38.4 Mbps | Visit Site |
Pricing
Prices are on the rise and there is no end in sight. This means that many of us are looking to save money whenever we can. However, you should not automatically opt for an uber-cheap or free VPN provider, as they often don’t provide comprehensive VPN protection.
PrivateVPN’s monthly fee equals about the same price as a large fountain drink at your convenience store when you opt for a three-year subscription. The provider offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Hola is more expensive than PrivateVPN. When you opt for a one-year commitment, you’ll pay about the price of a cheeseburger combo at your favorite fast food joint.
Hola also offers a free tier of VPN service. However, this is where most of my privacy and security concerns lie. We’ll discuss that a bit later.
I never publish exact VPN pricing in my articles, as providers change their prices on a regular basis, while also offering special deals. Check the VPN providers’ websites for current pricing information.
Pricing Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | Money-Back Guarantee Period | Link |
| PrivateVPN | 30 Days | Visit Site |
| Hola | 30 Days | Visit Site
Read Review |
Privacy
Don’t go online without using a VPN. Without a VPN, you’ll leave behind evidence of your online activities. A VPN’s privacy features keep your online antics undercover.
A VPN encases your internet connection in a tunnel of encryption. This prevents your ISP from tracking and logging your online activities, all it sees is your encrypted VPN connection. A quality VPN provider will not log your online travels.
Consider the following when concerning a VPN’s privacy protections:
- Is the provider in a privacy-friendly country?
- Does the provider save user activity logs on its servers?
- Does the provider accept cryptocurrency as payment?
Sweden-based provider PrivateVPN saves absolutely no user logs and also accepts cryptocurrency to protect your payment privacy.
Hola is based in Israel, which, while not a member of the Five Eyes alliance, does share information with alliance members (including the United States and the United Kingdom). Hola logs a good bit of information when you’re using its servers. This includes your IP address, your operating system and browser information, the web pages you visit, the amount of time you spend on those pages, and your access dates and times. Hola does not accept cryptocurrency.
Hola’s free VPN service is even less private, as it routes your data through other Hola users’ computers, also sharing your “spare” bandwidth with other users. While it’s true that paid users can opt-out of being a Hola node, that should be an “opt-in” feature.
Privacy Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | Privacy Ranking | Site |
| Hola | 3.5 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
Online Security
A VPN encases your internet connection in a tunnel of encryption, while also temporarily assigning a different IP address to your connected device. This means your online travels are hidden from your ISP and your real IP address is also hidden.
PrivateVPN protects your connection with banking-grade encryption and kill switch protection. The provider uses multiple connection protocols, including WireGuard, OpenVPN over UDP/TCP, L2TP/IPSec, IPSec, PPTP, and IKEv2. The provider also offers a “Stealth VPN” feature that hides your VPN activity by disguising it as normal browsing traffic.
While Hola also protects its customers’ connection with banking-grade encryption, it offers only two connection protocols, the IKEv2 or L2TP/IPSec. The provider also lacks kill switch or DNS leak protection, although it does offer port forwarding and split tunneling.
Also, the provider routes your data through a network of volunteer nodes, making it a security and privacy threat.
Online Security Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | Overall Security Score | Link |
| Hola | 4.0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
Simultaneous Connections
Many of us own more than one internet-capable device and use those multiple devices simultaneously. This is what makes a VPN provider’s simultaneous connections allowance an important consideration.
Hola allows users to connect up to 10 devices at one time.
PrivateVPN also allows users to simultaneously connect up to 10 devices.
Simultaneous Connections Winner: It’s a tie
| Provider | Simultaneous Connections Allowed | Link |
| Hola | 10 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 10 | Visit Site |
Streaming Support
Many of us subscribe to multiple streaming services. Unfortunately, no matter which streaming services you subscribe to, you’re not getting everything you could be from those subscriptions. This is because streaming services put geographically-based restrictions on their content.
Luckily, a VPN can help you access geo-controlled streaming content whose viewing is restricted to other countries. A VPN has the ability to do this, because it temporarily assigns a different IP address to your connected device. This makes it appear that you and your device are not in your actual location, but instead it appears as if you are located in another part of the globe.
During testing, PrivateVPN provided reliable access to numerous streaming services, including the US and UK flavors of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and many other streaming services.
Meanwhile, Hola was unable to provide access to any other streaming services.
Streaming Support Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks | # of International Services VPN Unblocks | Link |
| Hola | 0 | 0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 9+ | 5+ | Visit Site |
BitTorrent Support
BitTorrent is an efficient method of sharing files with other online users. While file sharing is legal in most countries (and is used by legitimate organizations to share files among employees), it is illegal to share copyrighted files, including movies, music, and e-books.
This has led the entertainment industry to put pressure on Internet Service Providers to block file sharing. This means ISPs will throttle or block their users’ internet connections if they catch them engaging in file sharing activity, even if it’s legal file sharing.
A VPN prevents your file sharing from being exposed to your ISP, as it encrypts your internet connection, keeping your file sharing undercover. A VPN also temporarily assigns a fresh IP address to your connected device, which prevents anyone from connecting your online activities back to your real IP address.
PrivateVPN allows BitTorrenting activity on its network. However, it recommends connecting to its servers located in Sweden when sharing files.
Hola does not allow torrenting activity on any of its servers.
BitTorrenting Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents | Link |
| Hola | None | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | All of them | Visit Site |
Global Server Coverage
A VPN can provide access to geo-fenced content from around the globe. This means that the larger a provider’s global server network, the better access you should have to content in other countries. It is also beneficial to find a provider with multiple servers stationed in each country, as this helps to ensure that a single server won’t be overloaded by being hit with too many users at once.
Hola says it has servers in more than 190 countries. However, the provider uses a peer-to-peer network of users’ computers and does not publish actual server numbers.
PrivateVPN has 200+ servers located in more than 63 countries.
Global Server Coverage Winner: Hola
| Provider | Server Count | Countries | Link |
| Hola | ? | 190+? | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 200+ | 63+ | Visit Site |
Multi-Platform Support
If you own multiple connected devices, each one likely runs a different operating system. This makes it important to carefully consider a VPN provider’s native app support.
PrivateVPN’s app support is limited, providing app support for only iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows device platforms. It also does not offer any browser extensions. The VPN can be manually set up to be used with Linux devices and select routers. (Pre-configured routers are available through Flashrouters.com.)
Hola’s app support is a bit better than PrivateVPN, offering apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Huawei, and Amazon Fire TV device platforms. Browser extensions are available for the Chrome, Edge, and Opera browser platforms. Hola is compatible with only the Keenetic Ultra router.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: Hola
| Provider | Platforms Supported | Browser Extensions? | Router Support? |
Link |
| Hola | 6 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Opera) | One router make and model. | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 5 | No | Yes – Manual setup. | Visit Site |
Customer Support
Both PrivateVPN and Hola offer reliable easy-to-use VPN services. However, you may still occasionally have a question.
Hola customer support options include FAQs, a searchable support library, setup guides, email support, and a contact us form.
PrivateVPN offers a live messaging option (to which they reply fairly quickly), email support, and a non-searchable FAQ and “getting started” section. The provider also offers free remote help and installation, which is a bit unusual.
Customer Support Winner: PrivateVPN
| Provider | Customer Support Rating | Link |
| Hola | 4.0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| PrivateVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
And The Winner Is…
Both Hola and PrivateVPN provide comprehensive, reliable VPN services. However, one of the VPNs performed better than its competitor.
PrivateVPN is the overall victor, due to its performance in the Pricing, Privacy, Online Security Streaming, BitTorrent, and Customer Support categories.
Hola won in the Connection Speeds, Multi-Platform Support, and Global Server Coverage arenas.
The providers tied in the Simultaneous Connections category.
For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit PrivateVPN.
