IPVanish and Hola – At a Glance
IPVanish
IPVanish is a well-established provider that delivers fast, well-protected connections. The provider’s large global server network provides access to international content. While P2P file sharing is allowed on the provider’s server network, its streaming support could stand some improvement.
Hola
While Hola provides reliable VPN protection with fast connections to many locations around the globe, some of the provider’s services could be best termed “less than private.” The provider offers free VPN services. Unfortunately, the free VPN service is a bit concerning, as your computer becomes part of a network of other free Hola users, sharing your spare bandwidth with the network.
Choosing a VPN
When you’re making a VPN buying decision, carefully consider the VPN provider’s features and their performance in each VPN service category.
By the end of this article, you should have more than enough information to make an informed VPN buying decision.
Features of IPVanish and Hola
We’ll be comparing two well-established VPN providers, IPVanish and Hola, in each important VPN service category. I will tally up the scores, and then name an overall winner.
Connection Speeds
A fast internet connection is your friend and makes almost any online activity more enjoyable.
I perform VPN connection speed tests on a regular basis.
The connection speed tests are performed as follows:
- Connection speed tests are performed on a North America-located Windows server with a fast gigabit Ethernet connection.
- I connect to three VPN servers – located in London, New York City, and Hong Kong – at three different times of the day.
- Using the Windows version of the VPN apps, I configure them to connect using the Wireguard protocol when it is an option.
- I use the Speedtest app to conduct the download speed tests after connecting to each VPN server location. The app is restarted between each test.
Both providers delivered fast connections. However, one provider outperformed its competitor by a good margin.
IPVanish’s average download speeds came in at an impressive 251.6 Mbps.
Hola also delivered impressive average download speeds, coming in at 186.7 Mbps in testing.
You’ll almost definitely see different connection speeds than what I saw, as your download speeds depend on your unprotected connection speeds, your location, and the location of the VPN server you’re connected to.
Average Connection Speed Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Avg. Connection Speed | Link |
| Hola | 186.7 Mbps | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 251.6 Mbps | Visit Site |
Pricing
Inflation is running rampant. This means there is certainly no reason why we all shouldn’t try to save a few bucks whenever we can. However, be careful when considering ultra-cheap and free VPNs, as you’ll find that they often lack the protection and features you need.
IPVanish is a reasonably-priced VPN. A monthly subscription will run you a bit less than the average price of a gallon of gas in California (when you subscribe for one year). IPVanish offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and a free seven-day trial is available when you subscribe from the iOS and Android apps.
Hola is just a little bit more expensive. If you opt for a one-year commitment, you’ll pay about three bucks per month more than what you’d pay for a month of IPVanish’s services.
Hola offers a free level of VPN service. However, I cannot recommend the free tier of service, as this is where most of my privacy and security concerns lie. We’ll discuss that just a bit later.
I do not post exact VPN pricing in my articles, as VPNs change their pricing and also run sale events on a regular basis. Check either VPN provider’s website for their current pricing.
Pricing Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Money-Back Guarantee Period | Link |
| IPVanish | 30 Days, 7 Days free trial on iOS and Android Signups | Visit Site |
| Hola | 30 Days | Visit Site
Read Review |
Privacy
You should never go online without using a VPN. Otherwise, you leave behind evidence tied to your online antics. You should always take advantage of a VPN’s privacy features, which keeps your online antics incognito.
Always consider the following points when weighing 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?
IPVanish is based in the United States, which isn’t exactly the most privacy-respecting country around, the provider follows a strict “no logs” policy. Unfortunately, the provider does not accept cryptocurrency in return for its services.
Hola is located in Israel. While Israel is not a member of the Five Eyes alliance, it does share information with alliance countries. Hola logs some concerning information when you’re connected to its servers, including IP address, operating system, browser type, web pages visited, time spent on those pages, and access times and dates. Hola also does not accept cryptocurrency as payment.
Hola’s free VPN service routes your data through other users’ computers, while sharing your “spare” bandwidth with other users. This is where the privacy risk I mentioned above comes in. Paid Hola users can opt-out of being a node. Participating should not be an “opt-out” feature.
Privacy Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Privacy Ranking | Site |
| Hola | 3.5 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 4.5 | Visit Site |
Online Security
A VPN hides your activities, ensuring that you won’t be tracked while you’re online. A VPN both encrypts your internet connection and temporarily assigns a fresh IP address to your connected device. This hides your online travels in an encrypted tunnel, while also hiding your real IP address.
IPVanish encrypts its users’ connections with banking-grade encryption, while also offering kill switch protection, as well as IPv6 leak and DNS leak prevention. WireGuard, OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP/IPSec connection protocols are used here. A proprietary “scramble” option disguises VPN traffic as normal internet activity.
Hola also protects its customers’ connection with banking-grade encryption, but offers only the IKEv2 or L2TP/IPSec connection protocols in place of more modern and secure protocols. The provider does not offer kill switch protection or DNS leak prevention. It also offers port forwarding and split tunneling. “Routing your data through a network of volunteer nodes” is a security and privacy threat, so there’s that.
Security Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Overall Security Score | Link |
| Hola | 4.0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 5.0 | Visit Site |
Simultaneous Connections
I own more than one connected device and I’ll bet you do too. Plus, you also likely use more than one of those devices at once. This is why a VPN provider with a large simultaneous connections allowance is an asset.
Hola’s Premium VPN plan allows up to 10 devices to be connected to Hola servers at once.
IPVanish puts no limits on simultaneous connections to its servers.
Simultaneous Connections Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Simultaneous Connections Allowed | Link |
| Hola | 10 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | Unlimited | Visit Site |
Streaming Support
No matter your taste in films or music, it’s likely that you’ll find a streaming service you’ll enjoy. Unfortunately, no matter which streaming services you subscribe to, you’re not getting all that you could be from your subscriptions. This is due to the geographic restrictions streaming services put on their content.
A VPN temporarily assigns a different IP address to your connected device, making it appear to everyone on the internet that you and your device are connecting from another country. This allows you to access geo-fenced content you might not normally have access to.
IPVanish has a limited ability to unblock streaming providers. While I was able to reliably access Netflix and HBO Max content via the U.S.-based IPVanish servers, the provider failed when I attempted to connect to a UK server and view content from streamers in that country.
Meanwhile, Hola could not reliably access Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, or other streaming services.
Streaming Support Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks | # of International Services VPN Unblocks | Link |
| Hola | 0 | 0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 2 | 0 | Visit Site |
BitTorrent Support
BitTorrent is one of the best ways available to share files with a large number of online users. Even though file sharing is legal in most countries – legitimate organizations often use P2P to share files and documents – it is illegal to share copyrighted files, including movies, music, and e-books.
This means the movie and music industries put pressure on ISPs to block file sharing, meaning ISPs will immediately throttle or block their users’ internet connections if they detect any kind of P2P activity.
A VPN encrypts your internet connection, keeping your online activities hidden. It also temporarily assigns a different IP address to your connected device. This all prevents anyone from tracking your online antics back to your real IP address.
IPVanish allows P2P activity on its entire global server network.
However, Hola does not allow torrenting activity and even blocks P2P connections.
BitTorrenting Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents | Link |
| Hola | None | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | All of them | Visit Site |
Global Server Coverage
If you’re buying a VPN subscription to allow accessing geo-fenced content around the globe, you’ll want to find a provider with a global server network covering as much of the globe as possible. Also, look for a provider with as many servers as possible stationed in each country, as this helps prevent a single server from being overloaded with too many connections at once.
While Hola mentions on its website that it has servers in more than 190 countries, the provider uses a peer-to-peer network of users’ computers, so this may be where it comes up with the “190” number. The provider does not disclose how many servers it actually has.
IPVanish has over 2,200 servers located in 75+ countries around the globe.
Global Server Coverage Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Server Count | Countries | Link |
| Hola | ? | 65+ | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 2,200+ | 75+ | Visit Site |
Multi-Platform Support
I mentioned previously that it’s likely that many of you own multiple connected devices. It is also likely that those devices run different operating systems. This makes a VPN provider’s native app support an important feature to consider.
IPVanish’s native app support includes offerings for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Users can also use the provider with a bit of manual setup on the VPN on Linux, Chrome OS machines, and select routers.
Hola offers support for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Browser extensions keep you hidden on the Chrome, Edge, and Opera browser platforms. Hola is compatible with only one router, the Keenetic Ultra.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Platforms Supported | Browser Extensions? | Router Support? |
Link |
| Hola | 5 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Opera) | One router make and model. | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 7 | No | Nope | Visit Site |
Customer Support
Both IPVanish and Hola offer easy-to-use apps and services. However, you may still have an occasional question.
Hola’s customer support offers FAQs, a searchable support library, setup guides, email support, and a contact us form.
IPVanish offers support via an online trouble ticket submission form and an easy-to-search support library. In addition, the provider’s website offers a system status page, as well as a support “bot” feature.
Customer Support Winner: IPVanish
| Provider | Customer Support Rating | Link |
| Hola | 4.0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| IPVanish | 5.0 | Visit Site |
And The Winner Is…
Both Hola and IPVanish deliver comprehensive VPN services. However, one of the VPNs outperformed the other in many categories.
IPVanish is the overall victor in a blowout, thanks to being tops in all of the service categories (Connection Speeds, Pricing, Streaming Support, Privacy, Online Security, Simultaneous Connections, BitTorrent, Multi-Platform Support, and Global Server Coverage).
Hola did not win or tie its competitor in any service category.
For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit IPVanish.
