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ExpressVPN vs. Hola – Comparison & Test Results 2024

In this article, I compare two well-known VPN providers to determine which provider offers the best bang for the buck.

ExpressVPN vs. Hola – At a Glance

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN provides premium VPN service for internet users who don’t mind paying a bit extra for top-notch protection. The VPN service boasts comprehensive connection protection, an impressive global server network, and excellent customer support.

ExpressVPN

Streaming fans will appreciate ExpressVPN’s fast connection speeds and ability to unblock multiple streaming services around the globe.

Visit ExpressVPN

Hola

Hola provides reliable VPN protection with fast connections to content in many locations around the world. Unfortunately, some of the provider’s services are less than private.

 

Hola logo

 

While the provider offers free VPN services, the way the free VPN works is concerning, as your computer is included as a network of other free Hola users, sharing your spare bandwidth with the Hola network.

Visit Hola

How to Choose a VPN

When you’re researching which VPN provider is the right one for you, make sure that the provider’s services fully cater to your unique needs. Don’t concentrate on a single feature, like a low price or fast connection speeds.

In this edition of “versus,” I’ll be pitting two well-known VPN providers (ExpressVPN and Hola) in a head-to-head playoff to determine the top provider between the two. I’ll rank them in the important service categories that should always be considered when deciding on a VPN.

I’ll reveal how well both providers perform in each category and then declare a winner in each service area. I’ll then tally the scores and declare an overall winner. By the end of this article, you’ll have enough information to decide which VPN best fits your online needs.

ExpressVPN vs. Hola – Features

Always make sure to carefully consider a VPN’s service offerings. By doing so, you’ll be able to make an informed VPN buying decision.

In this section, I’ll cover the various features you should take into consideration when subscribing to a VPN. I’ll explain how well both VPNs perform in each feature category, declaring a winner in that category.

Connection Speeds

If you’re like me, you spend quite a bit of time online, streaming video and music, gaming, sharing files, video conferencing, and engaging in other popular online activities.

Let’s face it, the online activities listed are simply more enjoyable when you have a fast internet connection. That’s why your overall online enjoyment suffers if you’re forced to deal with below-average connection speeds.

Here at Pixel Privacy, I perform regular connection speed tests on the VPN contenders. Using the Speedtest.net app, I measure their download speeds, performing the speed tests as follows:

  1. I use a Windows server that uses a gigabit Ethernet connection based in North America.
  2. Both providers are tested by connecting to VPN servers in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Hong Kong, at three different times of day over the course of three days.
  3. The Windows version of the providers’ apps is used for testing, and the app is configured to connect using the OpenVPN protocol over UDP when available.
  4. The Speedtest app is run after connecting to each VPN server location, shutting down the Speedtest app following each test.

Both VPN providers performed well during our connection speed testing.

Hola delivered average speeds of 186.7 Mbps in testing.

ExpressVPN’s download speeds performed much better, averaging 474.8 Mbps.

Those speeds make both providers an excellent option for file sharing, gaming, and streaming.

Please remember, the connection speeds you’ll see will most likely be different than ours. VPN connection speeds depend on your ISP-provided connection speeds, your physical location, and which VPN server you select.

Average Connection Speed Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Avg. Connection Speed Link
ExpressVPN 474.8 Mbps Visit Site

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Hola 186.7 Mbps Visit Site

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Pricing

While today’s economy means you’re looking to save a few bucks here and there, never make a buying decision based solely on cost. You’ll find that some low-priced VPNs will skimp on important features, providing slower speeds, and lacking global server coverage. This makes it important to carefully weigh each provider’s pricing against its performance in the other categories you’ll be reading about.

Hola and ExpressVPN fall within a couple of bucks when it comes to monthly pricing. While ExpressVPN is definitely not a budget-priced provider, it beats Hola’s monthly tariff by being a bit cheaper. (And that’s just Hola’s “Premium” service tier. If you opt for its “Ultra” level of service, you’ll pay close to three times as much.)

It should be noted that Hola offers a free level of VPN service. It should also be noted that the free tier is where most of my privacy and security concerns lie. More about that a bit later.

Both providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You may have noticed that I don’t include actual pricing in my articles. This is because most VPN providers change their pricing and offer special deals on what seems like a daily basis. That’s why it’s important to visit a provider’s website for their most current pricing.

Pricing Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Money-Back Guarantee Period Link
ExpressVPN 30 Days Visit Site

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Hola 30 Days Visit Site

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Privacy

In today’s less-than-private online world, protecting your online privacy is arguably the most important reason to subscribe to a Virtual Private Network. That’s why any VPN provider you consider should prevent any outsiders from gaining access to records of your online travels.

When considering a VPN service’s privacy protections, think about the following:

  • Is the provider located in a privacy-respecting country?
  • Does the provider save any user activity logs?
  • Does the provider accept cryptocurrency or other privacy-protecting types of payment?

ExpressVPN is located in the privacy-friendly British Virgin Islands and saves no user logs of any kind. By using a disposable email address when paying with Bitcoin you can add another layer of privacy for your subscription identity.

Hola is located in Israel. While Israel is not a member of any alliances, like Five Eyes, it does cooperate with alliance countries, generally turning over information when requested. Hola does log some info when you’re using its servers, including “IP address, operating system, browser type, web pages you visit, time spent on those pages, access times, and dates.” It also does not accept cryptocurrency as payment.

Hola’s free VPN service routes your data through a network of volunteer nodes (read that as “other users’ computers”) while also sharing your spare bandwidth with other users. This is a definite privacy risk. While users that spring for the paid version of Hola can opt out of becoming a volunteer node, it’s not good that it’s an “opt-out” feature.

Privacy Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Privacy Ranking Site
ExpressVPN 5.0 Visit Site

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Hola 3.5 Visit Site

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Security

A VPN worth its salt uses military-grade encryption and other protective measures to protect your online activities from outside observation, keeping your personal and business-related information safe.

Hola uses AES-256 encryption, with only the IKEv2 or L2TP/IPSec protocols to protect their customers’ connections. The provider does not offer kill switch or DNS leak protection. It also doesn’t offer obfuscation, split tunneling, port forwarding, or other advanced features. There is also that whole “routing your data through a network of volunteer nodes” thing, which is a security and privacy threat.

ExpressVPN uses AES-256 military-grade encryption. VPN protocols in the provider’s apps include OpenVPN, Lightway, IKEv2, PPTP, and L2TP/IPSec. The provider also offers kill switch protection, as well as DNS/IPv6 leak prevention.

Security Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Overall Security Score Link
ExpressVPN 5.0 Visit Site

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Hola 3.5 Visit Site

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Simultaneous Connections

Most of you own multiple connected devices, right? I know I do. Plus, many of you likely have family members or employees with connected devices. Tablets, smartphones, computers, streaming, and gaming devices, it all adds up. This makes a VPN provider’s simultaneous connections allowance an important consideration.

ExpressVPN allows users to simultaneously connect up to five devices to their servers.

Hola’s Premium VPN plan allows up to 10 devices to be connected to Hola servers at once, while its Ultra plan allows up to 20 devices to be connected at once.

Simultaneous Connections Winner: Hola

 

Provider Simultaneous Connections Allowed Link
Hola 10 – 20 Visit Site

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ExpressVPN 5 Visit Site

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Streaming Support

It seems like a new streaming service debuts every day. Most of these streaming services are either available only in certain areas of the world or limit certain content to specific regions. Luckily, a VPN can help you gain access to streaming services and content that might normally be unavailable in your area.

A VPN can provide access to multiple streaming services around the globe. This helps you squeeze more value out of your streaming subscriptions by providing access to content that you might normally be locked out of.

ExpressVPN delivers reliable access to multiple streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Showtime, Sling TV, DAZ, ITV, Hotstar, Hallmark Movies, Sky, Fubo, Channel 4, CBC, CTV, 9 Now, and other streaming services.

Hola did not do well, as it could not reliably access Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, or other streaming services.

Streaming Support Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks # of International Services VPN Unblocks Link
ExpressVPN 20+ 5+ Visit Site

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Hola 0 0 Visit Site

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BitTorrent Support

Peer-to-peer file sharing via BitTorrent is a popular online activity. While file sharing in itself is not illegal – several reputable companies and organizations use the technology to share files and documents – it is generally illegal to use it to share copyrighted materials such as movies, music, and games.

Due to pressure from copyright holders like movie studios and record companies, many ISPs will either throttle or block your internet connection if they detect file sharing activity, even if the files you’re sharing are legal!

ExpressVPN allows P2P activity on its entire global server network. The provider even offers a how-to guide on their website explaining how the service protects your file sharing activities.

Hola does not allow torrenting activity and actively blocks P2P connections.

BitTorrenting Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents Link
ExpressVPN All of them Visit Site

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Hola None Visit Site

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Global Server Coverage

Any VPN provider worth considering should do a good job of covering the globe with its servers, as that is the difference between having access to content from a particular region or being locked out of that same content.

ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers stationed in 94+ countries around the globe.

Hola says it has servers in more than 200 countries. However, it also mentions that it uses a peer-to-peer network (made up of users’ computers) to connect you to VPN protection. This makes it tough to determine exactly how many true servers the provider actually has.

Global Server Coverage Winner: Hola on countries, Express on confirmed server count, so let’s call it a tie.

 

Provider Server Count Countries Link
Hola ? 200+ Visit Site

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ExpressVPN 3,000+ 94 Visit Site

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Multi-Platform Support

How many connected devices do you use on a daily basis? Think about it, your smartphone, tablet, computer, gaming console, and possibly your bathroom mirror are connected to the internet.

That’s why a VPN provider’s device support is an important consideration.

ExpressVPN offers excellent native app support, with apps for Windows, macOS (with native M1/M2 Mac support), iOS, Android, Android TV, Linux, Chrome OS, and Amazon Fire TV platforms. Browser extensions are available for the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox platforms.

A custom app for select routers is available, as are setup instructions for other routers. A pre-configured “Aircove” router that is ready to go right out of the box is also on hand. Pre-configured routers for the VPN are available through the FlashRouters.com website.

Hola offers support for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Fire TV. Browser extensions are available for the Chrome, Edge, and Opera browser platforms. As for router compatibility, Hola is compatible with the Keenetic Ultra router. That’s it, one router.

Multi-Platform Support Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Platforms Supported Browser Extensions? Router
Support?
Link
ExpressVPN 8 Yes (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) Yes – Offers firmware for select routers, Flashrouter options, and Aircove router. Visit Site

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Hola 5 Yes (Chrome, Edge, Opera) One router make and model. Visit Site

Read Review

 

Customer Support

Most VPN providers offer intuitive and reliable VPN services. However, you may still have a question or two. When that time comes, you’ll appreciate a provider’s customer support offerings.

ExpressVPN’s customer support is available round-the-clock, offering 24/7 live chat, email support, and an easy-to-search support library.

Hola’s customer support offers FAQs, a searchable support library, setup guides, email support, and a contact us form.

Customer Support Winner: ExpressVPN

 

Provider Customer Support Rating Link
ExpressVPN 5.0 Visit Site

Read Review

Hola 4.0 Visit Site

Read Review

 

And The Winner Is…

Both providers deliver reliable VPN protection. However, only one provider can be named the winner of this one-on-one playoff.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is the champion in this battle of top VPNs, easily scoring an overall victory, thanks to its performance in the connection speed, pricing, privacy, security, streaming, BitTorrent support, multi-platform support, and customer support arenas.

Hola was tops in just one service category, simultaneous connections.

The providers tied in the global server coverage competition.

For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit ExpressVPN.

Roundup - best VPNs for speed

Position Our Score Verdict
1.
4.5/5
Verdict: Our top rated VPN
Get NordVPN »
2.
4.5/5
Verdict: Best budget option
Get Surfshark »
3.
4.0/5
Verdict: Great privacy options
Get ExpressVPN »
4.
4.0/5
Verdict: Highly versatile
Get CyberGhost »
5.
3.0/5
Verdict: Up to 10 devices
Get PrivateVPN »

PRIVACY ALERT: Websites you visit can see these details about you:

The following information is available to any site you visit:

Your IP Address:

Your Location:

Your Internet Provider:

This information can be used to target ads and monitor your internet usage.

By using a VPN you can hide these details and protect your privacy.

I recommend NordVPN - the top provider in my testing. It offers outstanding privacy features and there is currently a discounted rate available through this link.

Visit NordVPN

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