NordVPN vs. Hola – At a Glance
NordVPN
NordVPN provides top-notch VPN protection at a reasonable price. The provider boasts a large global server network that offers comprehensive access to geo-fenced content around the world.
The provider is an excellent option for those looking for total online protection for their various devices.
Hola
Hola provides VPN protection with fast and secure connections to geo-controlled content in multiple locations around the world. Unfortunately, some of the provider’s services are less than private.
The provider offers a free VPN service but the way the free service works is concerning. The free service places your computer in a network of other free Hola users, while also sharing your spare bandwidth with other users.
How to Choose a VPN
When shopping for VPN protection, you should carefully research the VPNs you’re considering, just like you’d research any important purchase.
In this article, two well-known VPN providers (NordVPN and Hola) will go head-to-head in a competition. I’ll compare them in each service category, then declare a winner for each service area. I’ll then add up the scores and declare an overall winner. By the time you reach the end of this article you’ll have enough information to decide which VPN is best for your online needs.
NordVPN vs. Hola – Features
Take time to carefully consider a VPN provider’s service offerings. This will allow you to make an informed VPN buying decision.
I’ll cover the various features you should take into consideration when subscribing to a VPN. I’ll compare both VPNs in each feature category, declaring a winner in that arena.
Connection Speeds
Some of the most popular online activities are streaming video and music, gaming, sharing files, and video conferencing, which all require a fast connection for full enjoyment.
Here at Pixel Privacy, I perform periodic connection speed tests on the VPNs I cover. I measure their download speeds using the Speedtest.net app, performing the tests as follows:
- I use a Windows server that uses a gigabit Ethernet connection based in North America.
- 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.
- The Windows version of the providers’ apps are used for testing, and the app is configured to connect using the OpenVPN protocol over UDP when available.
- The Speedtest app is run after connecting to each VPN server location, shutting down the Speedtest app following each test.
Both VPN providers performed quite well during my download speed testing.
Hola delivered average speeds of 186.7 Mbps in testing.
NordVPN’s download speeds were quite impressive, averaging in at 371 Mbps.
The providers’ connection speeds make them both an excellent choice for users that enjoy streaming, online gaming, and file sharing.
You can expect that the connection speeds you’ll see will differ from our results. This is because your VPN connection speeds will depend on your ISP-provided connection speeds, your physical location, and the location of the VPN server you select.
Average Connection Speed Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Avg. Connection Speed | Link |
| NordVPN | 371.0 Mbps | Visit Site |
| Hola | 186.7 Mbps | Visit Site
Read Review |
Pricing
Today’s lousy economy means that many potential VPN users are looking to save money wherever they can. However, you should never base a VPN subscription decision based solely on a low price.
You’ll find that some low-priced VPNs skimp on important features, providing slower speeds, and lacking in proper online protection. This means you need to carefully weigh a provider’s pricing against its performance and features.
Hola and NordVPN pricing falls within a dollar of each other when it comes to monthly pricing. While NordVPN is not a budget-priced provider, its “Complete” tier is available for about $1.00 less than Hola’s “Premium” tier. (If you opt for Hola’s “Ultra” level of service, you’ll pay close to three times as much.)
I will note that Hola offers a free level of VPN service. I will also note that the free tier is where most of my privacy and security concerns lie. I’ll tell you more about that a bit later.
Both VPN services offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
I don’t include exact pricing in my articles. This is because VPN providers change their pricing structure and offer special deals on a regular basis. Visit a provider’s website for their most current pricing information.
Pricing Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Money-Back Guarantee Period | Link |
| NordVPN | 30 Days | Visit Site |
| Hola | 30 Days | Visit Site
Read Review |
Privacy
Protecting your online privacy is arguably the most important reason to subscribe to a VPN. That’s why any VPN provider you consider should protect against outsiders gaining access to records of your online activities.
A VPN service’s privacy protections should be ranked by considering the following:
- Is the provider located in a privacy-protecting country?
- Does the provider save any user activity logs on their servers?
- Does the provider accept privacy-protecting types of payment?
NordVPN is located in Panama, which protects internet users’ privacy rights. The VPN service never saves user activity logs of any kind on its servers. If you pay using cryptocurrency and use a disposable email address, you can add another layer of subscription privacy.
NordVPN also offers additional privacy protections by running all of its servers solely from volatile RAM, writing no data of any kind to a physical hard drive or SSD. This means that all data is securely wiped when any of the provider’s servers are rebooted, shut down, or even unplugged. The provider is also moving its server farms to an owned-and-operated model, keeping third-party contractors away from customers’ personal information.
Hola is located in Israel. While Israel is not a member of any intelligence alliances, like Five Eyes, it does cooperate with alliance countries. Hola logs 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 presents a privacy risk since its free VPN service routes your data through a network of volunteer nodes (read that as “other users’ computers”) while sharing your spare bandwidth with other users. Although users that pay for Hola can opt out of becoming a node, it’s not a good thing that it’s an “opt-out” feature.
Privacy Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Privacy Ranking | Site |
| NordVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
| Hola | 3.5 | Visit Site
Read Review |
Security
If you’re looking to avoid being followed or monitored online, look for a VPN that uses military-grade encryption and other protective measures to keep your personal and business-related information safe.
Hola uses AES-256 government-grade encryption, but uses only the IKEv2 or L2TP/IPSec protocols. The provider does not offer kill switch or DNS leak protection, as well as obfuscation, split tunneling, port forwarding, or other advanced features. As mentioned previously, there is that whole “routing your data through a network of volunteer nodes” thing, which is less than secure.
NordVPN protects its customers’ connections with AES-256 banking-grade encryption, kill switch protection, and DNS/IP leak prevention. VPN protocols used by the provider include OpenVPN, NordLynx (WireGuard), and IKEv2/IPSec.
Security Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Overall Security Score | Link |
| NordVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
| Hola | 3.5 | Visit Site
Read Review |
Simultaneous Connections
I’d venture to say that a good number of my readers own multiple connected devices. Tablets, smartphones, computers, streaming, and gaming devices, it all adds up. This is what makes a VPN provider’s simultaneous connections allowance an important feature to consider.
NordVPN allows users to concurrently connect up to six devices to its servers.
Hola’s Premium VPN plan allows up to 10 devices to be connected to Hola servers at once, while its higher-priced Ultra plan allows up to 20 device connections at once.
Simultaneous Connections Winner: Hola
| Provider | Simultaneous Connections Allowed | Link |
| Hola | 10 – 20 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| NordVPN | 6 | Visit Site |
Streaming Support
Most popular streaming services are either available only in certain areas of the world or limit certain content to specific regions of the globe. Either way, thanks to its ability to temporarily assign a new IP address to your connected device, a VPN can help you gain access to streaming services and their content that might normally be unavailable in your area.
This allows you to squeeze more value out of your streaming subscriptions by providing access to content that you might normally be locked out of.
NordVPN reliably provides access to multiple streaming services, including Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, and others.
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: NordVPN
| Provider | # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks | # of International Services VPN Unblocks | Link |
| NordVPN | 10+ | 5+ | Visit Site |
| Hola | 0 | 0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
BitTorrent Support
Sharing files via BitTorrent is a popular online activity. While file sharing in itself is not illegal – several legitimate organizations use the technology to share documents – it is illegal to use it to share copyrighted materials, including movies, music, and games.
Due to pressure from entertainment industry lawyers, many ISPs will throttle or outright block your internet connection if they detect file sharing activity, no matter the legality of the files you’re sharing.
NordVPN allows P2P activity on certain servers in its global server network. The provider will automatically connect you to a P2P-enabled server once it detects any file sharing activity.
Hola does not allow torrenting activity and actively blocks P2P connections.
BitTorrenting Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents | Link |
| NordVPN | All of them | Visit Site |
| Hola | None | Visit Site
Read Review |
Global Server Coverage
A VPN provider’s global server coverage is an important consideration, as the larger a VPN’s network, the better access you’ll have to content in other areas of the globe.
NordVPN has more than 5,400 servers spread around 60+ countries across the world.
Hola says it has servers in more than 200 countries. However, it also 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, NordVPN on confirmed server count, so call it a tie.
| Provider | Server Count | Countries | Link |
| Hola | ? | 200+ | Visit Site
Read Review |
| NordVPN | 5,400+ | 60 | Visit Site |
Multi-Platform Support
Many of us use multiple connected devices on a daily basis. During the day, you’ll probably use a smartphone, tablet, computer, gaming console, and smart TV, all of which are connected to the internet.
NordVPN provides native app support for Windows, macOS (with native Apple Silicon support), iOS, Android, Android TV, Linux, and Amazon Fire TV device platforms. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browser extensions are available. The provider also offers support for select routers and offers pre-configured routers through Flashrouters.com.
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 a single router, the Keenetic Ultra router.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Platforms Supported | Browser Extensions? | Router Support? |
Link |
| NordVPN | 7 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) | Yes – Offers support for select routers and has Flashrouter options. | Visit Site |
| Hola | 5 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Opera) | One router make and model. | Visit Site
Read Review |
Customer Support
While most VPN providers’ apps are easy to use and provide reliable VPN services, you may still have an occasional question or two.
NordVPN provides 24/7 customer support, made up of live chat, email support, and an easy-to-search support library.
Hola customer support offers an FAQ page, a searchable support library, setup guides, email support, and a contact us form.
Customer Support Winner: NordVPN
| Provider | Customer Support Rating | Link |
| NordVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
| 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 champion of this head-to-head tournament.
NordVPN is the overall champion this time around, easily scoring a 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 NordVPN.
