Surfshark vs. Hola – At a Glance
Surfshark
Surfshark is a budget-priced but powerful VPN provider that offers top-notch VPN protection that won’t break the bank. The provider boasts a large server network, excellent device support, and comprehensive online security and privacy protections.
Surfshark also offers extra services for a small additional fee, including antivirus protection, truly private search, and data breach alerts.
Hola
Hola provides VPN protection with fast and protected connections for multiple device platforms. However, some of the provider’s “features” make it less than private.
The provider offers a free VPN service that 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 you’re in search of quality VPN protection, you should carefully research VPNs, just like you’d research any important purchase.
In this article, two VPN providers (Surfshark and Hola) will go head-to-head. I’ll compare both in each category, and then declare a winner for that feature. I’ll then determine the overall scores and declare a winner. By the time you finish this article, you’ll have enough information at hand, allowing you to make an informed decision as to which VPN is best for your online needs.
Surfshark vs. Hola – Features
Always carefully consider any VPN provider’s services. This will help you make an informed buying decision.
In this section, I’ll cover the features you should consider when subscribing to a VPN.
Connection Speeds
If you engage in streaming video and music, online gaming, sharing files, and video conferencing, you know that a fast connection is your friend.
I perform periodic connection speed tests on the VPNs I cover, measuring their download speeds with the Speedtest.net app. I perform 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 well during my testing.
Hola delivered average speeds of 186.7 Mbps in testing.
Meanwhile, Surfshark’s download speeds averaged in at 323.6 Mbps.
Both providers proved to be an excellent choice for users that enjoy streaming, online gaming, and file sharing.
The connection speeds you’ll experience will likely differ from my results. Results will depend on your ISP-provided connection speeds, your geographic location, and the location of the VPN server you select.
Average Connection Speed Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Avg. Connection Speed | Link |
| Surfshark | 323.6 Mbps | Visit Site |
| Hola | 186.7 Mbps | Visit Site
Read Review |
Pricing
Things are tough all over when it comes to the economy, meaning many VPN shoppers are in search of ways to save money wherever they can. However, you should never base a VPN subscription decision solely on a low price.
Some low-priced VPNs may seem like a bargain at first, but you’ll find they skimp on important features, provide slower connections, or are lacking in several important features. This means you should always carefully weigh a provider’s pricing against its performance and features.
Surfshark is a budget-priced provider, and as such charges about the price of a good cup of coffee per month. Hola’s “Premium” tier is about double that of Surfshark’s. (If you opt for Hola’s “Ultra” level of service, you’ll pay five times as much as Surfshark each month.)
Hola does offer a free level of VPN service. However, the free tier is where most of my privacy and security concerns are. We’ll discuss that a bit later.
Both VPN services offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
You won’t find exact pricing in my articles, as VPN providers often change their pricing structure and offer special deals. Visit a provider’s website for their most current pricing information.
Pricing Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Money-Back Guarantee Period | Link |
| Surfshark | 30 Days | Visit Site |
| Hola | 30 Days | Visit Site
Read Review |
Privacy
One of the most important reasons to subscribe to a VPN is to prevent records of your online travels from ever being exposed.
Consider the following features when considering a VPN service’s privacy protections:
- 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?
Surfshark is based in the privacy-friendly British Virgin Islands. The provider saves no user activity logs and it also accepts cryptocurrency to protect your payment privacy.
All Surfshark servers are run 100% from volatile RAM, writing no data whatsoever to a physical hard drive or SSD. This ensures that all data is securely and completely wiped when a server is rebooted, shut down, or unplugged.
Unfortunately, Surfshark uses a third party for one feature of its customer support, meaning it introduces a privacy concern into the mix. More about that later.
Hola is based in Israel. Even though Israel is not a member of any intelligence alliances, like Five Eyes, it shares information with alliance countries. Hola logs some info when you’re using its servers, including your “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.
Also, Hola loses privacy points, as its free VPN service routes your data through a network of volunteer nodes (other users’ computers) while also sharing your spare bandwidth with other users. While paying Hola users can opt out of becoming a node, it should not be an “opt-out” feature.
Privacy Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Privacy Ranking | Site |
| Surfshark | 4.5 | 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 provides multiple protective measures to keep your personal and business-related information safe.
Hola protects its customers’ connections with AES-256 government-grade encryption, but uses only the IKEv2 or L2TP/IPSec protocols. The provider lacks kill switch and DNS leak protection, as well as obfuscation, split tunneling, port forwarding, or other advanced features.
As I’ve noted above, there is that whole “routing your data through a network of volunteer nodes” thing, which is less than secure.
Surfshark provides comprehensive online protection, offering banking-grade encryption and kill switch protection. The provider uses the OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec/IKEv2 connection protocols. A proprietary “Camouflage Mode,” disguises your VPN activity, making it appear to be normal browser traffic.
Security Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Overall Security Score | Link |
| Surfshark | 5.0 | Visit Site |
| Hola | 3.5 | Visit Site
Read Review |
Simultaneous Connections
If you’re like me, you have more than one connected device. I have tablets, smartphones, computers, streaming, and gaming devices, and that’s just in my office. This is why a VPN provider’s simultaneous connections allowance is an important feature to consider.
Surfshark allows its customers to simultaneously connect as many devices as they’d like to its servers.
Hola’s Premium VPN plan allows up to 10 devices to be connected at once, while its higher-priced Ultra plan allows up to 20 devices at once.
Simultaneous Connections Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Simultaneous Connections Allowed | Link |
| Hola | 10 – 20 | Visit Site
Read Review |
| Surfshark | Unlimited | Visit Site |
Streaming Support
Streaming video is one of the most popular online activities today. Unfortunately, most popular streaming services are either available only in certain areas of the world or limit their content to certain regions.
Luckily, a VPN has the ability to temporarily assign a new IP address to your connected device, which helps you gain access to streaming content that might normally be unavailable in your area.
Using a VPN helps you get more out of your streaming subscriptions by providing access to content that you might normally be locked out of.
Surfshark delivers access to multiple streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, ITV Hub, All 4, Hotstar, HBO, Sky, and others.
Hola did not do well in this service arena, as it could not reliably access Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, or other streaming services I tried.
Streaming Support Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks | # of International Services VPN Unblocks | Link |
| Surfshark | 9+ | 5+ | Visit Site |
| Hola | 0 | 0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
BitTorrent Support
Sharing files via BitTorrent is a popular online activity, as it makes it easy to share files and documents with other users. While file sharing is not illegal – several legitimate organizations use the technology – it is illegal to use it to share copyrighted materials, including movies, music, and games.
Due to pressure from entertainment industry lawyers over the years, many ISPs will throttle or block your internet connection if you engage in file sharing activity, no matter if the files you’re sharing are legal or not.
Surfshark allows P2P file sharing on its server network.
Meanwhile, Hola does not allow torrenting activity and actively blocks torrenting connections.
BitTorrenting Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents | Link |
| Surfshark | 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.
Surfshark has 3,200+ servers stationed in 100+ countries worldwide.
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 difficult to determine how many actual servers the provider has in service.
Global Server Coverage Winner: Hola on countries, Surfshark on confirmed server count, so call it a tie.
| Provider | Server Count | Countries | Link |
| Surfshark | 3,200+ | 100 | Visit Site |
| Hola | ? | 200+ | Visit Site
Read Review |
Multi-Platform Support
I’ll wager that many of my readers use more than one connected device on a daily basis. This makes it important to confirm what type of device support is offered by a VPN provider.
Surfshark’s native app support includes options for iOS, macOS (with native Apple Silicon support), Android, Android TV, Windows, Linux, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Extensions for the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browser platforms are also available. Comprehensive router support includes 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. Hola is compatible with the Keenetic Ultra router.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Platforms Supported | Browser Extensions? | Router Support? |
Link |
| Surfshark | 7 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) | Yes – Manual setup. Also includes Flashrouter options. | Visit Site |
| Hola | 5 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Opera) | Single router make and model. | Visit Site
Read Review |
Customer Support
You’ll find that most VPN providers’ apps are easy to use and provide reliable protection. However, you may still have an occasional question about your VPN.
Surfshark offers around-the-clock live chat, email support, and a searchable troubleshooting library. Unfortunately, Surfshark gets half a point knocked off its score, due to the provider’s use of third-party contractor Zendesk for its agent chat feature. Any time a third party is included in the mix it puts customers’ privacy at risk.
Hola customer support offers an FAQ page, a searchable support library, setup guides, email support, and a contact us form.
Customer Support Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Customer Support Rating | Link |
| Surfshark | 4.5 | Visit Site |
| Hola | 4.0 | Visit Site
Read Review |
And The Winner Is…
Both providers do well at securing your internet connection. However, only one VPN can be named the victor in this head-to-head playoff.
Surfshark 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, simultaneous connections, and customer support arenas.
Hola didn’t even win in one service category.
The providers tied in the global server coverage column.
For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit Surfshark.
