Hola VPN review vs. NordVPN Review: Is it still #1 in 2023?

1. Privacy

I’ll start with a comparison of the most important aspect of any VPN - privacy. During review I will consider whether VPN logs anything (IP address, traffic, DNS logs, bandwidth, or any type of timestamps) and the jurisdiction of VPN’s country of origin.

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
IP address	Yes	No
DNS	Yes	No
Traffic	Yes	No
Bandwidth	Yes	No
Timestamps	Yes	No

Hola VPN is located in Israel which is part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is not part of enemies of the internet countries while NordVPN is located in Panama which is not part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is not part of enemies of the internet countries.

It’s important to note that If you are like me and you will be using VPN only to unblock GEO-restricted content, privacy will not be that important factor but it’s still essential for any VPN.

2. Features

The next category I want to compare are features of Hola VPN and NordVPN such as kill-switch, unblocking of streaming, support of P2P traffic (torrenting). I am a heavy user of various streaming platforms so for me it’s important whether VPN unblocks major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO or BBC. I don’t do much torrenting but it’s always good to use a VPN while doing so. If this is an important factor for you, definitely look for a VPN which supports P2P traffic.

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
Kill-switch	No	Yes
Streaming (Netflix)	No	Yes
P2P traffic - torrents	No	Yes

As you can see from the comparison table above, Hola VPN doesn't have kill-switch, doesn't support streaming services, and doesn't support torrenting. On the flipside NordVPN has kill-switch, supports streaming services, and supports torrenting.

3. Speed

Being hidden behind VPN shouldn’t limit the speed of your connection. I’ve measured the speed of each VPN against a 100mbps connection - which should be sufficient for any activities including heavy streaming in 4K or downloading large files.

In my test Hola VPN was more on the below average side while NordVPN had fast speed. If there were no limits in speed on a 100mbps connection, I consider VPN a “fast” one. If the speed is limited somehow but still achieving decent values, I categorize it as “average”. The “slow” is usually used for VPNs which limit your bandwidth significantly.

4. Security

I will start by comparing the type of encryption Hola VPN and NordVPN use, what tunnelling protocols are available, and finally we’ll test whether it leaks the IP address or DNS.

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
Encryption	No	256-bit
Tunneling protocols	IKEv2/IPSec	OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, SSTP, PPTP and IKEv2
IP leaks	Yes	No
DNS leaks	Yes	No

The most important factor of a VPN service is a strong encryption of the traffic which is forwarded through the VPN servers. The most common encryption types in cryptography are SHA encryption or AES encryption which are not really comparable against each other. There might be different lengths of encryptions (eg. 128-bit, 256-bit, 2048-bit) and while usually the higher is the better, for most use cases you will be fine with any encryption. Watch-out if there is no encryption at all. Hola VPN uses No and IKEv2/IPSec protocol and NordVPN uses 256-bit and es No and OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, SSTP, PPTP and IKEv2 protocols. I’ve tested both VPNs also for IP and DNS leaks and Hola VPN had IP leaks and Yes DNS leaks while NordVPN had No IP leaks and No DNS leaks. 

5. Price

Probably one of the most important decision factor for the majority of users will be price. Shocking? Not really. We all love to compare things and I am not different. It’s always good to get the best value for your hard-earned money, isn’t it? So let’s see whether Hola VPN or NordVPN is cheaper.

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
Price	$6.99	$3.49
Trial version	Yes	Yes

6. Compatibility

Hola VPN supports 10 connections at the same time while it works fine on all the platforms below. You can use NordVPN on 6 devices at the same time with support of all these platforms:

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
Windows	Yes	Yes
MacOS	Yes	Yes
Linux
Android	Yes	Yes
iOS	Yes	Yes

7. Support

Should you have any problems with Hola VPN or NordVPN you can reach out to their support via:

Name	Hola VPN	NordVPN
Livechat	No	Yes
Email	Yes	Yes
Phone	No	No

Summary

Hola VPN ranked in our list on 100. position while NordVPN. is on 1 position. If you are looking for a better choice, see our rankings here.