Picking a VPN plan or provider is a confusing process. How do you know which is right for you or has all the features you want or need? Read through our in-depth reviews on two VPN providers, Hola VPN and CyberGhost, to see which is best for you.

Many people use VPNs to unblock the internet or for privacy. One of the main reasons people decide to get a VPN is being unable to access different streaming services due to geoblocking.

Modern-day VPNs have many more useful features worth knowing about. We will tour these features, explain what’s good about them, and help you decide whether it’s worth the purchase.

See below for a quick comparison of Hola VPN versus CyberGhost, including standout features, pricing, and other need-to-know information. We’ll compare these features side by side to see which one comes out best.

Hola VPN vs CyberGhost highlights

Pricing and discounts

Both providers offer big discounts on their multi-year plans. CyberGhost tacks on additional free months if you go with the two-year plan.

Hola VPN

  • Hola VPN’s founders known for innovation on the internet
  • Free options
  • Large user base

CyberGhost

  • Works on almost all devices with installers
  • Many security features
  • Superior number of servers

CyberGhost’s value comes with its longer subscription. It has a much cheaper monthly rate. That is a huge tick in the box for CyberGhost compared to Hola VPN.

Hola VPN has a steep discount on its three-year plan. You’ll get 80% off the total price to bring it to $2.99 (GBP $2.17) per month. You get ten simultaneous connections on the Premium plan.

Both of these services include a money-back guarantee: Hola VPN has 30 days and CyberGhost offers a 45-day cooling-off period. This means you can try them out for about a month (or a month and a half in the case of CyberGhost) and get a full refund if you’re not satisfied.

BEST DEAL FOR HOLA VPN:Save 80% when you sign up for a three year plan.

BEST DEAL FOR CYBERGHOST:83% discount on two year plans plus two extra months free.

Features

CyberGhost apps are available on almost all operating systems and devices. CyberGhost comes with a security suite that has many free features such as a password manager and a kill switch.

A useful feature for VPNs is split tunneling. It enables specified programs to bypass the VPN while others stay connected to it. CyberGhost’s split tunneling is easy to set up and set as a default. Hola VPN’s split tunneling feature is only available on its premium subscription and is limited to proxy split tunneling.

Hola VPN allows more devices to simultaneously connect with 10 on the top tier plan, whereas CyberGhost has a maximum of seven. The industry average is five and so no matter your choice you will be getting more than average with either Hola VPN or CyberGhost.

Hola VPN has big differences in infrastructure, notably the free plan relying on a user-supported peer-to-peer network versus CyberGhost’s dedicated server network. This has serious implications for additional monthly costs and security concerns, which are laid out in Hola VPN’s own license agreement, stating that you will be a peer on the Bright Data Network.

Only CyberGhost comes with what is known as a VPN kill switch, a feature that cuts off all data if your VPN connection drops out. Also known as an Internet Kill Switch, or Network Lock, it is an absolutely necessary feature for a VPN. Otherwise, your privacy, security, and anonymity are compromised if the VPN connection drops or is disrupted. With CyberGhost’s kill switch, you’re safe even if your VPN were to go down.

Streaming and unblocking

CyberGhost has its focus on streaming services and therefore unblocks many more of them. Reports from users state that sometimes streams get blocked, but reconnecting often solves the issue.

China

Neither work in China. Many VPNs do not get around the Great Firewall of China.

Due to strict censorship in China, most VPNs do not work. CyberGhost suggests you set the configuration to L2TP protocol when attempting to use it but can’t make any guarantees.

The Great Firewall blocks access to VPN servers and websites to prevent them from being used. So you’ll have to subscribe to and test CyberGhost before arriving in China. Some users have reported that certain configurations can be used so that it works in China.

Hola VPN just does not work in China and there are no plans for such features.

Setup and interface

CyberGhost’s desktop version was simple to install on Windows and other platforms. Basic settings are available on the main page with both programs offering a quick tour of the software upon first opening. Hola VPN works via an app and they also recommend installing the browser extensions as well.

CyberGhost and Hola VPN have mobile apps. Hola VPN’s website dedicates a lot of its website to troubleshooting its software which involves having to uninstall the app and extensions, this could be a sign that its software is of lower quality than CyberGhost’s.

Servers and performance

Hola VPN is not technically a virtual private network in the true sense of the word.  Hola VPN is really a peer-to-peer proxy network. So when you use it, you are in effect connecting via other users of Hola VPN, which then gives you a different geographical location and IP address. Not only is this a massive security risk, but also puts a load on your connection as other people connect through it. You can pay for a paid Hola VPN which stops other people from connecting through your device, but the lack of encryption or obfuscation on the free Hola VPN means that you cannot really compare the two services.

CyberGhost has a dedicated server network, including coverage in more countries, rather than relying on user connections like Hola VPN. CyberGhost has more total servers, which means a solid network with redundancy.

Having no dedicated servers is a big issue on so many fronts, this feature alone is enough to avoid Hola VPN completely.

With CyberGhost, there’s virtually no slowdown on the network unless your base internet speed is really fast. This gives you low latency and a high-speed connection, which is better than anything Hola VPN can offer, even on the most expensive paid subscription.

Below, you’ll find a list of every country where these VPNs have servers:

There really is not a comparison. Hola VPN does not have a dedicated server network whereas CyberGhost is present in over 90 countries.  A look at the country list and you’ll see that CyberGhost has servers all over the world as well as multiple servers in many jurisdictions.

This is vital for both speed and streaming. When streaming services issue bans on blocks of IPs to try and stop VPNs, having more servers means that there is another path the VPN could use to connect to the streaming service. Hola VPN doesn’t even connect to these streaming services let alone offer the speed or geographical diversity of servers.

Security

Hola VPN and CyberGhost use the IKEv2 protocol. CyberGhost has configuration options for other protocols as well. Both use 256-bit AES encryption, which given current technology (and allowing for future advancements) is for all intents and purposes an unbreakable standard.

CyberGhost has much more functionality as you can configure it to the protocol that you wish. The free version of Hola VPN is said to not use any encryption and is fundamentally a peer-to-peer network rather than a VPN.

CyberGhost offers a kill switch on all platforms. When a kill switch is activated, all data transfer is cut off. This automatically takes place whenever you lose connection to the VPN suddenly, ensuring you never browse without protection. Importantly, CyberGhost’s VPN uses its own DNS servers, helping prevent DNS leaks and further reinforcing security and privacy.

There have been many reported instances of DNS information leaking with Hola VPN. Along with other major security flaws already discussed, this is another issue that proves further that Hola VPN is inappropriate for use if privacy, security, or anonymity are big concerns of yours.

Privacy

CyberGhost complies with GDPR as it is in Europe. Hola VPN’s location in Israel should be a cause for concern as the country has been shown to cooperate with the Five Eyes Alliance made up of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

As the developers of Hola VPN have decided on a P2P network rather than a dedicated server system, privacy and security are massive issues. While getting a premium plan stops you from being used as a peer, in the end, the connection protocols and Hola VPN system means you cannot have any sort of privacy or security through Hola VPN.

A warning sign is that Hola VPN offers a free service. Many providers, including Hola VPN, have stated that the reason a free service can be offered is that subscriber information and browsing history is sold to third-party companies, like marketers.

Hola VPN’s privacy policy states that it keeps limited logs of your activity. This information includes ‘browser type, web pages you visit, time spent on those pages, access times, and dates’. This is very concerning and makes Hola VPN a very risky piece of software.

CyberGhost does keep limited logs but this is pretty standard. This may include non-specific user data to enforce device connection policies.

If you’d like even greater privacy, pay with cryptocurrency for CyberGhost and use an anonymous email address.

Configuration

Both VPNs use shared address allocation but through different methods. CyberGhost does this via a dedicated network that allows users to connect via a shared IP address. All of the users who connect to the same server access the internet through a single IP address, which makes it impossible to trace activity back to a specific user.

Hola VPN allows its users to connect through the devices of other users. While this hides your own IP when you use Hola, it also means you could get blamed for the actions of another Hola VPN user if they connect through your device.

CyberGhost allows you to connect via a dedicated IP, for an additional charge.

Customer service

Only CyberGhost has a live chat feature that enables you to ask questions directly. Hola VPN relies primarily on an email-based support system.

Testing of the support systems was done via some standard questions and monitoring of response times. We sent both Hola VPN and CyberGhost three questions each, and you’ll find the average response time below, as well as whether our question was answered or not:

These services had email response times that were similar to each other but CyberGhost’s replies were much better and informative. Public reviews suggest that you may have an issue getting support from Hola VPN, but it wasn’t too bad with our testing.

The winner

CyberGhost

                    Jan 2023

Apps Available:

  • PC
  • Mac
  • IOS
  • Android
  • Linux

Website: www.Cyberghost.com

Money-back guarantee: 45 DAYS

CyberGhost comes out on top as a clear winner here. CyberGhost is fast and has great privacy and security features, plus it’s also cheaper than Hola, offering slightly lower-cost subscriptions over the long term.

CyberGhost lets you securely access Netflix from anywhere while also letting you connect to most of the other major streaming services too. While Hola currently works with Netflix, it does not do well with a number of other streaming services.

Ultimately one of the biggest reasons users opt for a VPN is for privacy and security. As the developers of Hola VPN have decided on a P2P network, privacy and security are massive issues. The Hola VPN offers a free service, but this sells users browsing history to third-party companies, like marketers.

CyberGhost offers better privacy features like a kill switch which is vital in keeping your information secure and its private DNS works better than Hola’s too.

Methodology: How we compare VPNs

We conducted a number of tests before deciding the outcome of Hola VPN vs CyberGhost. Here are some of the areas we looked at:

  • Servers – We look at the number of servers and geographical coverage provided by both VPNs. We also assess whether they have specialty servers for streaming or other specific activities.
  • Speed – Our Speed tests ensure that we only choose the fastest option. We test both VPNs with streaming, file sharing, downloading, and gaming.
  • Safety – Safety and privacy are paramount in our assessment of these VPNs. Some of the things we look for in this area include; encryption, protocols, and specific tools like a network kill switch.
  • Usability – The apps need to be easy to use for beginners, but also satisfying for a more advanced user. The apps are tested on every device and OS.
  • Value – The cost of a subscription, discounts for longer commitments, and the money-back guarantee period are just some of the things we look for when assessing value.

Read the full Comparitech VPN testing methodology for more information on how we assess VPNs.