Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction to Hola

What is Hola?

Hola's goal is to make the Internet faster, more open, and cheaper to operate. Hola is a collaborative (P2P) internet — Hola works by sharing the contributed resources of its users for the benefit of all and for business use by Bright Data. Hola provides several products based on this resource sharing technology:

Hola's free network allows consumers web browsing for limited amounts of time using a community powered (Peer-to-Peer) network. Hola is used by over 160 million people worldwide!
Hola's Premium extends the benefits of its Hola Free to more sites and more platforms, such as mobile devices, SmartTVs, game consoles etc. Hola Premium uses a dedicated network of high performance servers.

What is a community powered (Peer-to-Peer) network?

Hola is the first community powered (Peer-to-Peer) network, where users help other users make the web world-wide again. This means that Hola routes your traffic through other peers (nodes) in the Hola network, as opposed to routing through power-hungry costly servers. This allows Hola to provide you with a superior service (access to more countries, through one of the most used/downloaded extensions in VPN history) with minimal underlying costs. Using real peers to route your traffic rather than proxy servers means that Hola is harder to detect and block. Currently, Hola runs in a hybrid mode - combining traditional network architecture and peer-to-peer technology. Chrome browser extension, Opera browser add-on and Edge browser add-on operate as a standard service, and are not part of the Hola peer-to-peer network

Which operating systems, browsers and devices can I use Hola on?

Hola can be installed as a browser extension to Chrome, Opera or Edge on Windows and Mac. Hola can also be installed as an app on Android or iOS, and is available as an application (.exe) for Windows. All downloads are accessible directly from our home page (installation and use of Hola is subject to our Terms of service and Privacy policy).

Is Hola free?

Yes. We offer a free plan that provides limited daily use. Daily usage is individual for each user, so if the usage exceeds the limit, we will offer you to subscribe to the Hola Premium service.

We can offer this free plan thanks to our peer-to-peer architecture. However, some users may prefer not to contribute resources to the Hola network as a node (peer), and thus can join the Hola Premium service, which lets you use Hola without any use of your resources as a network node.

For commercial use of proxies all over the world, we recommend Bright Data.

About Hola Premium subscription:

Check out our premium page for a list of available subscriptions
Helps fund our efforts to make the internet more democratic!
You are never used as a peer
You can use your Premium membership on up to 10 devices by signing in to hola.org in each platform (you must be signed in to hola.org for the Premium membership to take effect)
Sign up for Hola Premium here

How does Hola technology work?

Hola uses a number of different technologies.

All clients are connected to our standard data center proxy servers using https proxy or IKEv2. Once a request arrives at the proxy server, the user is then sent in one of 3 directions:

Directly to the proxy itself
Routed internally to a different data center
Sent to our P2P network

We have an internal algorithm to decide the most efficient, reliable, and cost effective route — all based on the needs of the customer.

The fact is that Hola uses P2P technology that gives us a massive advantage over our competitors. However, our job is to access any site. Therefore in many cases the P2P option is not the best route, for example on iplocation-like sites.

How come Hola has a free version?

Your use of Hola's Free Limited product is free of charge in exchange for safely using some of your device's resources (WiFi and very limited cellular data), on Windows and Android only when you are not using your device. You may opt out of this by joining Hola's Premium service. Please see our TOS for further information.

Is it safe to be part of the Peer-to-Peer network?

Yes! Peers are used only to route specific requests from whitelisted sites: there's no risk that someone will take over a peer's computer, personal information, etc.

How much bandwidth does Hola use?

For desktop users we use less than 100MB per day. For mobile users it is around 3MB per day. This is how we are able to provide a free service.

Please also note that Hola doesn't show ads or sell information. Furthermore, free users can just install our browser extension. In this case they are not part of our P2P network and don't contribute any resources.

Why we don't sell ads?

Our vision at Hola is to make the web world wide again!
We engineered Hola in a totally new way - as the world's first (and only) peer to peer community, where each user in our community shares a small portion of their resources for the benefit of the network, and thus Hola can be free of ads.
Hola makes its revenue by providing corporations the same service we provide to users, but for a fee.

Is Hola using my bandwidth?

Like any P2P network, Hola is a "value exchange" network — you get the Hola free limited service (on PC, Mac or Android), and in exchange you provide a certain amount of network and processing power when your computer is not in use. This is similar to Skype and other P2P services. To provide its functionality, Hola sometimes needs to route your services through peers (other people's devices) on the Hola network. In return, some of their traffic is also routed through your device. They cannot access your device, they are only routed through it. Hola is free limited on PC, Mac and Android only for non-commercial users. For commercial use by businesses, Hola provides similar routing functionality through the Hola network for a fee. This is how Hola makes its revenues. The amount of traffic that Hola passes through a peer on its network per day on average is less than a 20 second YouTube clip. Premium users of the Hola network pay a monthly subscription and in return only use the network and do not contribute to it with device resources.

Can I use Hola and not be a peer contributing to the community?

Yes, consumers can pay a fee to only use the Hola Premium service, but not contribute their unused resources to the network. This would mean that you will be using Hola just as any other paid-for service. Sign up for Hola Premium here

What if I don’t want to allow Hola to use my network?

No problem! You have several options:

You can subscribe to Hola Premium
Temporarily disable Hola:

Right-click on Hola icon in Windows system tray
Choose 'Quit'
Right-click on Hola Background Services icon in the system tray
Choose 'Exit'

To completely opt out, simply uninstall Hola.

How can Hola be free?

Hola built a peer-to-peer overlay network for HTTP, which routes the sites you choose through other Hola users' devices and not through expensive servers. Users that opt-in to the peers' community agree to contribute their device's resources to the network. Hola takes up resources from these users' devices. This makes Hola the first service that has minimal underlying operational costs. Users who want to enjoy the Hola network without contributing device resources can do so by joining the Hola Premium service.

How can Hola offer products for free and with no ads?

Like any P2P network, Hola is a "value exchange" network - you get limited web browsing, in exchange for contributing certain amount of network and processing power.

The amount of traffic that Hola passes through a peer on its network per day on average is less than a 20 second YouTube clip.

Are there Hola products that are not part of the Peer-to-Peer network?

Yes! Hola browser extensions (Chrome, Opera and edge), Hola iOS app and Hola Android app (from Google Play Store) are not a part of the Peer-to-Peer network.

Is Hola swapping people's IP addresses?

Hola is an "IP exchange network" by which users can access all of the world wide web. This is Hola's main benefit as advertised on our web site and multiple publications since 2012 when we started.

Whereas traditional services must own expensive servers (real estate) and therefore charge high fees, Hola is an "IP exchange network" where people provide their IP address in exchange for using other people's IPs. Much like where Airbnb can offer more locations at a lower cost because of their network, Hola can offer more IP locations and a much lower cost by doing the same for IPs.

This patented technology has made Hola the only service that was able to serve over 250,000,000 people to date with a free limited unblocker, which otherwise would have been too expensive for any company to provide. Because of Hola's huge number of locations (IPs), it is the most unblockable service, allowing people in countries that censor the Internet to see the Internet as it was intended to be.

Is it safe?

Hola is safe to install and use. Hola™ was founded in 2008 and is the world's fastest growing VPN with over 200,000,000 downloads worldwide. Please

Please see the attached document to see how Hola complies with multiple security company requirements.

We take great care to ensure Hola VPN's safety and security. We are firm believers in Internet Freedom - it is what defines us. Read more about Hola

See full End User License Agreement

Security and encryption

Hola products are run over the industry-standard https: protocol, meaning that it has the same level of encryption as most of your other internet traffic.

We include additional encryption and security protocols in our apps:

Hola windows/macOS desktop apps, Hola iOS app:

IKEv2/IPsec, PPTP/L2TP (default: IKEv2/IPSec)
Encryption: DES3,AES128,AES192,AES256 (default: AES256)
Integrity check: MD5, SHA1, SHA256,SHA384 (default: SHA1)
Diffie-hellman group: MODP1024, MODP2048, MODP2048_256 (default: MODP2048)

Hola Browser: SSL (HTTPS proxy)

Hola Extension, Hola Android apps: Proxy split tunneling* (not all your traffic is encrypted)

* Split tunneling is a feature that divides your internet traffic and sends some of it through an encrypted tunnel, but routes the rest like your regular internet traffic (in most cases it's https, we don't encrypt it additionally).

Exceptions (security fallbacks)

Hola Extension, Hola Browser, Hola Android app: we allow http fallback where it helps to overcome block (useful in e.g. Turkey and Russia). We perform automatic test for every user and only use fallback if it actually helps him.
Hola Windows Desktop app (applies to free users to ensure they can enjoy full unblocking potential while ensuring full security for premium users): we allow PPTP/L2TP protocol instead of IKEv2/IPsec if it helps to overcome block.

NOTE: Smart DNS doesn't add any security, but it's lightweight and helps you to access geo-restricted content on devices that doesn't support Hola apps.

How does Hola make money?

Hola works because it is a peer-to-peer network - you use the network and contribute to the network. To provide this service without charge to our community, Hola charges validated corporations for use of the network. For Hola users that do not want to be a peer in this network, we offer the Hola Premium service, which lets you only use the network, but not be a part of it

Hola keeps your information private and does not pass it on to any third party. Consumers have grown used to having Internet businesses collect some of their personal information and sell that on to third parties (either as advertisements or other). Hola's business model is different — we don't collect any of your personal information — we use a small fraction of your computer's resources when they are not in use (so that we never slow you down) for the benefit of the network. We find that to be much less intrusive than the existing business models. Check out our premium page for a list of available subscriptions.

I love the Hola service. How can I share my love?

We definitely need your help to make the internet better! Here's what you can do:

Tell your friends and family! Share about us on Social Media
Translate: Help to translate Hola to your native language! If you are interested to do so, please visit translate page

How can I use Hola for my business?

Hola free limited and Hola Premium are for private, non-commercial use. If you are looking for a robust business proxy service please check Bright Data service and receive a free trial. Your subscription to Bright Data will grant you with:

Automation: developer API that allows controlling the routing of your HTTP/S requests via software
Allow many concurrent sessions
High bandwidth/high request rate with multiple IPs
More precise IP resolution
Access to 30+ million IPs all around the world
Geo-targeting options like: country, city, ASN, and carrier
Faster changing of IP
Engineering technical support

What are some typical use cases for the Bright Data services?

Businesses typically use the Bright Data service for:

Brand Monitoring: Brands use Bright Data to check the prices and descriptions of their products in stores that sell these products, to ensure compliance with pricing and description of the brand.
Anti ad-fraud / ad-cloaking: Ensuring that advertisements' landing pages conform to the content of the advertisement itself, so that there are no malicious advertisements on the brand's site
Self-test: Checking what the brand's site looks like from different locations around the world
Price comparison: Brands use Bright Data to anonymously compare their prices with their competitors' to ensure that they are competitive
More use cases

General troubleshooting

I forgot my password, how can I reset it?

To reset your password go to forgot password

Can I use my account on multiple devices?

Yes. Your Hola user account works across all platforms. If you purchase one of our Premium plans, you can become a "Premium" user on up to 10 different devices. There is no need to buy a plan for any device. One plan covers all platforms.

Can you change the email address?

We cannot change your email address once you registered with it. If you registered with a wrong email, register again with the right email address.

Hola is on, but I still can't access the web page I want to see. What should I do?

Try each of these methods separately:

Go to the site you want to access, click the Hola extension icon, and select the flag of the country you want to view the site from
If that does not work, disable and enable the Hola extension
Try forcing the site to reload by pressing the CTRL and F5 (or Shift + refresh button)
Clear your browser's cache, including the cookies (typically under 'Settings' > 'Privacy' or keyboard shortcut CTRL +SHIFT + DELETE)
Close the browser, reopen it, and try again
Disable other extensions to check if any of them is causing the problem
Uninstall Hola from the browser. Then, go to Hola's site and click 'Start'
Disable other VPS (Virtual Private Server), proxy software, or other software that might conflict with Hola, such as IE tab, Avast WebRep, Flash Blocker, and NoScript.
Test your Hola by going to IP location service
Ensure that you have the latest version of your browser:
Disable your antivirus or firewall (at your risk) to see if they are causing the problem
If you still have problems, please see the problem report

Hola's icon disappeared from my browser. What should I do?

Try each of these separately:
For Chrome

Close Chrome, and reopen it again
In Chrome, move your mouse to the address bar at the top of the page, just beside the bookmarks star. Try to drag the address bar to the left
Try to click the '>>' (more) icon at the top right of the address bar, and see if Hola's icon is on the list
Open Chrome's extensions settings. Ensure that Hola's extension is installed. If not, download it from Hola's webpage
Disable and re-enable Hola

I get this message: 'Hola cannot work because another extension is controlling your proxy settings'. What should I do?

Disable all other extensions and then enable them back, one by one, to find the extension that is causing the conflict with Hola.

I get this message: 'There seems to be an error - Reload Hola'. What should I do?

You could be receiving this message either because you are behind a corporate firewall through which Hola cannot pass, or because the Hola system is down. Alternatively, this message can result from some other problem that we are not able to pinpoint. If you are behind a firewall (e.g. at work), try connecting to a different network (different WiFi for example), or outside the company. Otherwise, try the following:

Disable and enable the Hola, and try again
If that does not work, clear your browser's cache, including the cookies (typically under 'Settings' > 'Privacy' or keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + DELETE)
Close all of your browsers, re-open and try again
Uninstall Hola (on your browser's extensions, and through add/remove software), and re-install Hola from Hola's site

I have a Premium membership. Why is my status not updated to Premium?

Your Premium membership is associated with the account you used for registering to Hola when you started the membership. As long as you are signed in, using that account, you appear as a Premium user. Sign in to your account

For example, if you registered with your Google account and you are using your Facebook account, Hola will not recognize you as a Premium user

The email you received from Hola after starting your subscription indicates which account is associated with your membership

If you used PayPal to pay for your membership, it may take few minutes for the membership status to get updated

If you have a Premium membership but still do not see that in your status, take the following steps:

Go to the My Account page
Use the same account you used when you registered for Hola Premium. If you are not sure which account to use, refer to the email message you received from Hola when you started your subscription.
Check the 'Premium Membership' section for your membership status:

If it shows beside 'Active Until' a future date, it means your membership is valid through that date
If it reads 'You don't have a Premium subscription. Already a Premium member?', you might have signed in by using the wrong account. Try logging out and logging with a different email address and check the My Account page again. For example, if you signed in using your Google's account, log out and try to sign in with your Facebook account, or your email address.

Please note: Hola service is provided for each platform individually. Therefore, you need to purchase a separate membership for each platform where Hola is to be used.

If the problem is not resolved, contact our support team

Is it possible to pay for Premium without automatically recurring payments?

If you'd like to manually buy each subscription period (monthly, yearly) separately, you can do the following:

Go to the Premium page and start a monthly or annual Premium membership
After completing the payment process, go to your account's page
Follow the instructions to turn off auto-renewal

How do I keep Hola's version updated to the latest version?

We update Hola often with bug fixes and new features. We keep your version of Hola automatically updated.
Android and iOS users: Ensure that you keep automatic updates on

Which information should I provide to Hola when reporting a problem?

If you have gone through the above troubleshooting steps and are still facing problems, contact our support team, and include as much of the following information as you can:

The platform you are using Hola on
Your Operating System: E.g. Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8), Android, Mac (OS X version)
Screenshots of the problem
A brief description of the problem
Name of the Antivirus or Firewall you are using
The type of network your computer is on: Personal (like your Home) or Corporate (like your work or University)
VPN or Proxy applications you are using/running
Which website(s) are you having problems with?
Purchase invoice, if the question is related to your Premium membership

Note: Many times resetting your computer/cell phone and ensuring that you have internet connectivity will solve your problem.

How to access sites in Chrome Incognito?

You can allow Hola in incognito as follows:

Open extension page
Enable "Allow in incognito"

I can't install the Hola client (exe)

Try the following:

Go to Hola and click 'Start'
Your antivirus or firewall might be blocking the Hola installation. You can try to temporarily disable them (at your risk) and re-try to install Hola, to see if that fixes the problem.
On WinXP: Verify that you have service pack 3 installed
Ensure that your browser is up to date

How do I uninstall Hola?

You can uninstall Hola as follows:

Hola extension:

Right click on Hola's icon
Click 'Remove from ...'

Note: This does not uninstall the Hola app from your PC; to remove the app, carry out the steps below:

Hola VPN or Hola Browser for Windows:

Go to Control Panel
Select Programs and Features
Select Hola app, and hit uninstall

Hola app for Mac:

Quit the Hola app
Drag the Hola app from Applications to Trash
Restart your Mac

How do I stop Hola from starting automatically when Windows starts?

Windows 7:

In 'Search programs and file' bar in Windows 'Start' menu
Search for 'System Configuration'
Switch to 'Startup' menu
Look for 'Hola' and uncheck it
Click 'OK'

Windows 8.X/10:

Click on Windows 'Start' button
Click 'Control Panel', and open 'System and Security'
Choose from the list 'Administrative Tools', and open 'System Configuration'
Click 'Startup' then 'Open Task Manager'
Choose 'Hola Better internet' and disable it

How can I fix 'Failed to connect' in Hola?

Ensure that necessary services are enabled in Windows:

Press WIN+R and type services.msc in the opened dialog, then click 'OK'
'Services' control panel should be started.
Locate and right-click 'Remote Access Auto Connection Manager' in the right pane of 'Services'
Click on 'Properties'
Select 'Manual' from 'Startup type' and click 'OK'
Next, locate and right-click 'Remote Access Connection Manager' in the right pane of 'Services'
Click on 'Properties'
Select 'Manual' from 'Startup type' and click 'OK'
Next, locate and right-click 'Telephony' in the right pane of 'Services'
Click on 'Properties'
Select 'Manual' from 'Startup type' and click 'OK'

I received an account verification email, but the link is not working

If the verification link is not clickable or part of the link is cut off, copy and paste the entire URL into your browser's address bar and press Enter
The verification link might have expired. To request a new verification link, visit my account, sign in, and then resend a verification link
If you are still unable to verify your email address within 48 hours, please contact our support team

How do I turn off 2-Step Verification?

If 2-step verification (2-step authorization) is annoying, you can disable it in settings. But keep in mind that disabling it makes your account less secure.

Reporting vulnerability

We appreciate any contribution that help us keep our users safe.
We will provide a modest bounty of $50 for a qualified and unknown vulnerability report. For critical and high-impact security vulnerabilities we will provide a higher bounty at our discretion. Contact us!

I have feedback or an idea for Hola

We love to hear your feedback and ideas. Contact us!

Removing my Hola account

If you want us to remove your Hola account and all of its associated data, please let us know by sending an email to privacy@hola.org

Hola Browser

How does it work?

Hola Browser proxies your traffic through a server in another country to change your IP and unblock restricted sites. For details about the routing algorithm see this section.

Default search engine

The default search engine in Hola Browser is Google. To change it, go to Settings, Click Search engine, and select a new default search engine.

How do I uninstall the Hola browser?

See this section.

Hola on Android

* only relevant for versions installed via Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawei or Amazon

When does my device contribute to the Hola peer network?

When you are not using your device
(so that you always have the fastest speed at your fingertips)
When your device is NOT roaming
When your device is connected to an electricity source
(so that you always have all the battery power you need)

You can read here more about community powered (Peer-to-Peer) network

Will my cellular plan be used by the Hola peer network?

We prefer to use WiFi! We may use very limited cellular data and we won't use while roaming

Android troubleshooting

How can I clear my browsing history?

Go to menu (top right of the home screen)
Click 'Settings'
Choose 'WEB' from the top list
Scroll down to 'Advanced Settings'
Click 'Clear history'

Please note: You can also set Hola to clear the browsing history every time you exit Hola by selecting the check box 'Clear history on exit' at the top of the list

How do I use the Hola built-in browser?

Hola app comes with a built-in browser which allows you to access any website from any country. Click the country flag from the top of the screen to change the Hola browser IP (internet address) to the country you want to virtually browse from. Once you pick a country, enter the website you want to browse to in the address bar. You will be virtually browsing from the country you selected

To see a list of popular sites in your country, click the Hola browser's address bar from the home screen. From that list, you can select the site you want to browse to, and the country you want to browse the site from

Hola helps to make the internet faster, more open, and cheaper to operate. We cannot provide support for a specific domain or service. Moreover, users must always comply with the site's terms of use Using pay sites with Hola.

To check the functionality of the service please visit IP location service and you will be able to see your IP is an IP of the country you selected.

Hola is not working for me

If Hola isn't working on your Android device, it's possible that there is a conflict with another application or system settings.
The following apps can not run at the same time or might cause conflict with Hola:

Ad-blocker apps: Some content might not appear/work due to ad-blocker apps. Thus, try to turn ad-blocker apps off, and then try again to load the requested content.
VPN apps: Hola cannot work with VPN apps at the same time
DNS apps: Hola cannot work with other DNS applications at the same time

Proxy settings:

Remove previously installed settings
Try to reset your network settings
Ensure that you turn on the Hola's service directly from the Hola app, and not from the settings

App is set to a 'browsing from' country with Hola but still does not work:

Open Android settings > Application manager > Downloaded > select the app you wish to get access to > Clear data > clear cache
Open Hola > look for the app you want to use with Hola and click on it > select the requested country from 'Browsing from' > click open

I am not interested in seeing 'Popular apps', can I hide it?

Go to Hola app > settings > turn 'Popular List' off

How can I temporarily disable Hola app?

Go to Hola app > settings > turn off Hola

How do I uninstall Hola?

Open 'Play Store'
Press the 'menu' button, and then under 'Apps & Games' select 'My apps & games'
Look for Hola and uninstall it

Please note: If you have Hola Premium, this neither stops payments nor ends the subscription! To stop the subscription, visit 'Subscriptions' in 'My Account' settings on the 'Play Store'

How do I use Hola on Android apps that I cannot find on the store?

Open your phone's browser
Search on Google for the application's APK download. For example, if you are looking for the Wikipedia app (which you might not be able to download if blocked by your government), search for 'Wikipedia APK download' (this is the application's installation file)
Once the APK is downloaded, click it to start the installation
If you get a message that you can't install non-Market apps, see How to enable non-Play apps
Once installed, go back to Hola app, and open the desired app

Bug report

To report a problem on Android, follow these steps:

Open Hola > settings > 'Issue Report'
Write a brief description about the problem
Attach screenshots of the problem

iOS troubleshooting

I have a problem with Hola on iOS, what should I do?

For all iOS-related questions, see Hola iOS FAQ

Billing FAQ

I have a billing question, what should I do?

For all billing questions, visit the Hola Billing FAQ

Hola

What is the Hola?

Hola is the first community powered (Peer-to-Peer) network, where users help each other make the information on the web accessible for everyone again.
Hola is very easy to setup (one click), and has free version (time-restricted) and ad-free for PC and Mac users. It is useful for seeing how a website looks like from a certain country, for overcoming government censorship (e.g. using Facebook from a country that blocks it), for overcoming your corporation's internet site blocking, for seeing a site in its native language (e.g. seeing the Spanish news site as it appears to Spanish users), and more.

Hola is free limited on PC, MAC and Android for private use. For a commercial-level service, see Bright Data service

How do I use Hola?

Go to a website you would like to use, click Hola's extension icon in your browser, and select the country from which you would like to access the site. Hola will switch your IP (your internet address) to the country you selected, so that you are virtually browsing from that country.

Alternatively, you can click the Hola extension from any page, and enter a website you would like to access, then select the country. Enjoy!

We cannot provide support for a specific domain or service. Moreover, users must always comply with the site's terms of use Using pay sites with Hola.

To check the functionality of the service please visit IP location service and you will be able to see your IP is an IP of the country you selected.

If you purchased a Hola Premium account and wish to get a refund, please send us the email address with which you signed up to our service.

When Hola identifies a webpage that many people in your country access by using Hola, Hola assumes that you may want to access this page via Hola as well. You can click 'unlock' to access the page via Hola, or click 'x' to continue browsing normally. Based on your decision, Hola will create a rule that you can change afterwards.

How does Hola ensure the legitimate use of its consumer network?

Hola regularly monitors the consumer network for traces of misuse or security breaches. In addition, architecture modifications allow Hola to see the origin of each request, thus if a cyber criminal were to use the Hola network, the cyber's criminal information may be passed on to the authorities. This makes Hola un-attractive to abusers. Some networks don't see both ends of the connection, and are therefore much more attractive for these uses.

Are torrents supported?

The use of torrent apps on our network is not allowed, and we are blocking torrents traffic.

Why does Hola need the various permissions for the Chrome extension and the Android app?

To route your traffic through other IPs, Hola must act as a proxy for your data, thus requiring various data permissions
We only ask for the permissions we need for the app to work best
More details about the required Android permissions can be found below.
Device & app history: Hola allows you to launch, from within the Hola app, apps you installed in your device
Identity: Hola also needs to create an ID for your Android device, and the ID is created from the various hardware readings
Photos/Media/Files: We use the external storage of the device for caching and storing data
Device ID & call information: Hola uses peer-to-peer technology as a proxy, on Android we need to identify when the device is using the power supply and NOT roaming, so we don't waste your battery, or slowing down your phone.

Does Hola share any of my personal information with the rest of the Hola community?

No. Hola handles your HTTP requests exactly like HTTP web proxies do, according to the HTTP RFC standards, and in a similar way to how ISPs do it in the normal course of your browsing. That also covers 'Cache:' public/private HTTP headers, and their correct handling.

My antivirus software is marking some files related to Hola as unsafe, are they?

This is likely a false positive report. The file it's catching is part of the Hola smart cache (you can mark it as safe, don't delete). We are working with the top antivirus vendors to get Hola completely whitelisted, so that these types of false positives don't disturb our users.

Please see the attached document to see how Hola complies with multiple security company requirements.

What are the risks of a community powered commercial network?

Non-commercial networks such as TOR are completely anonymous, and nobody has access to the source of the requests on that network. That makes these networks ideal for criminal activity, and running a Tor relay/bridge is most likely helping the wrong people, as well as putting the operator in danger. Hola is a commercial network, run by a commercial company that has its customers and its business in mind. Thus, when sensing any dubious activity on our network, we are able to see the source of the request and help law enforcement get to the cyber criminal. We've never yet heard of a case where a Hola user had any such problems, despite having an installed base that is a few thousand times bigger than any other comparable network such as Tor. If you are still concerned about these risks, you have the option of not installing or uninstalling Hola.

What is the role of Hola’s Chief Security Officer?

Hola's Chief Security Officer (CSO) is responsible for the overall security of the Hola network. Hola's CSO leads the development, implementation, and management of the organization's security vision, strategy, and programs. Recent actions include internal and external security audits, security bounty program, securing the consumer and commercial onboarding processes, and changes in the Hola network architecture.

What is the Hola vulnerability bounty program?

To expose Hola's products and networks to external scrutiny, we occasionally offer a vulnerability bounty program, by which researchers can receive recognition and compensation for reporting security vulnerabilities. This program allows Hola to discover and resolve security issues before the general public, thereby preventing the abuse of the Hola networks.

Hola Premium

Which platforms does Hola Premium support?

Windows: Win 8 and higher
Mac: OS 10.11 El Capitan and higher
iOS: iOS version 8.0 and higher
Android: version 5 and higher

Can I use my account on multiple devices?

Hola Premium subscription can be used up to 10 devices.
Make sure to purchase your subscription here.
Subscription bought on mobile device can only be used on that device.

To use Hola Premium on your iPhone or iPad, install Hola for iOS, then login using your username and password
To use Hola Premium on Android, install Hola Premium Android app
To use Hola Premium on your Smart TV, gaming consoles and routers, visit Hola Premium Setup configuration page

Which security protocols Hola Premium support?

Full access mode: (Hola windows/macOS desktop apps, Hola iOS app)

IKEv2/IPsec, PPTP/L2TP (default: IKEv2/IPSec)
Encryption: DES3,AES128,AES192,AES256 (default: AES256)
Integrity check: MD5, SHA1, SHA256,SHA384 (default: SHA1)
Diffie-hellman group: MODP1024, MODP2048, MODP2048_256 (default: MODP2048)

Full browser/site proxy mode (Hola Browser):

SSL (HTTPS proxy)

Access site mode (Hola Extension, Hola Android apps):

Proxy split tunneling (not all your traffic is encrypted)

Which ports to unblock for network traffic to pass-through?

For PPTP

IP Protocol=TCP, TCP Port number=1723
IP Protocol=GRE (value 47)

For L2TP

IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=500
IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=4500
IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=1701
IP Protocol Type=50

For IKEv2

IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=500
IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=4500
IP Protocol Type=UDP, UDP Port Number=1701
IP Protocol Type=50

I subscribed to Premium, but my account is still showing that I am a free user. Why?

Make sure you are signed in with your Hola Premium account details to allow Hola to correctly identify your account type. You will find a sign-in menu in every Hola Premium product - on desktop and on mobile.

I think my Hola Premium connection is slow. What can I do?

Here are a few tips to improve your Hola Premium speed:

If you don't need a specific country, connect to the country that is closest to you.
Connect with wired LAN - it is always faster than WiFi.
Reboot your device to clear networking settings that were maybe cached.

When I connect to some sites, they warn me of suspicious activity. Why?

Many websites keep track of their visitor's IP addresses. When you connect to Hola Premium, your public IP address changes from your regular IP address to a different IP address. Some sites may display a message or send you an email saying that an unusual login was detected.
The reason for these warning usually is the rapid change in IP address that happens when you use an IP network. For example, if your home country is India, you usually connect to the website from an India IP address. If you visit the same site after connecting to a USA server, the site will suddenly see you connecting from the USA server and consider it suspicious.

Can I share my account with my family? Will they see my online activity?

You are welcome to share your account with your family so that they can enjoy Hola Premium as well. Just remember that your account allows up to 10 devices.
If you need more than 10 devices, simply buy a second Hola Premium subscription.

How can I manage my account?

To manage your subscription, go to your account.

How can I cancel my subscription

This depends on which device you used to subscribe to Hola Premium:

If you subscribed from your PC or Mac: Go to your account.
If you subscribed from your an iOS device: Follow Apple's instructions. Please note that In-app purchases that were already made are non-refundable due to Apple's terms of service.
If you subscribed from your an Android device: Follow Google's instructions. Please note that In-app purchases that were already made are non-refundable due to Google Play's terms of service.

Refund & Cancelation policy

Hola offers a suite of services, including a free product, with restrictions. In order to have unlimited online access, Hola's Premium product is the one for you. Should you want to cancel your subscription to Hola Premium, you can do so at any time.

Once your account passes its expiration date, your subscription will be automatically renewed. If you have canceled the auto-renewal, you will need to resubscribe to our services to continue using them. Sometimes we have to state the obvious :)

Your satisfaction is of course important to us. If you've not used Hola Premium, at all, for up to 14 days after purchase, you will be eligible for a refund.

If you've used Hola Premium, and you don't want Premium anymore, you can cancel and keep what's left of what you've paid for. You'll remain Premium until your next payment is due - which is when your cancellation will kick in.

Here are our instructions on how to cancel a recurring subscription.

While our policy allows customers to use Hola risk-free, we must also protect ourselves from fraud. Therefore, we reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to limit or deny refund requests.

iOS payments are processed directly through Apple (instead of Hola), hence, we are unable to offer refunds for in-app purchases made with your Apple account. More information can be found in Apple's refund policy: https://support.apple.com/HT204084

How can I get technical support?

To contact our support team, fill a support form.

Misc.

Can I use Hola together with another service?

Using two services at the same time can cause unexpected behavior. If you'd like to use two services, simply quit one of them while using the other.

When I'm using Hola, do I still need to register as a user or pay the website I'm watching?

Yes, you still need to register and pay for sites that require registration and payment, even when using Hola. In addition, you must always comply with the site's terms of use.

Can I run Hola on a virtual machine? Can I run it on both the host and guest systems simultaneously?

Yes, Hola works on Windows, even if running under VMWare. Our browser extensions work on all operating systems that support Chrome, Opera and Edge (except mobile). However, you should close the Hola client on the host system before you open the virtual machine, and never try to run Hola on both the host and guest operating systems at once.

Can I use Hola on my SmartTV, my gaming console or my router?

Yes, using Hola Premium - see Hola Premium Setup configuration page.