In order to get the security and privacy benefits a VPN can provide, you need to make sure you choose the right one. And that may not be as easy as one might think.

With VPNs having gone mainstream and all the features being touted, it can be difficult to assess a VPN provider’s strengths and weaknesses, as we as determine how a VPN provider sets itself apart from its competition.

So, with that in mind, in this post, we are comparing Private Internet Access and PureVPN.

We’ll be comparing them on various aspects of their respective feature sets in order to set them apart and make a recommendation.

Let’s get started with our PureVPN vs. Private Internet Access comparison.

PureVPN vs Private Internet Access - Side By Side

Name	Private Internet Access	PureVPN
Rating	8.5/10	6.5/10
User Friendliness Score	9	7
General features
Price per month (cheapest)	$2.69	$3.33
Simultaneous Connections	10	10
Servers	3292	2000
Countries	46	140
Allows torrenting / P2P	Yes	Yes
Streaming
Netflix	No	Yes
Hulu	No	Yes
Amazon Prime	Yes	Yes
Disney+	No	Yes
Security
Supports TOR	No	No
Split Tunneling	Yes	Yes
Router Support	Yes	Yes
Unlimited bandwidth	Yes	Yes
Refund Period	30 Days	31 Days
Free trial	No	No
Desktop Operating Software	Windows, MacOS, Linux	Windows, MacOS, Linux
Mobile Apps	iOS, Android	iOS, Android
Browser Extensions	Yes	Yes
VPN Protocols	IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP	IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256
DNS Leak Protection	Yes	Yes
VPN Kill-switch	Yes	Yes
Rent/Own Infrastructure	Rent	Own
Hacked	No	No
Malware/Ad Blocker	Yes	No
Privacy
Logging Policy	No-logging Policy	No-logging Policy
Privacy Policy	Good, but could be easier to understand.	Good, but we don't fully trust they conform to their policies.
Jurisdiction	U.S.A.	Hong Kong
Out of 14 eyes	No	Yes
Warrant Canary	No	No
Accepts Cryptocurrency	Yes	No
Sign-up Information Required	Only Valid Email	Valid Email and name
Speed (average)
Avg. Ping NY	28.33 ms	162.33 ms
Avg. Download NY	Over a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 94.35 Mbps	Over a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 75.22 Mbps
Avg. Upload NY	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 25.05 Mbps	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 28.25 Mbps

1. Speed

When you’re on the Internet, speed is important, whether you’re using a VPN or not. But a VPN - any VPN - will create overhead, which will cause some slowdown on your connection.

Let’s take a look at how well PureVPN vs PIA compare on speed.

Private Internet Access

Tested on a 100Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 94.35Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 25.05Mbps

PureVPN

Tested on a 100Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 75.22Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 28.25Mbps

So, as always, we want to look at the difference between the bandwidth I’m allocated by my ISP (100Mbps on download) and the results of the speed tests.

And we can see a marked difference between Private Internet Access’ speed and PureVPN’s speed.

Over PureVPN, I’m losing about one-quarter of my speed on download. While over PIA, the speed dip would not even be noticeable in a real-world scenario.

On upload, PureVPN does ever so slightly better than PIA. But with such a small difference, this is very likely due to network volatility and we can’t make the claim that PureVPN is faster on upload. 

Their performance is pretty much the same on upload - which is to be expected, as ISPs typically provide many more download channels than upload channels.

---

2. User-Friendliness

As I mentioned above, VPNs have gone mainstream in recent years. They’re no longer a niche product for techies.

That means that VPN services need to compete on user-friendliness more than ever before.

Both Private Internet Access and PureVPN provide native apps for a large number of platforms.

Private Internet Access supports:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• iOS
• Android
• FireTV
• Chrome & Firefox browser extensions

PureVPN supports:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• iOS
• Android
• Android TV
• Kodi
• Amazon Fire Stick
• Chrome & Firefox browser extensions

And both providers supply instructions on how to set up their service on many routers.

The native apps for both providers include a VPN kill switch. A kill switch blocks your traffic from exiting your device is your VPN connection should ever drop. Kill switches have become a staple in VPN client apps.

In terms of simultaneous connections, both Private Internet Access and PureVPN allow up to 10 simultaneous connections.

And both VPN providers also provide a 30-day money-back guarantee.

So it seems to be a pretty similar offering…

However, though I’m not a huge fan of PIA’s client app, I find PureVPN’s interface to be more confusing than PIA’s.

And I don’t have much appreciation for the empty security marketing with which they fill their app. Or for all of their in-app advertising - for themselves.

Also, as we’ll see a bit later Privacy Policy section - their apps are full of trackers. That’s pretty shocking, in my opinion. A privacy company is using third-party trackers in their apps? Hard to trust, no?

As far as customer support is concerned, I had no need to contact either company's customer support department. Everything just worked out of the box.

We're always happy when we don't need customer support's help, regardless what the product is.

---

3. Streaming

Streaming over a VPN has a few benefits. The obvious one is the security gained by having an encrypted connection to the Internet.

But you also avoid ISP bandwidth throttling, as well as circumvent geo-restrictions. Not bad.

But add to that the Netflix VPN ban, which started in 2018, and you quickly understand why unblocking Netflix access has now become a priority for many VPN services.

PureVPN provides a dedicated page on their site, explaining how to unblock Netflix. And in my tests, it worked extremely well. No lag, no buffering, just happy streaming.

Private Internet Access, on the other hand, was not able to unblock Netflix at all, even though PIA brands itself as streaming-friendly. 

But, they’re not actually trying to unblock the streaming service. PIA defines itself as a privacy company offering VPN services. Not a media unblocking service. 

You can get more information on this in my Netflix reviews of Private Internet Access and PureVPN.

---

4. Security & Encryption

Private Internet Access and PureVPN both support secure VPN protocols.

Private Internet Access supports: 

• IKEv2/IPSec
• OpenVPN
• WireGuard
• L2TP/IPSec
• PPTP

PureVPN supports: 

• PPTP
• L2TP/IPSec
• IKEv2/IPSec
• OpenVPN
• SSTP

Both providers support the industry-standard cipher: AES-256. AES-256 is deemed extremely secure and has no known vulnerabilities. 

Private Internet Access also supports WireGuard - a new, highly secure VPN protocol that is quickly becoming the default for many providers. WireGuard uses more modern ciphers (that are also deemed very secure):

• ChaCha20
• Curve25519
• BLAKE2s
• SipHash24
• HKDF

But both PureVPN and Private Internet Access also support weak and obsolete VPN protocols. This is likely offered for more technical users with legacy machines.

But as I’ve said before, I don’t think VPN providers should support weak and obsolete protocols. These should be phased out. 

---

5. Logs & Privacy​

Private Internet Access and PureVPN, like most providers, both commit to a strong no-logging policy.

But let’s take a look at how they communicate this in their privacy policies to see how they understand user privacy.

Even though Private Internet Access has proven their no-logging claims before, they don’t make a big deal about their no-logging policy on their website.

Turning to TorrentFreak’s Which VPN Providers Really Take Anonymity Seriously in 2020? guide, PIA states the following, concerning their no-logging policy:

"We do not store any logs relating to traffic, session, DNS or metadata. There are no logs for any person or entity to match an IP address and a timestamp to a current or former user of our service. In summary, we do not log, period. Privacy is our policy.”

Looking at their actual privacy policy was a bit disappointing, as it was pretty generic. We would have liked to see a more focused privacy policy.

Still, they’ve proven their trustworthiness and there’s zero doubt in my mind that PIA does not log.

Here’s an excerpt from PureVPN’s privacy policy:

"We DO NOT keep any record of your browsing activities, connection logs, records of the VPN IPs assigned to you, your original IPs, your connection time, the history of your browsing, the sites you visited, your outgoing traffic, the content or data you accessed, or the DNS queries generated by you.”

It’s quite clear and ticks the right boxes. But PureVPN’s precedent of spying on its users makes it harder to swallow.

A VPN provider can have as many written-out, privacy-preserving policies as it wants. If it doesn’t adhere to them, not much is gained.

Companies, like people, aren’t perfect and can make mistakes. Just some mistakes are harder to overcome than others…

---

6. Pricing​

We’re now going to turn to pricing. Below is a list of the different packages, prices, and accepted payment methods for both Private Internet Access and PureVPN:

Private Internet Access

Visit Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access offers three subscription terms:

• 9.95 USD for one month of service
• 39.95 USD for one year of service (works out to 3.33 USD per month)
• 69.95 USD for two years of service (works out to 2.69 USD per month)

Payment Methods:

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Amazon pay
• Mint
• Interac
• Many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin

PureVPN

Visit PureVPN

PureVPN offers four subscriptions as well:

• 0.99 USD - 7-Day
• 10.95 USD - 1 Month
• 49.98 USD - 6 Months (works out to 8.33 USD per month)
• 77.88 USD - 1 Year (works out to 6.49 USD per month)

* Note that PureVPN’s yearly plan is not advertised on their website. The 7-day trial is converted into a yearly plan unless it’s canceled before it expires.

Payment Methods:

• Credit card
• PayPal

So, Private Internet Access is cheaper than PureVPN across the board. And PIA also accepts more payment options than PureVPN.

But, crucially, PIA accepts cryptocurrencies and enables anonymous payments. PureVPN only accepts credit cards and PayPal, so no possibility of anonymous payments.

In my opinion, a VPN provider that takes user privacy seriously will accept either cash or Bitcoin to allow for anonymous payments.

Your payment trail can seriously compromise your anonymity

---

7. Torrenting​

We’re now looking at torrenting in our PureVPN vs. PIA comparison. And this category will very likely be a tie.

Private Internet Access doesn’t make a big splash about torrenting, but it’s supported on every server. Just connect to PIA’s network, launch your torrent client and torrent-on - no special servers here..

PureVPN takes a different approach, but it works equally well. PureVPN provides dedicated P2P servers which are indicated inside their apps. There are many servers to choose from.

I tested both providers on torrenting. And torrenting was smooth, fast, and without issue over both networks.

Both PIA and PureVPN support torrenting extremely well. Nothing to worry about here.

---

8. Other Features​

Let’s now see if there are any other features, in our PureVPN vs. PIA showdown, other than the ones we discussed, that can set these two providers apart.

• Private Internet Access provides an ads & tracker blocker (MACE)
• Private Internet Access supports split tunneling

• PureVPN spied on its users in 2017

Outstanding Features​

Private Internet Access

• Split Tunnelling: PIA supports a feature called selective routing or split tunneling. Selective routing gives you a lot of flexibility in routing your traffic over the VPN connection or through your ISP connection. This  you could send your bit torrent traffic through the VPN, while sending your Netflix traffic through your ISP network, for example. Another use for split tunneling is to keep access to your local LAN network when connected to the VPN. Selective routing or split tunnelling is very flexible and can be set up to accommodate almost any scenario.
• MACE: Inside all of Private Internet Access’ client apps you’ll find an ads & tracker blocker, called MACE. When you enable MACE, it will start blocking ads and trackers system-wide on your device. The feature works using a process called DNS blackholing. DNS blackholing does its filtering by checking your DNS requests against a blocklist. If your requests match anything on the blocklist, that connection is blocked (blackholed). Ads & tracker blockers are becoming the norm for VPN providers and that’s a good thing. They make the Web less obnoxious, enable you to use less bandwidth, and enhance your privacy.

PureVPN

• Spied on their users at the request of law enforcement: I’m not trying to make PureVPN look bad here, but it’s what I’m left with to set these two VPN providers apart. PureVPN simply doesn’t have any “special” features that aren’t also provided by Private Internet Access. PIA simply offers more features across the board at a lower price… And having a VPN company - a company whose bread and butter is privacy -  spy on its users at the behest of law enforcement is exactly the opposite of what you’re looking for when shopping for a VPN provider. I’m not sure if this kind of breach of trust is recoverable. But it does set them apart…

---

Conclusion: PureVPN vs Private Internet Access

And the Winner Is? 

We had eight categories:

One point is attributed to the winner in each category. And in case of a tie, both providers get a point.

So it looks like this:

• Speed - (Private Internet Access)
• User-Friendliness - (Private Internet Access)
• Streaming - (PureVPN)
• Security & Encryption - (Private Internet Access)
• Logs and Privacy -  (Private Internet Access)
• Pricing - (Private Internet Access)
• Torrenting - (Tie)
• Other Features - (Private Internet Access)

So that’s 7 points for Private Internet Access and 2 points for PureVPN. 

As I predicted, this one is not close. And it doesn’t deserve to be. I think it’s clear that, at least as far as privacy and security are concerned, PIA is the better provider. On top of that, PureVPN is significantly more expensive.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, but that trust deficit is difficult to get over.

Private Internet Access is recommended. PureVPN is not.

PureVPN

Go With PureVPN if:

• You’re not all that concerned with security & privacy
• You want to pay more for less, for some reason
• You simply want a VPN that unblocks Netflix

Visit PureVPN

Private Internet Access

Go With Private Internet Access if:

• You want an included ad & tracker blocker
• You want to use Tor over VPN
• You want a VPN provider that won’t spy on you

Visit Private Internet Access

For more information on these two VPN providers, check out our Private Internet Access review and our PureVPN review.

Thanks for reading!