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# of Servers
18651
# of Servers
18651
Server Locations
91
Server Locations
91
Unlimited Bandwidth
Yes
Price Per Month (From)
$2.03
Price Per Month (From)
$2.03
Free Trial
-
Free Trial
-


8.5/10
Informr score
The Private Internet Access (PIA) currently has an Informr score of 8.5 out of 10. This score is based on our evaluation of 63 sources including reviews from users and the web's most trusted critics.

What's good

  • Low price
  • Good peformance
  • High level of customization regarding encryption, authentication, and handshakes
  • Excellent ad-blocking on browser extensions
  • No logging

What's bad

  • No obfuscation support
  • No live chat support

Whether you want to stream Netflix in a different region or protect your personal information while browsing the web, a VPN offers essential protection. While all the services available might look very similar, Private Internet Access (PIA) stands out from the competition for a few reasons.

Pricing

PIA has some of the lowest prices around for both their monthly and yearly plans. They don’t offer a free plan or even a free trial period. However, they offer a 7-day refund window if you sign up and are not happy with the performance or features.

Supported Devices

Whether you’re on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, or Linux, PIA offers apps to help keep your connection secure. You can also use browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. They even offer setup for routers and other devices.

One interesting thing to note, PIA’s browser extensions and iOS app are all open source. This means you can get a good look at what’s going on behind the scenes if you’re technologically inclined.

Ease of Use

Whether you’re using the desktop client or the app, it’s easy to get started with PIA. There’s a quick tutorial to guide you when you first launch it. Then you just need to choose your preferred server from the list of more than 3,000 services in around 30 countries.

Simultaneous Connections

Like other VPNs, PIA lets you connect up to 5 different devices. Or, if you’d prefer to connect your entire home network at once, you can set up PIA on any router running DD-WRT, Tomato, or pfSense.

Included Features

  • Kill switch on desktop, iOS, and Android apps
  • Block location access, third-party cookies, website referrers, and more with Chrome extensions
  • IPv6 blocking to prevent DNS leaks
  • Extra security with data encryption and authentication
  • P2P support

While all of these features are useful, some reviewers complain that it feels more like a grab bag of security features rather than a cohesive set.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for many is its lack of obfuscated servers for Android. These servers mask your VPN use and make it look like regular internet activity. Without obsfucation, you won’t be able to get around limitations when traveling in countries with restricted Internet laws.

Privacy and Logging

As with other high-end VPN services, PIA uses OpenVPN for desktop and mobile devices. If it can’t connect, it uses L2TP/IPSec as a fall-back.

While L2TP isn’t as secure as OpenVPN, it provides enough security -- especially when compared to connecting to public Wi-Fi with nothing.

By default, PIA uses AES-128 encryption but you can change this to AES-256 for additional security. There’s also SHA1 and SHA256 authentication and RSA-2048 handshaking -- though you can increase this to RSA-4096. The number of options available surprised reviewers.

Tom’s Guide states, “No other VPN we’ve tested allows this level of customization.

In terms of logging, Private Internet Access states “[We] absolutely do not keep any logs, of any kind, period... We can unequivocally state that our company has not and still does not maintain metadata logs regarding when a subscriber accesses the VPN service…

However, the company is based in the US. This means its subject to US jurisdiction laws. While this might be a hard sell for some, PIA seems to know this as they post court documents showing the only data the company provided in court was general location of server IPs.

Performance

PIA impressed reviewers with many noting they offer fast connection speeds to servers and fast transfer speeds. As expected, latency increased with distance but reviewers had no issues otherwise. If you run into problems with a server, there are 3000 others to choose from.

Unfortunately, PIA provides mixed results when accessing popular streaming services like Netflix from outside their normal access areas.

Support

Although they don’t have a live chat feature, you can email customer support when you have a question. PIA promises a response in 6 hours. When tested, critics generally received responses in under 2 hours.

Besides email, PIA offers detailed documentation on their site.

Summary

While it’s not without its faults, Private Internet Access provides good privacy features at a low price.

With that said, PC Mag notes, “... [PIA] is easy to recommend, but only with an asterisk… it’s incredibly robust with powerful tools… it also has a strong privacy stance… but it’s also stripped to the bone in terms of interface.


What the Critics Are Saying...


Tom's Guide
Tom's Guide

PIA is near the top when it comes to privacy, security and tracker blocking. While it doesn't really impress with speeds, it's packed with some unique features and powerful tools – not to mention its ability to unlock popular TV streaming services. Overall, it's a very capable and secure VPN that's...

- Mo Harber-Lamond, Tom's Guide
TechRadar
TechRadar

Speeds aren’t the best, but otherwise this is a likeable VPN which gives you plenty for your money: loads of features, powerful apps which run almost everywhere, quality privacy tools, an audited no-logs policy, plus it unblocked almost every streaming service we tried.

- Mike Williams, TechRadar
Business Insider
Business Insider

There is much to admire about Private Internet Access, and it's hard to imagine that anybody subscribing would be too disappointed with this premium VPN. When one of the more prominent issues raised against it is that it has too many tools and features, you know it must be doing something right.

- Adam Marshall, Business Insider
TechJury
TechJury

Private Internet Access VPN provides high-end security and a smooth torrenting experience. Features like the No-Logs Policy, two kill switches, MACE, split tunneling, and double VPN works together to form a cohesive system that protects your data, blocks potential cyber-attacks, and maintains your p...

- Deyan Georgiev, TechJury
VPN Compare
VPN Compare

Overall Private Internet Access compares pretty well against other VPNs out there and is one of the better VPN services around. It is not a perfect Virtual Private Network by any means. There are one or two areas that let them down and we would like to see more signs of them making improvements in t...

- Christopher Seward, VPN Compare

Details


Overview
Headquarters USA
Pricing/Sign Up
Starting Price (per Month) $2.03
Plans and Pricing Visit Site
Free Trial No
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Payment Options Credit Cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, Gift Cards, Other
ID Required Valid email address
Features
Server Locations (# of Countries) 91
Number of Servers 18651 +
Devices Per License Unlimited
Simultaneous Connections Unlimited
Unlimited Bandwidth Yes
Double-Hop / Double VPN Yes
Accesses Netflix No
P2P / Torrenting Allowed Yes
Accepts Bitcoin Yes
Non-US Company No
Protected
Protocols IPSec, L2TP, OpenVPN, PPTP, WireGuard
Encryption AES-256, RSA-4096
No Logs / No Tracking Yes
Dedicated IP Available Yes
VPN Over Tor Yes
Wi-Fi Leak Protection Yes
Private DNS Server No
DNS Leak Protection Yes
IP Leak Protection Yes
WebRTC Leak Protection Yes
IPv6 Leak Protection Yes
Kill Switch Yes
Supported Platforms
Operating Systems Windows, Mac OSX, iOS, Linux, Android
Mobile App Yes
Router Yes
Browser Extension Yes
Customer Support
24/7 Support Yes
Live Chat Support Yes
Telephone Support No
Email Support
More
Additional comments Other Names (AKA): PIA, PrivateInternetAccess

Private Internet Access also has Split Tunneling

Terms & Conditions Official Terms & Conditions

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