How does Private Internet Access compare to the likes of NordVPN orExpressVPN? How can I best choose which VPN is going to provide me the best security? How hard is PIA to use for me and my family? Can I use it to unblock Netflix when I’m traveling? These are all questions we will address in this review and more, so stay tuned until the end? I also wrote a full in-depth review on both NordVPN (The closest competitor to this VPN) and ExpressVPN, which is a bit of a higher-priced premium service that not everyone needs and can fit in their price range.

You can find those respective reviews as mentioned above for Nord and Express, HERE and HERE respectively.

Private Internet Access covers the fundamentals of a VPN, and it does this well. For those that value the obscurity of the service it’s a decent selection, however it has less servers than some competitors, which provides us pause for thought. 

PROS

 

• More affordable price
• 5 devices per set up

 

CONS

 

• Relative lack of servers and locations
• Not great in terms of supported platforms

 

 

Private Internet Access is a web VPN service that takes obscurity to subsequent level. It comes from parent company London Trust Media, that mysteriously has the address for its company workplace in capital of Colorado, Colorado. London Trust Media has numerous holdings, as well as linux Journal and Block explorer.

 

Private Internet Access focuses its service on 2 things: obscurity and affordability. The firm even puts your IP Address and ISP on its homepage to cue you of however exposed you’re when not employing a VPN service, that could be a little unsettling the first time you see it. with that in mind, let’s take a glance at however well this firm hits it’s goals.

 

London Trust Media’s Private Internet Access subscription options:

 

24 month set up – US $2.91 per month (US$69.84 total cost)

 

Pricing

Pricing is straightforward with solely one VPN tier to decide on from. What private internet Access lacks in selection, it makes up for with its 7-day money-back guarantee, that is longer than some competitors. That said, we tend to like the choice of a free trial, that is lacking here. This VPN options unlimited bandwidth, and no data caps.

 

The Private Internet Access monthly set up prices $6.95 (about £5.30) per month, and even at this lower price it includes all options. Going for the long term nets some savings, with the choice of a yearly set up for one payment of $39.95 (about £31), that is a median monthly price of $3.33 (about £2.54), or but 0.5 worth.

 

 For those willing to commit for extended, the reward is even additional savings as a 2-year setup is had for one payment of $69.95 (about £53), that works resolute a monthly price of $2.91 (about £2.22). That’s an entire month of VPN for fewer than the price of one premium cup of low, that is pretty wonderful in our books.

 

Private Internet Access doesn’t provide a free tier, nor will it have the choice of a lifetime subscription. It’s doable to create bulk purchases of private internet Access accounts at a discount, however in terms of pricing, you’ll got to get in contact for a quote, with an email address provided thereto finish.

 

 

Payment Options

 

True to it’s aims of a better level of obscurity, there are multiple choices to buy the VPN service. after all there are the standard selections, as well as major credit cards, PayPal and Amazon Pay. Going on the far side that are multiple choices to use cryptocurrency, together with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitpay, Litecoin, and Zcash. 

There’s additionally the choice to buy Private Internet Access with a typical gift card, presumptively quite anonymously as they will be simply purchased for money (or finally redeemed, as many of us have a drawer jam-packed with unused gift cards). as an example, a $25 (about £19) Amazon gift card can yield one hundred days of VPN access.

 

 

Features

 

Everyone loves a discount, and Private Internet Access realizes this. It’s budget pricing means that some compromises in terms of features, although not the maximum amount as you’d expect. 33 countries bring a comparatively tiny network, however that’s aiming to be enough for many folks. 

The VPN novice who isn’t positive of which server to select can certainly appreciate the ‘Detect Best Server’ feature that removes any guessing, optimizing speeds and latency behind the scenes. While you don’t get live chat support, there’s 24/7 North american VPN help offered via email. we tend to got a helpful response in around 2 hours.

In the space of platform support, Private Internet Access covers the fundamentals well, as well as Windows (7, 8, 10), Mac, Android, iOS and linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, and Arch Linux), for the thought desktop and mobile devices. There also are open source extensions for the favored browsers Chrome, Firefox and Opera.

 

 

However, that’s where the platform support ends, and a lot of niche devices that some of the other VPNs support are overlooked, like streaming media boxes, and therefore the less prevailing mobile platforms like Windows Mobile and BlackBerry. Note that there’s some support for whole network VPN coverage via router software for Tomato and DD-WRT.

Sure, each VPN tells its users they’re anonymous, and their data can stay private, however these claims can begin to fall aside within the fine print. Free and low-cost VPNs might fund themselves by selling your browsing history, however private internet Access’ privacy policy clearly rules out all forms of session and activity logging.

You don’t simply have to be compelled to take the company’s word for it, either. There are court records showing that even once private internet Access has been served a subpoena, completely nothing user-related was given up.

Private Internet Access really lives up to its tagline of “The most anonymous VPN service,” and its policy of “No work, period” can keep users quite personal whereas on-line. further protection is provided via DNS Leak Protection, in conjunction with Disconnect Protection.

 

 

Performance – Speed Test

 

Performance of Private Internet Access is solid, with reliable and quick connections times. we conjointly saw solid United States of America and European speeds, and just some inconsistencies over long-distance connections to gently spoil the party. Latency was acceptable, and there have been no disconnects throughout testing. When testing with connections in China, it was pretty seamless, even though there is a general lack of servers in that arena. This is being worked on though.

 

 

Private Internet Access – Conclusion

 

Private Internet Access may be a VPN that pays close attention to anonymity and affordability, and in each areas it’s a compelling offering. However, key areas for improvement embrace support for a fair broader range of platforms, like the popular Apple TV, and introducing a lot of servers settled in an exceedingly a lot of geographically diverse variety of nations. As of right now, there have been no reports of this VPN being blocked in China, which is good news. Even though there are limited servers, you can be sure that you will be able to use it in censorship-related countries.

 

VPN Stats

 

Client software package platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox and Opera extensions

Supported protocols: L2TP/IPSec, OpenVPN, PPTP

No. of servers: 3,245+

No. of countries: thirty three

Country of registration: US of America

Payment options: credit cards, PayPal, bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitpay, Litecoin, Zcash, gift cards

Real name necessary? No

Encryption protocol: AES-256

Data usage: Unlimited

Bandwidth usage: Unlimited

Max. number of concurrent connected devices: five

Customer support: Email

Privacy policy: No logging

 

 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission if you make a purchase. This doesn’t cost you any more but it does help us to continue publishing helpful content – thank you for your support!