When comparing PureVPN vs Private Internet Access, the Slant community recommends Private Internet Access for most people. In the question“What is the best VPN provider? ” Private Internet Access is ranked 7th while PureVPN is ranked 33rd. The most important reason people chose Private Internet Access is:
For a single year of service the total cost is $39.95, which comes out to $3.33 per month. Making Private Internet Access one of the cheapest providers of VPN services on the net.
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Pros
Pro Fast streaming speed
PureVPN has 500+ servers around the globe that allow users to stream via various powerful servers, which gets them high-speed streaming.
Pro Torrent support
PureVPN offers torrenting across a long list of servers like Panama, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Brunei and many others.
Pro Complete privacy
80,000+ IPs ensure users complete privacy no matter where they are, which activities they perform online, and on which country’s websites PureVPN covering more than 140 counteries.
Pro Hassle-Free Unblocking
No matter which website is and from which country, it is guaranteed that PureVPN will unblock it. There are 80,000+ IPs offered through 500+ servers from around the world which unblock global content effortlessly. Because of the global network purevpn truely unblocks any website.
Pro Cheap
Pro Good security and service
PureVPN uses 256-bit encryption software and they also use three security protocols namely, PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and SSTP. All these security procedures combined provides you with the ability to surf the web, stream, access restricted sites and download torrents securely.
Pro Good selection of features
Pro Responsive app For Mac
Really nice and quick setup with macOS.
Pro Cheap
For a single year of service the total cost is $39.95, which comes out to $3.33 per month. Making Private Internet Access one of the cheapest providers of VPN services on the net.
Pro Disconnects internet if VPN drops
If the VPN goes out, the internet will be disconnected so users will be protected from browsing without protection.
Pro P2P/Torrent service included
All users are able to access P2P networks without having to download a 3rd party client. Private Internet Access uses separate VPN gateways for browsing and P2P access, so both are optimized without interfering with each other.
Pro Multiple layers of security
Including IP cloaking, encryption, firewall, complete anonymous browsing & complete uncensored access to the internet.
Pro Multiple OS compatibility
Private Internet Access is compatible with MacOS X and iOS, without having to use a third party client. It also works on Windows, Android, Linux & more. In total, Private Internet Access is compatible with almost 40 operating systems.
Pro No traffic or protocol restricitions
You can use any and all protocols at your disposal, no traffic is restricted.
Pro Use multiple devices
Private Internet Access allows for up to 5 devices in use simultaneously.
Pro Instant setup
When you sign up, you will instantly get a user id and a password to use in their provided software (Windows and Macintosh) and they have tutorials and FAQs for Android, iPhone, Linux and other devices such as routers.
Pro Excellent service
They are very eager to answer any questions that you may have.
Pro Multiple VPN gateways
You can pick where you will appear to be from: the US (multiple), Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Romania, Canada, or Hong Kong.
Pro Multiple payment options
Payments are accepted through Bitcoin, Ripple, PayPal, Google Play (Mobile), OKPay, CashU, Amazon and any major Gift Card.
Payment plans are by the month, half year and by the year.
Currently $6.95/mo, $35.95/half year, $39.95/year.
Truly anonymous payments can be made by gift cards or Bitcoins.
A $25 Starbucks gift card gives you 100 days.
A $32 Best Buy gift card gives you 129 days.
A $50 Walmart gift card gives you 366 days.
Pro No logs are kept
According to Private Internet Access in 2013:
We absolutely do not maintain any VPN logs of any kind. We utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it is not possible to match a user to an external IP.
According to Private Internet Access in 2014:
We absolutely do not log any traffic nor session data of any kind, period. We have worked hard to meticulously fork all daemons that we utilize in order to achieve this functionality.
Cons
Con Previously provided user details to FBI to aid in investigation
Con They ignore people's inquiries
PureVPN offers 24/7 support by trained professionals. One of only a handful of VPN providers to offer 24/7 support by trained professionals.
Con Free version is limited to 3 countries
Con Need user registration to use
Con Speed is disappointing
Everyone touts PureVPN as being so fast but it's actually disappointing. Using pfSense and OpenVPN on a Core5 w/Intel NICs and AES-NI only averaged around 75Mbps downloads. They can do much better.
Con Not available in certain countries that are usually available from other VPNs
PureVPN’s services are not available in several black listed countries which are usually entertained by other VPN providers. It may frustrate the potential users.
Con Based in the USA
Private Internet Access is based in the United States of America and can subject to a gag order, so basically the NSA can do whatever they want without PIA telling their customers what the NSA is doing.
Con No free version
While they offer a variety of payment plans and payment methods, a free version of this service is not available to users.
Con Non Transparent "Proprietary Method" to detect violators of Terms of Service (ToS).
When asking a Customer Service Representative, how violators of ToS are detected, the CSR stated "Proprietary Methods." When asked for clarification, was referred to Legal Department.