When comparing Private Internet Access vs Adguard AdBlocker, the Slant community recommends Adguard AdBlocker for most people. In the question“What are the best Android apps that are banned from the play store?” Adguard AdBlocker is ranked 2nd while Private Internet Access is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Adguard AdBlocker is:
Get the paid version which you can try completly free for two weeks.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
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.
Pro Easy to use
Get the paid version which you can try completly free for two weeks.
Pro Easy to use but also provides top notch protection
Not complex. However, the protection makes it seem like it is.
Pro Offers an operating system-level solution in addition to per-browser extensions
While most ad blockers can only help you while viewing web pages and only in one specific browser inside which they're installed, AdGuard offers a Windows application which runs in the background of your system and blocks ads on all browsers and native applications from only a single process.
Pro Stealth mode
offers options to prevent user tracking like
- removing url tracking parameters
- disable browsing api (webrtc, push, location)
- remove/modify identifying browser request headers
Pro Option to allow useful ads
Pro Split VPN Tunneling compatible
You can run AdGuard for your adblocking, and another VPN service at the same time.
Cons
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.
Con Unable to use a VPN when using this software concurrently
This is because of how the filtering and blocking process on almost all non-root block options amongst apps work.
The app makes use of the VPN protocol locally to block ads and thus you won't be able to use a VPN at the same time.
Con Slow
Like any browser extension, it slows down your browser.
Con Commercial
It not really nice to route all your sensible data through their servers.
Con Just a browser addon
It is just a browser addon so it will only work with the supported browsers and you have to install it for all browsers separately.
Con Blocks some websites
Occasionally blocks access to some unrelated websites which heavily uses Javascript.
