Private Internet Access is one of the oldest surviving VPN services, and it's a strong contender for our list of the best VPNs. It has an excellent interface and advanced network settings that let tinkerers tinker. Recently, the company removed its limit on simultaneous connections, helping justify its high monthly cost. We have several Editors' Choice winning VPNs, but two of particular note are Proton VPN and Mullvad VPN. The former is a powerful, affordable option with the best free version we've seen, and the latter goes to great lengths to protect customers' privacy.
How Much Does Private Internet Access VPN Cost?
Private Internet Access has three monthly billing options, starting at $11.95. That's nearly double the $6.95 the company charged when we first reviewed it years ago. It's also well above the $10.03 per month average among the VPNs we've reviewed. It's far too expensive for our list of the best cheap VPNs. Comparable top VPNs do more for less. Mullvad VPN is our most affordable Editors' Choice winner at a mere 5 euros per month ($5.44 at the time of writing).
How a VPN Works
Like most VPNs, Private Internet Access VPN incentivizes longer subscriptions with steep discounts. A one-year plan costs $39.95, significantly less than the $66.95 average among the VPNs we've reviewed. Private Internet Access also has a three-year plan for $79. While subscriptions purchased at these prices will renew at the same price, that's not always the case. The company changes its subscription structure frequently, so read the fine print carefully.
While discounts are tempting, we caution against starting with a long-term subscription. Instead, start with a short-term plan to test the service in your home and see if the VPN meets your needs.
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If Private Internet Access VPN is too rich for your blood, it's worth noting that there are also some worthy free VPN services. Proton VPN is the best free VPN we've tested, largely because it places no data restrictions on free users.
For purchasing a subscription, Private Internet Access VPN accepts Amazon payments, credit cards, cryptocurrencies, and PayPal. Editors' Choice winners IVPN and Mullvad VPN offer more choices for anonymous payments, including cash paid directly to their HQ.
What Do You Get for Your Money With Private Internet Access VPN?
In early 2023, Private Internet Access VPN ditched its 10 simultaneous connection limit. A single subscriber can now connect as many devices as they wish, covering a large family or a household with many devices. This move follows a trend we've seen in the industry. The growing list of VPNs that place no limit on simultaneous connections includes Atlas VPN, Avira Phantom VPN, IPVanish VPN, and Editors' Choice winners Surfshark VPN and TunnelBear VPN.
(Editors’ Note: IPVanish VPN is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)
Private Internet Access VPN provides split tunneling, letting you designate which apps send data through the VPN and which send data in the clear. This can be handy for high-bandwidth, low-risk activities like streaming video. A multi-hop feature also routes your traffic through two VPN servers instead of just one. Private Internet Access VPN handles this differently than other VPN services, letting you choose the proxy settings and then the second location.
The company does not provide direct access to the Tor anonymization network via VPN, although we should note that a VPN is not required to access the free Tor network. Editors' Choice winners Proton VPN and NordVPN offer access to Tor, multi-hop connections, and split tunneling.
Many VPN companies layer on additional privacy and security features to entice consumers. To that end, Private Internet Access VPN includes its own ad- and tracker-blocking tool called MACE. The company informs us that Google's rules mean this feature had to be removed from its Android app and recommends customers who want to use MACE on Android sideload an APK from its site. However, we must note that sideloading always entails some risk. Private Internet Access also offers a free email breach monitoring service similar to HaveIBeenPwned.
Private Internet Access VPN also supports port forwarding on some servers. This is an advanced setting, and while not necessary for a VPN, it's surely going to be appreciated by network tinkerers.
Since our last review, Private Internet Access VPN has started offering dedicated IP addresses to customers. This means that you have the same public IP address every time you connect to the VPN. This should, in theory, be less suspicious looking than a constantly shifting or known VPN IP address and may, therefore, not be blocked by sites that limit VPN access—such as banks and streaming services. You pay $5 per month for each address, and long-term dedicated IP subscriptions include hefty price reductions. That's in addition to the base Private Internet Access VPN subscription. Existing customers can select a duration for dedicated IP address billing. IP addresses are available in Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.
Along with a handful of other VPN companies, Private Internet Access VPN now offers antivirus protection for Windows devices for an additional $4.50 per month with, again, discounts for longer subscriptions. Editors' Choice winners NordVPN and Surfshark VPN both offer antivirus tools, although we weren't impressed with their performance. We look forward to testing Private Internet Access VPN's antivirus soon.
While VPNs are useful tools for improving your privacy online, they cannot protect against every threat. We highly recommend using a standalone antivirus to protect your computer, engaging a password manager to create unique and complex passwords for each site and service, and enabling multi-factor authentication wherever it's available.
What Is Two-Factor Authentication?
What VPN Protocols Does Private Internet Access Support?
VPN technology comes in a handful of flavors, with different protocols used to create the encrypted connection. We prefer OpenVPN, which is open-source and, therefore, examined by volunteers for potential vulnerabilities. The open-source VPN heir apparent is WireGuard, which has newer technology and the potential for even better performance. WireGuard is still new, and it hasn't been as widely embraced as OpenVPN.
Private Internet Access supports OpenVPN and WireGuard on all platforms. Additionally, the iOS app supports the IKEv2 protocol, which is also excellent.
Private Internet Access VPN Servers and Locations
The availability of numerous server locations gives you more choices for spoofing your location and increases the chances of finding a server near wherever you are. Private Internet Access VPN has a good mix of locations, with servers in 84 countries. That's well above average, coming close to rivaling ExpressVPN's stellar collection of 94 countries. Especially notable is that Private Internet Access VPN boasts multiple server locations in Africa and South America, two regions frequently ignored by other VPN services.
Private Internet Access VPN has servers available in other countries with restrictive internet policies, such as Turkey and Vietnam. The company does not have servers in Russia but does have servers in Ukraine.
The company recently announced it now has servers in all 50 US states. That's handy for locals, who may not want their traffic bounced to the other side of the country simply because they've switched on a VPN. The company also noted that it has been upgrading its server fleet to 10Gbps servers.
Some VPN services make use of virtual locations, which appear to be servers in a specified country but may actually be located somewhere else. To its credit, Private Internet Access VPN has clearly marked which locations are virtual and revealed the servers' actual location in a blog post. This shows that nearly half of the company's locations are virtual. While virtual locations are not inherently problematic, we generally like to see VPN services be less reliant on them. ExpressVPN's server fleet, for example, is less than 5% virtual.
After the passage of a new national security law affecting Hong Kong, Private Internet Access VPN announced it was removing its server presence from the city. Instead, the company is arranging for virtual servers physically located outside of China to provide VPN service to Hong Kong. This is a good use of virtual locations since it covers a potentially dangerous region while keeping the server in a secure place.
VPN providers may also use virtual servers, which is where a single hardware machine plays host to several software-defined servers. A company representative tells us Private Internet Access VPN does not own its server infrastructure, which is not unusual. Instead, it only uses dedicated hardware servers. Several VPN companies, including Private Internet Access VPN, have moved to diskless or RAM-only servers that do not store any data on hard disk, making them resistant to physical tampering.
Your Privacy With Private Internet Access VPN
It's important to understand the efforts a VPN company undertakes to protect your information. The privacy policy from Private Internet Access VPN is extremely long and, at times, quite difficult to parse. Fortunately, the company has updated its policy to include plain-language summations, which go a long way toward clarifying the entire document. Mullvad VPN is radically transparent about its service and operation, going into such depth that it becomes educational, while TunnelBear VPN focuses on its policies being easy to read and understand. Private Internet Access doesn't quite match those services here, but it's an improvement.
A company representative explained that Private Internet Access VPN does not keep logs of user activity and does not profit from user data. Its privacy policy also says that personal data will not be sold or rented. A new section to the policy assures readers that the company does not collect or store "browsing history, connected content, user IPs, connection time stamps, bandwidth logs, DNS queries, or anything like that." That's as it should be.
Like most VPN companies, Private Internet Access VPN says it does collect contact information that customers provide at account creation. The company also gathers anonymized aggregate analytics information. This isn't unusual, although we believe that VPN companies should strive to gather and retain as little information as possible. The updated version of the policy does a much better job explaining how it uses the information it gathers.
Private Internet Access VPN told us that while users are connected, its servers do see originating IP addresses—which is necessary to deliver your data back to you. This information is not stored and is lost as soon as you disconnect. The company also says your username isn't associated with the originating IP in this process. This is the case for other VPN companies as well, but it's useful to have it spelled out by the company.
Private Internet Access VPN is based in Colorado and operates under US legal jurisdiction. Like all companies, it says it will respond to legal subpoenas but assures customers it will push back when possible. The company's transparency report confirms the company has provided no logs in response to warrants, subpoenas, and court orders. When we asked if the company had provided other information to law enforcement, we were referred back to the company's documentation.
Private Internet Access VPN participates in a bug bounty program and has undergone an audit by Deloitte, which found that the company is following its internal privacy policies. Although audits are imperfect tools, we've increasingly found them to be a valuable way for companies to establish trust with their customers. Private Internet Access VPN provided PCMag with documentation from Deloitte, and the company tells us members of the public can obtain the audit report by making a request directly to Deloitte.
Private Internet Access VPN is owned by Private Internet Access, Inc., which is in turn owned by KAPE Technologies, which also owns CyberGhost VPN and, most recently, ExpressVPN, among other privacy and security companies. In a previous incarnation, Kape was called Crossrider and accused of being a platform for adware. In 2023, news broke of layoffs at Kape, including some of its VPN properties, the consequences of which may not be fully apparent. We contacted Private Internet Access VPN and confirmed that its VPN infrastructure remains separate from other Kape properties.
Hands On With Private Internet Access VPN for Windows
We had no trouble installing Private Internet Access VPN on an Intel NUC 11 (NUC11PHKi7C, 'Phantom Canyon') desktop running the latest version of Windows 11.
Private Internet Access VPN issues users login credentials in the purchase confirmation email. We're never thrilled about passwords being sent in plaintext through emails since this could be intercepted. While you can change your password (which we suggest you do immediately), your company-issued username cannot be changed, a practice intended to provide extra anonymity but one that may be confusing for novices. IVPN and Mullvad VPN have a better, if stranger, system that requires no personal information from customers. These companies assign random account numbers to customers that serve as their sole login credential—no passwords, no usernames.
The app received a badly needed facelift a few years ago, and it's still looking and feeling great after additional tweaks. If you miss the bad old days, you can still control the entire app from within the system tray. Annoyingly, the app cannot be moved from its spot above the system tray and fades away whenever you click outside the app. This, thankfully, can be changed in the Settings menu before you even log in.
The app is built around a single window colored a warm gray with a large, yellow Connect button. Click it, and the app immediately connects to the best server available. This is exactly what the average user needs: a straightforward path to getting secure immediately. The button also switches to green on connection, making it easy to tell the VPN is active, and your public and actual IP address are displayed close to the bottom of the window.
Clicking the location box below the connect button lets you jump to a different VPN server with ease. You can choose either a country or a city within that country, but not a specific server. If there's a particular region you need to use, you can add it to a Favorites list.
Clicking the caret at the bottom of the app expands the window, revealing seven other tiles that control different features. Click the bookmark icon to add a tile to your default view, and grab the three-line icon to move tiles around. This level of customization is unheard of among VPNs and lets the app be extremely complicated or nothing more than an on/off button. But while it's easy to grasp, it lacks the friendliness and off-beat warmth of TunnelBear VPN.
While impressive, the tiles are of mixed utility. Some offer quick access to deep settings, and others display graphs and stats. The least useful tile shows your current subscription duration.
One handy little tool is the VPN Snooze tile. This disconnects you from the VPN and then reconnects you after the preset amount of time. It's useful for when you might find yourself blocked by a website and need to disconnect from the VPN.
The main Settings window goes into greater detail. Some particularly useful features are the option to allow LAN traffic—which lets you communicate with other devices on your network, a Kill Switch that breaks your connection if the VPN disconnects, and the aforementioned MACE. The Split Tunnel panel lets you route apps and IP addresses in or out of the VPN, which worked perfectly in our testing.
There's real depth here, letting you change DNS servers, fine-tune the VPN protocol configuration, and enable multi-hop connections. The Automation tab can configure the app to connect or disconnect the VPN for specific networks or broader categories, like wired or unprotected Wi-Fi networks.
The last time we tested the app, we found that the split tunneling feature caused the app to crash in our testing, but Private Internet Access quickly patched the problem. That's excellent because this app has one of the best split tunneling features we've seen. It's smartly designed, letting you decide whether each app uses or ignores the VPN and set a global preference for using or ignoring the VPN. It also makes finding apps to add to your split tunneling list much easier than competitors. In addition to routing app traffic, you can also add IP addresses to the split tunneling controls. Split tunneling worked as expected in our testing.
One misstep for Private Internet Access VPN is the multi-hop controls. For every other VPN we've tested, you either select from pre-configured paths for your data (such as US to Sweden) or select two different VPN locations. With Private Internet Access VPN, you have to go through a confusing setup process in which you select a proxy protocol (Shadowsocks or Socks5) and then hit a large Edit button to select another VPN server location. On the other hand, most users will ignore this version of multi-hop because it's needlessly complicated and radically different from every other implementation we've seen.
One general concern with VPNs is that they might leak identifiable information, either in the form of DNS requests or your real IP address. We used the DNS Leak Test Tool in our testing and found that the server we used did not leak our information.
Many streaming video services block VPNs because they have geographically limited licenses for streaming content. In our testing, we had no trouble streaming Netflix content while connected to a US-based Private Internet Access VPN server. Keep in mind that this could change at any time, however.
Hands On With Private Internet Access VPN for Android
We installed the Private Internet Access VPN app for Android on a Samsung A71 5G running Android 11. The app’s default theme is white with bright green highlights. In addition, there is a dark mode that switches to a dark background with light-colored text.
Tap the large button located in the top center of the dashboard to connect to a VPN server. Below that button is a list of connection locations in order from fastest to slowest.
The Private Internet Access VPN app for Android has a few special features. You can mess around with the split tunneling settings by changing the Per App settings. Tapping the green lock beside each app turns off the VPN when you’re using that app. The app also has a Kill Switch. The app does not have multi-hop, and according to a company representative, there is no plan to add that feature to Android in the future.
If you change your protocol to OpenVPN, an option appears under Settings Obfuscation that allows you to connect via a proxy. The Obfuscation option is not available with WireGuard. There are also experimental Automation functions, which will enable you to create auto-connect rules for untrusted and trusted connections.
In our testing, we check to ensure a VPN isn’t leaking our DNS requests or our real IP addresses. We connected to a server in Mexico City, Mexico, and visited DNSLeakTest.com to run an extended test on the connection. Throughout the test, our actual IP address remained hidden, and our DNS information stayed secure.
While connected to the server in Mexico City, we navigated to Twitch and watched a streamer play Minecraft. The stream loaded instantly, and the video played without any stuttering or buffering. We then went to YouTube and watched a couple of videos. Each video loaded instantly and played without any stops or stutters.
Hands On With Private Internet Access VPN for macOS
We downloaded Private Internet Access VPN for macOS from the vendor’s website and installed it on a MacBook Pro running Big Sur 11.6.1. The app’s default theme is dark, with a gray background and green highlights. By navigating to settings, you can switch to a light theme, which features an off-white background with bright green accents.
Connecting to the VPN requires hitting the large green button in the center of the app window. Below that is a server switcher. You can choose from servers located in cities around the world. The server’s arrangement order is by connection speed.
Features include a VPN Kill Switch, which blocks any traffic from going outside of the VPN, even when the VPN is turned off, and PIA MACE, which blocks domains known to serve ads, malware, and trackers. Split tunneling is also available for macOS, and multi-hop works, too, but only with the OpenVPN protocol.
To test a Luxembourg-based Private Internet Access VPN server’s privacy, we went to DNSLeakTest.com and ran an extended test. The real IP address remained hidden during testing.
To test the streaming capabilities of the VPN server in Luxembourg, we navigated to Twitch.tv and watched the FIDE World Chess Championship. The stream loaded instantly with high-quality video, and we did not experience any stuttering or buffering while viewing.
We then went to YouTube.com to watch a few videos while still connected to the server in Luxembourg. Each video loaded instantly, though the video quality took a few seconds of loading to become clear and easy to watch. None of the videos we watched stopped or stuttered while we watched.
Hands On With Private Internet Access VPN for the iPhone
We installed the iOS VPN app for Private Internet Access on an iPhone XS running iOS 14.8. The app is light gray with bright green accents. A large connection button takes up most of the app’s screen, and just below the button is a server switcher, which allows you to choose the country and city for your VPN server connection.
Tapping the hamburger menu in the top left corner takes you to your account settings. The app has a VPN Kill Switch and a content blocker for Safari. The app does not feature split tunneling or multi-hop connections—split tunneling is not allowed on iOS.
We tested Private Internet Access VPN's ability to hide IP addresses and secure DNS requests by visiting DNSLeakTest.com and performing an extended DNS leak test while connected to a VPN server in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In testing, that server did not leak our IP address and our DNS requests remained private.
While still connected to the server in Argentina, we opened the YouTube app and watched a few videos. Each one loaded instantly and played out without any buffering. We then watched a live broadcast on Twitch. The stream initially took about six seconds to load, but once loaded, the video was crisp and of high quality. The video also did not stutter or buffer during testing.
Hands On With Private Internet Access VPN on Chrome OS
We downloaded the Android app onto a Dell Chrome 3100 Chromebook with an Intel Celeron Processor. Private Internet Access VPN's Android app on Chrome OS is a small, unassuming-looking window, and it's easy to figure out how to connect to a VPN server using the main user interface.
The app's most useful features are a Kill Switch and auto-connect, which are very common for Android VPN applications. There’s also a link to download a private browser and something called VPN Snooze, which shuts off the VPN for a predetermined period.
You can access split tunneling by visiting the main menu and choosing Per App Settings, then choosing which apps you don’t want to run through the VPN. The app also includes an option to set up a dedicated IP address.
Private Internet Access VPN Speed and Performance
Regardless of the VPN you use, it will affect your web browsing speeds. To gauge the level of that impact, we measure latency, download speeds, and upload speeds using the Ookla speed test app with and without a VPN and then find a percent change between the two. For more on our testing and its limitations, do read the aptly titled article How We Test VPNs.
(Editors’ Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)
Private Internet Access VPN performed moderately well in our testing, reducing download and upload speeds by just 27.8% and 10.5%, respectively. The former result is exactly the median in its category, while the latter is significantly better than the median result across all VPN products we've tested. We also found the VPN increased latency by 37.3%.
We've moved to a rolling testing model and now report speed test results as we get them. The table below has all the latest information.
Keep in mind that your results will assuredly differ from ours, and speed is too finicky to put too much emphasis on. Overall value, privacy features, and ease of use are far more important.
Simple Security
With its refined interface and powerful network settings, Private Internet Access VPN is a formidable product. It can be a simple set-and-forget app, or you can dive into its myriad settings and configure the VPN to suit your needs exactly. Its large collection of server locations and excellent speed test scores make it a strong competitor, and unlimited simultaneous connections go a long way toward making it a good value. We're also glad to see the company working to establish trust with customers by completing a third-party audit.
That said, there is room for improvement. While Private Internet Access has improved its privacy policies, other companies are finding new ways to deliver VPN protection while gathering even less information. The price of Private Internet Access VPN has also continued to rise beyond the average, which makes it hard to justify when far cheaper competitors have similar features.
If you're looking for a less expensive service, you should consider our overall Editors' Choice winner Proton VPN, an affordable VPN with an excellent free tier of service. Among our other top-rated services, you might also check out Mullvad VPN (our favorite low-cost VPN) and NordVPN (our favorite premium VPN).
Private Internet Access offers a robust VPN service with advanced network and privacy tools packaged into a clever interface, while unlimited simultaneous connections help justify its high price.
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