Private Internet Access Review 2023
The Private Internet Access VPN provides exactly what its name implies: private access to the internet.
What We Like
- No traffic logs: Private Internet Access does not log any consumer data whatsoever.
- Great app reviews: iPhone and Android users alike rated the Private Internet Access app highly.
- Speed on Windows computer: Private Internet Access worked particularly fast on our Windows computer.
What We Don't Like
- Headquartered in the U.S: PIA’s Denver headquarters means it’s part of multiple international surveillance alliances, so the company has obligations to share customer data with the government when necessary.
- Mixed customer support experience: We got quick responses from the company sometimes, but other times, we had to wait for days.
Bottom Line
With some VPNs, private browsing on the internet isn't truly private, but that's not the case with Private Internet Access. It didn't log any of our browsing data, so we could surf the web freely, watch Netflix, and torrent files.Private Internet Access is tacking on two months of free VPN subscription to its two-year plan. The two-year plan costs $56.94, and with the two free months, the monthly cost averages out at $2.19, saving users 82-percent compared to the monthly plan.
Private Internet Access’ name perfectly describes what it does as a virtual private network or VPN: It gives you private access to the internet, whether you’re connecting from a coffee shop Wi-Fi or from your home network.
That’s generally what VPNs do. They encrypt your outgoing online traffic so that it remains hidden from anyone but you, and then they route your traffic through secure VPN servers to hide your real IP address. That way, your access to the internet remains private.
That being said, not all VPNs are created equal, so today we’ll discuss our experience with Private Internet Access. We spent hundreds of hours experimenting with this VPN, testing its features and measuring its performance. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a solid grasp of whether or not Private Internet Access is right for you.
Features
Logs data | No |
---|---|
Kill switch | Yes |
Split tunneling | Yes |
Netflix | Yes |
Torrenting | Yes |
Overall Rating
- Doesn’t keep websites accessed or IP addresses
- Kill switch protects web traffic even if VPN fails
- Torrenting allowed
Video Review
More of a visual learner? Check out this video review that our Chief Editor, Gabe Turner, made about Private Internet Access.
About Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is a homegrown company based out of Denver. We’re all for supporting local companies, and not that we don’t love Denver, but as far as VPNs go, the U.S. may not be the best place to start a VPN company.
That’s because of an international surveillance alliance called the Five Eyes, which is also a part of the larger Nine Eyes and 14 Eyes. This international alliance made a pact that, in matters of national concerns or major criminal investigations, a law should require companies in their jurisdictions to present customer data when mandated by courts. Member countries can also share information with each other.
The United States is a founding member of the alliance, which means PIA, headquartered in the U.S., is subject to its data collection laws. That’s why other VPNs choose to establish their bases in more privacy-friendly countries like Panama.
That being said, it’s not like Private Internet Access just willingly gives Big Brother access to customer information. PIA has a “no-logs” policy, which means whatever you do while connected to their VPN won’t be recorded. They don’t record your real IP address and browsing history. They won’t even measure how much data you’ve used.
With a “no-logs” policy, even if the government requests information, Private Internet Access has nothing to give. That’s certainly reassuring.
Here’s what else you should know about Private Internet Access — it has thousands of servers in 84 countries. Although PIA stopped providing the total number of servers it runs, last time it did, it had about 12,000, and that was still in mid-2020. They have also been adding NextGen servers to their fleet. NextGen servers are physical servers fully owned by PIA, which means they have full control over the security of those servers and thus offer more privacy.
The amount of servers, as well as their locations, matters a ton. You want to be as close to a server as possible for a fast internet connection. If you live in the U.S., you’ll be glad to know that PIA focuses on its U.S. servers specifically, which the company optimized for faster browsing and streaming. At the same time, you want servers in many different countries to access geo-restricted content or to change your Netflix region.
Features of Private Internet Access
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and the same can be said for VPNs. Sure, all VPNs create a private network that encrypts data and IP addresses, but not all VPNs are equal. Let’s find out if Private Internet Access is up to snuff.
Will Private Internet Access Log My Data?
Private Internet Access emphasizes the fact that it does not log browsing data of any kind. That means the company will have no idea when you’re using the VPN and for how long, what your IP address is, or what sites you have been visiting.
So what does PIA log? Well, according to its privacy policy1, it logs personal information that it needs to maintain user accounts, including:
- Email addresses
- Payment information, but not your full credit card details
- Cookie identifiers
- State or territory of origin and zip codes of users
These pieces of data don’t relate to your online activity at all. They are collected when you create an account or download Private Internet Access’ apps, but once you turn on that VPN, all your activity will become private. Your IP address, browsing data, and web traffic will all be hidden away from sight. If you wish to learn more about PIA’s privacy policy, check out our Private Internet Access privacy report.
Does Private Internet Access Have A Kill Switch?
A kill switch, otherwise known as a “network lock feature” or “disconnect protection” means that any software or website will shut down automatically if you lose your connection to the VPN. Thus, it stops your internet access from switching to public networks, which would result in your internet service provider (ISP) seeing your entire browsing history.
For example, if you’re torrenting using a VPN and then your VPN suddenly disconnects mid-download, your ISP will see what you’re doing. That could get you in trouble. With a kill switch, your torrent session will stop as soon as your VPN disconnects. We’re pleased to say that Private Internet Access does provide a kill switch with its software.
Does PIA Offer Split Tunneling?
Private Internet Access offers split tunneling on its Windows, Mac, and Linux apps. It’s also available on Android under the guise Per-App Settings. But what exactly does split tunneling do?
Split tunneling creates two separate “tunnels” where your online traffic can pass through. One is the secure VPN tunnel, while the other is a public, unencrypted network. With split tunneling, you can route some traffic through the secure tunnel and the others through the unencrypted network.
Split tunneling can also be useful for:
- Apps, such as some online games that block VPN IP addresses
- Online banking websites that block certain IP address regions
- Streaming services that don’t allow VPNs
What stands out about Private Internet Access’ split-tunneling feature is how customizable it is. The VPN offers standard and inverse split tunneling, for example. With standard split tunneling, all traffic passes through the VPN tunnel except those you allow to use the regular internet. Inverse split tunneling, on the other hand, uses networks outside the VPN by default, except for apps and websites you specify to use the VPN tunnel.
You can also use split tunneling to make exceptions for specific apps, website IP addresses, docker or virtual machines for Linux, and DNS requests.
Can I Use Netflix with Private Internet Access?
This isn’t actually privacy-related, but it’s no secret that a lot of folks use VPNs to unlock Netflix libraries outside their region of origin. That means if you’re in the U.S., you could possibly access Netflix U.K. Of course, Netflix doesn’t want that, and that’s why it has been working to block IP addresses from VPNs since 2017. Its blocking algorithm is becoming smarter too, making it progressively harder to find a VPN that works with Netflix (and other streaming platforms).
We tested PIA with Netflix, and fortunately, we were able to access Netflix. That doesn’t mean it will work every time, but for a VPN that doesn’t openly advertise Netflix unblocking capabilities, Private Internet Access works quite well.
DISCLAIMER: Whether you’re using a VPN or not, it is illegal to download unsanctioned copyrighted materials over torrent networks.
Private Internet Access Encryption

To put it simply, encryption changes your text into inscrutable code. It’s what prevents people from accessing your data, the entire point of VPNs. Private Internet Access lets you choose your encryption methods.
Private Internet Access Suggested Encryption
Default Recommended Protection | All Speed No Safety | Maximum Protection | Risky Business | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Data Encryption | AES-128 | None | AES-256 | AES-128 |
Data Authentication | SHA1 | None | SHA256 | None |
Handshake | RSA-2048 | ECC-256k1 | RSA-4096 | RSA-2048 |
Now let’s talk about what each of these terms mean.
Data Encryption
For the encryption itself, you’ll choose between the Advanced Encryption Standard of 128 or 256 bits. 256-bit is the current standard of the National Institute of Standards and Technology2, while 128-bit is a bit outdated. However, if you want to prioritize speed, which we don’t recommend doing often because of security risks, 128-bit still provides better protection than having no encryption at all.
Data Authentication

Authentication means making sure that the right person is accessing the network.
SHA stands for a Secure Hash Algorithm. What’s a hash exactly? It’s basically a key that VPN servers use to encrypt and decrypt data. SHA uses algorithms that the sender, which is your computer, and the receiver, which is the VPN server, share, so both could decrypt encrypted data.
Hashes are irreversible, meaning you can’t work backward to figure out the algorithm, and each and every hash is unique. SHA-1 was the first version of the algorithm, and as the first pancake in the batch, it’s inferior to later versions. In fact, in 2016, Google found that some hashes from SHA-1 aren’t unique, a huge security issue.3
SHA-256, on the other hand, means that it has two to the two hundred and fifty sixth-power possible hashes. That’s more than a trillion and even more than a septillion.
The more possible number of hashes there are, the smaller chance the hacker has at creating the same hash. So yea, SHA-256 is going to be way more secure than SHA-1.
Handshake
RSA SecurID, named after its founders, is responsible for making sure you are who you say you are and controlling who has access to your data. RSA can use different types of multi-factor authentication, from a push notification to biometrics, to make sure the right person is accessing the software.
There is some debate about the key length among software engineers. In a nutshell, the higher the key, the better the security is. RSA-2048 has 16 percent fewer bits of security than RSA-4096, but 4096 will use more power, particularly on the central processing unit (the brain of the computer). Therefore, the higher the key, the more computing power your VPN will take up.
The question now is, is RSA-2048 still a reliable encryption method? According to latest research, the worst-case scenario is that a 20 million-qubit supercomputer could decrypt RSA-2048 in eight hours.4 However, the fastest supercomputers today have only around 70 qubits, such as Google’s supercomputer built around its Sycamore processor. A 20 million-qubit supercomputer is still a distant dream, so RSA-2048 is far from obsolete.
Aside from the RSAs, you can also choose ECC-256k1, which stands for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. In short, it’s a newer method of encrypting data that performs better than both RSA-2048 and RSA-4096. ECC also uses an asymmetric encryption algorithm and usually outperforms RSAs in terms of speed and memory. Remember, 256-bit is our industry standard for encryption, so if you’re looking for the best, ECC-256k1 is where it’s at.
Private Internet Access Protocols
Protocols determine how VPNs transmit data across networks. Think of them as different routes that you can take to get to a destination. Some routes will be faster than others and some will be safer than others, so Private Internet Access uses a combination of different protocols to achieve both speed and security.
PPTP
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, or PPTP, has been in use since the 1990s. Rather than doing the encryption itself, the PPTP creates tunnels that will encapsulate the data packets. It works with a second protocol that will perform the actual encryption. On its own, PPTP is not super secure.
IPSec/L2TP
Think of IPSec and L2TP as Batman and Robin. While L2TP, otherwise known as Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, generates the tunnel, IPSec handles encryption, makes sure the tunnel is secure, and checks that the data has arrived intact. IPSec, short for IP security, either encrypts only the data packet message or the entire data packet. Together, they create a VPN client that’s highly secure.
SOCKS5 (Proxy)
SOCKS5 is a proxy that will assign you a new IP address before it takes you to your location. While SOCKS requires less bandwidth than a typical VPN, it doesn’t encrypt data and is thus less secure. That’s why Private Internet Access uses SOCKS in conjunction with encryption methods, detailed above.
OpenVPN
OpenVPN is an extremely common VPN protocol. It’s great at bypassing firewalls, an essential quality of a VPN, but it won’t slow down your internet too much.
The reason we love OpenVPN so much is that it’s open-source, not made by a company. The VPN community is constantly tinkering with OpenVPN to make sure that surveillance agencies aren’t tampering with it. Sounds ideal to us.
WireGuard
WireGuard is relatively new, but it quickly rose to popularity because of its speed. Although it’s not as battle-hardened as OpenVPN, many experts believe that it’s a secure VPN protocol with lots of potential.
Currently, PIA is using WireGuard in its base form, but other than PIA, other top brands like NordVPN and Surfshark offer the use of WireGuard. In fact, NordVPN came up with a way to build its own proprietary protocol around WireGuard, called NordLynx, which it touts as being faster than OpenVPN and just as secure.
Testing Private Internet Access
Now that we’ve given you a pretty detailed overview of Private Internet Access’ technical specifications, we’ll detail how we put this VPN through tests.
FYI: Our complete guide to VPNs details our VPN testing process, a good read if you’re interested in testing VPNs yourself.
Speed Test
The first thing we tested was the speed. All VPNs will slow down your internet a little, but some VPNs offer better speeds than others.
Like all the VPNs, we tested PIA from our Brooklyn office. We tested it both on our Macbook Air and Vivobook running Windows 10, which we both connected to our Optimum network. Here are the results.
Download Speed Tests
Mac | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 37.05 mbps |
With VPN | 12.93 mbps |
Windows | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 72.48 mbps |
With VPN | 61.67 mbps |
Clearly, Private Internet Access had a much larger effect on the Mac’s download speed, slowing it down by a pretty dismal 65 percent. On Windows, however, PIA only slowed down the download speed by 15 percent. Note that there are a lot of different factors that affect download speeds and internet speeds in general, so take these test results with a grain of salt.
Upload Speed Tests
Mac | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 25.9 mbps |
With VPN | 18.12 mbps |
Windows | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 41.37 mbps |
With VPN | 39.13 mbps |
Now let’s talk about upload speed. Again, the Windows performed better than the Mac, with only about a five percent decrease compared to the Mac’s 30 percent. Clearly, Private Internet Access is a better VPN for Windows users over Mac users— but let’s confirm that with latency.
Ping Speed Tests
Mac | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 14 ms |
With VPN | 14 ms |
Windows | |
---|---|
Without VPN | 12 ms |
With VPN | 16 ms |
Ping, another word for latency, is measured in milliseconds, so we’re getting into extreme detail here. Amazingly, Private Internet Access did not create any latency on the Macbook Air, and it only increased latency by about a third on the Windows computer. From these tests, we can conclude that Private Internet Access is a decent VPN for Mac but great for Windows in terms of internet speeds.
DNS Leak Test

A domain name server is basically the URL that you type in when you want to go to a website. Each domain name server, or DNS, stands for an IP address. Think of DNS as a description, like “the big yellow house on the corner,” as opposed to “123 Main Street,” which equates to the IP address.
We want to make sure that Private Internet Access isn’t leaking our DNS outside of the encrypted tunnel. Fortunately, when we tested it, we didn’t detect any leaks. So far, so good!
WebRTC Leak Test
WebRTC allows two web browsers to communicate with each other directly rather than going through a server. It creates faster speeds, particularly when you’re live streaming video, sharing files, or video chatting. However, it does require knowing each other’s private IP addresses, so it’s something to look out for, especially if you use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Microsoft Edge.
Just like the DNS leak test, we want to make sure that PIA protects our browsing data, including our IP addresses, from WebRTC leaks. The verdict? No leaks! All in all, Private Internet Access passed our tests with flying colors, save for the Mac download speed.
Private Internet Access Subscriptions
Finally, we’re getting to what many want to hear about all along: subscriptions and pricing.
Options
Length of contract in months | Cost per month | Total cost |
---|---|---|
1 | $11.99 | $11.99 |
12 | $3.33 | $39.95 |
24 (+2 free) | $2.19 | $56.94 |
With any of Private Internet Access subscription plans, you’ll be able to switch in between an unlimited amount of servers on an unlimited amount of devices. However, you’ll only be able to use ten devices simultaneously. As you can see, the plans range from a little more than two dollars a month to about 12 dollars a month, extremely affordable. The longer the term length, the lower your monthly cost will be.
Keep in mind that Private Internet Access does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you absolutely hate the VPN but you signed up for a two-year plan you can get out of it. This money-back guarantee is similar to the 30-day trial period that comes with every subscription from ExpressVPN, our current top pick.
BONUS TIP: If you’re still not sure if Private Internet Access is the right VPN for you, try it out with the $11.99 monthly subscription first. If things work out, a long-term subscription will save you a lot of money.
Private Internet Access Customer Support
There are few things more frustrating than having to call customer support for a technical issue. It could take all the calming yogic breaths not to have a full-on temper tantrum. So when looking at VPNs, we want to make sure the customer support is there before we download anything on our computers.
Features
You can get support from PIA through its online knowledge base, or to get in contact with someone, you can fill out a form or live chat with an agent. The live chat feature was useful, in particular.
There were wait times of a few minutes, particularly on weekdays, but that’s better than waiting for days for email support to respond. More importantly, we got accurate and clear answers to the questions we asked. Unfortunately, there’s no phone support, but we’re more than happy with the support options PIA provides.
The Private Internet Access App

The Private Internet Access app is available on an iOS app and an Android app. The app has great ratings, a solid 4.7 rating from iPhone users and 4.4 stars from Android users. It also appears that PIA does a good job at keeping its mobile apps up-to-date. As one long-time PIA user wrote in his App Store review:
“I am impressed. Everything about the app has been improved, and it works extremely well… This app works in the background very effectively and at a low cost in terms of battery. I can now definitely recommend this service and this app as being top-notch.”
Store | Private Internet Access app rating |
---|---|
Google Play | 4.4 |
The App Store | 4.7 |
Private Internet Access Vs. Windscribe
Feature | Private Internet Access | Windscribe |
---|---|---|
Log Data | No | No |
Kill Switch | Yes | Yes |
Split Tunneling | Yes | Yes |
Netflix | Yes | Yes (U.S. & U.K.) |
Torrenting | Yes | Yes |
IP Addresses | Anonymous, Dynamic | Anonymous, Static, Shared |
To see how PIA fares against the competition, we’re comparing Private Internet Access to Windscribe, a similar VPN. Unlike Private Internet Access, which has one of the strictest no data logging policies around, Windscribe keeps the total amount of bytes you’ve transferred in the last month, plus a timestamp of your last activity. This is a little more data to save than necessary, but fortunately, Windscribe won’t store your source IP address or any of the sites you visited.
As you can remember, the only types of personal information PIA stores are email addresses, partial payment information, cookie-identifiers which you can modify, and location information. This information is pretty standard, and in fact, Windscribe collects this as well.
In terms of features, the two VPNs are toe-to-toe. Both have split tunneling, kill switches, and strong encryption standards. Neither VPN connection had any DNS or WebRTC leaks, which is a good sign. As far as internet speed goes, however, Private Internet Access has Windscribe beat. You can learn more about Windscribe’s performance in our Windscribe review.
Due to its superior data logging policy and speed, we’d pick Private Internet Access over the Windscribe VPN service.
Recap of Private Internet Access
Overall, Private Internet Access is a really solid choice of a VPN with great security features.
I’d recommend Private Internet Access if you’d like…
- No traffic logs: PIA is committed to its privacy policy when it comes to users’ data.
- Speed on Windows: Private Internet Access worked really well on our Windows computers in particular.
- Highly-rated app: Private Internet Access has great ratings both from iPhone and Android users.
However, avoid Private Internet Access if you don’t like…
- So-so-speed on Mac: You can definitely find VPNs that work faster on Macs than Private Internet Access.
- Headquarters in U.S: Although the company won’t log your browsing data, member countries of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes alliances could force it to hand over whatever data it has.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you still have questions about PIA? We’ve got all the answers you need, and then some.
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Is Private Internet Access a good VPN?
Private Internet Access is a good VPN with thousands of servers across almost 80 server locations. While the VPN doesn’t log web activity or IP addresses and uses AES-256 encryption, the privacy-conscious may want to steer clear of Private Internet Access because it’s a U.S.-based company, and the U.S. is a founding member of the Five Eyes alliance.
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What type of VPN is Private Internet Access?
Private Internet Access is a VPN for personal use. There are no business subscriptions available, only subscriptions that support 10 simultaneous connections, which family members can share.
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How does the Private Internet Access VPN work?
The Private Internet Access VPN works by routing a user’s internet connection through one of its servers, which encrypts web traffic and replaces the device’s IP address. That means that the user’s internet service provider will no longer be able to see what websites they visit or their public device IP addresses, meaning that the user is essentially anonymous online.
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Does the Private Internet Access VPN keep logs?
No, Private Internet Access does not log a user’s web activity, their device IP address, how long they used the VPN or any other usage information. Private Internet Access only keeps logs of email addresses, partial payment information, cookie-identifiers, and location information.
PIA. (2021). Private Internet Access Privacy Policy. privateinternetaccess.com/privacy-policy
Federal Information Processing Standards. (2001). Announcing the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.197.pdfGoogle Security Blog. (2017). Announcing the first SHA1 collision.
security.googleblog.com/2017/02/announcing-first-sha1-collision.htmlCornell University. (2021). How to factor 2048 bit RSA integers in 8 hours using 20 million noisy qubits.
arxiv.org/abs/1905.09749