With so many VPN providers offering their own unique suite of features, it can be difficult to decide between the different services. Today, we’ll be seeing how well two major VPNs, NordVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) perform in terms of the various aspects of their service. By doing so, we’ll be able to fairly and accurately weigh one’s strengths and weaknesses against the other, allowing us to decide which is the best choice overall for the average user.

Highlights

Pricing & discounts

While NordVPN’s month-to-month price is almost twice that of PIA’s, the difference quickly narrows as your subscription length increases. In fact, the two-year NordVPN plan is just a little over a dollar more expensive each month. Both NordVPN and PIA offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

NordVPN

  • Can unblock most popular streaming services
  • Streaming-optimized servers
  • Extremely customizable security options

Private Internet Access

  • Fast yet inexpensive
  • Anonymous registration possible
  • Tried and tested no-logs policy

NORDVPN DEAL: Save 75% here and reduce your monthly cost to just $2.99 by choosing NordVPN’s three-year plan.

PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS DEAL: Cut the cost by 58% with PIA’s two-year deal. This works out to just $2.91 per month.

Features

Private Internet Access and NordVPN both offer similar multi-platform support. Each provides apps for a wide range of operating systems but NordVPN has a simple command-line installer for Linux platforms while PIA must be installed manually. There are also extensions for the most popular web browsers. however, it’s important to remember that VPN extensions only encrypt your browser traffic and don’t hide your IP address when using P2P networks or other web-facing applications.

NordVPN includes an additional security feature called CyberSec. This cross-references pages you visit with a known list of harmful websites, and automatically stops the page from loading if there’s a match. It also blocks ads, removing the need for additional, not-always-legitimate browser extensions. Best of all, CyberSec prevents your device from being used as part of a botnet, even if it’s already infected with malware.

Both of these services allow you to protect multiple devices simultaneously, although NordVPN has a slight advantage, with six connections permitted versus PIA’s five. It’s worth noting that you can install either service on your router and automatically protect any device which is connected to it; this is the best way to secure every device in your household, since a router only counts as a single connection.

Unblocking capabilities

As shown in the table above, NordVPN has no problems unblocking some of the most popular streaming services available. It’s even capable of bypassing geo-restrictions on notoriously stubborn platforms like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. In contrast, PIA can only reliably unblock a few Netflix libraries and other smaller, usually regional platforms. The one exception here is Hulu, where PIA performs just as well as NordVPN.

See also: How to watch Netflix with PIA 

China

Private Internet Access does technically work from within China, although maintaining this service has proven “very difficult” for the company. In practice, this means that you may not be able to connect at times, and PIA should not be relied upon when in China.

NordVPN, on the other hand, has few problems bypassing China’s Great Firewall. The majority of users should be able to connect just as they would normally, but there are also dedicated servers for use in heavily-restricted locations. NordVPN’s website site is currently blocked in China, but you can contact customer support via email (support@nordvpn.com) or one of their alternative URLs to find a working registration site.

Setup and interface

Both of these VPNs have clean, uncluttered mobile apps. NordVPN’s, in particular, looks great, with a map-based main screen and a small space for contextual options at the bottom. Users can protect themselves with a single click, and can even choose to quickly connect to one of the service’s dedicated IP, P2P-optimized, or Double VPN servers right on the home screen.

PIA actually has two versions of its mobile app: one, available directly from PIA’s website and one from the Google Play Store. So what’s the difference? Well, the app store version doesn’t include MACE — PIA’s combined ad-blocker and malware-scanner. Other than this, the two apps are effectively identical.

PIA has a minimalistic home screen with a quick connect slider, region selection menu, and the user’s current public IP address. It does, however, include a greater range of choices in the settings menu, including the option to start PIA when your device boots, and change your encryption settings.

NordVPN has a much more user-friendly desktop app, however. It maintains the map-based main page, but also allows users to choose their desired location from a list if they’d prefer. The settings menu offers a wide range of control over the way you connect to the VPN, and allows users to simply toggle a button for options like appearing invisible to local networks, changing protocol, or automatically connecting on boot.

In contrast, PIA’s desktop app sits in your taskbar. You can access most of its features simply by right-clicking the icon. It automatically hides itself when you minimize it too, which can be a minor annoyance if you’re trying to follow a configuration guide. That said, it provides a decent number of options including automatic ad-blocking and toggling DNS/IPv6 leak protection on and off.  

Servers and performance

With 2,000 more servers than PIA, and covering almost twice as many countries, NordVPN has the upper hand when it comes to infrastructure. This is particularly obvious in areas like France, Germany, and the UK, where NordVPN has hundreds more servers than their rival.

In practice, this means that NordVPN allows users to unblock geo-restricted platforms from a wider range of locations. However, as there are usually only a few servers in smaller countries, you might not get the same speeds you would if you connected to a server in the US, for instance. PIA has done a good job of creating server clusters in the most in-demand locations, however, and as such, will work well enough for most people.

Only PIA’s desktop app allows you to choose a server in a specific city, although not by default. You have to go into the settings menu and select the “Connect by Region” option. NordVPN does offer this functionality in its mobile app though. This feature allows users to connect to nearby servers, lowering the latency of their connection, so it’s unclear why NordVPN didn’t include this additional information. Additionally, this means that for users on desktop computers, the only way to stream events covered by city or state-wide geo-restriction is to try each server in a country individually to see if any work.

Check out the table below to see which countries NordVPN and PIA have servers in:

Security

Both NordVPN and PIA allow you to use the OpenVPN protocols (UDP and TCP). This offers a good balance between speed and security. Note: these services used to offer PPTP, L2TP, and IKEv2 support, but this is no longer the case.

Although both VPNs have a kill switch, NordVPN’s is better. You can also choose to only kill traffic from specific applications should your connection drop. PIA’s mobile app also includes a kill switch, but you can’t customize it; it’s either on or off. You can choose to start either service whenever your device boots, however.

NordVPN uses Obfsproxy-based software to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN. Some governments and institutions use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to monitor and block certain types of web traffic. Obfsproxy just changes your traffic so that it more closely resembles accepted traffic types and patterns. This way, you can use the internet safely, even in countries with far-reaching online censorship.

Privacy

Almost every VPN claims to keep “no logs.” Although, the majority of the time, you’ll find that in the small print, or hidden behind intentionally vague statements, they do record some user information. This is where it’s important to differentiate between connection logs (for instance, the time you connected and the server you used) and activity logs (such as which sites you visited). So, just how private are the NordVPN and Private Internet Access services?

NordVPN is based in Panama, which isn’t subject to data retention laws. On the other hand, PIA is based in the United States, which is one of the 5 Eyes countries. This means that security agencies can apply legal pressure in order to access user information and share this with other members of the 5 Eyes: the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. However, in order to prevent this from being a problem, Private Internet Access has a strict no-logs policy.

PIA has actually had their no-logs claim tested in court twice. In both instances, the company was unable to provide any details of a specific users’ connection times, connection dates, or activities. The only information that the service stores is the email address you sign up with. As a result, if you choose to register with a throwaway email address and pay with one of the many supported cryptocurrencies, your activities cannot be traced back to you.

NordVPN has a similar policy and keeps no logs whatsoever. It does allow users to pay with various different cryptocurrencies, but there are fewer accepted than with PIA. To be fair, PIA is an outlier here, and not many major VPNs accept more than a few different anonymous payment methods.

Configuration

NordVPN is the clear winner in this aspect. It provides anti-DDoS servers, and even allows users to obtain a static IP address in one of four countries (although this costs extra). While a static IP address makes it more difficult to cover your tracks online, it is far less likely to trigger automated fraud prevention measures, for instance, when you log into your online banking service while connected to a foreign server.

Both of these services use shared address allocation. This means that everyone connected to a particular server at the same time shares an IP address. Even if these services kept activity logs (which they don’t), there would be no way to tell which customer accessed a specific website.

NordVPN and PIA each includes a NAT firewall. This fairly common technology: even your home router has one built-in. The problem is that when using a VPN, your traffic is encrypted, and the router can’t tell where to send it. Instead, your VPN’s firewall takes care of this, sending incoming packets wherever they’re intended and rejecting any unsolicited or suspicious packets. It works well, but it’s not foolproof; for best results, we recommend combining a NAT firewall with additional protection, for instance, the firewall included in your operating system.

Customer service

NordVPN offers users more ways to contact support in the event of any issues; there’s 24/7 live chat, which is the fastest way, with responses usually received in a matter of seconds. Plus there’s email and ticket support available. PIA only offers ticket and email support, so as a rule, you can expect to wait longer before receiving help. Additionally, you’ll have to sign up for an account (not necessarily a paid one) in order to use the support system, since unsolicited mail to PIA’s support email address is ignored.

Both services include searchable knowledge bases, which allow users to quickly find answers to the most common problems. NordVPN’s is slightly better, as it includes video walkthroughs for specific tasks like troubleshooting your connection. However, the majority of NordVPN’s guides are illustrated with step-by-step screenshots instead of videos. PIA uses screenshots instead of videos in almost all of its tutorials, but there are 11 videos covering the more basic aspects of using the service.

We asked customer support for each service three questions to gauge their responsiveness to customer queries. As NordVPN offers live chat but Private Internet Access doesn’t, in order to compare fairly, all of the questions below were submitted via email. Two are straightforward, general questions which the companies likely had pre-written responses to. The third question, however, was slightly trickier, and required a more detailed answer.

NordVPN provided a highly detailed response to our final question, complete with a step-by-step guide to installing a VPN client on a Kodi-based OS. Its responses were quick and generally explained any issues in layman’s terms. PIA took considerably longer to reply but managed to address the issues raised in a similarly effective manner.

The winner: NordVPN

NordVPN and Private Internet Access are both excellent, well-respected services. In particular, PIA manages to remain cost-effective while providing a true zero-logs service and high speeds. That said, NordVPN is the better choice for most people, and we’ll explain why below.

Firstly, it’s easier to stream with NordVPN. This service unblocks a wider range of high-profile streaming platforms and has servers in nearly twice as many countries as PIA. With high speeds and more than 5,000 servers worldwide, you’ll be able to stream live HD video from anywhere in the world without any problems.

NordVPN makes it easy to get assistance when you’re struggling. You can usually get help via live chat in just a few seconds, and there are step-by-step videos to help you with some of the more common hurdles you might face. PIA’s system, on the other hand, requires a couple of additional steps including registering for a free account and entering detailed information about your system, even for general questions about the service.

Finally, NordVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee as opposed to PIA’s seven days. With more time to test the software out, install it on all your different devices, and use it for streaming, you’ll have a better idea as to whether it’s right for you or not. Ultimately, whether you choose to use NordVPN or Private Internet Access, your personal information and system security is assured.

See also: ExpressVPN vs NordVPN