Using VPNs has increased significantly in the past years. These applications allow you to surpass the restrictions on your country and other countries’ servers to connect freely and access online content that might otherwise be blocked. We’ve found two strong VPNs on the market and decided to put them against each other in a comprehensive comparison. This is the IPVanish vs PIA VPN comparison.
What is IPVanish?
IPVanish is a virtual private network (VPN) service. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic to obscure your IP address and safeguard your privacy and security online. Released in 2012, the VPN is compatible with various popular operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Fire TV and Android.
IPVanish encrypts your internet traffic, making it difficult for hackers or snoopers to eavesdrop on your activity. This encryption step includes keeping your location and online activity private by masking your IP address. You can use IPVanish to access blocked websites and content in your region.
What is PIA?
Private Internet Access, or PIA, is a virtual private network (VPN) service similar to IPVanish. Like IPVanish, PIA encrypts your internet traffic and hides your IP address to enhance online security and privacy. The application encrypts your data using robust protocols, safeguarding your information from being intercepted by prying eyes on public Wi-Fi or even your internet service provider (ISP).
PIA keeps your online activities hidden by masking your IP address. This step prevents websites and trackers from following your online movements and shields your location from unauthorised access. The application allows you to bypass geo-restricts, potentially granting access to websites or content that might be blocked in your area.
IPVanish vs PIA: Deciding Which VPN is Right for You
Before we embark on our comprehensive comparison between the two VPNs, it’s safe to say that both are good applications. They will protect your data and keep your online connection secure while allowing you to connect to remote and forbidden servers. Despite their many similarities, there are minimal differences, but it’s those minimal differences that will determine the ultimate winner.
Features
A VPN’s main feature is allowing you to connect to external servers seamlessly. However, this isn’t all a VPN does; there are security and encryption features and important measures to protect user data.
IPVanish
IPVanish offers features to enhance your online security and privacy. It encrypts your internet traffic, rendering it unreadable for snoopers. You can choose from secure connection protocols to balance speed and encryption strength. IPVanish lets you switch your IP address to access geo-restricted content or hide your location. They boast a large server network across many countries for reliable connections. Additionally, IPVanish has a kill switch feature that can automatically halt your internet traffic if the VPN connection drops, preventing accidental data leaks.
PIA
Private Internet Access (PIA) focuses on strong encryption and a no-logs policy to hide your online activity. It uses secure protocols like WireGuard for fast and reliable connections. PIA allows unlimited simultaneous connections to protect all your devices simultaneously. You can also choose a server from a vast global network to bypass geo-restrictions or enhance privacy. MACE, PIA’s built-in blocker, helps fight malware, trackers, and unwanted ads for an extra layer of online security.
- Winner
PIA.
User-friendly Interface
Our contenders offer similar user interface experiences, especially since they both support most operating systems while only PIA offers browser extensions. However, the lack of browser extensions isn’t a serious drawback in this comparison. Here, we will compare the desktop user experiences while leaving the mobile user experiences for the next category.
IPVanish
IPVanish allows you to run unlimited connections simultaneously, which is more than what its contender offers. However, a serious need for this large number of connections at the same time is rather rare. This VPN doesn’t offer browser extensions, so you must use their app to adjust VPN settings.
The application’s Windows interface has a colour palette similar to its contender’s, with black, dark grey, and green dominating the dashboard. With an easily customisable dashboard, you can easily switch the VPN on and off, and the Settings tab on the left-hand side gives you all the customisable options you need. While the macOS interface is similar to the Windows one, it has fewer customisable options.
PIA
Private Internet Access allows you to run ten simultaneous connections compared to IPVanish’s unlimited connections. However, it’s a rare occasion when you’ll use ten devices simultaneously. Design-wise, PIA offers a clean and eye-comforting design. The application has a vertical dark grey interface, with the Start button taking the top centre part and your connection status appearing above it. You can access further information regarding the port, protocol, encryption and authentication cypher easily by navigating through.
The user interface for MacOS is similar to that of Windows, with the same design, colour palette, and connection button. We can add PIA’s Linux application here, which is swift and easy to download and install. You will see the same user interface as Windows and macOS when the setup is done.
- Winner
A tie.
Mobile Applications
Mobile application usability is vital when you’re aiming to install a multi-platform application. Since both VPNs support smartphone operating systems, we also considered comparing their user interfaces to determine whether they are as simple to use as the desktop versions.
IPVanish
The black, dark grey and green colour palette continues from the application’s desktop interface to the smartphone one. Whether you’re using Android or iOS, the interface is rather similar, with minimal differences between the two operating systems’ customisation options.
PIA
PIA changed its colour palette in smartphone applications to a light grey and white palette. The dashboard displays main information such as the region, download and upload speed, and the kill switch and allows you to connect to other online servers with one click quickly.
- Winner
Another tie!
Security
Regarding security, both VPNs offer solid protection for your internet connection and identity. Our contenders offer nearly similar security measures to protect your online activity. Here’s what you need to know.
IPVanish
This VPN uses AES-256 encryption, a hash function of SHA-256, DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC for leak protection, and it keeps no logs, in addition to its kill switch. IPVanish has a straightforward installation and use process and offers users 500GB of cloud storage and an integrated antivirus.
PIA
Like its contender, PIA offers the same security measures, such as AES-256 encryption, SHA-256 hashing, DNS, IPv6 and WebRTC protection against leakage and keeps no logs. The application also offers more customisation options and keeps no data traffic by using RAM-only servers, in addition to its proven no-logs policy.
- Winner
We have a tie!
Privacy
Our contenders have US-based headquarters, which means they are obliged through the 5-Eyes Alliance, which means that if they receive a governmental request to submit data, they must oblige. However, since both VPNs have a no-logs policy, the likelihood of your information entering a government office is slim. In this regard, PIA’s no-logs policy was proven several times in court.
- Winner
A tie!
Logging
Logging refers to the possibility of the VPN provider saving your information after you log in. This information can be either your login credentials or your online payment information. IPVanish and PIA claim they follow a no-logs policy and are independently audited, but let’s take a deeper look at these claims.
IPVanish
Although IPVanish claims to keep no logs, the application is known to save your payment information after making your purchase. Moreover, a recent court case required the application to submit logs of a specific user, and the organisation did just so. Although this raised questions regarding the application’s zero-logging allegations, it helped the prosecutors catch an online predator. Since then, independent auditors have confirmed the application’s zero-logging policy application.
PIA
PIA has a stellar reputation for keeping zero logs. The application deletes user information after you log in. There have been several court cases where PIA was requested to present customer logs. Still, the organisation had nothing to bring forward, which confirms the application’s allegations of keeping zero logs.
- Winner
We have another tie!
Server Locations
When comparing server locations for VPNs, we look at the number of servers, countries, and whether these servers are virtual or physical. Virtual servers weaken the connection and can get congested easily.
IPVanish
IPVanish has more than 2,200 servers in more than 51 countries. The best trait about these servers is that they have matching physical locations. Unfortunately for PIA, virtual servers can have sluggish connections and less security. IPVanish owns all its servers, promoting stable connections and reinforcing security.
PIA
PIA has more than 29,000 thousand servers in more than 80 countries. While this indicates that the application’s speed and services are better, the opposite is true. Many PIA’s servers are virtual and don’t have a physical counterpart. This fact means the connections lag often and are slower than other VPNs.
- Winner
IPVanish.
Speed
When comparing the speed aspect of VPNs, we compare the download and upload speeds and the connection speed of nearby and long-distance connections. Let’s see how our competitors performed.
IPVanish
With the help of WireGuard protocol, IPVanish keeps your connection secure and utilises its server base to provide users with top download and upload speeds. This VPN scored 4.50Mbps for download speed on a 5Mbps connection and 0.64Mbps for upload speed.
PIA
Numerous speed testers allege that a large server base is directly proportional to speed. The larger a VPN’s server base, the faster the connection speed. Like its competitor, PIA utilises WireGuard protocol for protection, and its massive server base provides top speed. Its download speed using a 5Mbps connection was 4.64Mbps, and upload speed was 0.36Mbps.
- Winner
The scores of both VPNs are relatively close; we call this round another tie!
Streaming
Generally, VPN users utilise its powers to unblock streaming services such as Hulu or Netflix. As we put IPVanish vs PIA to compare which VPN could unblock more streaming services, we also examine how efficient and smooth the unblocking process was. We will compare both VPNs in unblocking major streaming services worldwide.
IPVanish
IPVanish has a built-in application for Apple TV and was able to unblock Netflix libraries in the US, the UK and India but failed in unblocking those of several European Netflix libraries. The VPN could unblock HBO MAX and Disney+, but it faced some problems while unblocking BBC iPlayer. It also faced numerous issues while attempting to unblock Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.
PIA
On the other hand, while PIA could easily access the US’s Netflix library, it couldn’t access those of several European libraries, including the UK’s. Unlike its contender, PIA could easily unblock Hulu’s exclusive content but failed to access HBO MAX, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. PIA was also unable to unblock Amazon Prime Video, like its contender.
- Winner
IPVanish wins for unblocking more streaming services.
Torrents
A solid VPN should support P2P or Peer-to-Peer while protecting your IP and location. However, to measure which VPN supports torrenting better, we must measure speed and security features while connecting.
IPVanish
While IPVanish provides P2P servers to secure faster downloads and a SOCKS5 proxy to mask your online identity, its maximum download speed was 8MB/s. Sadly, this number is less than most VPNs and is significantly lower than the competitor in this comparison.
PIA
Compared to its rival, PIA offered the same features for speed and security but beat IPVanish’s download speed by reaching 15MB/s. This speed, coupled with the P2P servers and the SOCKS5 and Shadowsocks proxies, PIA beats its rival in this category.
- Winner
PIA smashes this category.
Gaming
When measuring how IPVanish and PIA’s abilities allow users to game online, we measure the latency level when connecting to remote servers. The lower the latency, the better gaming experience you’ll have. Latency means the time required for the remote server to receive your request and respond. You can measure latency by measuring the number of pings, and the lower the pings, the better the latency, hence the connection.
IPVanish
Unfortunately, IPVanish displayed high latency when connecting to remote servers. If the servers are relatively close, the gaming experience was fine, but the VPN had serious lagging issues connecting to farther servers. The application took over 130 minutes to connect to US servers and 11 minutes to connect to UK servers, while connecting to Japanese servers took over 340 minutes and was highly unstable.
PIA
PIA offered a low latency rate compared to its competitor, allowing a more seamless online gaming experience. The application here took 75 minutes and 9 minutes to connect to US and UK servers, respectively. Connecting to servers in Japan took over 230 minutes and was incredibly lagging.
- Winner
Although both VPNs took a long time to connect to remote servers and had lagging issues, PIA took less time to connect to closer servers, which scored the win in this round.
Subscription and Free Trials
Our contenders offer relatively low-priced packages to accommodate all users. But we must choose a winner, so we will look further into these packages, their benefits and the possibility of free trials and money-back guarantees to facilitate our choice.
IPVanish
There are three paid versions here. The first is the Monthly version, which costs $12.99 per month. The Yearly version costs $3.33 per month, is billed $39.99 for the first year, and has a 30-day risk-free trial period. The Two-Year version offers the best value for money, with $2.75 per month, which is billed as $65.99 for the first two years and has a 30-day risk-free trial period.
PIA
This VPN offers several packages and a money-back guarantee like its contender but with no free trial. The Monthly package costs $11.95 per month, the Yearly package costs $3.33 per month, and the Three-Year package costs $2.19 per month.
- Winner
This category could’ve been tied because the prices are relatively close, but we chose IPVanish as a winner because it offers a free trial.
Compatibility
When discussing device compatibility in VPNs, we add browser extensions and other dedicated applications, as well as whether you can manually set the VPN up on other devices. Device compatibility isn’t limited to the usual operating systems anymore.
IPVanish
In addition to being compatible with popular operating systems for desktops and smartphones, including Linux, IPVanish is compatible with Amazon Fire TV. You can manually install it on routers, firewalls, Network-Attached Storage, or NAS. It is also compatible with Android TV and Chrome OS. While this VPN doesn’t provide browser extensions, it allows you to operate on various devices simultaneously.
PIA
PIA’s edge over its competitors is that it provides browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome and Opera. Additionally, PIA is compatible with the same operating systems as IPVanish, including Chrome OS and Android TV. Unlike its contender, you can only install PIA on routers, but you can still operate on various devices simultaneously.
- Winner
IPVanish makes up for the lack of browser extensions by providing more features and security measures, earning it this round.
Customer Support
Our VPN services provide users with numerous customer support methods to complete their efficient service cycle. Each VPN offers multiple ways users can contact them and seek guidance while using their services.
IPVanish
IPVanish offers all the regular and preferable customer support methods. These methods include an online knowledge base, FAQs and email if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the previous databases. If you wish to speak with one of the company’s techs, you can use their around-the-clock live chat or phone line to describe your problem best.
PIA
Similarly, PIA offers the same customer support methods as its contender. You can search the online database, including FAQs and a knowledge base of articles and guidelines, and chat with their 24/7 live chat, email, or call. Users reported that PIA and its contender’s support agents were helpful and nice.
- Winner
A clear tie!
To sum up our massive and comprehensive comparison, we compiled it all here:
| Category | IPVanish | PIA |
| Features | √ | |
| User-Friendly Interface/ Desktop Application | √ | √ |
| Mobile Application | √ | √ |
| Security | √ | √ |
| Privacy | √ | √ |
| Logging | √ | √ |
| Server Locations | √ | |
| Speed | √ | √ |
| Streaming | √ | |
| Torrents | √ | |
| Gaming | √ | |
| Subscription and Free Trials | √ | |
| Compatibility | √ | |
| Customer support | √ | √ |
| Winner | IPVanish | |
Although IPVanish won this comparison, it did so through the little details that distinguished it from PIA. After studying through this review of both VPNs, if PIA fits your needs more, it remains a solid VPN you can count on to browse online safely and with no possibility of tracking your ID.