Private Internet Access Review 2026: Cheap, Deep, and Dated

US federal authorities have subpoenaed Private Internet Access twice and received nothing usable because nothing was stored. That is the strongest claim in this Private Internet Access review, and it belongs to a VPN based in the USA, where jurisdiction is the first reason to look elsewhere. The rest of our September 2026 round is mixed. PIA lost 12.7% of our 190.36 Mbps connection across British, American, and Japanese servers, with most of that damage on one location.

It opened 8 of the 14 streaming services we tested. MACE blocked 129 of 135 ad and tracker domains. And the Windows app still opens on OpenVPN at AES-128 encryption, with no automatic option, so a first-time subscriber stays on the slower protocol without being told.

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Private Internet Access Review: Quick Look

Starting price	$1.79 per month, $46.54 for 26 months
Renewal	$46.54 every 12 months, so $3.88 per month
Money-back guarantee	30 days
Protocols	OpenVPN (UDP and TCP) and WireGuard
Default protocol	OpenVPN at AES-128, with no automatic setting
No-log policy	Yes, Deloitte-audited and tested in US federal court
Countries	91, counted in the app
Download speed loss	12.7% averaged across our three server locations
Upload speed loss	7.4% averaged
Streaming	8 of the 14 streaming services we tested
Multi-hop	Yes, through a Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxy
Port forwarding	Yes, though not on American servers
Ad and tracker blocking	MACE, 96% on d3ward’s test
Simultaneous connections	Unlimited
Supported platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Fire TV, routers, browsers
Customer support	24/7 live chat, email, help center, community forum

PIA Pricing: The Lowest Long-Term Rate I Found

At the time of this review, the 2-year plan with two extra months costs $1.79 per month, which is $46.54 for the full 26 months. The renewal is $46.54 every 12 months after that, or $3.88 per month. Both figures are lower than every VPN in our main ranking. The renewal is the one that matters, since most VPNs at this level charge between $79 and $139 a year once the opening term ends. The 6-month plan costs $7.50 per month and renews at $45 every six months.

The monthly plan is $11.95. Neither makes sense unless the subscription is genuinely temporary, and the 30-day refund covers that case better. Antivirus by PIA costs $1.45 per month on the 2-year term, $34.80 in total, and protects Windows PCs only. A dedicated IP address costs $2.50 per month, $60 across two years, in 26 locations.  The same add-on costs between $3.75 and $4.19 at the VPNs in our low-cost ranking, so this is the least expensive way to buy one.

Payment methods include card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay.

Check the Current PIA Price

Money-Back Guarantee and Free Trial

We requested the refund on a secondary account through live chat, paid by PayPal. The agent asked for a reason from a dropdown, made no attempt to keep the account, and the money was back in about two hours the same day. Card refunds take longer, so treat that as the PayPal case and not the norm.

There is no free plan and no desktop trial. The iOS and Android apps include a 7-day free trial through their app stores. It covers the full feature set, and no other VPN offers a longer one on mobile. The PIA free trial page has the signup steps, and the mobile apps are the better half of the product anyway.

PIA VPN Speed Test Results

For this review, we measured on a 190.36 Mbps connection on Windows 11 from Europe, Ethernet, using Speedtest at three times of day across three days per location in September 2026. The protocol was switched to WireGuard by hand, since the app does not do it for you.

Server	Download	Upload	Ping	Download loss
No VPN	190.36 Mbps	19.37 Mbps	10 ms	n/a
UK	181.15 Mbps	18.92 Mbps	54 ms	4.8%
US	175.68 Mbps	18.21 Mbps	145 ms	7.7%
Japan	141.61 Mbps	16.65 Mbps	276 ms	25.6%
Average	166.15 Mbps	17.93 Mbps	n/a	12.7%

The British and American figures are close enough to the unprotected connection that nothing about the experience changes. Japan is the weak location, and 25.6% is a heavier loss than any VPN in our main ranking recorded there. Upload was the surprise of this PIA review. The loss averages 7.4% across the three locations, which puts PIA in line with every other VPN we have tested.

The old reputation for collapsing upload speeds is not something our figures support. Connection times were 3 seconds on WireGuard and 3 seconds on OpenVPN, quick enough that the protocol choice makes no difference to the wait.

Private Internet Access Security Features

This is where the money goes in this review, and where PIA is least like its rivals. The customization goes deeper than any VPN at this price offers, and it arrives with a setup problem.

Protocols and the Default Setting

PIA supports OpenVPN and WireGuard. On OpenVPN, you can set UDP or TCP transport, AES-128 or AES-256 GCM encryption, a custom remote port, the MTU, and the configuration method. That combination covers restrictive corporate networks and unusual router setups without changing the VPN.

The problem is at the top of that same screen. The app opens on OpenVPN with AES-128 encryption, and there is no automatic option. Competing apps include an automatic setting that selects the fastest protocol. PIA requires a trip into Settings, and a subscriber who never goes there keeps the slower protocol and the lower encryption level for the life of the subscription.

Kill Switch and Leak Protection

There are two kill switches. The standard one cuts the connection when the tunnel drops. The advanced one blocks traffic whenever the VPN is inactive, including when the app is closed, which suits high-privacy work and is unpleasant for daily use.

We tested the standard switch on Windows 11 in the two ways that break most apps: the Ethernet cable pulled mid-session, and the PIA process killed from Task Manager. A continuous ping was active. No packets escaped in either test.

MACE Ad and Tracker Blocking

MACE filters ads, trackers, and malware domains at the DNS level, so it covers every app on the device instead of one browser. On d3ward’s blocklist test, connected to a US Missouri server, MACE blocked 129 of 135 domains, a 96% score. That is the highest score we have recorded on d3ward, ahead of Proton VPN’s NetShield at 93%.

The reporting is the catch. PIA shows no counter for what MACE stopped, so the feature works invisibly, and the result is a matter of trust unless you test it yourself, the way we do across the ranking.

Split Tunneling, DNS and Automation

Split tunneling on Windows covers apps and individual IP addresses or domains, the wider of the two approaches. We excluded an internal work tool from the tunnel to stop it flagging unusual logins, and the change applied without restarting the app. DNS uses PIA’s own resolvers by default, with Handshake and custom resolvers as alternatives. Automation connects the VPN by network type.

So, an open Wi-Fi network triggers a connection and a trusted home network doesn’t. The limitation we have flagged for years is unchanged: you cannot tell Automation which country to connect to. It selects one on its own, and in our sessions it kept choosing the Hungarian server.

Multi-Hop Through a Proxy

PIA’s multi-hop works differently from NordVPN’s Double VPN. Instead of a second VPN server, traffic passes through a Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxy, and the app pairs any server with any proxy location. The Shadowsocks list covers the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Canada, and Japan.

We measured the cost on a US Missouri server routed through the Dutch Shadowsocks proxy: 140.45 Mbps down and 267 ms ping, against 175.68 Mbps and 145 ms on the same server without it. That is 20.1% of the download speed and 122 ms of extra ping for a connection that also hides the VPN use.

Try PIA’s Multi-Hop Setup

PIA Review: IP and DNS Leak Test Results

We checked ipleak.net and browserleaks.com on the British, American, and Japanese servers, with MACE both enabled and disabled, on Windows 11 with the browser cache deleted between sessions. No IP address leaks, no DNS leaks, and no WebRTC exposure. Our home IP address did not appear on any check, including the IPv6 test. The results were identical with MACE on and off, so the ad blocker introduces no DNS behavior that could expose traffic.

Leak protection is where every serious VPN passes, so a clean result is the entry requirement and not a distinction. If you want to change your IP address without surprises, PIA does it cleanly.

PIA Privacy Review: A No-Log Policy Tested in Court

PIA operates from the United States, a founding member of the Five Eyes arrangement, which would normally end the privacy section of any VPN review. The public record is what changes it. In a 2016 criminal case in Virginia, the FBI requested connection logs for a named user. PIA had nothing to produce. A second federal request in 2018 produced the same result.

 

Neither outcome is marketing copy. Both appear in court filings, and no other VPN in our ranking has that kind of external verification of a no-log claim. We read the privacy policy in full. PIA states that it doesn’t store IP addresses, bandwidth used, browsing history, DNS requests, session timestamps, or connection logs. It keeps an email address, payment data, and a ZIP code for tax purposes. Deloitte has audited the no-log policy, most recently in 2025.

Streaming and Torrenting With PIA

These two produce opposite verdicts, and the split explains who PIA is built for. Streaming is the weakness. Six of the 14 were blocked. Netflix US and Netflix Canada worked on the first attempt, BBC iPlayer connected through a British server, and ITVX opened, while Surfshark and Proton VPN were both blocked. Meanwhile, Netflix Japan, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, JioHotstar, and Disney+ stayed blocked.

Netflix US	Netflix Japan	BBC iPlayer	ITVX	Hulu	Prime Video	Disney+
Opened	Blocked	Opened	Opened	Blocked	Blocked	Blocked

Disney+ is the hardest of those to fault PIA for, since it blocks desktop VPN apps. Hulu, Prime Video, and HBO Max are a different matter, and three blocked American streaming services are a limit for a household that streams across several subscriptions. Torrenting is the opposite story.

Every server supports P2P with no separate list to find, and port forwarding is available from the Network settings, which almost every major competitor dropped years ago. For private tracker users who have to maintain a ratio, that single feature decides the choice. PIA documents one limitation poorly.

Port forwarding is unavailable on American servers. Canadian and European servers support it, so the workaround is to seed from a different country.

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PIA Server Network and Coverage

The app lists 91 countries, with city-level entries in the larger markets and a server in every US state. Part of that coverage is virtual, meaning the IP address belongs to the advertised country while the server itself is elsewhere. PIA publishes the list of which locations those are, which is more disclosure than most VPNs offer, and the practical effect shows up as ping.

The network is RAM-only throughout, so a reboot wipes each server, and PIA operates its own DNS resolvers instead of passing queries to a third party. Dedicated IP addresses cover 26 locations and keep the same address on every connection, which reduces CAPTCHAs and streaming blocks. PIA also supports Fire TV Stick installs from the Amazon Appstore and American servers in all states.

Does PIA Work in China?

We have not tested PIA in China for this review, and we are not going to imply otherwise. PIA’s own support agents won’t guarantee the connection there, the app has to be installed before arrival because the website is blocked, and the Shadowsocks multi-hop mode is the setup PIA’s documentation points to. For softer restrictions, the picture is clearer.

The same obfuscation works on school and workplace filtering without difficulty, at the 20.1% speed cost we measured. For China specifically, the VPNs we have tested there are the better starting point.

Private Internet Access Support Review

Live chat opens with a bot, as it does at every VPN. The difference is what happens next: the Transfer to Agent button produced a human in 10 to 20 seconds on every attempt. The knowledge base covers the awkward topics, including router configuration, protocol customization, and SOCKS5 setup in qBittorrent.

Searching for port forwarding returns the right article in the first two results. There is also a community forum with active threads and occasional staff replies, which no other VPN at this price maintains, and a beginner section explaining how a VPN works for first-time VPN users.

PIA App Review: Ease of Use and Compatibility

The verdict from this Private Internet Access review: the Windows and macOS apps are the ones we like least in this category. The desktop window extends downward when the server list opens, Settings is in a separate panel instead of the main window, and the visual design has not been refreshed in years.

Nothing is broken. It simply looks like software that stopped being designed several years ago, which the newer apps do not. The mobile apps are better. Everything is in one window, the server list is easier to move through with a thumb, and the 7-day trial applies there.

Compatibility covers what a serious subscriber requires:

• Windows, macOS and Linux, with a full graphical Linux app
• Android and iOS phones and tablets
• Fire TV Stick and Android TV, including Nvidia Shield
• Routers and consoles through a router
• Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Edge, and Opera extensions

Simultaneous connections are unlimited, with no cap on any plan, whereas most VPNs stop at 10. A household covering a router, several phones, and a couple of televisions pays once.

Private Internet Access Review: Conclusion

PIA is a specialist, and this review rates it as one. The privacy side alone would earn a higher score. The privacy record is the best in the category at any price; the customization goes deeper than VPNs costing three times as much, port forwarding has no real competition in the budget tier, and at $1.79 a month, renewing at $46.54 a year, few VPNs cost less across the full term.

The costs are equally clear. Japan cost it 25.6% of our connection; six of the 14 streaming services we tested were blocked, and the desktop app looks a decade out of date. The OpenVPN default undercuts the product before a new subscriber has changed a setting.

Frequently Asked Questions