IPVanish and Private Internet Access (PIA) are among the best VPNs on the planet, offering a rather similar service to their customers… Although there are also some differences which we’ll explore in this article. So read on for details as we compare the two VPNs on a feature by feature point. Let’s get started…
Comparing the features
Here’s how PIA and IPVanish compare:
Servers & Locations
With more than 3,000 servers in its network, PIA wins on the total server count — in comparison, IPVanish has 1,400+ servers. However, IPVanish has servers in more than 75 locations whereas PIA tops at around 60. Depending on the location you need, this may help you choose IPVanish rather than PIA. Also, IPVanish has a massive portfolio of 40,000+ IP addresses that should help it work in high-censorship countries. PIA on its doesn’t share the number of IPs it owns.
Platforms
All major platforms are supported by both PIA and IPVanish — including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Linux. Furthermore, both VPNs can work with routers, allowing you to make your entire home/office network more secure and private. Both have browser extensions though we would have to add that the one PIA provides is nothing short of spectacular, featuring more options than pretty much any other VPN browser extension. A single PIA license lets you protect 10 devices, while IPVanish lets you install their app on an unlimited number of devices.
Speed
Since we’re talking about top dogs here, expect both of them to deliver blazing-fast download and upload speeds. But, we would have to conclude that PIA was slightly faster in our tests. Chances are it has a lot to do with its implementation of the WireGuard protocol which is known to deliver the fastest possible speeds. In contrast, IPVanish tops at (still solid) OpenVPN.
Security & Privacy
Whether you choose IPVanish or PIA, you shouldn’t worry about your privacy. Again, these are among the best VPNs on the market and have proven their worth for years now. Your data is safe with both services. Sure, an authority could raid their servers, but since neither IPVanish nor PIA keeps any logs of users’ activity, they won’t be able to find a thing. In other words, this round is a draw.
Ease of Use
PIA is easier to use, with its apps looking more modern than those of IPVanish. That being said, you will hardly be lost in IPVanish’s apps – it’s just that their design feels somewhat dated. Sure, there are better-designed apps out there, but that doesn’t mean you will have a hard time using either of the two VPNs. Connecting to most such services is simple — select a country, then server (or city), and click “connect.” And you’re done.
Streaming & Torrenting
Another tie round as both PIA and IPVanish deliver fast streaming and torrenting experiences you can rely on. For streaming users, this means they’ll be enjoying buffer-free videos even if they’re streaming in 4K. That, in case you wonder, is what most VPNs can deliver these days, with modern codecs shrinking the number of megabytes you’re downloading when watching videos in the background. And the situation is similar with torrenting — expect solid download and upload speeds from wherever you’re connecting from.
Bypassing censorship
We would give a slight edge to IPVanish here even though we haven’t been able to properly test the two services. It’s just what we’re reading on the Internet and what people tell us that it is working from countries around the world. However, considering all the servers and, in the case of IPVanish how many IP addresses it has, we would assume there will always be a server that will let you bypass the Great Firewall of China.
Pricing
IPVanish is slightly more affordable but, unlike PIA, it doesn’t accept crypto payments. So if you wanted to pay for the VPN with your cryptocurrency assets, perhaps you should choose PIA over IPVanish. Both services will gladly take your PayPal funds and both offer steep discounts with longer-lasting plans.
Which VPN is better?
No matter how cool PIA is, we would give a slight advantage to IPVanish. Hence, it has a place on our Best of the Best VPNs list.
Sure, its apps look dated, but the consistency it offers is amazing. That being said, we must also add that PIA is almost equally cool and even slightly faster, but… we wanted to select a single winner. And that is IPVanish. Except if you insist to pay for a VPN service with cryptocurrency, that is.
