PrivateVPN is a Sweden-based VPN service provider but has a relatively small number of servers. But all of these, PrivateVPN provides you with a lengthy list of features.
Can PrivateVPN be a solid choice VPN? Can it compete with my favorite VPNs like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Hotspot Sheild? In this 2021 review of PrivateVPN, I’ll be going through its pros and cons, the Logging policy, features, and many more. I’ll be also telling you about the subscriptions available for this VPN and is their customer support good. We performed several tests to make sure that is PrivateVPN best for you or not.
At the end of this review, You’ll be free to make a decision whether it’s right for you or not.
So let’s dive right into it….
Pros And Cons
Here we’ve mentioned some good and worst things about PrivateVPN.
➥ Pros:
- Ability to unblock streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc
- No-logs
- Support torrenting
- Able to work in China
➥ Cons:
- Have slow speeds on some servers
- Servers are less in numbers
- The live chat feature isn’t available every time
- Doesn’t provides you with browser extensions
PrivateVPN Pricing Plans
Image Credit: PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN offers you three simple options to purchase their service. You can choose a 1-month plan, 3-month plan, and 12-month plan. The PrivateVPN subscription costs 9.99 USD for one month, you can also reduce its cost to 2.50 USD if you want to pay for 2 years in advance. Also, there is a three-month subscription plan available which costs 6.66 USD.
PrivateVPN one-month membership is an open bargain. I’d recommend you to purchase its one-year or 3-month membership plan. One thing to remember, as you increase the length of the subscription, the less you’ll be charged.
All of the PrivateVPN subscriptions come with 30-days money-back guarantee, which allows you to test PrivateVPN risk-free.
When it comes to payment methods, PrivateVPN accepts payments through all of the major credit cards, Bitcoin or PayPal. PrivateVPN also offers a referral scheme through which a user can get coins when you bring others to join this service.
PrivateVPN Free Trial
The best thing that attracts customers is free-trial and PrivateVPN offers you a 7-day free trial. In this period you’ll be free to use data, no limits on the speed, and no need to submit payment details. Because of all these PrivateVPN is the best VPN.
To get this free trial, visit the official website of PrivateVPN fill out the necessary blank. Once you sign up properly, you’ll be free to access all the features of this service, just like paid subscribers.
If you want to test PrivateVPN for more time, then the service also offers a 30-day money-back Guarantee to test VPN risk-free. But, you’ll need to provide them with a proper reason to get a refund. Refunds can be taken through PayPal, major credit cards, and BitCoin.
Speed: How Fast Is PrivateVPN
As mentioned that PrivateVPN has a small server network all over the world, but I was amazed to see that still it provides you with such great speeds. PrivateVPN is considered in the list of fastest VPNs.
PrivateVPN has increased its servers in the past year but was able to provide 150 servers, which is very less as compared to the other VPN service provider like NordVPN (with over 5000 servers) and ExpressVPN (with over 3000 servers). Also, PrivateVPN was able to cover 60 countries, which are also less as compare to ExpressVPN which covers 94 countries.
While testing, PrivateVPN performed very well. I was shocked to see that PrivateVPN only decreases the speed only by 5% from 100 Mbps to 95 Mbps while connected to the server located near me.
I tested servers that are located in North-America, Europe, and Asia. Here are the average speeds for the following servers:
PrivateVPN Apps
Image Credit: PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN covers almost all of the major platforms like Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. The Apps features and functions are almost the same on every platform, which is excellent.
PrivateVPN apps are very lightweight, so you can’t face any issues on low-end devices. In desktop apps, the servers are listed in alphabetical order, but you can also filter them out to your nearest servers. The best thing about this is that you’ll be able to view ping for each server. You have also the option to select a server that supports streaming.
One thing to remember that PrivateVPN iOS doesn’t have a kill switch, which means that your IP address can be exposed if your connection drops due to some reason. However, many popular VPNs like NordVPN and IPVanishVPN provide their iOS clients with a powerful kill switch.
You have also an option to change the VPN protocol (OpenVPN, TUN, TAP, TCP, PPTP). Other options include two kill switches, a stealth feature, various tools like auto-repair, and auto start options.
All of these features make the PrivateVPN interface complicated, many newbies and experienced clients might get confused about some technical terms.
Currently, there are lot of things to improve, but still its one of the favorite tool for some users.
About Logging
PrivateVPN has a strong privacy policy because it doesn’t keep any logs, which means that anything you do on the internet will not be exposed to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and can’t be accessed by PrivateVPN itself.
The Privacy policy of PrivateVPN states that the company doesn’t keep logs of your previous activity, including your browsing history, IP addresses, DNS queries.
The information which the VPN service collects is your email address used to register your account and for renewing your account.
Although, we can conclude that PrivateVPN is a no-log VPN. But PrivateVPN hasn’t done any security audits, while many popular VPNs are taking this step only for the purpose to ensure their users what they’re doing.
Customer Support
PrivateVPN offers customers through live chat and email. The live chat feature isn’t available every time because PrivateVPN had outsourced the live chat feature with a third-party application known as Live Agent. When I get access to their live chat, One thing I notice that their agents were very knowledgeable and provide me with an accurate solution.
This is the great downside of PrivateVPN because other VPN companies like NordVPN and ExpressVPN provides their clients with 24/7 live feature.
If you don’t need a direct response, then you can submit your issue through email support. They responded to me within 1 hour with a proper solution which is excellent. As mentioned above, that live chat feature isn’t available 24/7. For this reason, many people would like to have email support.
Overall, we found that its customer support was good enough and helpful. One thing the service needs to improve is to bring live chat availability 24/7.
PrivateVPN And Netflix
Image Credit: PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN is considered to be the best VPN for streaming. The service claims that it is the best unblocker of Netflix and during the test, it proved that it works.
I was able to unblock many Netflix libraries like Netflix US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Japan while connected to this service. Being the best VPN for Netflix, it also allows you to unblock plenty of other streaming sites like Amazon Prime, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu.
You can connect to the best server for streaming easily by choosing the option of streamed servers. But, now the service has removed the option of streamed servers from their apps. When we contacted the support, they tell us that from now all of the servers are streaming friendly.
PrivateVPN And Torrenting
PrivateVPN is an ideal VPN torrenting files. The service provides you with P2P optimized servers, a kill switch that kills your activity if your connection drops.
The service recommends you use their Sweden-based server to have the best torrenting experience. We tested this VPN, and every time we were able to download our files without any issues, which is excellent.
PrivateVPN allows you to torrent files on every server, but the service suggests you only connect to a location of “Dedicated IP”. These servers are easily available in the server list and we found that these servers are faster than other servers present.
These servers are owned and managed by the service, which is better than other VPN services which rent servers from third parties. This means that no one can access these servers except PrivateVPN.
PrivateVPN is excellent for torrenting files, which makes it best for all of the torrenting platforms available.
PrivateVPN VS NordVPN VS ExpressVPN
Here we’ve compared PrivateVPN with my favorite VPN services providers like NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
Does PrivateVPN works In China?
ManyVPN services including popular VPNs are blocked by China’s Great firewall. It’s not so easy to bypass China’s Great Firewall. I was amazed to see that PrivateVPN was able to work with better speed in China. The service recommends turning on the stealth mode feature to connect in China.
In some cases, PrivateVPN is blocked by China’s Firewall. In such cases, the service allows you to take advantage of its wide variety of protocols and switch to L2TP. Sometimes using OpenVPN and PPTP protocol can be detected by the Great Firewall.
One thing to remember that you can’t have access to a VPN website in China, so try to set up the VPN before you travel. PrivateVPN has the ability to work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in Middle Eastern countries, where most VPNs services are blocked.
How Many Simultaneous Connections Are Available?
You can spread your subscriptions across six devices at the same. You can share it with your friends, family members, or anyone else.
Can I Get PrivateVPN For Free?
No, you can’t get PrivateVPN for free. But the service offers you a 7-day free trial to test the VPN risk-free.
Alternates Of PrivateVPN
Here we’ve compiled some top alternatives of PrivateVPN.
FastestVPN is the best alternate of PrivateVPN if you’re looking for a VPN at cheaper rates. This is a Cayman Islands-based VPN service, providing you with a lengthy list of features. Its location makes it the best choice for many users because the government can’t force the service to hand over your data.
NordVPN is considered in the list of top 5 VPNs because of its awesome features at cheaper rates. It is worthy for torrenting files and unblocking streaming sites. Its headquarters are located in Panama which falls outside of the surveillance alliance, which makes it more unique.
Final Thoughts
Overall, PrivateVPN is a value-for-money service. It comes up with apps equipped with advanced features and security.
PrivateVPN is a perfect match for streamer who needs quick access to streaming sites. I was able to unblock 30 different libraries of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.
PrivateVPN is considered one of the best VPN that works well in China because of its stealth mode that can easily by the Great Firewall.
Hope you enjoyed the post! Let me know in the comments section if any problem.
Originally published at https://deepdotnet.com on June 23, 2021.
