Simon Migliano is a recognized world expert in VPNs. He's tested hundreds of VPN services and his research has featured on the BBC, The New York Times and more.
Overall, PrivateVPN is an excellent VPN: scoring 9.1/10 based on our test measurements. Most notably, it’s one of the very best VPNs for accessing geo-blocked video content. It unblocks 10 Netflix regions and other services like Hulu and BBC iPlayer. However, we experienced server congestion issues, so its long-distance speeds may not always be sufficient for HD streaming.
Ranked #5 out of 65 VPNs
PrivateVPN Category Ratings
9.8/10
9.1/10
9.3/10
9.1/10
8.5/10
9.6/10
9.1/10
8.3/10
8.3/10
9.5/10
PrivateVPN Pros & Cons
Works with Netflix, Prime Video & more
No-logs privacy policy
Very cheap subscriptions
Firestick app unblocks streaming services
Servers in 62 countries
Dedicated IP servers are excellent for streaming & privacy
Slow long-distance connection speeds
No WireGuard protocol
No browser extensions
No Smart DNS feature
Lacks multi-hop, diskless servers & other technical features
Leaks IPv6 addresses on Linux
Why Trust Us?
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
Launched in 2009, PrivateVPN has been around longer than many of its competitors. In that time, the VPN has never suffered from any controversies and has proven itself to be a safe and trustworthy option.
Miss Group, a Swedish internet services company, acquired PrivateVPN in 2022. Despite initial concerns about the acquisition’s impact, PrivateVPN’s excellent performance has remained unchanged.
You want to watch content from geo-blocked streaming sites. Using its dedicated IP servers, we used PrivateVPN to access 10 Netflix libraries and every other popular streaming platform.
You’re on a budget. If you pay for three years upfront, you can get a PrivateVPN subscription for as little as $2.00 per month.
You’re using a VPN for the first time. If you don’t want access to advanced features, PrivateVPN is one of the simplest VPN apps to use.
Avoid PrivateVPN if:
You want the fastest connection speeds. Due to its lack of WireGuard protocol and small server network, PrivateVPN significantly slowed down our internet speeds on some long-distance connections.
You want a fully-featured VPN. PrivateVPN is an extremely basic VPN that doesn’t include many technical features, like an ad blocker or multi-hop servers.
You need a 100% free VPN. PrivateVPN no longer offers a seven-day free trial, so you’ll now have to pay to use the VPN.
This rating is calculated by how many different streaming services and regional content libraries the VPN can unblock, and how consistently it can access them.
We test access to Netflix, Disney+, Max, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and many more platforms on a weekly basis.
PrivateVPN is one of the best VPNs for streaming. The VPN’s dedicated IP servers unblocked every streaming service we tested it with, including 10 Netflix regions. It doesn’t have a Smart DNS feature, which is disappointing, but it does have a fully-featured app for Amazon Fire TV.
Ranked #2 out of 65 VPNs for Streaming
Here’s a list showing some popular streaming services that PrivateVPN works with:
Streaming Platform
Works with PrivateVPN
Amazon Prime Video
Yes
BBC iPlayer
Yes
Channel 4
Yes
Disney+
Yes
Hotstar India
Yes
Hulu
Yes
ITVX
Yes
Max
Yes
Netflix US
Yes
PrivateVPN recently removed its dedicated streaming servers from its app. When we contacted it, a representative from PrivateVPN told us that this is because “all servers now work for streaming.”
We found this to be false, though, as PrivateVPN sometimes failed to unblock certain services using a server from the main server list.
When this happened, we had to connect to one of its dedicated IP servers. The IP address you get from these will be exclusive to you, making it harder for streaming services to identify and block you. While these servers worked every time, they aren’t available in every location.
One major downside to using PrivateVPN for streaming is its poor device compatibility with TV-connected devices. Though it has an app for Fire TV and Android TV, it doesn’t have a Smart DNS feature for Apple TV and games consoles. Plus, there’s no router app to use it on Roku and Chromecast devices.
Streams US Netflix & Many Other Regions
Testing all of PrivateVPN’s servers with Netflix, we found that 22% of servers work with the streaming service.
Here are all the Netflix libraries that PrivateVPN can access:
Australia
Brazil
Canada
India
Ireland
Netherlands
Poland
Spain
UK
US
The streaming performance between regions varied significantly. Connecting to Japan and Ireland, our video constantly buffered and would only display in SD. Video quality in other regions, including the US and Canada, was much more impressive.
To access US Netflix, you’ll have to connect to the New York location from the dedicated IP server list. All the US servers we tested from the main server list didn’t work.
At least one PrivateVPN server could stream US Netflix in our tests.
Unblocks US Streaming Platforms
PrivateVPN also accesses every popular US-based streaming site. Using it, we bypassed geo-blocks on HBO Max, Hulu, YouTube TV, and Prime Video.
Unlike with Netflix, all of PrivateVPN’s US servers worked with these content platforms. Videos loaded almost instantly and displayed in HD.
PrivateVPN streamed HBO Max on all of its US servers.
Works Well with BBC iPlayer
Despite having just two UK server locations, PrivateVPN has always worked with BBC iPlayer over years of testing. Both live and on-demand content loaded instantly and streamed in the maximum resolution.
Even many other top VPNs for BBC iPlayer, including ExpressVPN and HMA, sometimes fail to unblock the service. PrivateVPN’s performance here is excellent, especially given its low price.
Both of PrivateVPN’s UK servers work with BBC iPlayer.
In addition, we connected to PrivateVPN’s UK servers to stream Sky Go, ITVX, and Now.
Hides Kodi Activity from Your ISP
PrivateVPN’s superb streaming performance makes it an excellent choice for using Kodi and Stremio.
Using its app on Fire TV, we streamed content from services like Crackle and Pluto TV. Each time, our connection didn’t drop and all our activity was concealed from our ISP.
PrivateVPN works well with all Kodi add-ons.
Privacy & Logging Policy
Doesn’t Store Any User Information
9.3/10
How is this calculated?
We analyze and dissect the VPN service’s logging and privacy policy. A VPN should never log and store:
Your real IP address
Connection timestamps
DNS requests
Headquarters outside of 14 Eyes or EU jurisdictions are also preferable.
PrivateVPN is a verified no-logs VPN service that has never supplied user data to a third party. A minor downside is its base in Sweden, which is a 14 Eyes jurisdiction, but this is offset by its private logging policy.
Ranked #5 out of 65 VPNs for Privacy & Logging Policy
Here’s a summary of all the data that PrivateVPN logs:
PrivateVPN is based in Sweden, which is ordinarily not a great location for user privacy. However, PrivateVPN’s no-logs policy means that it is unable to provide any information about its users, even if it was forced to comply with the Swedish government.
The only information that PrivateVPN retains is your email address, which is only used for logging in to the service. PrivateVPN confirmed to us that this is not linked to your activity in any way. This level of privacy is typically reserved for more expensive services.
One drawback, though, is that PrivateVPN doesn’t use diskless VPN servers. As these servers don’t contain storage devices, connecting to one removes the possibility of logging data altogether. We’d like PrivateVPN to add these soon.
Logging Policy Is Verified Through Real-World Tests
PrivateVPN is one of the few VPN services that has had its no-logs privacy policy verified by a real-world case. The VPN has been unable to give away user data, despite being asked by law enforcement on several occasions.
Although not known publicly, we have seen documents showing that, due to its no-logs privacy policy, PrivateVPN has always been unable to comply with law enforcement requests for user data.
We do not condone any illegal activities performed while using a VPN, but these real-world cases act as a trustworthy and practical test for a VPN’s logging practices.
Failed to Disclose Data Gathering on Free Trial Users
Our research found that PrivateVPN previously logged the IP addresses of users signing up for its free trial. PrivateVPN told us these IP addresses were securely stored in a “dummy database” and linked to “no other data.”
Although this type of logging was done privately and only to prevent abuse of its free trial, the problem is that PrivateVPN did not disclose its logging anywhere.
To its credit, after we raised this issue with PrivateVPN, it swiftly changed its behavior. The VPN no longer tracks the IP address of new free trial sign-ups.
Speed
Fast on Local Connections, but Slow on Long-distance Ones
9.1/10
How is this calculated?
We calculate the VPN’s speed rating using our download speeds, upload speeds, and ping (latency) measurements.
We regularly test the VPN’s local and international speeds using a dedicated 100Mbps internet connection in New York, USA.
When connected to a nearby server, our test results show that PrivateVPN is fast. Our download speeds dropped by just 5%— meaning the VPN is fast enough for streaming, gaming, and almost everything else. However, PrivateVPN's global speeds are less impressive, and its congested servers often lead to slowdowns.
Ranked #24 out of 65 VPNs for Speed
To maintain fair and unbiased speed testing, we measured our internet speeds before and after connecting to PrivateVPN servers around the world. We performed a series of tests over several days and then took the average numbers from each.
PrivateVPN is fast on nearby servers.
Here are the results we recorded when connecting to PrivateVPN servers in various locations:
As you can see, PrivateVPN’s short-distance speeds are impressive. We recorded a speed of 95Mbps, which matches the performance of other top VPNs that cost a lot more.
However, the reductions in speed much larger than expected when connecting to some far-away servers. Our download speed dropped by 39% connecting to South Africa and 24% connecting to Australia.
To prevent server congestion, the other VPNs listed above have 10Gbps servers in more locations and have server networks much larger than PrivateVPN. We’d like PrivateVPN to address both of these issues in a future update.
Price & Value
Exceptional Value on Long-term Subscriptions
9.5/10
How is this calculated?
While we do assign a ‘Price & Value’ rating, it doesn’t contribute to the Overall Rating. We believe the reader should decide what is or isn’t a reasonable price.
A good rating isn’t just based on how cheap the VPN is, but for the overall value it offers.
For its relatively low price, PrivateVPN offers excellent value. A monthly price of $2.00 is cheaper than any of its competitors, and you'll also benefit from a 30-day money-back guarantee period.
The impressive prices on the long-term plans make PrivateVPN a great VPN choice if you’re on a budget. But the $11.99 cost of a single month is expensive compared to other cheap VPNs.
We’d also like to see PrivateVPN add an annual option for users who don’t want to pay for three years upfront.
PrivateVPN Free Trial
Disappointingly, PrivateVPN no longer offers a free trial. Although the VPN still advertises the feature, we were redirected to the premium subscription page when trying to sign up for it.
The free trial was previously one of the VPN’s most notable features. It lasted for seven days and didn’t require any payment details. Its removal has made PrivateVPN a significantly worse product.
After contacting it, we were told the free trial is currently unavailable “due to the amount of abuse.” To prevent this, we’d like to see the VPN adopt a freemium model instead, like Windscribe and Proton VPN.
The key factor for calculating this rating is the global spread and coverage of the VPN’s server network.
We also consider the total number of servers, the number of city-level servers, and the number of IP addresses available.
PrivateVPN allows you to get an IP address from 62 countries, which is far higher than most other VPNs in its price bracket. Despite the decent number of countries covered, the network consists of just 200 servers, which is too small for a popular VPN service.
Servers are available in popular locations like the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, and Canada. All of these include a choice of city-level servers, too, so you can connect to the nearest server to you in a specific country.
We particularly appreciate that PrivateVPN has servers in six South American countries, as many other VPN services only offer a Brazil location.
That said, there are some popular regions that we’d like PrivateVPN to add in a future update. As it stands, PrivateVPN doesn’t offer IP addresses from popular regions like India and Egypt. Many other VPNs, including Surfshark and ExpressVPN, have servers in these countries.
Some Servers Are Virtually Located
PrivateVPN can offer servers in more countries than most other VPNs because it uses virtual server locations. 13% of PrivateVPN’s server locations are of this type — meaning they are physically located in a different country than the IP address they provide.
For example, we discovered that PrivateVPN’s Japan server is actually located in a data center in Canada.
PrivateVPN’s Japan server is located in Canada.
Connecting to a virtually located server can hinder your internet speed if you think you’re connecting to a nearby server, when in fact it’s located on the other side of the world.
For this reason, we’d prefer it if the PrivateVPN app highlighted which server locations are virtual, and which are physically located. Other VPN services, including top-tier VPNs like CyberGhost, are very upfront about this.
Torrenting
PrivateVPN Is Excellent for Torrenting
9.1/10
How is this calculated?
This rating is determined by the VPN’s torrenting speeds, the percentage of servers that allow P2P file sharing, the service’s privacy and trustworthiness, and useful settings like port forwarding.
For speed specifically, we calculate the VPN’s average download bitrate using our bespoke torrenting setup.
PrivateVPN allows P2P traffic and port forwarding on all of its servers, making it a great choice for private torrenting. The VPN’s use of AES-256 encryption, private DNS servers, and no logging to ensure your torrenting activity will not be traced back to you.
Ranked #6 out of 65 VPNs for Torrenting
Here’s a quick summary showing how PrivateVPN performed in our torrenting tests:
Torrenting Attribute
Result
Average Download Bitrate
9.6MiB/s
No. of P2P Servers
200
Logging Policy
No Logs
Kill Switch
Yes
Port Forwarding
Yes
We tested PrivateVPN with various torrent clients, and each time we were able to download a torrent file without any interruptions. You won’t have any trouble downloading large files like movies, music, and software.
PrivateVPN performed well in our torrenting tests.
Although torrenting is allowed on all of its servers, we recommend you only connect to a location from the ‘Dedicated IP’ server list.
These servers are owned and controlled by PrivateVPN, unlike all other servers which are rented from third parties. This allows for an additional layer of control and security, which is essential when it comes to keeping torrenting activity private.
Additionally, these servers allow all ports to be forwarded automatically, so you don’t have to configure it manually. This allows PrivateVPN to be faster than many other VPNs for torrenting.
To show this, here’s a comparison table showing PrivateVPN’s performance compared to other leading torrenting VPNs when downloading a 20GB torrent file:
VPN Service
Download Bitrate
Time To Download 20GB Torrent File
No VPN
10MiB/s
32 minutes
PrivateVPN
9.6MiB/s
33 minutes
Surfshark
8.7MiB/s
36 minutes
CyberGhost
3.9MiB/s
1 hour 21 minutes
Device & OS Compatibility
Apps for All Major Devices, but No Browser Extensions or Smart DNS
How is this rated?
A high-quality VPN should maintain functional, fully-featured applications and browser extensions for as many platforms and devices as possible.
Our ‘Device & OS Compatibility’ assessment contributes to the Ease of Use rating.
PrivateVPN has native apps for all major platforms and devices, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. However, there aren’t any browser extensions or a Smart DNS tool.
Apps
PrivateVPN is available to download and install on the following devices:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android
Linux
Router
Six Simultaneous Connections
Using PrivateVPN, you can connect up to six devices to a VPN server at once. This is slightly above average and is more than enough unless you’re sharing an account with family or friends.
Games Consoles & Streaming Devices
PrivateVPN can be used on the following devices by installing it on a router:
Apple TV
Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Chromecast
Nintendo
PlayStation
Roku
Smart TV
Xbox
However, unlike many other VPNs, PrivateVPN does not offer any pre-installed routers for sale. You will have to set it up on your router manually.
As PrivateVPN is a VPN designed for streaming, we were very disappointed to discover that it does not offer a Smart DNS feature. This means you’ll have to install it on a router to unblock streaming sites on devices like a PS5 or Apple TV.
Ease of Use
Functional Apps with a Basic Interface
8.3/10
How is this calculated?
This rating mainly consists of the user-friendliness and intuitiveness of setting up and regularly using the VPN.
We also factor in customization settings, as well as device and OS compatibility (see section above).
PrivateVPN’s apps are easy to use and well-designed. The interface is consistent across platforms, so you’ll get a similar experience across your devices. We do wish it was simpler to change protocol and other VPN settings, though.
Ranked #20 out of 65 VPNs for Ease of Use
To install and start using PrivateVPN, go to its website and click Get PrivateVPN. Choose your subscription plan and download the app. This whole process was simple and took less than 10 minutes.
PrivateVPN hasn’t updated its app design for a long time. It now looks and feels slightly dated compared to other top VPNs.
Curiously, the home page of its website has shown a version of the app with an updated interface for over a year. When we asked, a PrivateVPN representative stated “there is no timeframe” for when this will be released.
Here’s more detail of our experience using PrivateVPN on every operating system:
Desktop & Laptop (Windows & Mac)
Exclusively on its desktop apps, PrivateVPN allows you to choose between a ‘simple view’ or an ‘advanced view’.
From the app’s advanced view, you can manually configure a range of settings. You can adjust the level of encryption used as well as turn on advanced features. This makes the advanced view great if you want to tailor the service to suit your preferences.
The simple view, on the other hand, is suitable if you’re a VPN novice who wants a quick and easy way to connect the VPN and change server location. But we do wish some of the simpler settings, like changing the VPN protocol, could be changed from this view.
PrivateVPN’s apps for Windows and macOS.
Sadly, unlike almost every other VPN app, PrivateVPN cannot automatically choose the fastest server based on your location. Instead, you’ll have to manually select one.
Choosing a server is easier on Windows as the app displays and color codes the server ping. Simply connect to the server with the lowest ping for the fastest speeds. On Mac, the server list is blank with no indication of the distance between you and it.
As you can see in the screenshot above, the server list window is needlessly large on both platforms. The same amount of information can be displayed on a window half the size, so we’d at least like this to be resizable.
We also don’t like how the server list opens in an entirely new window and obstructs the home screen of the app. Because of this, it took us a while to realize that you have to close the window to return to the main app. Almost every other VPN allows you to change servers from the home screen of the app.
Disappointingly, PrivateVPN is not usable from the menu bar on Mac and the taskbar on Windows. Other VPNs let you quickly change server location from here, but PrivateVPN doesn’t have this functionality.
Mobile (iPhone & Android)
PrivateVPN’s iOS and Android apps are basic but very easy to use. From the home screen, you can connect or disconnect from the VPN using the large on/off button.
Disappointingly, though, PrivateVPN hasn’t added any mobile-only features to make the app better to use. It doesn’t include a dark mode interface and there’s no integration with the Shortcuts app on iOS. Nor are there widgets available for iOS and Android.
PrivateVPN’s apps for Android and iOS.
As on desktop, the only significant difference between PrivateVPN’s mobile apps is the addition of server ping on the Android version.
Unlike the desktop apps, the mobile apps don’t have a ‘simple’ or ‘advanced’ view. To change the VPN’s settings, simply tap VPN Settings. We recommend turning on the kill switch from here as soon as you download the app as it’s not enabled by default.
In short, PrivateVPN’s mobile apps are the most basic we’ve seen from a leading VPN service. The VPN will continue to lag behind the competition unless it puts development time into integrating with the device it’s built for.
Linux App
Though possible, it’s extremely difficult to connect to a PrivateVPN server on Linux. The VPN doesn’t have either a CLI or GUI app for Linux.
To connect to PrivateVPN on Linux, you have to use OpenVPN certificate and key files.
It’s a lengthy, technical process which isn’t made any easier by PrivateVPN’s outdated 12-step walkthrough. Running Ubuntu 22.04 we found the majority of instructions referred to labels and options that have either been renamed or no longer exist. You also have to repeat these 12 steps if you want to have the option of more than just one server to connect to, too.
PrivateVPN’s app for Linux.
We also discovered that the Linux app leaks your IPv6 address, which you can read about elsewhere in this review.
We’d prefer it if PrivateVPN took the time to add full Linux support — even a CLI app like ExpressVPN’s is easier to use than this. Similarly priced VPNs, like Surfshark, offer fully-featured Linux apps that are as easy to use as the Windows and Mac versions.
Amazon Firestick & Fire TV
PrivateVPN features a simple and easy-to-use app for Amazon Fire TV Stick. Using it, we could quickly connect to a server to unblock 10 on our TV.
Changing the server location was simple, too. Although we would have liked the ability to search for a specific location rather than scrolling through the entire list of countries.
One drawback to the app’s interface is that it hasn’t been optimized for Fire TV. As it’s a scaled-up version of its Android app, which was originally designed for touch input, it’s difficult to work out which setting you’re controlling at any given time. The only indication is the button in focus gains a faint green-colored border.
PrivateVPN’s app for Amazon Fire TV.
To fix this, we’d like to see PrivateVPN develop a custom app for Fire TV. Other VPNs, like CyberGhost and Atlas VPN, include a customized app for Firesticks. These have been designed with larger screens in mind, making them much easier to use.
Bypassing Web Censorship
Does PrivateVPN Work in China?
9.6/10
How is this calculated?
We routinely test if the VPN can bypass strict internet restrictions in China using our remote-access server in Shanghai.
Other important factors we consider include obfuscation technologies and the availability of servers in neighboring countries (for faster connections).
Our latest tests found that PrivateVPN works in China. Using the VPN’s Stealth VPN protocol, we were able to beat the Great Firewall of China and unblock websites and services like Netflix, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
Ranked #2 out of 65 VPNs for Bypassing Web Censorship
PrivateVPN is one of the most reliable VPNs to use in China. We found it works around 82% of the time. Other top VPNs, like NordVPN and Surfshark, have a China uptime of just 5% and 18% respectively.
PrivateVPN works reliably in China.
Obfuscates Traffic Using the Shadowsocks Proxy
To bypass web censorship using PrivateVPN, you’ll have to enable Stealth VPN in the VPN app’s settings.
Despite being branded as a bespoke PrivateVPN protocol, Stealth VPN routes traffic through the open-source Shadowsocks proxy. Shadowsocks is not unique to PrivateVPN and is available from many other VPN services. It’s simply not as safe as custom VPN obfuscation tools.
In contrast to PrivateVPN, VPN services like Astrill have developed proprietary technology for bypassing censorship. These don’t rely on proxies and are a safer option if you regularly connect out from China.
EXPERT TIP: Make sure to download and install the app before entering China. PrivateVPN’s website is blocked by the Great Firewall, so you won’t be able to once inside the country.
Security & Technical Features
Is PrivateVPN Safe?
9.1/10
How is this calculated?
A secure VPN must offer OpenVPN or WireGuard protocols, AES-256 encryption, and a working kill switch.
To calculate this rating, we also factor in additional security settings and features.
PrivateVPN is secure, but it doesn’t have enough advanced features to match other top VPNs. The VPN doesn’t offer WireGuard, diskless servers, or multi-hop. That said, it does come with AES-256 encryption and a kill switch, so it’s secure enough for standard web activities.
Ranked #12 out of 65 VPNs for Security & Technical Features
Use the table below to see if PrivateVPN includes the VPN protocols, encryption ciphers, and technical features you want to use:
Protocols
Available in PrivateVPN
IKEv2/IPSec
Yes
OpenVPN (TCP/UDP)
Yes
WireGuard
No
Encryption
Available in PrivateVPN
AES-128
No
AES-192
No
AES-256
Yes
Blowfish
No
ChaCha20
No
Security
Available in PrivateVPN
Diskless Servers
No
DNS Leak Blocking
Yes
First-party DNS
Yes
IPv6 Leak Blocking
Yes
Supports TCP Port 443
Yes
VPN Kill Switch
Yes
WebRTC Leak Blocking
No
Advanced Features
Available in PrivateVPN
Ad Blocker
No
Dedicated IP
Yes
Double VPN
No
SOCKS
No
Split Tunneling
No
Static IP
No
Tor over VPN Server
No
Tracker Blocker
No
No Option to Connect Using WireGuard
PrivateVPN is the only product in our top 10 rated VPN services that doesn’t use WireGuard or a proprietary VPN protocol. WireGuard is a safe open-source protocol that’s capable of much faster speeds than alternatives.
Instead, PrivateVPN uses OpenVPN, which is a slower and older VPN protocol. Most other premium VPN services no longer use OpenVPN as their default, so we’d at least like PrivateVPN to add WireGuard as an option.
OpenVPN is the only secure protocol that PrivateVPN offers.
Strong Encryption Secures Web Traffic
You can rely on PrivateVPN to encrypt your data and keep your online activities private and anonymous.
The VPN’s website claims that the very strongest encryption methods are in use — including the AES-256 cipher and 2048-bit RSA handshake. To verify this claim, we analyzed the VPN connection logs. We discovered that PrivateVPN’s encryption and security are tough.
The VPN implements its encryption as follows:
OpenVPN connections are established via an RSA-2048 handshake.
Perfect Forward Secrecy via an ECDH key exchange.
Authentication is provided using an SHA-384 hash.
Traffic is securely encrypted using the AES-256 cipher.
In short, these protocols work together to ensure your data is kept safe, secure, and private.
PrivateVPN securely encrypts all network traffic.
Dedicated IP Servers Prevent Unauthorized Access
All of PrivateVPN’s apps come with a separate tab allowing you to connect to ‘Dedicated IP’ servers. Unlike most other VPNs, this feature doesn’t cost extra and is included with every subscription.
When you connect to one of the servers, your IP address will not be shared with any other user. As the IP address is exclusive to you, these servers are excellent for bypassing streaming geo-blocks. These IP addresses are still dynamic, too, so you will get a different IP when you reconnect.
PrivateVPN owns all of these servers, with none rented from third parties. This makes these servers excellent for privacy and security, as it removes any additional intermediaries that are responsible for your data.
PrivateVPN’s dedicated IP servers are more secure than its other servers.
PrivateVPN’s dedicated IP servers are one of the VPN’s main strong points — allowing tighter security and more reliable streaming. However, the VPN does not promote these servers anywhere, nor does it provide guides to educate users about their use. We’d like to see it focus on these more in the future.
Kill Switch Prevents IP Leaks
PrivateVPN has a kill switch for Windows and macOS. It’s not enabled by default, though, so make sure to have it turned on within the ‘Connection Guard’ tab of the settings menu.
To test the effectiveness of PrivateVPN’s kill switch, we performed several tests using our kill switch testing tool. This checks for IP address leaks while we manually disconnect the VPN.
When our connection dropped, PrivateVPN’s kill switch worked flawlessly and our true IP address did not leak.
However, we did discover that PrivateVPN’s app leaked our IP address when changing servers. Worryingly, the VPN app does not show an error message to warn you this will happen.
After we recently disclosed this vulnerability to PrivateVPN, a representative stated that a “dedicated developer has been assigned to address this leak as soon as possible”. Although it’s still faulty at the time of writing, we’re pleased PrivateVPN has shown an urgent willingness to fix it.
PrivateVPN’s kill switch doesn’t work correctly when you connect to a new server location.
Leaks IPv6 Addresses on Linux
Our research found that PrivateVPN leaks IPv6 addresses on Linux. Although its standard VPN apps come with IPv6 leak protection, this is absent from the Linux software.
This is a serious privacy issue that should be fixed as soon as possible. In the meantime, you’ll have to disable IPv6 from the Linux system settings.
Running on Ubuntu, PrivateVPN leaked our IPv6 address.
Technical Features We’d Like to See
PrivateVPN lacks many technical features we expect from a paid-for VPN service. Here are some features that PrivateVPN should add in a future update:
Diskless VPN servers to ensure that activity logs can’t be stored on a VPN server.
Split tunneling to exclude some apps, like smart home controls, from the VPN tunnel.
Multi-hop servers for extra anonymity and protection against traffic correlation attacks.
Tracker blocker to prevent cross-site tracking and increase web privacy.
Other leading VPNs, like NordVPN and Surfshark, include all the features we’ve listed above. To match them, PrivateVPN needs to add these features to its apps as soon as possible.
Customer Support
Unreliable Customer Support
8.3/10
How is this calculated?
This rating is based on our assessment of the VPN’s:
Live chat support
Email support
Online resources
Not every VPN offers all these support options, and they often vary in quality and response times.
PrivateVPN's customer support compares poorly to other top VPNs. Although its email support staff are generally well-informed, PrivateVPN's live chat team is not always available and its online guides are limited.
Ranked #19 out of 65 VPNs for Customer Support
You can get help from PrivateVPN in the following ways:
Customer Support
Available in PrivateVPN
24/7 Email Support
Yes
24/7 Live Chat Support
No
Chatbot
No
Email Support via Online Form
Yes
Live Chat Support
Yes
Online Resources
Yes
Tutorial Videos
No
Despite being operational 24/7, its live chat is not always available. After reaching out to the company for an explanation, we were told that there are very few customer support agents, so the live chat system is shut down temporarily if there is a large queue.
This is extremely poor for a top VPN service. 24/7 customer support is now an expectation for paid-for VPNs and, if not, then live chat is always available during set times of the day.
In addition, some PrivateVPN support agents are more helpful than others. Some agents are very knowledgeable, prompt to respond, and courteous. But others are very ill-informed, misunderstand queries, and are slow to reply.
PrivateVPN’s live chat is not available 24/7.
If live chat is unavailable, your question will be forwarded to PrivateVPN’s email support. This email support runs 24/7 and, in our testing, we frequently received a reply within an hour.
The email support team is generally more knowledgeable than the live chat staff, so make sure to contact them if you have a more advanced query.
The Bottom Line
Is PrivateVPN Worth It?
For its low price, PrivateVPN provides great value. It comes with intuitive apps for beginners, strong security and encryption, as well as a superb dedicated IP feature.
PrivateVPN is particularly well suited for streamers who want a quick and easy way to bypass geo-blocks. The VPN accesses US Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer. However, we do wish PrivateVPN offered a Smart DNS feature, as you can’t use it to stream content on devices like Apple TV or games consoles.
That said, we recorded unreliable speeds when testing PrivateVPN. The VPN’s tiny server network and lack of information about server load mean that servers are often overcrowded, so you may sometimes experience buffering and lag while connected to the VPN.
Overall, we strongly recommend using PrivateVPN if you can’t afford one of the very best VPN services. Its basic but functional performance will satisfy most users, especially for simple tasks like connecting to public WiFi networks.
However, if you want a more fully-featured VPN with the fastest speeds, Smart DNS, browser extensions, 24/7 live chat, and numerous server locations — you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Alternatives to PrivateVPN
If you’re willing to pay upfront for a long-term subscription, you can get a better VPN than PrivateVPN for a similar fee.
NordVPN includes almost every technical feature that PrivateVPN lacks. For $3.29 per month, you’ll get access to an excellent DNS-based ad and tracker blocker, multi-hop servers, and fast global speeds using WireGuard.
If you want to access even more streaming sites than PrivateVPN can manage, then Windscribe is the best alternative. Windscribe unblocks 32 Netflix libraries, compared to 10 with PrivateVPN. It also streams less popular sites, like TOD and RTBF Auvio.
Compare PrivateVPN with its alternatives in more detail in the table below:
FAQ
Is PrivateVPN Free to Use?
PrivateVPN cannot be used for free anymore. The VPN used to offer a seven-day free trial, but it’s recently been removed. To use it for free, you’ll have to pay for a subscription and get a refund within 30 days using its money-back guarantee.
Is PrivateVPN Trustworthy?
PrivateVPN is one of the most trustworthy VPN services. It uses strong AES encryption, open-source VPN protocols, and it doesn’t log any user data.
Who Owns PrivateVPN?
Since 2022, PrivateVPN has been owned by Miss Group. This is a Swedish web hosting company that owns other similar companies, including web security and VPS tools.
History of Major Updates to PrivateVPN
20 April 2023: PrivateVPN removes its Russia servers.
30 July 2022: PrivateVPN stops offering its seven-day free trial.
17 June 2022: Miss Group, a Swedish web hosting company, acquires PrivateVPN. The company has made no major changes to PrivateVPN.
14 June 2021: PrivateVPN reduces its free trial down to five days.
4 January 2021: PrivateVPN removes all Netflix dedicated servers and claims all servers work with Netflix.
3 November 2020: PrivateVPN reintroduces its 7-day free trial.
