NordVPN vs Private Internet Access

PIA’s privacy policy clearly states that it logs no data about your connection, whereas NordVPN collects your username and connection timestamp for 15 minutes after a session ends.

Both of these policies are acceptable on paper, PIA’s more so, but real-life court cases and server seizures paint an even clearer picture.

The difference couldn’t be starker: NordVPN disclosed a user’s payment information to Panamanian investigators, whereas PIA had nothing to hand over to US officials.

While NordVPN’s disclosure isn’t enough on its own to identify you, PIA is obviously the better choice for remaining anonymous.

We can’t fault either VPN’s commitment to user privacy. Both VPN services use diskless, RAM-only servers which automatically wipe your activity data following a reset.

In plain English, it’s impossible for your online activity to be extracted by a third-party, or the VPNs themselves.

You can also sign up to PIA or NordVPN with an anonymous payment method, like Bitcoin, to minimise how much personal data you share.

Both VPNs also release regular transparency reports, which is yet another indicator of their dedication to online privacy.

Ignoring one or two exceptions, NordVPN works with almost every streaming service in the world whereas PIA struggles outside the US.

This difference was stark in Netflix testing where NordVPN unblocked 11 more Netflix libraries than PIA.

Here’s how the VPNs compared in our Netflix testing:

As shown above, India is the only popular Netflix region that NordVPN can’t access, while PIA can. This becomes a bit of a trend with Indian content platforms, as NordVPN constantly struggles to bypass geo-restrictions on JioHotstar whereas PIA is one of our best performers.

Outside of this outlier, PIA is still the inferior option: it fails to unblock foreign-language essentials like RaiPlay and European versions of DAZN.

Our user experience is much better with NordVPN, too. PIA requires you to manually select streaming-optimized servers that don’t always work and are restricted to handful of location.

In contrast, NordVPN’s SmartPlay feature automatically works across all server locations to find you the best IP address for your chosen streaming platform.

In the US, the playing field is more level with both VPNs unblocking every major streaming service we test.

Both VPNs worked almost always first-time, and PIA’s coverage of all 50 states meant we were even able to bypass regional blackouts.

For UK-based streaming platforms, NordVPN works with absolutely everything. This is a given considering it’s our number one choice for the UK, whereas PIA was a bit more hit-and-miss.

You can use PIA to stream BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and UK Netflix, but it fails to bypass geo-restrictions on Sky Go and Disney+.

You can use NordVPN to connect to 36 more countries than PIA.

This means you’ll have access to a wider array of geo-restricted content with NordVPN.

Here’s the number of countries covered in each continent:

Some review sites may point out that while PIA offers fewer locations, it operates more servers.

Given one of the main use cases of a VPN is to spoof your online location, we place a greater value on the variety of IP addresses offered, rather than the quantity.

It’s also worth mentioning that, despite operating fewer servers than PIA, NordVPN still has more than enough to avoid any server congestion issues.

NordVPN provides city-level choice in more countries than PIA, including popular locations like Italy and France.

Although if we look closer, PIA offers its own upside: you can use the VPN to obtain an IP address from 50 US cities compared to 21 with NordVPN.

The main benefit of this is that you can connect to a server close to you, for the fastest possible internet speeds. It also allows you to access localized content, like news broadcasts or sports blackouts.