Personal Web Entry VPN evaluation: Low-price, high-value VPN for all

At a Look

Knowledgeable’s Score

Execs

A number of independently verified no-log audits
Limitless simultaneous gadget connections
Huge server community
Nice additional options corresponding to multi-hop and cut up tunneling

Cons

App is a bit awkward to make use of
Speeds are pretty pedestrian

Our Verdict

Personal Web Entry continues to be one of many high VPN companies available on the market. It’s reasonably priced, provides loads of servers, limitless simultaneous gadget connections, and now has very robust privateness credentials as a consequence of a number of unbiased audits. It won’t win any pace races, however the common person isn’t prone to discover in most conditions.

Finest Costs At present: Personal Web Entry

Personal Web Entry

$11.95

Personal Web Entry (PIA) has seemingly been round for the reason that creation of third-party VPNs. Since that point, it’s been a favourite VPN service for a lot of customers due to its glorious pricing and good privateness ensures. Just lately the service has made some really promising enhancements by lifting the gadget connection restrict and present process a third-party audit. So, with these new updates how does it stack up in opposition to the opposite titans of the VPN market? Let’s dive in and take a look.

Personal Web Entry briefly:

P2P allowed: Sure
Simultaneous gadget connections: Limitless
Enterprise location: U.S.
Variety of servers: 10,000+
Variety of nation places: 90
Price: $11.95 monthly, or $79 + 4 free months for a 3 yr subscription

Additional studying: See our roundup of the greatest VPN companies to study competing merchandise.

What are Personal Web Entry’s options and companies?

Sam Singleton

Upon first opening PIA you’ll discover that it has maintained the identical user-interface design for the reason that firm overhauled its Home windows app in 2019. You’re offered with a easy panel within the lower-right nook of your display screen. By default this panel is anchored to that location except you unlock it within the settings menu. It’s an fascinating design determination and one which I’m not actually a giant fan of. It feels a bit constrained, however then once more possibly I’m simply used to each different VPN having a free window by default.

The Home windows app itself is fairly easy. There’s a giant on/off button on the high and beneath that’s the VPN server location — clicking it takes you to a unique display screen the place you’re in a position to view and select a unique nation or server location. For nations with a number of location choices you’re in a position to click on a drop-down menu to show the entire out there server places inside that nation. And boy are there rather a lot to select from. PIA provides servers throughout 90 nations and, whereas not formally confirmed, it’s believed to have over 10,000 servers.

Sam Singleton

Subsequent to every nation location is its latency displayed in milliseconds and there’s a coronary heart icon which lets you designate a server as certainly one of your favorites. It additionally conveniently denotes which servers are digital servers with an icon that states “This can be a geo-located area” subsequent to the identify.

A digital server will not be situated inside the nation itself, however reasonably assigns an IP tackle of the nation location as a substitute. The transparency right here ought to be recommended as not many different VPN suppliers willingly label which of their servers are digital or bodily.

Total the server listing format impact is sweet and easy to observe. PIA lets you kind its server listing both by latency or location identify, as effectively. This makes it a lot simpler for people who find themselves solely fascinated about pace to seek out the optimum connection or likewise by identify to seek out their desired location.

As soon as related, the app shows your precise IP tackle and the VPN tackle you’re utilizing. This fundamental data is all you may see within the compact view, however should you click on the downward-facing arrow on the backside you may see a ton of additional particulars as effectively.

PIA’s publication of transparency reviews and up-front nature relating to person privateness and safety ought to be recommended.

This contains quick-connect choices with places corresponding to France, Germany, the U.S., and the UK. There are additionally tiles for bandwidth utilization, a efficiency graph, information encryption and handshake settings getting used, and fundamental settings management. Should you want to see any of this data on the compact view as a substitute you’re in a position to click on the bookmark icon on any tile to show it. You’ll be able to add or take away any of those choices as you see match.

Whereas I respect the additional connection-details menu, when increasing the drop-down menu it shot previous the underside of my display screen making it awkward to view the entire information or reshrink the menu. It’s a small gripe, I do know, however an (overdue) interface replace may simply treatment these clunky navigational points.

Sam Singleton

Personal Web Entry comes with a plethora of nice options corresponding to cut up tunneling, multi-hop, and a kill swap. It even lets you designate an app-based kill swap, which is able to block site visitors solely on particular apps ought to the VPN connection break.

It’s value speaking a bit bit about PIA’s split-tunneling function. Cut up tunneling lets you decide and select which apps you want to run by means of a VPN, permitting you to optimize bandwidth for low-risk actions corresponding to streaming or gaming. And PIA has one of the vital dynamic split-tunneling options I’ve ever seen. Energy customers can go to city tweaking issues corresponding to which apps, IP addresses, and DNS requests are allowed to bypass the VPN.

Moreover, taking after different VPN suppliers corresponding to NordVPN and Surfshark, PIA has added a useful safety additional within the type of an ad- and tracker-blocker it calls MACE, and data-breach monitoring with its Id Guard function. That is one thing that’s changing into extra frequent as a way to entice customers with a whole on-line safety suite reasonably than only a VPN service. You’ll be able to even opt-in to an antivirus software from PIA for an extra price if you enroll should you so select.

The comfort of this all-in-one strategy is engaging, however typically talking, a standalone antivirus software program, like our favourite antivirus suites, will give you extra complete protection and total safety.

PIA is on the market for all main platforms together with Home windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Chrome browser, and a few gaming units and sensible TVs.

How a lot does Personal Web Entry VPN value?

Personal Web Entry has lengthy been one of the vital reasonably priced premium VPN companies available on the market. That also stays that case; nonetheless, different opponents are beginning to provide comparable charges — another companies may even be discovered cheaper, however often with much less options.

PIA provides three plans together with a month-to-month plan, 1-year plan, and 3-year plan. The month-to-month fee is $11.95, which is above the business common, however truly cheaper than different companies with the identical function set.

The 1-year plan will set you again $39.96, or $3.33 monthly. Should you go for the 3-year plan PIA throws in an additional 4 months at no cost and it’ll value a complete of $79, or $1.98 monthly.

A novel and economical pricing function of PIA’s long-term plans is that they don’t improve in worth after the renewal interval. So should you go for the 1-year plan, after the primary yr you’ll nonetheless solely be charged $39.96 for any subsequent years.

Most VPN suppliers will give you an attractive long-term plan deal initially after which after the renewal interval, your worth will skyrocket as much as a a lot much less reasonably priced quantity for so long as you proceed subscribing.

Whenever you join PIA, it solely asks on your electronic mail tackle. It accepts a superb vary of cost choices together with bank card, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and cryptocurrencies corresponding to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin — there’s additionally an choice to make use of Bitpay as a substitute of direct pockets transfers.

How is Personal Web Entry’s efficiency?

In my testing I measured connection speeds throughout PIA’s servers in six totally different nations all around the globe after which in contrast them to my baseline web pace. PIA’s speeds had been alright, however they weren’t sufficient to make our high 5 quickest VPNs. Throughout all places examined, the speeds averaged 49 p.c of the bottom obtain pace and a extra respectable 77 p.c of the bottom add pace.

In fact, as one would count on, I famous that places nearer to my bodily location had higher pace averages, whereas server places additional away had been slower. Additionally, curiously, I discovered that my connections whereas utilizing the OpenVPN protocol had been truly quicker than these with WireGuard.

WireGuard is taken into account to be the quicker of the 2 protocols, as OpenVPN is optimized for safety over pace. So to seek out that my connection speeds had been truly quicker whereas utilizing OpenVPN was a little bit of a head-scratcher. Nonetheless, as a result of the variations solely averaged a couple of share factors, both protocol will do speed-wise.

For a high VPN, I’ve to confess that these total connection pace averages are a bit disappointing. NordVPN, certainly one of PIA’s high opponents, has common speeds of over 72 p.c of the bottom obtain pace — a full 23 p.c quicker. Customers who demand ultra-fast connections whereas gaming or downloading massive information might wish to contemplate their choices. For what it’s value, I used to be in a position to play on-line FPS video games whereas related to a PIA server and had no noticeable hiccups or connection points although.

On the finish of the day, PIA’s speeds aren’t horrible and they need to be loads quick sufficient to mean you can stream or browse to your coronary heart’s content material with out noticeable lag — relying by yourself dwelling web connection in fact.

As for streaming, Personal Web Entry labored completely nice with the entire main streaming companies corresponding to Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. I didn’t come throughout any servers that had been blocked and geo-restriction entry was by no means a difficulty irrespective of which nation’s server I used to be related to.

How is Personal Web Entry’s safety and privateness?

Personal Web Entry

PIA has been owned and operated by Kape Applied sciences, a UK-based firm previously generally known as Crossrider, since 2019. There have been some questions prior to now in regards to the considerably doubtful practices surrounding Crossrider. Its improvement platform for browser extensions was utilized by unbiased builders to ship malicious adware and malware to customers. Realizing this and going through backlash, Crossrider closed the platform in 2016 and rebranded itself as Kape Applied sciences.

Since this reset, and subsequent management reorganization, Kape Applied sciences has pivoted to develop into a serious supplier of digital safety software program. It has gone on a run lately of buying possession of a few of the largest VPNs available on the market as we speak together with PIA, ExpressVPN, ZenMate VPN, and CyberGhost VPN, in addition to Mac antivirus agency Intego.

To its credit score, PIA has taken it upon itself to ease the minds of privacy-focused customers with common transparency reviews. Moreover, in 2022 and most just lately in 2024 it underwent unbiased safety audits by Deloitte to evaluation its “no-logs” coverage. In each cases Deloitte confirmed that PIA shops no logs and no particulars that may very well be used to establish customers or their actions.

Privateness is the primary pillar of a superb VPN service and these unbiased audits mixed with PIA’s continued willingness to attempt for transparency has finished rather a lot to rectify any issues over its mum or dad firm’s previous.

PIA makes use of the business customary AES-256 encryption and each the Home windows and Android apps help WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols. There’s additionally built-in safety in opposition to DNS leaks, which I verified by utilizing a DNS Leak take a look at software. I discovered that my actual location data was by no means leaked whereas related to PIA’s servers.

PIA additionally makes use of diskless RAM-only servers, which boot on a read-only picture and use RAM modules as a substitute of laborious disks. By not storing information on laborious disks, RAM-only servers are extra immune to tampering by each hackers and bodily breaches. Information on RAM-only servers can be wiped with every server restart, that means that any collected person information is often by no means saved for very lengthy. Whereas RAM-only servers have develop into extra commonplace amongst VPN suppliers just lately, PIA was effectively forward of the sport by putting in them years in the past.

Is Personal Web Entry value it?

Personal Web Entry has been at this sport for a very long time and it exhibits. The reasonably priced VPN is effectively polished with a pleasant — if barely outdated — interface, loads of servers to select from, and tons of tweakable options. The service’s continued publication of transparency reviews and up-front nature relating to person privateness and safety also needs to be recommended.

It’s true that the speeds won’t be the quickest, and its mum or dad firm has had its justifiable share of doubtful points. However that’s all seemingly prior to now, and PIA has finished its greatest to indicate that it’s faraway from all of that anyhow. Whereas there could also be different companies that do one single factor higher, PIA stands aside as a jack-of-all-trades that does every part effectively. It continues to be a top-tier VPN that, like a nice wine, is barely getting higher with age.

Editor’s be aware: As a result of on-line companies are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this evaluation is topic to alter to be able to precisely mirror the present state of the service. Any modifications to textual content or our closing evaluation verdict will likely be famous on the high of this text.