PrivateVPN Review 2024: Cheap, Safe, & Great for Streaming!

Speed — Servers Fast Enough for All High-Bandwidth Activities

Quite impressively, PrivateVPN’s speeds remained fast even when I connected to servers on the other side of the world. Faraway servers usually make it difficult to live-stream or watch UHD movies without lags as your data has to be encrypted and travel farther. But PrivateVPN proved to be really fast for such a small provider.

Speed Test Results

I tested PrivateVPN’s servers in other parts of the world using my MacBook Pro from Malaysia, where I’m based. I used OpenVPN (UDP) protocol with AES-128-GCM encryption, which is also the VPN’s default selection. I first checked my baseline download speed (without VPN connection) and it averaged 115Mbps.

When I connected to a local PrivateVPN server, my speeds didn’t vary much — in fact, it still averaged around 115Mbps. I then tried the servers in Japan, Australia, Germany, the US, and the UK.

Since the US servers were the farthest from me at 9,000 miles, I expected them to be the slowest. Surprisingly, they consistently stayed above 50Mbps. Although there was about a 50% drop, it was still fast enough for high-bandwidth activities like video calling and torrenting.

As it turns out, the European servers (just under 7,000 miles from me) were the slowest. Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, and Madrid servers reduced my speeds to as low as 8Mbps at times, making it difficult to even load some websites. This may have been because it was peak hours in Europe so the servers could have been crowded and therefore sluggish.

For comparison, I also tested PrivateVPN’s dedicated IP servers in Japan, Australia, the US, and UK but the results weren’t much different from the regular servers. Finally, I compared the performance with AES-256-GCM encryption. There was a 13% drop from when I used 128-bit encryption, but still fast enough for streaming and torrenting.

Gaming Speed — Local Servers Offer Low Ping and Fast Speeds

For gaming, I would only recommend PrivateVPN if you intend to use its local or nearby servers. This is because distant servers skyrocketed my ping rate above 100ms, which is not great for fast-paced online games. Servers in my own city however, kept it within 50ms and I didn’t face any significant lag.

Ping is the amount of time it takes for a command on your controller to reach the server and translate in the game. The longer it takes, the more the game lags, and the less advantage you have. With PrivateVPN’s local servers, I could play Call of Duty: Warzone without lags. I also won a few missions in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

To put these findings into perspective, consider that I averaged over 100Mbps in speeds and ping of 30ms with OpenVPN, which is one of the slowest performing VPN protocols. With some VPNs, even the more lightweight WireGuard protocol didn’t perform as well as PrivateVPN. This is a testament to PrivateVPN’s solid network infrastructure.

PrivateVPN’s network includes 200+ servers in 63 countries — far smaller than most top-grade VPNs with at least 3,000 servers in 100 countries. Most servers are in Europe and North America, while coverage is weak throughout Africa and Asia. Plus, it doesn’t have a wide range of specialty servers. But they support all online activities, like streaming and gaming.

Server Network — Smaller Than Most Top VPNs but Versatile

With a much smaller network than some of the top VPN providers, I was afraid that PrivateVPN’s servers would be congested. Overcrowding slows speeds down, as multiple users are forced to share increasingly limited bandwidth. To my surprise, I only experienced speed drops a handful of times — while connected to PrivateVPN’s servers in Europe.

When you select the server options, you’ll see tabs for “All Servers” and “Dedicated IP”. PrivateVPN doesn’t have any fancy specialized servers, but the ones it provides are good.

The dedicated IP servers are available in 15 countries including the US, UK, and Australia. Besides Japan and India, you don’t have other options if you need dedicated IP servers in Asia. There’s also 1 in Brazil, while the rest are in Europe.

Dedicated IPs allow you to connect with an IP address that no one else is using, making it harder for streaming sites to identify they’re from a VPN.

PrivateVPN has a combination of physical and virtual servers. Physical servers are, not surprisingly, physically located in the countries where the IP addresses are from. Virtual servers are located elsewhere. You can’t see which type of server you’re connecting to from the apps, but PrivateVPN has a web page that lists the following as virtual servers:

These servers will still give you an IP address from the respective countries and they’re no slower than the average physical server. But they’re important in some countries like India, where the government requires VPN companies to store data. Virtual servers make it possible for PrivateVPN to provide private IP addresses for countries with invasive privacy laws.

I also asked PrivateVPN if it rents or owns its network to determine how much control it has over its performance and privacy. According to the support agent, PrivateVPN owns and has 100% control over its servers in:

Tor Support

I had no problems browsing Onion sites on the Tor browser with PrivateVPN. While Tor already uses encryption to hide data, adding VPN protection makes you safer from Dark Web threats. Just connect to a server, open the Tor browser, and navigate to your chosen URL.

Although the Onion network is already slow due to its encryption and small, volunteer-run infrastructure, I didn’t notice further slowdowns while connected to PrivateVPN.

Despite its good performance with Tor, I can’t help but compare it with other VPNs with more convenient features for Tor use. NordVPN for example, has “Onion over VPN” servers that let you access Onion sites using typical web browsers.

Torrenting — No Restrictions Against P2P File Sharing

All PrivateVPN’s servers support torrenting on P2P clients, like BitTorrent. There’s even a guide to downloading torrents on PrivateVPN’s website, with useful tips to increase your speed and security.

I used the dedicated IP server in Japan to download a 2GB file and was impressed that it only took 10 minutes with 30-40 peers seeding. This was partly because I used the port forwarding feature that’s available with all PrivateVPN dedicated IP servers. It allowed me to connect to more peers and download faster. Just remember that you’ll have to use OpenVPN to enable it.

That said, I wouldn’t torrent on PrivateVPN’s servers in countries with bad privacy laws (like the US). Instead, connect to privacy-friendly countries like Sweden (recommended by PrivateVPN), Switzerland, Romania, or Poland for additional peace of mind that your data will stay private.

Dedicated IP servers in these locations are ideal, since they’re harder for third parties to track. Since all dedicated IP servers have ports open by default, they’re pre-optimized for fast torrent downloads. Just remember not to use VPNs to violate copyright with torrent sites. Even if you own the file, it isn’t necessarily legal to share it.

I did find a concerning clause in PrivateVPN’s privacy policy stating it will share your data with authorities if given a court order. However, its no-log policy means that none of your torrenting activities are ever recorded, so there shouldn’t be anything to share.

China — One of the Best VPNs Against the Great Firewall

There are only a handful of VPNs that work reliably in China and PrivateVPN is one of them. Its “Stealth VPN” is unique since you can turn it on when you’re in China or using a restrictive network. Otherwise, you can switch it off, since PrivateVPN warns it slows down connections.

“Stealth VPN” is PrivateVPN’s obfuscation feature designed to get past firewalls that block VPN traffic. As a result, it always works regardless of your network.

Since PrivateVPN says that it may slow down your connection speed, I put it to the test and it indeed reduced my speeds by 38% compared to when I didn’t activate it. This is one of the reasons I like that it’s optional and not turned on by default — unless you really need it, you don’t have to switch it on and you’ll have better speeds.

Additionally, PrivateVPN has servers in countries near China, such as Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.

Stealth VPN uses an encrypted Shadowsocks proxy, but it isn’t the most dependable form of obfuscation because Shadowsocks can be easily blocked. That’s why I still prefer ExpressVPN, which uses a proprietary obfuscation technology to access the open web in China reliably and anonymously. Plus, it’s faster than using Stealth VPN.

It’s best to download PrivateVPN before arriving in China, as the website is blocked in the country. However, PrivateVPN’s support agent mentioned that they can upload the installer on Mediafire that is accessible in China. All you have to do is provide them the devices you need the apps for.

Also, check the local regulations before you go, as I don’t condone breaking the law. While the Chinese government isn’t known to go after VPN users, VPNs not approved by the government are illegal in China.

Security Features — 9.0 / 10

PrivateVPN provides the essential features and a few extras that even top VPNs don’t provide, but it lacks a few others. Overall, this is a secure VPN that will keep you safe even if you use unsecure public WiFi for sensitive communications and financial transactions.

Encryption — Customizable for Your Online Activities

Most top VPNs don’t provide encryption options but with PrivateVPN, you can choose between AES 128-bit and 256-bit encryption depending on your needs. Both are secure and have never been cracked, although AES 256-bit is stronger.

However, it slows down your connection, which is why I recommend AES 128-bit for activities like streaming and gaming that don’t require utmost privacy.

Within these standards, PrivateVPN also allows you to choose between Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) and Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) modes for securing data. In short, GCM is more secure as it authenticates and encrypts data. While CBC doesn’t authenticate data, it provides better speeds than GCM.

VPN Protocols — Offers Multiple Options, but Doesn’t Include WireGuard

PrivateVPN defaults to OpenVPN with UDP protocol — it’s known for security and broad compatibility. Other protocols it includes are:

• OpenVPN over TCP — more reliable than OpenVPN UDP and works with more websites, so try switching to this if a website doesn’t load with OpenVPN UDP.
• L2TP/IPsec — usually combined because L2TP doesn’t offer strong encryption on its own. It has better security than PPTP (an older protocol) but slower speeds than OpenVPN. This is a popular protocol for iOS devices due to its compatibility.
• PPTP — an older, mostly obsolete protocol that’s still useful if you want to connect on an outdated operating system or mobile device. It’s fast but has lackluster security, so it’s good for low-risk activities that demand high speeds (like streaming).
• IKEv2 — popular on iOS and Android mobile devices, as it’s designed to maintain your VPN connection as the device switches between cellular and WiFi data.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t include the more modern WireGuard protocol in any of its apps. It’s one of the most secure options with far better speeds than OpenVPN. However, you can download WireGuard manually and configure it to PrivateVPN. There’s an 11-step guide on its support site that’s quite detailed and when followed closely, takes about 20 minutes to set up.

I tried this and my baseline speeds increased by 5% compared to OpenVPN. But if you’re keen to have WireGuard as an option, then there are plenty of VPNs that offer it without needing a manual setup.

Kill Switch — Available on All Apps

If you experience an unexpected server crash, power outage, or accidental server disconnection, your IP address and location can be revealed in a split second. PrivateVPN’s kill switch worked perfectly, activating when my PC went to sleep so that my data would never be revealed when the VPN wasn’t connected.

There’s also an “Application Guard” feature in the Windows app, which allows you to apply the kill switch to specific apps. This is helpful if you don’t want to use certain apps without VPN encryption — it automatically closes the program or app when there’s an interruption.

Leak Protection — Works Reliably to Maintain Encryption at All Times

Even with powerful encryption, data leaks can still occur. Smaller VPNs sometimes don’t protect well against these types of leaks because they tend to have fewer resources. However, PrivateVPN successfully protected my data when I tested it for common leak types as follows:

• IP leak — when your real IP address is exposed despite using a VPN, often due to VPN software failures or disconnects.
• IPv6 leak — occurs when a VPN doesn’t support IPv6 (the latest IP version) and your device sends IPv6 traffic outside the VPN tunnel. This exposes your IPv6 address and browsing activities, potentially compromising your online privacy.
• DNS leak — happens when your device’s DNS requests are sent outside the VPN tunnel, revealing your actual IP address and browsing history. This can happen due to improper VPN configuration or network settings.

Unfortunately, PrivateVPN doesn’t provide WebRTC leak protection. WebRTC or Web Real-Time Communication leaks expose your real IP address in browsers that support real-time communication like video chat. However, PrivateVPN has a guide on its support site detailing how to fix the issue on Firefox and Chrome — the 2 susceptible browsers.

Split Tunneling — No Way to Exclude Apps and Sites From Encryption

This is another feature that most VPNs offer, but PrivateVPN lacks. Split tunneling allows you to exempt certain apps from the VPN connection. Without it, I couldn’t use PrivateVPN to secure my banking app traffic, while also excluding non-sensitive web traffic from encryption. This was frustrating since I had to connect and disconnect from the VPN for different tasks.

It’s a minor annoyance if you don’t always need local and foreign connections simultaneously to work or play. But I hope it’s a feature that PrivateVPN will introduce soon, since most other VPNs support split tunneling. In the meantime, CyberGhost has a great split-tunneling feature for Windows and Android devices you can try.

No Ad and Malware Blocker — Third-Party Software Required for These

PrivateVPN has many useful security features, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have built-in malware and ad-blocking. This really didn’t pose a huge concern for me since there are many free third-party ad blocker extensions that work better than most VPNs’ ad blockers.

Privacy Features — 7.0 / 10

Aside from a strict no-log policy that seems to have been upheld over the years, PrivateVPN isn’t a VPN that ranks high on privacy.

No-Logs Policy — A Strict No-Log Policy That’s Never Been Audited

PrivateVPN doesn’t log any personally identifiable data, such as who you are, the sites you visit, and when or how long you connect for.

Note however, that all VPNs collect some information like email address and payment information to provide VPN service to subscribers and process refunds, if required.

Company Jurisdiction — Based in Semi-Privacy-Friendly Sweden

PrivateVPN’s parent company used to be Privat Kommunikation Sverige AB, based in Sollentuna, Sweden. In 2022, PrivateVPN was acquired by Miss Group, also based in Sweden. Sweden exempts VPNs from data collection laws, which makes it more VPN-friendly than most Western countries.

However, it’s still part of the 14 Eyes Alliance — a pact to collect and share data on internet users between Sweden and other governments. The good news is that zero-log VPNs like PrivateVPN keep your data safe from intrusive international agreements.

Independent Audits — No Third-Party Audits

Unfortunately, PrivateVPN’s no-log policy hasn’t been audited. Independent audits by cybersecurity firms demonstrate whether a VPN’s security practices, data management, and server infrastructure keep your data private and safe.

When I reached out to the support team about this, their response was, “there is nothing to audit since we do not store logs”. I also asked if its network is RAM-based as these types of servers are incapable of storing data after a reboot. The answer was “no” and I wasn’t given any clear explanation on how PrivateVPN enforces its no-log policy.

Although there hasn’t been any reports of PrivateVPN sharing user data, it’s unsettling when you have no choice but to take the VPN’s word for it.

PrivateVPN provides 24/7 live chat support and responds extremely fast even via email — the quality depends on the support agent you get.

While you can reach out to PrivateVPN through its social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook, you’ll rarely get the answers you need this way — it uses these primarily to promote its blog posts. I sent a few Twitter DMs with support questions, but never heard back.

24/7 Live Chat — Provides Fast and Helpful Answers to Simple Questions

In the past, I was able to speak to a PrivateVPN support agent directly via live chat. But now, there’s a bot that filters your queries before an agent comes on. However, this only took a minute and I usually talked to someone within 2 minutes. Note that PrivateVPN only provides support in English, but Google Translate works fairly well if you need to use it.

Several PrivateVPN reviews claim that its live chat is manned by its developers — this may still be true — but my experience didn’t reflect this. Don’t be surprised if you keep getting the same agent repeatedly, even if you reach out on different days. My guess is that the support team consists of no more than a handful of people.

During my research, I only ever spoke to 2 different people over live chat. One was good, friendly, and eager to help, while the other, not so much. I asked simple questions about PrivateVPN’s free trial, no-log policy, and servers and received a timely response, although one of the agents couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer regarding the VPN’s no-log policy.

To manage its live chat feature, PrivateVPN uses a third-party software called Intercom. Intercom can’t see your conversation and the support representatives are PrivateVPN employees. Since you only speak with PrivateVPN staff and your conversations are saved for its own reference, you’re protected by its no-log policy.

Email Support — Get a Response at Record-Time

I reserved the more technical questions for email, hoping that a developer would address them. Unfortunately, the agent who responded was the same person who provided lackluster responses via live chat. But they responded within 2 minutes, which is the fastest I’ve heard back from a VPN’s support team over email.

Of the 5 questions I asked, they only answered 1 — regarding PrivateVPN’s effectiveness in China. They said that they can’t guarantee PrivateVPN will work in China due to the firewall, without providing any other details. Luckily, we have an on-ground team in China to test VPNs, who confirmed that PrivateVPN works in the country with Stealth VPN turned on.

Not satisfied, I replied, requesting answers for the remaining questions. A different person replied this time — someone I believe is one of the developers. This agent explained the technical bits in detail, seemed very knowledgeable, and was very polite. The right agent convinced me that PrivateVPN has one of the most knowledgeable VPN support teams.

Online Resources and FAQs — Brief Online FAQ and Setup Guide

While PrivateVPN has an online FAQ, I could only find answers to basic questions. There are also setup guides for different devices, including Linux and routers, but no extensive knowledge base like some other providers (such as ExpressVPN) have.

Remote Assistance — A Unique and Helpful Support Bonus

Remote assistance is a unique way to get help from PrivateVPN, as I haven’t seen this feature offered by any other VPN. I downloaded and installed a free third-party app called TeamViewer (which took 2 minutes), then shared my remote access username and password with a PrivateVPN 24/7 chat agent.

The agent can then control your desktop to demonstrate PrivateVPN features and functions in real-time or even install the VPN for you. I could take back control by moving my mouse to close the TeamViewer box that appears in the corner.

This can be a helpful tool if you’re a visual learner like myself. Still I’d recommend only using this support option if you absolutely need to — allowing remote access to your devices always comes with some level of risk.