PrivateVPN Review (2024)

5/5
SpecsInfo
⭐ Rating:3.7 ★★★★☆
🥇 Overall rank:#17 out of #29
📖 No logs policy:No logs
💵 Price:$3.54/month
🖥️ Servers:2000+
🍿 Streaming services:Netflix, Hulu

If you are searching for the best Private VPN review at the internet? No problem, we got you covered at ProXPN. The last couple of years, we saw an enormous growth in the amount of VPN providers at the market, which is quite logical since an estimated 35% of internet users have been using VPN services the past year. Choosing the right one can be quite a task, but don't worry about it because we are here to help you out. Read our in-depth Private VPN guide and learn everything about this service, we are quite sure that once you’re done with reading you will know if this service suits you best.

Ben Grindlow

Ben Grindlow is the founder of ProXPN, a company that provides reviews about VPN products and services. Ben's interest in cybersecurity and privacy led him to start ProXPN, which has become one of the most well-respected VPN providers in the world. Ben is passionate about his work, and he is constantly exploring new ways to improve ProXPN's in-depth guides.

Last updated: 20:20PM 8/13/2024

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PrivateVPN

Unlock Anything. Protect Everything.
$ 9
99
Monthly
  • Global internet access
  • Use on any device
  • Easy to use
First plan

Table of Contents

PrivateVPN is an interesting choice among VPN providers for people with a small budget who still value private internet access. For less than 2 euros per month you have a solid VPN at your disposal that works well, is fast and has a wide number of options available. At first glance, privacy and security seem perfectly fine. For example, no logs are kept, although unfortunately an independent audit to provide proof of this is missing.

Does PrivateVPN sound good so far? Is PrivateVPN safe? Keep reading our PrivateVPN review to get the whole picture!

Ease of use

In terms of ease of use, PrivateVPN scores an 8.9

  • PrivateVPN has a nice interface and is pleasant to use
  • A free trial is available (with a 30 day money back guarantee)
  • You can use the service on 10 devices simultaneously
  • Customer support is readily available on live chat support
  • DNS leak protection and kill switch

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Installing and using the VPN service

PrivateVPN is one of the best VPN services you could use. The PrivateVPN app starts up quickly and you will be connected to the desired VPN server in no time. The interface with the VPN server is clear and you can easily find your way around the menus. The options and settings menu are easy to find and adjust. A nice addition to the VPN server is the display of your actual IP address in the screen.

This is what the interface looks like on Android:

Try out the PrivateVPN app on your device and see what you think.

Occasionally I encountered a Captcha message while searching in Google, but that didn't spoil the fun. I did not notice any VPN connection drops.

Devices and support for your VPN connection

You can use this VPN on 10 devices at the same time, such as a phone, tablet or laptop. There is also support for routers and a large number of operating systems, such as:

  • Windows
  • Android
  • iOS and MacOS
  • Linux

The Android app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times.

Payment options

Paying with Bitcoin or Paypal is possible wherever you live. In some places, for instance the Netherlands, the most commonly used online payment method is missing: iDEAL. People in most other countries should have plenty of choices in payment options, however.

Best alternative for your privacy

When you connect to the Internet via a VPN, the VPN app on your device (also called a VPN client) establishes a secure connection to a VPN server. Your traffic still goes past your internet provider, but they can no longer read it or see its final destination.

The websites you visit can no longer see your original IP address, only the IP address of the VPN server which is shared with many other users and changes regularly.

ProXPN Expert Score

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Customer support

PrivateVPN stand out among VPN providers in that its customer support responds quickly to requests through PrivateVPN's live chat feature. You get to speak to an employee right away on live chat and you don't have to talk to a bot. Customer support on their live chat support is friendly and helpful in answering questions.

Privacy and safety – DNS leak protection

If you were wondering “”is PrivateVPN safe?”” here's your answer. In terms of privacy and security, PrivateVPN scores an 8.5

  • PrivateVPN keeps no logs of its users
  • The location of the headquarters is OK
  • No independent audit has yet been performed in the area of privacy or security

Log policy and headquarters

PrivateVPN is based in Sweden. In itself a great location for a VPN service, because relatively favorable privacy legislation applies. However, Sweden is part of the 14-eyes countries, which have the common goal of sharing sensitive data with each other.

We would have preferred to have the headquarters located in a country with even better privacy laws, such as the British Virgin Islands or Panama.

Despite the sub-optimal location of the headquarters, this VPN provider keeps no logs of users. Unfortunately, they cannot prove this in black and white. It would therefore be good if an independent audit were carried out that checks the privacy and security of the VPN service.

Protocols and encryption

The following protocols are offered:

  • OpenVPN (TUN + UDP)
  • OpenVPN (TUN + TCP)
  • PPTP
  • L2TP

PPTP and L2TP are actually better not to use, because they are less secure. OpenVPN is safe, but we would have liked to see IKEv2 as an extra protocol, because it often works well on mobile devices, such as Android.

In terms of encryption, you can choose between AES-128 and AES-256.

Internet speed

In terms of connection speed, PrivateVPN scores a 7.2

  • PrivateVPN is a fast VPN provider and can quickly perform all tasks online
  • You don't notice that you have a VPN on
  • The connection speed results obtained via Speedtest.net are fine, but sometimes a bit erratic
  • This VPN is probably sub-optimal for gaming in terms of connection speed

Daily use

This is a pretty fast VPN service for all kinds of daily activities, such as browsing, watching videos or downloading attachments. Websites are loaded in no time and using streaming services is no problem at all.

After enabling the VPN on your device, you don't actually notice that it is on, which is exactly as it should be.

In addition, battery consumption is not excessive on mobile devices.

ProXPN Expert Tip

When choosing a VPN, it’s important to consider everything that it offers. Many alternative options, like NordVPN, offer similar (or even better) no-logs policies, independent audits, and security features – without any doubts about their overall security practices.

Measured internet speeds

Notable: the measured download and upload speed on Android (via WiFi) were met the VPN turned on even higher than without VPN. You don't normally see that very often. Only the ping is quite a bit higher, which may make the VPN slightly less suitable for gaming.

On the left the measured speed on WiFi with VPN and on the right without:

Unfortunately, the download speed on my Samsung Galaxy S21 (via 5G) was quite disappointing.

Below is a comparison between the speed without VPN, NordVPN and PrivateVPN:

Speed Measurement 5G Without VPN NordVPNPrivateVPNDownload139.0 Mbps80.4 Mbps3.7 MbpsUpload38.7 Mbps41.3 Mbps47.6 Mbps

Fortunately, you hardly notice the low theoretical speeds in practice. Watching a movie via Netflix or YouTube in high quality, for example, is fine over 4G or 5G.

Choices and locations

In terms of possibilities, PrivateVPN scores a 6.4 based on what it offers.

  • PrivateVPN offers a sufficient server count worldwide, but this may vary in your individual country.
  • You can use this VPN to stream the American Netflix.
  • Most streaming services, such as Videoland and NPO Start, work quite well.
  • Certain options, split tunneling for instance, are not offered.
  • After taking out a subscription, you can cancel within 30 days and get your money back.

PrivateVPN's servers and server locations

There are a total of 200 servers, spread over 63 locations. That's a relatively small server count, but it's not necessarily inadequate either. Because it is a relatively small provider, the chance that you will suffer in an overcrowded server seems small.

More server locations with multiple other servers could always be added to keep the VPN services readily available at all times.

Streaming platformWorking
NetflixYes
BBC iPlayerYes
YouTubeYes
DAZNYes

Streaming and downloading

If you like to watch exclusive Netflix USA series, PrivateVPN offers this too. It is best to use a dedicated server (with dedicated IP addresses) for this. Most other popular streaming services, such as Ziggo Go, NPO Start and Videoland also work fine.

You can also use the service to download larger files, for example using torrent clients.

Extra PrivateVPN features

PrivateVPN offers a free, dedicated, real IP address in many countries. The only drawback is that you do share this address with other VPN users. So it is not a unique IP address for you alone.

A handy extra option that PrivateVPN offers is the Invisible VPN. This lets their VPN users bypass DPI firewalls. Port forwarding is also possible.

Unfortunately, the following services are not currently among the current PrivateVPN features:

  • Dedicated P2P servers
  • Split tunneling for VPN traffic
  • Business services or subscriptions

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Free trial with a 30 day money back guarantee

Does PrivateVPN sound intriguing, now that you have digested this PrivateVPN review? You may well find it the best VPN for you, but if you are not happy with PrivateVPN's service after your free trial, then what?

No worries: if you have a problem with what PrivateVPN offers, customer support is ready to assist you over live chat. You can ask for your money back if the free trial isn't for you — as long as you do so within 30 days.

You can easily arrange this by having a live chat with their customer support staff with PrivateVPN's live chat support.

We hope you have enjoyed this PrivateVPN review.

Frequently asked questions

We discovered that PrivateVPN is one of the most effective VPNs for streaming. It supports services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer. Some servers, on the other hand, are frequently overwhelmed, preventing you from watching in HD. The VPN service is excellent for downloading P2P files.

It's a VPN that uses Stealth VPN for everything, including gaming. Something that PrivateVPN provides as standard. Consider this: because their traffic does not blend in with normal traffic, VPN services are readily identifiable as such.

Unlike other free VPNs, PrivateVPN allows P2P traffic on all of its servers and for any active account. PrivateVPN provides two methods to anonymously download torrents. You can either connect to the main network of PrivateVPN to torrent privately. Your IP address will be hidden, and your data will be secured.

PrivateVPN isn't the quickest VPN we've ever reviewed, but the service still provides fast speeds. We were able to discover several servers that gave us exceptional speed scores, so you shouldn't have any trouble streaming, downloading files, or playing online games with PrivateVPN.

Yes. Whether it's an Apple, Android, or Amazon device, as well as desktop computers, PrivateVPN provides Stealth VPN. You may use Stealth VPN to get around government-imposed restrictions in countries like China.

It basically means you can blend in with nations that have censorship so that you are not discovered. It's really important to have.

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