This NordVPN vs Private Internet Access duel will help if you’ve narrowed your choice to these two. Both are extremely secure, with some of the best no-log policies. PIA and NordVPN have huge server fleets, with ample dedicated servers and 10 Gbps ports.
These are very similar on paper, even sharing many in-app security features. To make things worse, their affordable prices make the choice harder. You’re likely wondering if choosing NordVPN or Private Internet Access at $2-$3 a month is better. We understand you.
In today’s PIA vs NordVPN comparison, we’ll give you a definitive answer. There will be no ties, draws, or whatever. We’ll have one CLEAR winner who will take the crown and be the overall best option of the two. Which VPN is that? The answer you seek is below.
PIA vs NordVPN: Overview
Want the short version? In that case, NordVPN has come out ahead of Private Internet Access, and we recommend it if you’re unsure which one to choose.
We’ve highlighted their most notable features in the table below but for more information, we strongly recommend reading the entire PIA vs NordVPN comparison before you spend money on any of them.
| Private Internet Access | NordVPN | |
| Our Current Ranking | #3 | #1 |
| Prices | Starting at $2.09/mo | Starting at $3.09/mo |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 Days | 30 Days |
| Free Version | No | No |
| Logging | No | No |
| Protocols | OpenVPN, WireGuard | OpenVPN, NordLynx |
| Servers | 30,000 in 91 countries | 6,500 in 111 countries |
| Specialty Servers | Streaming, Dedicated IP | Double VPN, Obfuscated, Onion Over VPN, P2P, Dedicated IP |
| RAM-Only Servers | Yes | Yes |
| Working With Netflix | Yes (5 Catalogs) | Yes (20+ Catalogs) |
| P2P Allowance | Yes | Yes |
| Simultaneous Connections | Unlimited | 10 |
Applications & Ease of Use
The warm-up round isn’t the most relevant for many but useful indeed. We’ll gauge these VPNs’ apps, compatibility, and ease of use. Right off the bat, PIA and NordVPN support major platforms and systems, including all mobile and desktop devices – splendid.
You’ll find “auxiliary” apps for Firestick, Apple TV, Android Smart TV, routers, and other stuff here too. However, Private Internet Access lacks a Firestick app, which is a shame given that pretty much ALL premium providers offer it. NordVPN is no exception.
PIA looks and feels premium on all devices, something we always like. Yet, its Windows app seems to be on the clunkier side and a tad confusing at first. It’s sluggish and not the most optimized. On the flip side, it’s easy to connect to the server in a few seconds.
NordVPN looks two worlds above PIA. For example, the Windows VPN app is stunningly beautiful, with the world map in the middle and all settings easily accessible. This trend continues on mobile devices, where NordVPN resembles the same great aesthetics.
It’s worth noting that the experience was consistent in our NordVPN test, while PIA’s experience was far better on our iOS and Android phones than on Windows and macOS computers. In terms of simultaneous connections, PIA is a lot better than NordVPN.
It supports unlimited connections, whereas, NordVPN is locked to 10. While 10 is by no means small, it’s a far cry from uncapped connections. So, who wins the first PIA vs NordVPN round?
We’ll say the round is a tie. NordVPN’s compatibility and ease of use are a speck better but it’s hard to beat the unlimited connections in PIA that not many providers have.
Private Internet Access vs NordVPN: Price Comparison
Flagship VPNs don’t have to cost much, as proven in our low-cost VPN guide. Well, as it turns out, NordVPN and Private Internet Access are some of the least costly options you’ll find. You’ll pay roughly two to three bucks a month and this is a silly price – you’ll agree.
Private Internet Access Prices
Starting with PIA, the provider isn’t overly flexible, offering only 3 plans. However, these are enough because you’ll immediately spot the best one. There’s a 2-year plan with nifty 4 free months at just around $2.05 a month. This is a huge 83% discount.
To be clear you’ll pay only around $57 for the first two years and yearly thereafter, which is an overwhelmingly impressive deal. Granted, PIA’s monthly and 6-month plans are more expensive but most people pick the longest one for the best savings either way.
Unlike CyberGhost’s 45 days whose price is similar, this provider has a 30-day money-back guarantee. You also get optional extras, such as its antivirus that can be bought for as low as $1/mo on top. Dedicated IPs are also here and they start at $2.5/mo – not too shabby.
NordVPN Prices
NordVPN has a more complex but flexible pricing structure. Again, its 2-year plans yield the best savings, as you’ll pay just over $3 a month for the Basic plan (73% off). The other two plans offer more options, and while the Basic plan is cheap, it lacks advanced security features.
However, if you’re looking to save as much money, the Basic plan should be your go-to pick. If not the plan in the middle is the best overall deal, as it includes Threat Protection, Double VPN (we explained this feature here), and a few more quirks. What about other plans?
Get the Best Discount on NordVPN
Well, NordVPN also has annual options. They’re pricier per month but allow for shorter commitments if you’re not a long-term person. NordVPN’s monthly plans are more expensive, so we’d stick to 2-year and 1-year plans instead. Its prices are volatile, though.
This means it won’t always cost this much. Sometimes it’s a tad more, sometimes less, and at times, you’ll be given 3 free months. One thing is certain – NordVPN is never as affordable as PIA. Even its dedicated IP addresses are way more expensive, at over $3.7/mo.
With a 30-day money-back guarantee, the provider is risk-free. Still, as it’s far less affordable, Private Internet Access takes this round, making the current score 2:1 in its favor.
NordVPN vs Private Internet Access Features
To determine the value of these providers, we must evaluate their features and see what they offer. VPNs work the same in their essence, so some features are shared while others are unique to each provider. All of them are compared below.
Shared Features
Being some of the safest options to use in 2025, you’ll find ample similarities between Private Internet Access and NordVPN. They share the following features:
- 256-bit encryption. The highest encryption level you can get. PIA offers the option to use 128-bit encryption if you want to prioritize speeds. Our tests of Private Internet Access imply there’s no feasible difference, so pick 256-bit.
- Kill switch. Both options have advanced kill switches to keep IP and data leaks out of your way. This applies to blocking internet connections when the VPN is off. NordVPN’s kill switch also works on a per-app basis, which you won’t find in PIA.
- Ad-Blocking. NordVPN’s Web Protection and PIA’s MACE can block ads. We found the former slightly more effective, as it’s accompanied by other unique features. More about them in a minute.
- WireGuard support. You’ll find WireGuard in both choices, with NordVPN’s NordLynx being the better variant. NordLynx is an improved WireGuard version with better speeds, and in our book, stronger anonymity and privacy.
- Split Tunneling. This one is handy for routing specific apps through the tunnel. You can exclude the ones you don’t want to benefit from added VPN protection.
- Multi-hop/Double VPN. Another fantastic feature usable for gaining 2 encryption layers. It routes your traffic through two servers, making you untraceable. PIA has an edge because it lets you choose these servers, while NordVPN has pre-built server pairs.
Unique Features
We’ve pretty much listed all of the most important features of Private Internet Access and NordVPN. Let’s check our their minor differences and see which provider has an advantage.
Dedicated Servers
Both providers have some dedicated servers. The American one (PIA) relies only on streaming servers, however. NordVPN has the following:
- Double VPN
- Onion Over VPN
- Obfuscated
- P2P
As you can see, the server variety is a bit better, plus, most of these servers are focused on your privacy and security. We especially think Obfuscated servers are amazing, as they make the VPN work in China. We’ll tackle this topic later in the NordVPN vs PIA battle.
Obfuscation
While discussing obfuscation, it’s good to know that BOTH providers have it. However, they do it differently. NordVPN applies obfuscation to your connection by making it look like a “normal” connection, thus, beating deep-packet inspection in censored countries.
Private Internet Access combines Multi-hop with obfuscation. The latter comes in the form of either Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 Proxy. Shadowsocks is easy to use. You enable it and then select the country that you’ll use for your “exit” server. What will then happen?
Well, once you connect to a VPN server, your connection will flow through it first and then be obfuscated with the Shadowsocks’ country you selected. Another method is to use SOCKS5, which needs a manual configuration. We think Shadowsocks works a bit better.
Meshnet
Meshnet is unique to NordVPN’s apps. It’s free and can be used simply by downloading the app to your device. It has many purposes, including:
- Remote device access
- File sharing (remote)
- Connection routing
We’ve used it plenty of times for quickly sending files or bypassing various IP bans and geo-restrictions. Such a feature can be used to unblock sites or even circumvent Netflix’s account-sharing restriction. PIA offers nothing similar, so it’s out of the game here.
Threat Protection
Threat Protection is a key feature that keeps your device’s security top-notch. Mobile users can enjoy Threat Protection Lite. Web Protection is just a part that blocks ads and trackers. However, there’s also File Protection that scans your files for malware and prevents malicious downloads!
On top of that, Vulnerability Protection informs about about vulnerable apps on your device. Its rival’s MACE feature blocks only trackers and ads.
Again, it’s commendable but far from impressive. In the security department of this NordVPN vs PIA analysis, NordVPN wins by offering more (unique) features.
Do NordVPN and PIA Store Logs?
Logging is what most people will be concerned with but let’s put your disturbed minds at rest – none of them keep logs. We’ll examine their no-log policies but in this Private Internet Access vs NordVPN comparison, we first must see where they’re based.
PIA is in the USA – 5 Eyes, we know. NordVPN is in Panama – this is an awesome privacy-friendly country. Despite its US roots, the former has a no-log policy proven in court, where the authorities couldn’t extract a single bit of information, indicating its validity.
The provider keeps ZERO logs of your browsing history, user IP, connection timestamps, bandwidth logs, DNS queries, and so on. Like NordVPN, it relies on RAM servers for added privacy, on top of which, it has an audit from Deloitte on this very green-letter policy.
Enjoy No Logs With Private Internet Access
We can say the same for NordVPN whose minimal logging makes it a very trustworthy VPN. Like its rival, the Panamanian giant doesn’t keep any data regarding your IP address, location, visited websites, timestamps, and other personally identifiable information.
Don’t think the provider lacks third-party audits. It has more of them, 3 in total at the moment, from Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. So, which provider is better in this regard, NordVPN or Private Internet Access? It’s a tough one this time, we must be frank.
Preserve Your Privacy With NordVPN
For this reason, this round of the NordVPN vs Private Internet Access comparison ends in a tie.
We know NordVPN’s jurisdiction is better but honestly, PIA’s jurisdiction has never been an obstacle. You have fantastic VPNs in the USA that take extreme measures to avoid logging and keep things private. This is one of them.
Which VPN Is Faster: PIA or NordVPN?
Speed-wise, we’ll immediately tell you the American provider isn’t Usain Bolt or Lewis Hamilton during its prime. Before we divulge our test results, we’ll first show you our native internet speeds. At the time, we were in Belgrade, with the following non-VPN internet performance:
Having done this test, we right away proceeded to our VPN testing. We did 3 tests daily for 3 days in a row, using 3 server locations. They included the UK, the USA, and Japan. The protocol selection remained automatic in both cases to minimize the margin of error.
We focused primarily on speed loss percentages. Hence, the table below displays the average speed loss percentages for download and upload speeds, based on all the tests we performed during a couple of days. Let’s see who is faster:
| Download Speed Loss | Upload Speed Loss | |
| Private Internet Access | 26% | 24% |
| NordVPN | 18% | 7% |
According to the averages, NordVPN is faster than Private Internet Access. There’s a distinction of 8% for the former in download speeds. The Panamanian provider solidifies its victory in upload speeds, where it’s a whopping 17% faster.
Get the Fastest Speeds With NordVPN
If you want speed test results from our tests for a direct comparison, refer to the table below. These aren’t percentages but rather clear-cut download and upload speed results we got:
| UK (Download/Upload) | US (Download/Upload) | Japan (Download/Upload) | |
| Private Internet Access | 298.69/17.42 Mbps | 261.93/12.84 Mbps | 197.89/14.31 Mbps |
| NordVPN | 324.25/18.68 Mbps | 292.75/18.31 Mbps | 223.54/17.85 Mbps |
Streaming & Torrenting
For many, it’s not all about security and privacy. If you just want to have fun downloading torrents or streaming, you’ll be asking which provider is better – NordVPN or PIA. It will be NordVPN but hang tight as we explain why.
Streaming
First of all, NordVPN is faster, so expect better streaming performance. Second, it’s way more efficient at unblocking streaming services. Compared to PIA’s 5 or so unblockable Netflix catalogs, NordVPN’s 20 is much more impressive. What’s more, it has a VPN extension.
This VPN will work on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and many other browsers. With its location spoofing feature, accessing ESPN Plus abroad is a piece of cake. We noticed PIA doesn’t always work with it, making it less reliable. In fact, it’s less reliable overall!
NordVPN will unblock even more “stubborn” platforms like Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, and others. While PIA can do the same, it takes a bit of trickery, such as using its dedicated streaming servers, switching them around, and sometimes picking OpenVPN.
We don’t say Private Internet Access isn’t suitable for streaming. It is and will unblock Netflix US if you want. When pinned against NordVPN, it’s simply underwhelming.
Torrenting
On the torrenting field, these punch equally hard. Both have P2P support on all servers, with NordVPN having P2P-specific servers in some locations. After testing them, we found both are fast and secure, ensuring anonymity throughout the entirety of the process.
Torrenting functions like SOCKS5 and port forwarding are there too. While NordVPN has SOCKS5, the other provider offers both. Port forwarding can be handy for performance boosts but in reality, it’s not great for anonymity. Nice of PIA to include it, still.
When torrenting, it’s great to use a server close to you to maximize the performance. We needed to do that with PIA because of its higher speed reductions. NordVPN’s performance was preserved with ease no matter what we did. Once again, NordVPN wins this round against Private Internet Access.
PIA vs NordVPN: Server Locations
If you thought the American provider has run out of playing cards, think again. NordVPN’s jaw-dropping server network of 6,500+ servers in 111+ countries is as imposing as it’s opulent and luxurious. Well, Americans don’t mess around – they know better!
Private Internet Access offers around 90 countries but has around 30,000 servers globally. This is a stark difference, as the provider packs roughly 4.5 times more servers. While it’s impressive on paper, practice shows no significant difference, so calm yourself.
We value a higher number of locations from NordVPN. Remember its dedicated servers? Well, NordVPN has more of them too, even introducing Onion over VPN servers to visit the dark web privately. The server distribution is awesome on both sides.
However, PIA seems to have an edge in the USA – how strange?! It has servers in all 51 states while NordVPN’s 1,900+ servers are only in 10 or so. Usually, we’ll give this round to a provider with more server locations but this time, Private Internet Access will win.
You can’t ignore its massive presence and 30,000 servers that trump NordVPN’s 6,500+.
Bypassing Censorship: Which VPN Does It Better?
NordVPN is the clear winner of this round against PIA, based on our tests. While both offer obfuscation, our testers in China found NordVPN way more useful. It connects without problems using pretty much all obfuscated servers. Shadowsocks can be a great solution.
On a few occasions, they managed to make PIA work well but not as often as its competitor. If you choose SOCKS5 as your obfuscation method, the provider won’t work at all. NordVPN’s obfuscated servers are effective at circumventing many internet restrictions.
Bypass Censorship in China With NordVPN
We’re not talking only about China. People use this provider in Turkey, Russia, Iran, and many other regions without issues. No doubt, Private Internet Access will also work there and bypass firewalls in schools, workplaces, and other institutions.
If you need a VPN for China, NordVPN is superior to Private Internet Access. This is our main focus in the censorship round, and since this provider fares more impressively, it’s simultaneously the winner.
Conclusion: NordVPN Wins Against Private Internet Access
We don’t have to do the math to see who is the winner. After this exhausting NordVPN vs Private Internet Access comparison, NordVPN emerges victorious. This isn’t strange considering its superiority over all of its competitors, including ExpressVPN.
Private Internet Access is cheaper, offers more servers, and comes with customizable Multi-hop and unlimited simultaneous connections. NordVPN has more intuitive apps, superior compatibility, numerous security features, and better streaming/torrenting abilities.
The provider also won the censorship round, cementing its place as the winner. As we’ve already examined and compared all of their features, one question remains – which provider is a better value? Well, we must say it’s NordVPN again, despite its higher price.
You’ll pay roughly a dollar more per month, which isn’t an impactful difference. At this price, you don’t get a marginally better provider – otherwise, we would recommend PIA. You get a clear-cut more awesome and faster VPN for pure enjoyment.