VPN Like PrivateVPN + Alternatives + Competitors + Similar VPNs

PrivateVPN is easy to install and use, with detailed guides to help you in the process. Private VPN supports all major platforms, allows 6 simultaneous connections (which is higher than the industry average), and offers the same features in all its packages which are relatively cheap.

Their name says it all. Private VPN wants to make sure that no one, but you, is privy to your online activities. Their symbol is a shield having a lock in the center; and it’s supposed to tell you that your online activities are safely locked, away from the prying eyes of every other person. There are many other VPN like PrivateVPN that offer similar and also your desired security and privacy features. These similar VPNs are known as the best PrivateVPN alternatives and competitors available. In this article, we shall explore all the PrivateVPN competitors and alternatives to help you choose the most suitable option.

PrivateVPN operates servers in 56 countries across the world. With no bandwidth caps, unlimited speed, unlimited server switches, access to Netflix, and allowing P2P activities; Private VPN meets the requirement of a standard VPN. With high level encryption features, a kill switch feature, DNS and IPv6 leaks protection, no-log policy, use of tier-1 servers; your online privacy and security is assured with Private VPN.

A 7-day free trial and a 30-day money back guarantee make PVN very attractive. Their support service includes many helpful FAQs articles and quite knowledgeable personnel for their email services.

Private VPN is based in Sweden a 14 eyes country that has data retention laws and that continuously increases internet surveillance. Their server count is one of the lowest among premium VPNs; and they can do better with server geographical distribution as there are currently no servers in the whole of Africa and the Middle East.

While choosing a server to connect to is made easy with the PrivateVPN client; with no server ping times and availability detail, one cannot tell if the server is a fast server or if it’s overcrowded. Also, most of the time, their live chat service is down with no representative online. PrivateVPN is one of the top VPN services, but if you are not satisfied with privacy and security features, you may try out other alternatives that strongly compete with PrivateVPN. Below are other VPN like PrivateVPN:

Similar VPN LIke PrivateVPN & Alternatives:

• NordVPN
• Surfshark
• ExpressVPN
• Proton VPN
• CyberGhost VPN
• PureVPN
• Private Internet Access
• IPVanish
• TorGuard
• Hotspot Shield

Review of PrivateVPN

Ease of Use:

Private VPN comes as a user friendly app – easy to install and with a warm brightly-colored interface that makes navigation easy. You can set up the Private VPN client on all major platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Routers. To make things easy, Private VPN put an installation guide right there in the homepage, and this would help you get started with the VPN on any of the supported devices.

Three steps and you are already using the VPN service – download the app, login with your email and password, and connect to a server.

Private VPN comes with two custom-made modes for new PVN users and for advanced users. The former mode is as simple as it can be. All you need to do is click on the drop down menu to select a server, and click the connect button. An indicator just below the connect button will show when you are connected, and your IP address will be boldly displayed.

However, the ‘server list’ simply lists the servers without other pertinent server information like pings and availability. Therefore, there is no way of knowing which server is fastest, or which is overloaded.

In this area, some VPNs have gone one step ahead of PrivateVPN in that they show server ping times so that users can know and connect to the fastest servers. Some VPNs have even gone a step further (and two steps ahead of PrivateVPN if you are still counting) with a ‘connect to fastest server’ feature, which does what it says (connect to the fastest server) and save users the effort to manually search through the server pings in order to determine and connect to the fastest server.

For advanced users, clicking the ‘Advanced’ button on the simple mode will open the advanced window where you can get more options – a dashboard, a settings page, and a connection guard option. The dashboard allows you to pick your location, the type of VPN protocol (the default protocol is OpenVPN), and the level of encryption (if your choice is the OpenVPN).

In the settings page, you can change the language, and enable features not enabled by default such as ‘start client on system startup’, ‘connect automatically on startup’ and ‘reconnect automatically on connection failure’. The connection guard page allows you to enable IPv6 and DNS leak protection, as well as the kill switch.

PrivateVPN is also one VPN that do not have bandwidth caps; and they also offer unlimited server switches.

Simultaneous connections:

With Private VPN, you can connect up to 6 devices simultaneously. This is one advantage that Private VPN has; very few VPNs can match their offer, and fewer still can surpass them.  In fact, their offer of 6 simultaneous connections is one higher than the industry average of 5. Private VPN is thus a very fine VPN for those with multiple devices or with large families.

Unblocks Netflix:

Netflix has cracked down and block many VPNs, and Private VPN is one of the very few VPNs with which you can watch NetFlix. Understandably, not all their servers grant the Netflix access, but you can easily see which servers do from their server list. At the moment, if you need VPN security as you watch your favorite Netflix movies, Private VPN will serve your need.

Torrenting:

Private VPN allows P2P activities. This means that you are assured that you are privacy is protected when you connect with peers to move files.

Server Network

Private VPN has over 100 servers in 56 countries. While the number of countries covered by Private VPN (56) is just about the industry average, the number of servers (100+) fall the very short. It is the lowest server count among the premium VPN providers that I know of.  Given the many advantages of a robust server network, most VPN users will like to see Private VPN add more servers to their network. Some commentators have even stated their disappointed not only with the low server count of Private VPN, but also with the growth rate of the network. Being over 8 years old, more servers should have been added to their network.

In terms of distribution: they have servers in Australia and South America; North America and Europe are well covered with numerous servers especially in the US and the UK; servers in Japan and South Korea makes sure that the Asian continent is represented, but there are no servers in the whole Middle East. Also, they do not have any server in the whole of Africa.

While VPNs have neglected Africa in the past, the premium ones are beginning to operate servers in Africa especially in South Africa. Personally, I will like to see a Private VPN server in Africa.

Tier-One Servers:

Private VPN also maintains tier-one servers, which means they eliminate third party services and personally manage all their servers. Private VPN states that the practice allows them to deliver better connection speed. It should also be said that the practice enhances the privacy of the VPN users (It is on record that a VPN blamed a third-party data processing center for logging and handing over user data to the authorities).

Security And Privacy

VPN Protocol:

Private VPN supports the always-recommended OpenVPN. Private VPN is one VPN that is open about the encryption for the OpenVPN protocol. They state that they use AES-256 cipher, an RSA 2048 handshake, SHA256 for HMAC authentication, and 2048-bit DHE keys for Forward Secrecy amongst others. It is this level of encryption for the OpenVPN that makes it unhackable, and why it is favored and used by every security conscious person.

The other regular VPN protocols (L2TP, PPTP, IPSec and IKEv2) are also supported by the Private VPN client; though it is recommended that you always choose the highly secured OpenVPN protocol.

Kill Switch:

Private VPN is one of the VPNs that offer a Kill switch. VPN users are increasingly looking out for the Kill Switch feature; because the very purpose of a PVN will be defeated without this feature. The kill switch ensures that you are always protected, even at those unfortunate times when the PVN disconnects. The kill switch does this by automatically stopping your internet connection when the PVN disconnect, ensuring that you are never online without PVN protection.

Jurisdiction:

Private VPN is located in Sweden.  This is bad news for most VPN users. Sweden effectively stifles privacy by continually increasing surveillance of the internet and adopting different data retention laws. It is not all surprising because Sweden is among the 14-eyes countries, which is basically a surveillance alliance that work together to collect, analyze and share intelligence. Privacy conscious users will rather not have their PVN provider in a jurisdiction with anti-privacy laws.

Logging Policy

In terms of online privacy, one of the first things that VPN users look out for is a no-log policy; this is because records exist of VPN users who were successfully tracked through user’s data stored by the PVN providers or their third party server providers. It is therefore satisfying to see that PrivateVPN has a no-log policy.

This no-log policy of Private VPN should also pacify users who are disturbed by Private VPN Swedish location. If the government were to come for user’s data, there will be nothing to hand over because no data was stored.

While the matter of VPNs keeping logs against their no-log policy is becoming an issue; many commentators have expressed that Private VPN can be trusted to live up to their no-log policy because of the VPN’s honesty in reporting these matters. For example, Private VPN was upfront about the Swedish government plans to make VPN log data. They had also admitted to being pressured to log users’ data.

Their no-log policy and the confidence that they do live up to the policy make Private VPN an excellent VPN in terms of privacy.

Speed

Private VPN is one VPN that does not say on their website that they are the fastest VPN. But that does not make them any less fast; they just choose to highlight their privacy features over their speed.

Private VPN speeds (download, upload, and latency) easily compares with the fastest VPNs in the world. Though PrivateVPN records low speed when connecting to very far servers; that is what you’d expect, and it is also not different from the performance of the very top VPNs.

Pricing

Packages:

Private VPN does not offer different plans having different features. They have just one plan with consistent features in all three packages in the plan. The three packages are: one month subscription, 3 months subscription, and one year subscription.

Just like every other VPN in the market, the single one month package is the most expensive; priced at $8.21. The 3 month package is priced at $67.56 (which stands at $5.63 per month); while the one year package is priced at $49.80 (which stands at $4.15 per month). More savings are made with the longer plans; as can be seen, the one year package gives about 50% savings on the single month package. From time to time, PrivateVPN also gives discounts that offer significant cost savings. Compared to the rates of other premium VPNs, PrivateVPN comes out as cheap.

Payment methods:

Making payment is easy with Private VPN. You can use credit cards and PayPal, or the more anonymous payments of bitcoin. I like the option of using bitcoin because it will mean submitting less personal information for the billing operation. Many hyper privacy-conscious users will pitch tent with me in that regard.

Free Trial:

Private VPN offers a 7 day free trial which allow you to test the service without any financial commitment. This is very good because many VPNs, even the highly rated ones, do not give free trials. On top of their free trial, Private VPN also grants a 30 day money-back guarantee. This offering also allows you to use the VPN service free of charge, as you can request a refund not later than 30 days from the time of payment. Private VPN floors many top VPNs by giving a 30 days money-back guarantee in addition to a 7 day free trial. Personally, I think they are being too generous.

However, you should note that some users have reported that when they requested a refund getting back their payment was very rigorous, while there are still other who say they couldn’t get back their money despite being eligible for it and initiating the process.

Customer Service

Private VPN offers the basic support resources that other PVNs offer. If you are the type to solve problem on your own, there are very helpful articles in their FAQ section. I must mention that the ‘installation guide’ is very detailed and will cover all you need to set up the client on any of the supported platforms.

You can also contact a Private VPN rep through email or by submitting a ticket; and you will get your answers in half a day. Remembering that the response time of most VPN easily exceeds 48 hours, I will score Private VPN some point for timeliness; though it can be improved upon. It is also worth mentioning that responses from the email service are always well-thought and detailed.

Private VPN also has a live chat support service. With a live chat, you’d expect that instant response is just a click away. However, in Private VPN live chat service; there are times when no representative is on line. At those unfortunate times, the service will prompt you to send a mail. Permit me to add that, at those times, the service is anything but live since you cannot get instant responses to queries.