To the layman’s eye, NordVPN and PIA (Private Internet Access) will most probably appear to be the same. This is because these two providers have been market leaders for a very long time and provide benchmarked browser proxy extensions, unlimited bandwidth, DNS leak protection, ad/malware protection and a kill switch along with many other features. However, there are many key differences between Pia and Nordvpn that have to be understood in depth.
In this article, we will be touching upon what is pia, what is Nordvpn, the features of Pia and Nordvpn, difference between Pia and Nordvpn, etc. Here’s the Nordvpn vs pia comparison chart to begin with.
Pia vs Nordvpn
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Basis of Differentiation |
NordVPN |
PIA |
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Main features |
NordVPN is a popular, gigantic VPN service based out of Panama. NordVPN offers no logs, ad-blocking, Tor-over-VPN servers, double-VPN configurations, etc. as key features. |
Minimal and simple, PIA has its origin in the USA. It offers good performance and basic VPN services. It provides average customer support as per customer reviews. |
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Discounts on offer |
NordVPN provides smart discounts on its 2-years subscription plans. For instance, when it offers a 75 percent discount, the cost falls to $2.99 per month. Overall, it is cheaper to invest in a NordVPN plan in comparison to PIA. |
PIA keeps coming up with smart discount offers. For instance, its 2 years plan may drop to $2.91 per month when the Company offers a 58% discount. |
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Pros |
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Cons |
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Jurisdiction |
Provides better jurisdiction. It’s no log policy offers many impressive features and customer privacy metrics to enable better jurisdiction. |
PIA banks on less stringent privacy jurisdiction because of mass surveillance practices. It also has cooperation treaties with many other surveillance states. Therefore, PIA has no logging and concerning jurisdiction issues. |
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Speed in VPN service |
Speed fluctuations are visible while torrenting, streaming Netflix and browsing (generally). Overall, good speed is presented across networks. The NordVPN app connects automatically to least-congested servers in the nation of choice to provide the best speeds. |
Private Internet Access provides acceptable speeds that transform to decent performances. |
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Server Network |
NordVPN boast of a huge server network. With several selections and plans to its credit, NordVPN is reliable and showcases more available bandwidth for its users. Currently, NordVPN offers 3,600 servers (and counting!) in 61 countries. |
Private Internet Access provides fewer server networks and has server locations in over 28 countries. |
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Server Types |
NordVPN provides different server types like Obfuscated servers, Double-hop servers, Tor-over-VPN servers and Anti-DDOS servers. |
PIA fails to offer different server types. For instance, it does not have double-hop VPN servers, Tor-over-VPN servers or obfuscated servers. |
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Ad Blocker |
CyberSec is the ad-blocker used by NordVPN. It blocks tracking domains and malware alike. This ad blocker is similar to PIA MACE and TrackStop (Perfect Privacy). |
PIA MACE is the ad-blocking tool featured by PIA. Not as advanced as CyberSec, it only blocks ads. NordVPN’s CyberSec feature also blocks malware and tracking domains. |
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Leak Protection |
NordVPN off all necessary leak protection features found in good VPNs. It provides protection for IP address leaks (IPv4 and IPv6) and DNS leaks. |
PIA provides elementary leak protection features, especially those that can be accessed through the application. |
What is Nordvpn?
NordVPN is a reputed service provider of virtual private network (VPN) for personal use. Boasting of desktop applications for MacOS, Windows and Linux, NordVPN is headquartered in Panama. It provides mobile applications for iOS and Android along with popular applications for Android TV. NordVPN offers manual setup facilities for NAS devices, wireless routers as well as other platforms. NordVPN was voted as 2017’s best VPN service by PC Magazine in the same year. As there are no mandatory data retention regulations in Panama, and as the country does not participate in the Fourteen Eyes and Five Eyes alliances, it provides sound jurisdiction to users. The fact that it does not log user data has made NordVPN the preferred choice for many.
What is Pia?
Private Internet Access (PIA) serves to be a popular service for personal virtual private network (VPN). The Company is headquartered in the USA. PIA is supportive of multiple VPN technologies of the likes of PPTP, SOCKS5, L2TP/IPsec and OpenVPN. Founded by Andrew Lee, the products of the Company feature IPv6 leak protection, DNS leak protection, access via UDP/TCP, port forwarding, unlimited bandwidth, etc. PIA also showcases features like Multiple VPN gateways and Internet kill switch for preventing traffic from going elsewhere so that the VPN does not get disconnected.
Key differences between Pia and Nordvpn
The key differences between PIA and NordVPN are enumerated below:
1.NordVPN allows for P2P and torrenting on some servers only. One the other hand, Private Internet Access paves the ground for P2P activities as well as torrenting on all its servers.
2.NordVPN provides Android users with extra security features of the likes of anti-DDoS, DoubleVPN, and Cybersec features that block malware and advertisements along with improving upon consumption rate and data speed. Conversely, PIA offers an Android app that can be set up easily and showcases strong encryption.
3.For users desirous of higher levels of all-round privacy, anonymity, security, etc. NordVPN offers a dedicated Mac application. This Mac app provides very strong encryption as well as reliable cyber security features. In comparison, PIA provides Mac users with strong encryption and fast servers.
Conclusion
Now that you have a fair knowledge of what is Nordvpn, what is Pia and the key differences between Pia and Nordvpn, it will be easy for you to buy the plan that you need. In case you have any further queries with respect to which Company is better, Nordvpn or Pia, or you wish to know more about Nordvpn vs Pia, then do write to us in the Comments section below. We shall try our best to get back to you at the earliest.