ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) are two very popular VPNs in many countries of the world such as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, and more.
Both providers have been around for quite a few years and they have established quite a name for themselves. If you are having trouble deciding between the two, read on for our comparison on their price, features, performance, and more.
Table of Contents
Quick summaries
ExpressVPN Pros and Cons:
- The fastest VPN worldwide
- Excellent for streaming and downloading
- Fantastic support team 24/7
- Great for countries with internet censorship like China
- Costs more than average
- Based in BVI
PIA Pros and Cons:
- Quite cheap
- Keeps no logs
- Basic ad-blocking
- Based in the US
- Mediocre support
- Can be slow
Price
While the price tag is not everything, one needs to understand exactly what they are going to be paying before subscribing to any VPN.
ExpressVPN:
- $12.95/month when billed monthly
- $8.32/month when billed annually
PIA:
- $6.95/month when billed monthly
- $3.33/month when billed annually
PIA is definitely one of the cheapest VPNs you can find. The reasons behind the prices for both providers, however, will become clear once you read further.
Security
When it comes to basic security, it’s hard to pick a winner in ExpressVPN vs PIA. But on closer inspection, it is quite clear that ExpressVPN offers a lot more.
To be specific, both services have the basic security features you will find in any VPN such as a kill switch. However, ExpressVPN also offers a split-tunneling feature, extended leak protection, and even an obfuscation feature so that it can bypass restrictions in countries such as China and Israel.
In essence, both VPNs will protect your online security, especially if you are going to be using unsecure connections such as public networks but ExpressVPN has more advanced capabilities.
Privacy
PIA is based in the US while ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands. This information alone should be enough though there are some details to consider.
While the British Virgin Islands are an undoubtedly better jurisdiction for VPNs than the US, PIA keeps absolutely no logs whereas ExpressVPN does seem to keep some connection logs.
With that in mind, it should be worth noting that those connection logs contain no identifiable information whatsoever so they cannot be used against you.
Performance and features
As mentioned before and as you have probably heard elsewhere, ExpressVPN is the fastest VPN provider you can possibly hope to find.
The company has made a name for itself for providing the fastest servers which can easily be used for things like streaming.
In fact, ExpressVPN and its support team are strongly focused in providing the best streaming experience possible. The provider is also one of the few who constantly ensures that its services work for Netflix.
PIA, on the other hand, is very basic on features. As its price tag suggests, it is a barebones VPN service that simply aims at securing your online traffic and letting you access some geographically restricted content.
There is not much to say on the speed front either. Some of its servers are decent but it is not as reliable as ExpressVPN and certainly not as fast.
ExpressVPN Wins
Even though it costs more, we think that ExpressVPN is the best choice for those who are serious about using a VPN. If you want to do anything more advanced than simple web-browsing, then this is what you should choose.
Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Let us know in the comments!