PureVPN is a premium service with 6,500 servers located in 78 nations. It has P2P compatibility, unlimited bandwidth, and high-end security features like military-grade encryption. What is more, PureVPN can unblock several streaming platforms.
Overall, I am so impressed with the test results of PureVPN. I experience excellent speeds on its local servers and am pleased to find that its privacy and security policies have been upgraded to the highest possible standards. PureVPN has already become a surprising VPN provider and is close to the best VPN providers in the industry.
Quick Review of PureVPN
In 2021, PureVPN moved its headquarters to the British Virgin Islands after spending more than 14 years in Hong Kong. Since the British Virgin Islands provide VPN operators with a legal environment that is focused on privacy, this is one of its efforts to improve the user experience.
In addition, in order to gain customers’ trust, PureVPN has undergone audits by Altius IT and KPMG and established a clear no-logs policy. Furthermore, PureVPN supports streaming services and also provides torrenting-specific P2P servers which are compatible with BitTorrent clients.
| Cons | Pros |
|---|---|
| ✅ User-Friendly App | ❌ Slow Speeds |
| ✅ Affordable Price | ❌ Can’t Unblock Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+ |
| ✅ No-Log Policy | |
| ✅ P2P Servers | |
| ✅ 31-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
Detailed Review of PureVPN
Servers & Locations
PureVPN has a larger global network than top-tier VPNs like ExpressVPN or CyberGhost, with 6,500+ servers in more than 78 countries. A network of this size should make it possible to maintain stable speeds and prevent server overloading. When travelling abroad, it is also necessary to have a vast global network in order to access the content.
Domain fronting is another cool feature of PureVPN that lets you get around geo-restrictions. It lets you connect to a different domain address that isn’t blocked by ISPs. Thus, with Domain fronting enabled, you can circumvent your ISP’s PureVPN block wherever you are.
There are twenty virtual servers, but the majority of the servers are physical. The fact that virtual servers are not physically situated in the nation to which you are connecting is the primary distinction between physical and virtual servers. Your preferred location is assigned an IP address, but your traffic is routed through a server in a different country with a more stable connection.
Security & Privacy
No-Log Policy
GZ Systems Ltd., which has its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, owns PureVPN. The team made the decision to relocate in 2021 after 14 years with its headquarters in Hong Kong. Since the BVI is not a member of the Eyes alliance and does not have mandatory laws regarding data retention, it is a fairly VPN-friendly location.
In 2018, PureVPN updated its privacy policies and switched to a zero-log VPN service. It does not store any harmful information, such as IP addresses, that could be used to identify you or trace your online activities back to you.
PureVPN records your email address, password, and payment method as its primary logs. Specifically, the credentials you provided when you created your account. Additionally, the company keeps track of how much bandwidth you use with PureVPN.
It also keeps track of all of your communications with the company, including those sent through customer support. However, none of these logs poses a significant threat to privacy.
Kill Switch
A good kill switch is a feature that every VPN needs. When enabled, it immediately stops your internet connection whenever you accidentally disconnect from your VPN. It’s especially useful if you don’t want your identity to be compromised while torrenting or using public Wi-Fi, which is vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Encryption
Your data is safeguarded by the VPN by means of AES 256-bit encryption. This is the highest level that is available, and it makes your data almost impossible to hack.
In addition, PureVPN employs IPv6 leak protection to shield users from trackers, hackers, and other species. If your browser connects to an address outside of your VPN connection, which uses your ISP directly and thus discloses your personal data, this is an example of an IPv6 leak. You won’t have to worry about safety because IPv6 leak protection and encryption are turned on by default.
Port Forwarding
If you need to access an internet-connected device or service from another location, port forwarding is a very useful feature. You can, for instance, play an online game with your friends or access your computer while you are away. It allows computers outside of your network to access a specific device connected to your local network if properly configured.
Speeding
It is normal for VPN encryption to slow down your connection, but you should still be able to use the internet without lag. We tested PureVPN’s Windows app from the Netherlands for this review. We compared PureVPN’s performance on various servers to our speed without the VPN as a benchmark.
| Servers | Download | Upload | Ping |
|---|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 93.4 Mbps | 94.1 Mbps | 4 Ms |
| The US (New York) | 9.6 Mbps | 32 Mbps | 259 Ms |
| The UK (London) | 53.4 Mbps | 89.6 Mbps | 73 Ms |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 4.6 Mbps | 9.1 Mbps | 602 Ms |
| Australia (Sydney) | 2.7 Mbps | 11.1 Mbps | 792 Ms |
As you can see, when using PureVPN, our speeds simply decreased, particularly on servers located far away. It is nowhere near as fast as the fastest VPNs available. Additionally, a lot of the locations gave results that were extremely unstable.
Torrenting
Torrenting is supported by PureVPN, but only on certain servers.
With a P2P label in the server list, there are VPN servers in more than 50 countries that support torrenting. In fact, P2P is blocked by the VPN on servers in countries like the UK, the US, Canada, etc., where it is forbidden to share files.
It is safe to use the VPN for torrenting due to its strong security features, non-logging of user data, and location in a privacy-friendly nation. Always double-check the files you click on to ensure that they are not copyrighted, and learn about your country’s laws on torrenting.
Streaming
Most of the streaming services I tested were unblocked by PureVPN, but at first, it was unable to access some of the most popular ones.
PureVPN’s app gave me instant access to Disney+, ESPN, and BBC iPlayer, but it couldn’t get around the geo-blocks on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, or Hulu. However, I was informed by customer support that using its browser extension would improve my luck. I gave it a shot and used it on all but Hulu of the platforms I tested.
| Streaming Platforms | Unblock or Not |
|---|---|
| Netflix | ✅ |
| Amazon Prime Video | ✅ |
| HBO Max | ✅ |
| Hulu | ❌ |
Subscription Plan
The fact that PureVPN accepts Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies are one of its most notable advantages. This is great if you want to remain undetected and anonymous throughout all of your interactions with the VPN provider.
PureVPN has increased the number of simultaneous connections from 5 to 10 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Plan | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 1-Month Plan | 10.95 USD / Month |
| 12-Month Plan | 3.24 USD /Month |
| 27-Month Plan | 1.99 USD / Month |
Bottom Line
As of right now, PureVPN has been audited and found to not store any personally identifiable user data. In addition, it protects your online anonymity by employing the highest encryption standards and security protocols. What is more, the apps are fairly user-friendly and compatible with almost every platform.
To truly compete with the best VPNs, we would love to see PureVPN improve its speed and features.
