Surfshark vs. PIA 2024: Is It Too Close to Call?

Surfshark and Private Internet Access (PIA) are both trusted virtual private network (VPN) choices that offer unlimited simultaneous connections and fast speeds. While PIA is less expensive than Surfshark, Surfshark provides more server options.

Both VPNs have necessary features like a kill switch, split tunneling, and unlimited bandwidth on data transfers. Both also offer budget-friendly pricing, with Surfshark starting at $1.99/mo (billed every two years) and PIA starting at $2.03/mo (billed every two years). 

Overall, we recommend both VPNs, so the choice between them comes down to what nuances are more important to you.

Surfshark vs. Private Internet Access at a glance

• Surfshark: Best for more server options
• Private Internet Access: Best for lowest price

How do Surfshark and Private Internet Access compare?

Price	From $1.99/mo (billed every two years)	From $2.03/mo (billed every two years)
Max # of connected devices	Unlimited	Unlimited
24/7 customer support
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and more	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and more
# of servers	3,200+ servers in 100 countries	Unlisted in 91 countries + all 50 U.S. states
VPN protocol	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN	WireGuard, IPsec, OpenVPN
No-logs policy	No logs	No logs
Unblocks Netflix?
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Access Read Private Internet Access Review

Surfshark pros and cons

Surfshark provides incredible value for a premium VPN. Its consistently cheaper than NordVPN, which starts at $2.99/mo (billed every two years), and ExpressVPN, which starts at $6.25/mo (billed annually). Considering it also allows unlimited simultaneous connections, Surfshark can really stretch your dollar amount with its subscriptions. 

Surfshark also offers more variety with plans. You can grab just the VPN and get features like split tunneling and a kill switch, or choose a Surfshark One or Surfshark One+ plan. Surfshark One includes antivirus while Surfshark One+ offers antivirus and identity theft protection.

Its also dedicated to privacy. Surfshark has a strict no-logs policy, which was most recently audited by Deloitte in January 2023. 

Private Internet Access pros and cons

PIA takes a similar approach to security as Surfshark. It also offers unlimited simultaneous connections and its had its no-logs policy audited. PIA's most recent audit was in April 2024 by Deloitte. 

Although Surfshark is a great value, PIA beats Surfshark in pricing across the board. In fact, you can usually purchase a three-year PIA plan for the same price or less than two years at Surfshark.

PIA offers monthly, yearly, and three-year plans for its VPN services. At checkout, you can add a dedicated IP address or PIA's antivirus to your subscription. Just make sure to click the drop-down menu beside either upgrade to select the term limit you want.

Surfshark vs. Private Internet Access: prices

		Our Pick
Price range	$1.99–$17.95/mo	$2.03–$11.99/mo
Best value plan	Surfshark One 24-month plan for $2.49/mo (billed every two years)	36-month plan for $2.03/mo (billed every two years)
Money-back guarantee	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 30 days
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Access Read Private Internet Access Review

To get the lowest price on either of these VPNs, you’ll need to purchase a multi-year package. 

Surfshark’s best value is a 24-month subscription to Surfshark One. The Surfshark One option provides you with Surfshark’s fast and secure VPN as well as antivirus, identity theft, and device protection. If you want to upgrade to Surfshark One+, you’ll receive the ability to remove your personal information from data broker websites.

Private Internet Access doesn’t include different tiers for different features. All of its features are included in each plan, but the pricing depends on the length of service you’d prefer. 

If you go with the 36-month plan, you’ll pay the lowest amount on average monthly. If you decide you do want antivirus included, you can add it on for an extra dollar a month. Given all the features included with PIA, an additional dollar for antivirus each month is a good deal.

When we look at these two side by side, PIA actually offers the better deal. It’s a feature-rich VPN that allows you to include cybersecurity for a nominal fee. That’s not to say Surfshark is unreasonable, but PIA's surprisingly low prices give it the edge.

If you buy one and aren’t into it, no worries. Both PIA and Surfshark have 30-day money-back guarantees, so you can test them out beforehand.

Payment options

Both VPNs offer the ability to pay with major credit cards, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and cryptocurrency. 

Crypto payments are preferred by people who want to remain anonymous and don’t want to leave a paper trail. While you may think criminals are the only ones who want to stay hidden, there are also individuals in countries like Russia and China where VPNs and access to most of the internet are illegal. 

With Surfshark, you have the ability to pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Sofort, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and crypto.

PIA accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. We didn’t have an issue choosing any of these options, and nothing failed to load.

Which VPN is faster?

Speed and latency are the biggest determinants in whether you notice lag times, so paying attention to those can help you evaluate your VPN’s effectiveness. Remember, just because there’s a large difference in speeds doesn’t mean you’ll notice slower download speeds. Most of the time, you won’t notice, or the lag will be just a moment or two.

The table below breaks down how much each VPN impacted our speed. First, we would measure our baseline speed without a VPN connection. Then, we'd connect to servers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia to show much of a hit each VPN took to our internet speed.

	Our Pick
US	3.6% slower	5.85% slower
CA	8.6% slower	9.01% slower
EU	9.10% slower	51.11% slower
AU	33.38% slower	50.23% slower
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Access Read Private Internet Access Review

We tested Surfshark and Private Internet Access on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 11. With the U.S. and Canada servers, Surfshark and PIA only had minor differences in their test results. Luckily both services only slowed our internet by less than 10%. 

Once we started connecting to servers outside of North America, our speeds changed more drastically. Surfshark still only slowed our U.K. server connection by less than 10%, while PIA slowed it by over 50%. With an Australian server connection, Surfshark slowed by nearly 34%, while PIA slowed by just over 50%.

Ultimately, we were impressed by Surfshark's ability to maintain decent speeds, no matter the server distance.

Which VPN is more secure?

Feature
Number of servers	3,200+ servers in 100 countries	Unlisted in 91 countries + all 50 U.S. states
No-logs policy	No logs	No logs
VPN headquarters	The Netherlands	United States
Encryption	AES-256-GCM	AES 128-bit or 256-bit
VPN protocol	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN	WireGuard, IKEv2/IPsec, OpenVPN
Kill switch
Split tunneling
DNS leak protection
Ad blocker
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Acces Read Private Internet Access Review

The biggest feature discrepancy between these two VPNs is the number of servers. When you look at the side-by-side comparison, you immediately see that Surfshark has 3,200+ servers, while Private Internet Access operates servers in 91 countries and all 50 U.S. states. When you use PIA, you'll see there's no shortage of server options.

In our testing, we found PIA to be wicked fast, and each server unblocked streaming services in that country. We found the same thing to be true of Surfshark (although PIA was faster in our testing), and we enjoyed a variety of unblocked Netflix libraries.

In other aspects, PIA and Surfshark both offer standard VPN features like torrenting support and obfuscated servers. Each also includes device protection and identity protection features. It’s safe to say that Surfshark and PIA are both dedicated to privacy and security.

Surfshark CleanWeb vs. PIA MACE

Sure, a VPN is great and all, but have you ever surfed the web without any ads, trackers, pop-ups, or annoying cookie requests? CleanWeb and MACE are here to do just that for you.

Visiting a site without a million ads makes your online experience so much better. CleanWeb says it can even get rid of video ads (commercials) on streaming platforms, including on your Smart TV.

Surfshark CleanWeb features

• Blocks ads and trackers online
• Blocks ads on streaming platforms
• Blocks and auto-denies cookie requests
• Blocks malware
• Blocks certain phishing attempts

PIA MACE features

• Blocks ads and trackers online
• Blocks ads on YouTube
• Blocks malicious sites

Netflix can be a problem for VPNs; Surfshark and PIA both largely passed our Netflix tests. While testing Surfshark, we couldn't unblock Netflix Canada, and while testing PIA, we had to do a lot of troubleshooting to connect to Netflix U.K. Otherwise, both VPNs do a solid job of unblocking streaming services.

With either option, you should be able to watch your favorite content as well as geo-restricted libraries without your internet service provider (ISP) throttling your bandwidth. You can split tunnel your traffic and not worry about turning off your VPN completely, which should make you feel more secure.

Surfshark vs. PIA: compatibility and ease of use

Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Linux
Router
Smart devices
Browser extensions	Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Chrome, Firefox, Opera
24/7 live chat
Customer support options	Live chat, email, online guides	Live chat, email, online guides, support forums
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Access Read Private Internet Access Review

We didn’t run into issues using either VPN. Both offered clean, modern interfaces that were easy to use from the beginning. Everything is located in the dashboard or the menu on the side. Whether you’re looking to connect quickly for security or are scrolling through servers to choose a specific location, neither Surfshark nor PIA makes it difficult.

If you want to use any extra features, we found those were also easy to access. The dashboards of both VPNs offer quick access to any included features. If you’re really stuck and can’t find what you need, hop on the 24/7 chat and ask support or slide into the online guides.

Customer support

The only major difference in customer support options is that PIA offers support forums. Sometimes the collective hive mind can really solve a problem. It’s also validating to know that other people experience the same technical issues as you.

We reached out to both VPN providers via live chat support. We found both had acceptable response times and offered helpful insights. We did find the support agent for Surfshark had more of a knowledge base for the product, while the PIA agent directed us toward help articles rather than assisting us directly.

FAQs

Is Surfshark or Private Internet Access better?

Surfshark checks more boxes than PIA, but, really, we love them both. Private Internet Access is a cheaper service if you want to save some money, while Surfshark proved to be a faster service.

But it’s such a close race that it may not matter to you which service you use. Just make sure you’re using a VPN, especially on public Wi-Fi. Better to be safe than hacked.

Surfshark vs. PIA VPN alternatives

If neither of these feels right for you, we suggest some of the best VPN services available. You'll be guaranteed plenty of features, fast speeds, security, and user-friendly interfaces.