PIA vs Surfshark

We compare the features, pricing, ease of use, support and speeds of PIA and Surfshark. Reading our guide can help you decide between these two VPNs. Market-leading providers, PIA and Surfshark, are similar across many key categories. However, they are widely different in other aspects, so let’s compare and test them out!
PIA logo
VS
PIA logo
Stephen Mash
Article by
Stephen Mash

Stephen is a UK-based freelance technology writer with a background in cybersecurity and risk management.

About writer

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Compare ratings
  3. Reviews by experts
  4. Reviews by characteristics
  5. Conclusion

Compare ratings

Rating
PIA logo
PIA logo
Features
9.3
9.4
Pricing
9.2
9.4
Ease of Use
8.6
10
Support
8.8
9.6

Reviews by experts

Reviews
Review by our expert
PIA logo
9.5

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a premium VPN service based in the US that focuses on being simple and easy to use for a targe...

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Stephen Mash
Article by
Stephen Mash
Last modified:
2021-07-26 12:23
PIA logo
7.1

Surfshark is a premium VPN service based in the British Virgin Islands that offers easy-to-use anonymous and safe browsing feat...

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Stephen Mash
Article by
Stephen Mash
Last modified:
2021-06-05 10:06

Side-by-Side Comparison

Private Internet Access
Pricing
Monthly
$9.95
Yearly
$39.95 (equivalent to $3.33 per month)
Three yearly
$79 (equivalent to $2.19 per month)
Payment Methods
card_amazon_pay Created with Sketch.
Parallel Connections
10
Server Locations
75+ Countries
Jurisdiction
United States of America
Protocols
OpenVPN
WireGuard
IPsec (IKEv2) on iOS
Encryption
AES 128 CBC/GCM
AES 256 CBC/GCM
Handskaing SHA96/SHA160/SHA256
Speeds
Private Internet Access VPN Server Locations Download Upload
United Kingdon 173.79 Mbit 87.37 Mbit
Australia 240.41 Mbit 20.21 Mbit
China 340.28 Mbit 1.4 Mbit
South Africa 16.38 Mbit 35.44 Mbit
California, USA 316.32 Mbit 14.23 Mbit
New York, USA 147.4 Mbit 25.34 Mbit
Germany 79.82 Mbit 149.91 Mbit
Taiwan 167.48 Mbit 0.94 Mbit
Spain 82.95 Mbit 122.37 Mbit
Brazil 130.67 Mbit 30.3 Mbit
Surfshark
Pricing
Monthly
$12.95
Half yearly
$38.94 (equivalent to $6.49 per month)
Two yearly
$59.76 (equivalent to $2.49 per month)
Payment Methods
card_amazon_pay Created with Sketch.
Parallel Connections
Unlimited (Subject to Fair Use Terms)
Server Locations
65 countries
Jurisdiction
British Virgin Islands
Protocols
OpenVPN (UDP)
OpenVPN (TCP)
WireGuard
IPsec (IKEv2) on iOS
Encryption
AES 256 GCM
Handshaking RSA
Speeds
Surfshark VPN Server Locations Download Upload
United Kingdon 418.75 Mbit 164.6 Mbit
Australia 346.95 Mbit 22.6 Mbit
Taiwan 325.03 Mbit 0.98 Mbit
South Africa 176.8 Mbit 3.07 Mbit
California, USA 284.36 Mbit 21.46 Mbit
New York, USA 315.07 Mbit 52.57 Mbit
Germany 540.44 Mbit 148 Mbit
Spain 445.98 Mbit 45.04 Mbit
Brazil 228.1 Mbit 24.61 Mbit
Indonesia 163.92 Mbit 18.26 Mbit
Private Internet Access
Surfshark
Pricing
Monthly
$12.95
Half yearly
$38.94 (equivalent to $6.49 per month)
Two yearly
$59.76 (equivalent to $2.49 per month)
Monthly
$12.95
Half yearly
$38.94 (equivalent to $6.49 per month)
Two yearly
$59.76 (equivalent to $2.49 per month)
Payment Methods
card_amazon_pay Created with Sketch.
card_amazon_pay Created with Sketch.
Parallel Connections
10
Unlimited (Subject to Fair Use Terms)
Server Locations
75+ Countries
65 countries
Jurisdiction
United States of America
British Virgin Islands
Protocols
OpenVPN
WireGuard
IPsec (IKEv2) on iOS
OpenVPN (UDP)
OpenVPN (TCP)
WireGuard
IPsec (IKEv2) on iOS
Encryption
AES 128 CBC/GCM
AES 256 CBC/GCM
Handskaing SHA96/SHA160/SHA256
AES 256 GCM
Handshaking RSA
Speeds
Private Internet Access VPN Server Locations Download Upload
United Kingdon 173.79 Mbit 87.37 Mbit
Australia 240.41 Mbit 20.21 Mbit
China 340.28 Mbit 1.4 Mbit
South Africa 16.38 Mbit 35.44 Mbit
California, USA 316.32 Mbit 14.23 Mbit
New York, USA 147.4 Mbit 25.34 Mbit
Germany 79.82 Mbit 149.91 Mbit
Taiwan 167.48 Mbit 0.94 Mbit
Spain 82.95 Mbit 122.37 Mbit
Brazil 130.67 Mbit 30.3 Mbit
Surfshark VPN Server Locations Download Upload
United Kingdon 418.75 Mbit 164.6 Mbit
Australia 346.95 Mbit 22.6 Mbit
Taiwan 325.03 Mbit 0.98 Mbit
South Africa 176.8 Mbit 3.07 Mbit
California, USA 284.36 Mbit 21.46 Mbit
New York, USA 315.07 Mbit 52.57 Mbit
Germany 540.44 Mbit 148 Mbit
Spain 445.98 Mbit 45.04 Mbit
Brazil 228.1 Mbit 24.61 Mbit
Indonesia 163.92 Mbit 18.26 Mbit