Surfshark vs. PIA 2025: 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. Both also offer budget-friendly pricing, with Surfshark starting at $1.99/mo and PIA starting at $2.19/mo. 

But we think Surfshark is the better value overall, offering lower pricing, enhanced security, and more reliable streaming. 

Learn more about our experience testing Surfshark and PIA, including price comparison, speed test results, and more. 

Surfshark vs. Private Internet Access at a glance

• Surfshark: Best value
• Private Internet Access: Best for U.S. Servers

	Our Pick
Price	From $1.99/mo	From $2.19/mo
Max # of connected devices	Unlimited	Unlimited
24/7 customer support
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Edge, Firefox	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
# 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, and ExpressVPN, which starts at $4.99/mo. 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 June 2025.

Private Internet Access pros and cons

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

The real edge PIA has is server locations in all 50 U.S. states. That means you can access blackout games or place sports bets from anywhere in the country (pending local and state laws). 

Surfshark vs. Private Internet Access: prices

	Our Pick
Price range	$1.99–$20.65/mo	$2.19–$11.99/mo
Best value plan	Surfshark One 24-month plan for $2.19/mo	2-year plan for $2.19/mo
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. 

If you need a complete security suite, 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.

But even the Surfshark Starter plan offers the VPN plus extras like CleanWeb ad blocking and Alt ID, with a low starting price of $1.99/mo.

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 opt for the 2-year plan, you’ll pay the lowest average monthly amount and maybe get a couple of free months thrown in. 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.

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 using VPNs and accessing most of the internet is 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 various cryptocurrencies, including 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.

During testing, we measure the impact of each VPN on our download speeds. 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
Average speed change	10% faster	58% slower
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get Private Internet Access Read Private Internet Access Review

The average download speed shows how well the VPN maintained a fast connection while connected to different server locations. Ultimately, we were impressed by Surfshark's ability to maintain decent speeds, no matter the server distance.

Which VPN is more secure?

	Our Pick
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 historic testing, we found PIA to be fast, and each server unblocked streaming services in that country. In recent testing, we found Surfshark to offer the most reliable performance, 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

With either option, you should be able to watch your favorite content, as well as access 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 give you added security.

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 that they 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.

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. Here's how Surfshark and PIA compare to NordVPN, our #1 VPN pick. 

FAQs

Is Surfshark or Private Internet Access better?

Although we love them both, Surfshark checks more boxes than PIA. On the surface, these two VPN providers appear quite similar, as they offer budget-friendly pricing and unlimited device connections. 

But under the surface, we know that Surfshark offers more overall value, better security, and proven speed performance.