Surfshark vs Private Internet Access (2026)
Head-to-head on price, speed, privacy posture and features - based on our independent reviews of both providers.
Score comparison
| Surfshark | Private Internet Access | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.6 | 8.5 | Surfshark |
| Speed & reliability | 8.8 | 8.6 | Surfshark |
| Privacy & trust | 8.2 | 8.4 | Private Internet Access |
| Features & coverage | 8.9 | 9.0 | Private Internet Access |
| Value for money | 9.3 | 9.5 | Private Internet Access |
| Ease of use | 9.0 | 8.0 | Surfshark |
Side by side
| Surfshark | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $2.49/mo | $2.03/mo |
| Service types | Consumer VPN | Consumer VPN |
| Jurisdiction | Netherlands in the 9 Eyes | United States in the 5 Eyes |
| Logging policy | No-logs, independently audited | No-logs, independently audited |
| Independent audits | Deloitte (2025) Cure53 (2023) | Deloitte (2024) |
| Network | 3.2K servers | 35K servers |
| Country coverage | 100 | 91 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Free tier | - | - |
| Support | chat, email, knowledge-base · 24/7 | chat, tickets, knowledge-base · 24/7 |
| Pay with crypto | ✓ | ✓ |
Which should you pick?
Choose Surfshark if this fits: best value for households and heavy device users. Surfshark gives you most of what NordVPN does for about half the money, with unlimited devices as the headline. The Dutch jurisdiction and the Nord Security ownership are the trade-offs.
Choose Private Internet Access if this fits: best cheap vpn for tinkerers and torrenting. PIA is the value pick for people who like knobs: open source apps, port forwarding, unlimited devices and a no-logs record repeatedly tested in US courts, at a price nothing else in this tier matches.
Overall, our scores favor Surfshark (8.6 vs 8.5) - but the right choice depends on which trade-offs matter to you. Read the full Surfshark review and Private Internet Access review.