PureVPN Review

PureVPN is one of the earliest and well-known VPNs in the market. The service was launched in 2007, with the sole aim of keeping your online privacy intact and offering “absolute internet freedom”.

The provider is based in Hong Kong and provides access to over 2000 servers spread across 180+ locations in 140 countries. The VPN is quite secure and sports features like internet kill switch, DNS leak protection, and split tunneling.

PureVPN also claims to offer “blazing-fast speeds” and access to geo-restricted content. But does it meet its promise?

Keep reading this VPN Land review to find out. We analyzed everything from cost to performance, encryption, Netflix support, and more.

Pricing Plans & Payment Methods

PureVPN has a very simple pricing structure with only three plans – 1-month, 6-months, and 1-year. The annual subscription, which is the longest and most affordable, costs $6.49 per month. That’s not cheap.

On a good side, the month-to-month is one of the best priced and is below the industry average. In addition to the three standard subscriptions, PureVPN also offers a one-time 7-day trial plan.

All PureVPN subscription plans come with all the standard premium features. However, you will need to fork out extra cash for advanced add-ons like:

• DDoS Protection – $0.99
• Dedicated IP – $0.99
• Port forwarding – $0.25

While cost is a significant factor, it’s the value that you should focus more on. Remember, any VPN can offer low prices, but not all can provide quality service. PureVPN prices may seem a bit steep, but when you consider all the features on offer, the price can feel justified.

Besides, all purchases are backed by a no-questions-asked 31-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try the service risk-free.

Payment Methods

If you decide to sign up, PureVPN makes the process easy by providing a broad range of payment methods. Currently, the provider accepts:

• Credit cards
• PayPal
• Alipay
• PaymentWall
• CoinPayments
• Giftcards

Servers and Locations

A VPN can be quite limiting if its server distribution is narrow. To access geo-restricted content, your VPN should have servers in a country where that particular content is available. PureVPN offers 2000+ servers in 140 countries across the  Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

Europe and North America have the highest server density, but overall, all continents are well covered. Regardless of where you are located, you can easily find a server near you allowing you to enjoy lower latency and more reliability.

In addition to having an extensive server network, PureVPN also comes with a nice collection of specialized servers, including:

• Streaming optimized servers
• P2P optimized servers
• VoIP servers

Privacy & Jurisdiction

PureVPN has a simple but straightforward privacy policy that clearly points out what they collect and what they don’t. 

In the privacy policy, the company states that it does not “keep any record of your browsing activities, connection logs, records of the VPN IPs assigned to you, your original IPs, your connection time, the history of your browsing, the sites you visited, your outgoing traffic, the content or data you accessed, or the DNS queries generated by you.”

That’s awesome. It guarantees that what you do online cannot be traced back to you. In addition to being a ‘no-log service’, PureVPN is located in Hong Kong, a privacy-friendly country that lies well outside the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and 14 Eyes spheres of influence.

Protocols & Encryption

PureVPN leaves no stones unturned when it comes to security. The VPN uses the highest standard of encryption – AES 256-bit cipher with a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication.

AES 256-bit is virtually impregnable and can reliably protect you from brute force and man-in-the-middle attacks. 

As for the tunneling protocols, PureVPN offers OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), IKEv2, PPTP, and L2TP/IPSec.

PureVPN Features

PureVPN comes with an abundance of features and customization options. It allows unlimited bandwidth and does not restrict torrent traffic. Extra features include:

• DNS Leak Protection

PureVPN has its own VPN DNS servers, which ensure your online traffic is safe from your ISP, the authorities, and other prying eyes. The VPN also guards against IP and WebRTC leaks.

• Internet Kill Switch

The internet kill switch prevents your identity and online activities from being exposed in case the VPN disconnects. It works by automatically blocking access to the internet.

• Perfect Forward Secrecy

PureVPN perfect forward secrecy (PFS) feature provides an extra layer of protection by ensuring that compromised encryption keys cannot be used to crack future sessions and data.

• Dedicated IP

PureVPN is one of the few VPNs that offer both shared and dedicated IPs. While shared IPs offer more anonymity, dedicated IPs are ideal for accessing company networks remotely and securely.

With a dedicated IP, you can also limit your banking transactions to a single IP, access Netflix reliably, and have control over your online reputation.

• Ad Blocker

PureVPN is equipped with a server-level content filter that keeps all sorts of ads from interrupting your browsing sessions.

• Port forwarding

Port forwarding enables you to reroute traffic and bypass the NAT firewall. It allows you to access your device remotely as well as increase download speeds when torrenting. 

• Split tunneling

PureVPN’s split tunneling lets you choose which traffic goes through your VPN connection, and which bypasses the VPN. It enables you to access local resources like printers while still connected to the VPN.

Speed & Reliability

Speed is an important factor when choosing a VPN. Your VPN may be secure but if it has slow connections, all that goes down the drain. PureVPN surprisingly delivers fast and consistent speeds. We tested several servers and overall, the speed reduction was minimal.

Media Streaming

In this era of on-demand streaming, the ability to unblock services like Netflix, iPlayer, and Disney Plus can make or break a VPN. Unfortunately, accessing these platforms is not always simple, and many have implemented systems to detect and blacklist VPN IPs.

So, how does PureVPN do? The VPN bypasses geo-restrictions with ease and works reliably with Netflix and other streaming services.

P2P & Torrenting

PureVPN supports P2P file sharing and offers specialized servers to ensure that your torrent connections are both fast and secure. And although its US, UK, and Canada servers do not allow P2P traffic, PureVPN allows torrenting on hundreds of servers in an incredible 82 countries, including:

• Germany
• Netherlands
• Russia
• Norway
• Panama
• Sweden

Multi-Platform Compatibility

PureVPN offers apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, as well as browser extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The VPN is also compatible with:

• Routers
• Android TV
• Amazon Firestick
• Roku
• Consoles
• Raspberry Pi

The provider allows up to 10 multi logins, which is way above the industry average of 5 to 6 simultaneous connections.

Customer Support

PureVPN provides excellent customer service. You can contact them via email, support tickets, and live chat. The customer support team is user-friendly, super helpful, and available 24/7.

PureVPN also has a comprehensive help center where you can find FAQs, setup guides, account and billing information, and troubleshooting tutorials. 

Our Verdict

A PureVPN is a powerful VPN that’s worth every penny. It does a nice job in terms of security and privacy, and its connections are likewise impressive. The VPN also boasts a massive server network and is equipped with advanced unique features like split tunneling, dedicated IPs, and port forwarding.

PureVPN delivers decent torrenting performance and easily unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney Plus. And although its pricing plans are a bit costly, overall, the VPN offers great value for money.