PureVPN Review

Our rating
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70%
Features Read more toggle icon
70%
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PureVPN is a Virtual Private Network service that has been in operation since 2007 and has a long-standing reputation within the industry. PureVPN is one of a few VPN providers that self-manages its server network, which is an impressive feat considering that its network comprises 6,500+ servers across 140+ countries in more than 180 locations.

The large network indicates several positive things for users. Firstly ensures that there are lower server loads and more locations closer to people, which bodes well for speed. Secondly, users can access more content on the web than ever before.

PureVPN's server network isn't the only impressive thing about the VPN provider. After a public lawsuit in 2017 involving data from PureVPN's servers, the provider has stepped up its privacy policy. Independent security audits are regularly carried out to ensure the provider is abiding by its zero-logs policy.

There is also an abundance of extra features that users can enjoy with PureVPN, such as dedicated streaming servers, support for P2P networking, and customizable security settings in the VPN app. Overall, PureVPN is a great choice for people who want more digital freedom and control over their online experience.

    Pros

  • pro icon Most server locations in the business
  • pro icon Supports almost all devices
  • pro icon 30 day money back guarantee

    Cons

  • con icon Few payment methods
  • con icon Very expensive monthly plan
  • con icon No bitcoin payment option
Price Starting At: 2.91 $ / monthly 44.95 $ / annually
For New Users: 31 -day money-back guarantee
Number of servers: 6500+
General information
Max Speed: 10000 Mbps
Type of IP offered: Dynamic
Simultaneous connections / Users: 10
Number of Netflix Libraries: Not available
Information sharing: None
OS support: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Boxee Box, Chromecast, FreeBSD, iOS, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Roku, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Router support: Asus, D-Link, DD-WRT, Linksys, Netduma, Netgear, Sabai, Tomato, TP-Link
VPN Promotion: Get VPN from PureVPN for 2.91$ per month
Capabilities
Unlimited Bandwidthcross iconKill Switchcross iconSplit Tunnelingcross iconZero Data Loggingcross iconFree Version / Trialcross iconMobile Appcross iconBrowser Extentioncross iconNetflix Approvedcross iconFirestick Compatiblecross icon
Payment options
  • American Express
  • Mastercard
  • Mastercard Debit
  • Paypal
  • Visa
  • Visa Debit
  • Visa Electron
Geolocations available
  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Brazil
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Cambodia
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Estonia
  • Ethiopia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Greece
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macau
  • Madagascar
  • Malaysia
  • Malta
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco
  • Myanmar [Burma]
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Suriname
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen

PureVPN Security

70%

PureVPN claims to offer enterprise-grade security. This indicates that you'll receive the same security level as would a big corporation on its network. However, digging a little deeper into the VPN service's security shows that there are a few slight issues with the security.

We like PureVPN because it offers a lot of choices when it comes to tunneling protocols. PureVPN offers all protocols on all of its servers, including OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, and IKEv2. This means you can make your connection more secure or faster, depending on the protocol you choose.

However, if the PureVPN app struggles to connect to a server using the protocol you have chosen, it will switch between protocols until it manages to get connected to the web. This goes on in the background, and so you may unknowingly get a VPN connection using the weaker PPTP when you originally selected OpenVPN. This could pose a security risk, as each protocol offers a different level of security.

Although the provider does offer military-grade AES-256 bit encryption, there is another fault in the settings that could prove to be problematic. In the PureVPN app settings, the encryption level is automatically set to optional, which means you may connect to a server without encryption. It is important to check this setting and enable encryption so that your internet traffic is protected.

One outstanding security feature that PureVPN offers is IPv6, WebRTC, and DNS leak protection. We ran several tests and found that PureVPN is leakproof. This is really important, as it prevents your IP from leaking on websites and ensures that you have more privacy online.

An essential feature of any VPN provider is a strict no-logging policy. PureVPN doesn't keep logs of any kind and has been audited by an independent third party, KPMG, to reassure customers of its good privacy policy. This reassurance is important since, in 2017, PureVPN logs were handed over to authorities to arrest a man who was part of a cyberstalking campaign. The man was identified by his real email address, which caused a lot of customers to questions whether Pure was storing logs or not.

PureVPN released a statement saying that it didn't store user logs, and began to get independent audits on its privacy policy. PureVPN now has an 'always-on' auditing policy, which means that KPMG can audit it at any time without warning. We see this as a good indication that PureVPN has responded to the events of 2017 and changed its logging policy to protect user privacy better.

Aside from a strict no-logs policy and strong encryption, what else does PureVPN offer to customers? Firstly, there is a secure wifi feature, which activates the VPN whenever you connect to a new wifi network. This is especially great when you connect to public wifi networks, which can more often than not pose a greater security risk.

As well as the above, there are standard features like an internet kill switch. The kill switch will come into action whenever your VPN server goes down, completely cutting off your internet connection and protecting your web traffic. There is also a built-in ad blocker, which is great for two reasons. Firstly, it prevents you from clicking on any malicious ads, and it will also increase page load time.

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PureVPN Features

70%

If you're looking for a VPN that doesn't just encrypt your data and change your IP but offers many extra features, then PureVPN is one of the best choices. Firstly, PureVPN is a self-engineered VPN service for seamless performance and has a vast server network that it owns - there is no renting servers from third parties with this provider.

Amongst its large network of 6,500 servers, there are over 1,770 in North America, 15 in Central America, and 171 in South America. There is a whopping 2,750 in Europe, which is great for US residents who want to access European content. We're also pleased to see 124 servers in Africa since VPN providers often ignore this continent. While some of these servers are virtual, for safety reasons, we still appreciate the fact that users can access content in their desired countries.

PureVPN has many dedicated P2P torrenting servers, perfect for people who want to share and download files via torrent platforms. There is also port forwarding, which you can get for a small extra fee. Port forwarding is great not only for torrenting users, but it enables you to connect your device to a remote server.

Optimized VoIP servers are also available, and it's refreshing to see this since not many providers offer this type of dedicated VPN server. You can enjoy encrypted conversations on platforms such as Skype and WhatsApp, with good speeds.

With PureVPN, you get unlimited server switching, making it one of the best VPN providers to curb bandwidth throttling. Server switching helps to distribute traffic across servers, ensuring that your internet surfing is not disrupted.

There is also unlimited bandwidth, which bodes well for customers who want to partake in heavy data consumption activities. If you're a gamer or want to watch many streaming sites, you can do it with PureVPN. Pure even has dedicated streaming servers, and during our research for this PureVPN review, we were able to access Netflix and Disney+ in other countries.

Split tunneling is another feature that customers can take advantage of. With split tunneling, users can decide which websites and applications they want to receive VPN encryption and which they want to send through their regular internet network.

To avoid the effect of blacklisted shared IPs, which can occur when other VPN users do something untoward using the IP address, you can purchase a dedicated IP address. This will ensure that you have your own VPN IP address that you can use for online banking, where you often need a recognizable and regular IP address.

PureVPN gives customers 10 simultaneous connections on each plan, which bodes well for users with a large family as they can share the VPN with other members of their household. PureVPN is compatible with many different operating systems and has Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android apps.

The PureVPN app is extremely easy to use, even if it lacks a little sophistication. You can select the server you wish to connect to by choosing a location or typing in a website and then letting Pure recommend the best server for your needs.

Alternatively, on the app, you can choose a mode, and you'll be connected to a server best suited to the mode you select. There are 5 modes: stream, internet freedom, security/privacy, file-sharing, and dedicated IP. A server and protocols will then be assigned based on your choice. We like that this option removes the decision of choosing a server from the user.

Summary

3
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Is PureVPN Any Good?

We’ve reviewed the main security and extra features that Pure offers its customers, but if you’re interested in using PureVPN, there is a lot more to know about the provider. We’ve looked at some of the most frequently asked questions regarding PureVPN to help you make your mind up as to whether this VPN is the right one for you.

Is PureVPN Good for Netflix?

Consumer VPN software is popular for many reasons, but one of the main benefits it provides to users is that it can help bypass geo-restrictions. In particular, streaming services restrict a lot of their content so that only users in certain countries have access to specific films and TV shows.

Fortunately, PureVPN can help you to enjoy streaming services more freely, thanks to its dedicated streaming servers. These VPN servers offer fast speeds and are designed to help you get past the VPN firewalls set up by platforms such as Netflix.

During our tests, we found that PureVPN does, in fact, unblock Netflix, and we had success streaming libraries in Europe, such as the UK and Germany. We also found that Pure works well with Disney+. One Pure’s website, the provider also states that it can help you access over 50 sports channels, which bodes well for sports fans who want to watch live games.

Unfortunately, PureVPN doesn’t possess the unblocking capabilities of providers like ExpressVPN and NordVPN. We tried several times to access BBC iPlayer in the UK, and our attempts were thwarted. Likewise, we were unable to get through to foreign Amazon Prime Video catalogs. Both of these platforms have strong VPN blocks, so, unsurprisingly, we were not successful. However, since other providers can bypass the firewalls put in place, it begs the question, why can’t PureVPN do so?

Why is PureVPN So Slow?

A commonly asked question about PureVPN is, why is the service slow? When we first connected to a server in the US, we found that our speeds were ok, and this makes sense since the provider supports a 10GB connection speed.

However, during our speed test, we noticed that when we connected to physical servers in further away locations, our download speeds did drop significantly by around 40Mbps. This is quite a dramatic drop, and we definitely noticed the speed when accessing streaming services as we experienced buffering and a lower-quality picture.

Several factors can affect speed, such as physical distance from a server and the server load. Since PureVPN has a large network, it seems unlikely that server load would be the issue. The provider gives people the choice of protocols, which is actually helpful when trying to get faster download speeds.

If you want faster speeds, then you can use the PPTP protocol. While this won’t give you as secure of a connection, it will give you faster speeds. You can also employ the split tunneling feature to encrypt data on selected websites and send the rest through your regular ISP.

So, while PureVPN is the best VPN for consistent speeds, it isn’t terribly slow either. Just make sure that you adjust the protocol and choose a more optimized server if you are experiencing slow speeds.

How Much Does PureVPN Cost?

Price is a decisive factor when choosing a VPN provider. PureVPN seems to frequently change the length of plans it has on offer, but it offers a 2-year, 2-year, and monthly plan at the time of writing.

If you’re a student, then you can enjoy a 15% discount. PureVPN also has frequent offers throughout the year, so it’s worth checking out the website around popular sale times to get a longer subscription for less money.

It’s worth mentioning that you can purchase an add-on at checkout for a small extra cost. Port forwarding costs an extra $0.99 per month, a dedicated IP will set you back $2.99 per month, and DDoS protection is $3.99 per month. Some providers offer these features within their paid plans, so it’s important to note that they must be purchased separately with PureVPN.

What Payment Methods Does PureVPN Accept?

At the time of writing, PureVPN accepts payments for its services only by credit card or PayPal. In the past, customers could purchase a subscription using Bitcoin, which was great for those who wanted more anonymity. However, it seems that this option has now been removed from the site.

Does PureVPN Have a 30-day Money Back Guarantee?

While the industry standard is a 30-day refund policy, PureVPN has a 31-day money-back guarantee, giving people an extra day to test out the services for free.

The money-back guarantee has no strings attached, and no questions are asked if you cancel before the end of the month-long period. It’s good to know that customers can effectively have a month-long trial of the services when signing up for a plan.

What Devices Can I Use PureVPN on?

PureVPN allows its service to be enjoyed on many different operating systems. The VPN has dedicated desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android systems, which come with the provider’s popular features such as a kill switch and split tunneling options.

Aside from the desktop and mobile apps PureVPN offers, it also can be used with Android TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Kodi. There are also Chrome and Firefox browser extensions to solely encrypt the data in your browser. We tested the Chrome browser extension and enjoyed a fast internet connection.

If you want to connect a VPN to your router, you can set up PureVPN on a DD-WRT router. The provider has a step-by-step guide on its website that explains how to do so, and people even get access to an easy-to-use app with a clear interface and which allows you to configure the VPN settings.

You can even protect your gaming console with PureVPN, as the VPN works with both Playstation and Xbox consoles. There is no dedicated app, but you can connect the VPN to your router or create a connection via your computer.

Is PureVPN Based in Hong Kong?

PureVPN is based in Hong Kong, a region that falls outside of the Five Eyes jurisdiction. The fact that Hong Kong isn’t a member of the infamous security alliance means that user data should be more protected and private.

However, as China increases its grip over Hong Kong, it could mean that the region’s favorable data laws change. In fact, many providers have pulled servers from the area in response to the Chinese government’s increased influence in the semi-autonomous region. It’s worth keeping this in mind for the future, as it could pose a problem to PureVPN and its ability to run its services.

Does PureVPN Work in China?

PureVPN is based in Hong Kong, and we can confirm that it does work in China. It has physical servers in China, which is impressive and can bypass the Great Firewall of China. This is good news for residents and visitors to the country, who may want to enjoy more internet freedom than the state permits.

Is PureVPN Good for Torrenting?

PureVPN is a great choice if you torrent. The provider has dedicated P2P servers and has decent download speeds. PureVPN also offers unlimited bandwidth, which bodes well for users who may want to download large files while using the VPN.

Torrenting poses a privacy risk since IP addresses can indicate who has been downloading and what they have downloaded. By using one of PureVPN’s shared IPs, users can enjoy more anonymity when downloading.

Is PureVPN Good For Gaming?

If you’re into gaming, then it is a good idea to get a VPN, and PureVPN is a great choice. It works on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and for an extra fee, you can get protection from DDoS attacks. Moreover, since PureVPN has such a large network of servers, you’ll have unlimited internet access to foreign game stores and will be able to buy cheaper versions of games.

You can also play with friends in other countries and get early access to new releases. Moreover, your privacy will be protected at all times as your real IP address will be hidden, you’ll be able to block bandwidth throttling from your ISP, and still enjoy great features like the kill switch and DNS leak protection.

Does PureVPN Offer Customer Support?

Yes, PureVPN offers a comprehensive customer support service. There is 24/7 customer support in the form of a live chat service on the website, an email service, and a ticket system. There is also a support center on the website that consists of setup guides and a learning center.

Does PureVPN Have Business VPN?

More and more VPN providers are adding business VPN services to their roster, and PureVPN is no different. The business VPN service provides secure encryption to your entire team and network. Moreover, it allows remote connecting to business files, making it a great choice for working from home.

With PureVPN, you can access dedicated IPs in a select number of countries: the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, and Malta. There are also dedicated servers available, and there is a dedicated customer support line for users of the business plan.

An admin panel on the business plan allows you to add and remove members and manage permissions. Each member of the team also gets a separate account, with unique usernames and passwords.

The pricing of the business plan depends on the number of members you have in your team. It actually works out to be cheaper if you have a larger team, but the business VPN can be easily scaled up or down depending on your business growth.

Author Madeleine Hodson

I’m Madeleine, and I'm a writer that specializes in cybersecurity, tech products, and all things related to the internet. I have a keen interest in VPNs and believe that everyone deserves internet freedom and security. I wr...
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