Head to head
The gap
The security score is not a total of good things. It starts at 100 and eight channels each take a share of what is left, so one channel can settle a record on its own. Both records are drawn here on the same scale — the model’s own cap of 0.9 — rather than on a scale fitted to this pair, which would make every comparison look equally dramatic.
Line by line
Every field the contract publishes about a provider, in the contract’s own groups, including the rows where the two agree — a table that printed only differences would invent a disagreement, and one that printed only the interesting rows would be us choosing what is interesting. Open a group to read its rows; each one says how many it holds and how many of them the two records answer differently.
A green cell means the methodology itself prices that value below the other one, not that we prefer it. Rows the model does not price carry no mark at all: price is never marked, because nothing in the model says cheaper is safer, and neither is coverage, platform count or devices. Where a value was never established the cell says so instead of showing a zero.
What actually happened
Other pairs
Pairs within the top ten get a page — 80 comparisons in all. Records below that are not paired here: a comparison earns a page where the choice between the two is a real one, and that choice is made near the top of the register.
Security
Usability
Rank 3 of 68 in the register
Gibraltar · Commercial VPN
Exits in 41 countries
Security
Usability
Rank 6 of 68 in the register
United States · Commercial VPN
Exits in 91 countries
No demand on the public record
1 documented demand, none of which produced data
Notes
On the record as a whole.
First fill 2026-08-26. Sourced entirely from ivpn.net's own pages, the Cure53 audit PDFs and IVPN's blog — no affiliate or review-aggregator site cited.
On the record as a whole.
First fill 2026-08-26, refreshed 2026-09-12 on P03_court_record, P12_case_history and V12_client_open_source, refreshed again 2026-09-13 on M08_user_scale, P02_disclosure_history, P03_court_record, P05_transparency_report, P06_report_plausibility, P08_requests_received, P09_data_provided and P12_case_history, and refreshed again 2026-09-13 on U04_price_monthly and U04b_price_yearly.
The 2026-09-13 pass found PIA had published its Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 transparency reports since the record's last look at Q4 2025; the record now cites the Q2 2026 post (19 requests received, 0 resulting in data provided, covering April-June 2026, published 2026-08-06) as the freshest, with the same subpoenas/warrants/other/foreign breakdown structure as before.
M08_user_scale, P02_disclosure_history, P03_court_record and P12_case_history were re-read against the same sources and stand unchanged; the main transparency-report page still names no case beyond the 2016-2017 subpoenas already on file. The pricing re-read against the same buy-vpn-online page found both figures unchanged: month-to-month $11.95, one-year plan $47.88 billed for the first year and autorenewing at the same $47.88 with no intro/renewal gap, consistent with PIA's flat-rate pricing noted elsewhere in the catalogue.
Sourced from privateinternetaccess.com's own pages and blog, the two Deloitte ISAE 3000 (Revised) 'Independent Limited Assurance Report' PDFs (April 2024 and December 2025, both opened and read directly), Kape Technologies' own site, the Isle of Man/Companies House-sourced reporting on Kape's 2023 take-private by Unikmind Holdings (Teddy Sagi), and the official pia-foss GitHub organisation for the open-source clients.
The public CourtListener docket for United States v. McWaters (9:16-cr-80043, S.D. Fla.) was opened but names no subpoena, VPN provider or outcome; the affiliate writeup (vpncompare.co.uk) that describes that subpoena in detail was dropped as a forbidden source, and TorrentFreak's own coverage returned HTTP 403 to every fetch attempt this run, curl included. P03/P12 now rest on PIA's own transparency-report self-declaration instead.
Wikipedia was dropped from V12 in favour of the GitHub organisation itself. No affiliate or 'best VPN' aggregator site was used as a factual source anywhere in this record, even though several turned up repeatedly in search results with plausible-looking numbers (server counts, user counts, audit dates) that could not be cross-checked against a primary page and were discarded rather than used.
Recent changes
Open questions
Still open on this record.
One no-logs audit, in 2019. IVPN is unusually explicit about what it does not do: its own post states that its last and only no-logs audit was Cure53 in March 2019, and that it has deliberately not repeated the format because such a stamp describes one day and not the days after it.
What the claim rests on now. Every audit since targets apps and services, so the no-logs claim on the infrastructure rests on the March 2019 engagement and on the February 2023 gateway review, not on anything recent.
The audit not yet published. The eighth annual Cure53 audit was scheduled for July 2026 and no report for 2025 or 2026 is published yet, which is why the latest report date is the April 2024 one.
The August 2026 incident. In August 2026 an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the self-hosted BTCPay Server, before it was public, and took IVPN's own Lightning operating funds. IVPN published the account four days later, unprompted, and scoped it to that machine: the VPN gateways were not involved, no customer records were reached, no customer money was lost.
Why it costs nothing. The model charges nothing for this, which is the point — an operator that says so promptly is behaving the way the field is meant to reward, and the entry is here so a reader knows it happened rather than to move a number.
What the engagements covered. The app pentest (iOS, Android, Electron, the daemon) is from March 2022 and the gateway/server-OS review from February 2023; neither tested the no-logs claim itself, the 2023 report says so explicitly, so retention rests on the privacy policy declaration alone.
The latest report is not the relevant one. April 2024's engagement, Cure53's sixth with IVPN, tested the customer account website, API and hosting; its own scope page names client apps and VPN servers out of scope, so it extends neither the app nor the gateway evidence, and V03_audit_subject reads unknown for it rather than carrying that credit forward. The seventh engagement, on the new email and DNS services, was only announced for May 2025; no report for it is published.
What the primary site never establishes. RAM-only is recorded as partial because IVPN describes it as a transition with test deployments under way, and has not announced its completion. Server hardware ownership (leased vs owned), traffic modification at the exit, and the beneficial owner's personal jurisdiction are unestablished: no primary IVPN page states any of the three, nor does user-base scale.
Three fields the knowledgebase answers, not the pages read at first fill. IP allocation is shared by design — "crowding" pools users on one address to blunt attribution. P2P is allowed everywhere, but IVPN asks customers to avoid US exits, citing upstream DMCA pressure. Streaming carries no guarantee, though the company says many customers do reach it.
Still open on this record.
What the report is. The security score rests on a Deloitte Audit SRL limited assurance report under ISAE 3000 (Revised), signed 19 December 2025 for the configuration as of 31 October 2025. Read what that is: the conclusion is negative assurance — "nothing has come to our attention" — against a description PIA's own management wrote, and the report states it provides no assurance for any other period.
Who the report is for. The auditor also restricts the report to PIA management and disclaims responsibility to any other reader, so the strongest document in this record is one whose author declines a duty of care toward the person reading it here. Procedures were performed on a sample basis, which is why fleet coverage is recorded as a sample.
What it did not examine. The report covers infrastructure only. C07a_app_sdk and C12_device_identifier are app-side facts it never examined; they now cite the privacy policy instead, which describes analytics for website visitors and opt-in diagnostic reports carrying platform and app version. Reading either as a statement about SDKs compiled into the app is the weakest link in this record, and the open-source clients are where it would actually be settled.
The 2016 subpoena rests on PIA's own word, not the court file. The only detailed account of the McWaters case (S.D. Fla., 9:16-cr-80043) sits on an affiliate site this record cannot cite; CourtListener's docket for that case names no subpoena, no provider and no outcome. P03_court_record and P12_case_history now stand on PIA's own transparency-report statement that it was subpoenaed in 2016-2017 and produced nothing — a B-level self-declaration, not a verified court record.
12 Sep 20265 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
42 changed to 40
IP allocation modelC03_ip_sharing
not on the record changed to shared
P2P allowedU12a_p2p_allowed
not on the record changed to partial
Major streaming services reachableU12b_streaming_works
not on the record changed to partial
Subject of the latest auditV03_audit_subject
app_security, infrastructure changed to not on the record
13 Sep 20261 changes
Why this provider is in the catalogueM14_inclusion_basis
hand_picked, adverse_record changed to adverse_record
12 Sep 20263 changes
Chronology of documented enforcement eventsP12_case_history
{"date":"2016-03","kind":"subpoena","outcome":"nothing_produced","source_url":"https://www.vpncompare.co.uk/private-internet-access-no-log-claim-put-to-the-test/"} changed to {"date":"2016-03","kind":"subpoena","outcome":"nothing_produced","source_url":"https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/transparency-report"}
Security scoresecurity.score
27 changed to 25
Requests received in periodP08_requests_received
30 changed to 19
30 Aug 20261 changes
Weakest protocol still offeredC13_weakest_protocol
wireguard changed to not on the record
IVPN and Private Internet Access were assessed by the HushFleet team: IVPN scores 38/100 for security, in the Weak band, and Private Internet Access 25/100, in the Insufficient band. They share an independent audit. The 13-point gap opens widest on Integrity — “Has it been caught saying one thing and doing another?” — taking 0% from IVPN and 46% from Private Internet Access.
By circumstance
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | Allowed on some servers partial | Allowed yes |
| Streaming | Some services reachable partial | Reachable yes |
| Devices at once | 5 | unlimited |
| Under censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
| Exits in mandate countries | None | 6 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Vietnam |
| Hosting in those countries | — the question does not arise | Physical and virtual both mixed |
| Company under a mandate | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Secret orders | No secret-order regime on record none_known | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalent |
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | IVPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse | Private Internet AccessDominant channel: Integrity0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.526 | 0.188 |
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.000 | 0.459 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.030 | 0.272 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.063 | 0.101 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.061 | 0.071 |
| ArchitectureWho operates the exit, and what does it do to the traffic? | 0.050 | 0.050 |
| DisclosureHas it already handed something over? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| SilenceTen years, millions of users and nothing on record? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| What is left of 100The channels multiply: each one takes a share of what the one before it left standing | 38 | 25 |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 38 weak · rank 3 of 68 | 25 insufficient · rank 6 of 68 |
| Usability | 66 out of 100 | 73 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 89% usability 100% | 89% usability 100% |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the exit | Run by the provider itself provider_operated | Run by the provider itself provider_operated |
| Retention as declared | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable |
| RAM-only diskless servers | Part of the fleet partialBivpn.net · | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verifiedAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| IP allocation model | Exit address shared between users sharedBivpn.net · | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_optionBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Signup without email | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBivpn.net · 2 sources · | No, an email address is required noBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Anonymous payment options | Cash · Cryptocurrency paid directlyBivpn.net · 2 sources · | Cryptocurrency through a processorBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | No third-party SDK noneBivpn.net · | Analytics analyticsBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | Analytics analytics | Analytics analytics |
| Who owns the hardware | — not establishedno source published | Owned by the provider ownedBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | NoneBivpn.net · | 6 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, VietnamBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Hosting in the mandate countries it offers | — the question does not ariseno source published | Physical and virtual both mixedBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Incorporation country mandates retention | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Beneficial owner sits under a retention regime | — not establishedno source published | No such regime noBcains.com · |
| Persistent device identifier | An identifier scoped to the app app_scoped_id | An identifier scoped to the app app_scoped_id |
| Weakest protocol still offered | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | — not established | — not established |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| At least one independent audit | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified |
| How the report is published | The full report is published full_pdf | The full report is published full_pdf |
| Subject of the audit | — not establishedAcure53.de · | The no-logs claim itself · The infrastructureAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Server fleet coverage | — the question does not ariseno source published | A sample of servers sampleAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Auditor name |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | No seizure on record none_known | No seizure on record none_known |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produce | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produce |
| Response to a national logging mandate | Was never present in that country no_presenceBivpn.net · | Pulled its servers out rather than comply withdrew_physicalBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Transparency report | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | No documented lie noneCcure53.de · 3 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
| Marketing against audit findings | No gap on record noneCcure53.de · 3 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
| Ownership structure transparency | Ownership is stated and checkable clearBivpn.net · | Ownership is partly stated partialBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Adverse events on the owner group record |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | IVPN Limited, 5 Secretary's lane, GX11 1AA, GibraltarBivpn.net · | PIA Private Internet Access, Inc., 5555 DTC Parkway, Suite 360, Greenwood Village, CO 80111, USAAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Where the company sits | Gibraltar GIBivpn.net · 2 sources · | United States USAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Year the service launched | 2009Bivpn.net · |
| IVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 6 Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, RoutersBivpn.net · | 9 Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Routers, Android TV, Apple TV, Browser extensionBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Countries with an exit | 41 countriesBivpn.net · | 91 countriesBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Paying monthly | $6.00 per monthBivpn.net · | $11.95 per month |
| Deloitte Audit SRL (Romania)Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Auditor category | A security specialist security_specialistno source published · | One of the Big Four big4Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Assurance standard | Another standard otherno source published · | ISAE 3000 isae3000Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Date of latest report | 2024-04-08Acure53.de · | 2025-12-19Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | An annual series annual_seriesBivpn.net · 4 sources · | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregularBprivateinternetaccess.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| Total published audits | 7Bivpn.net · | 3Bprivateinternetaccess.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | The report does not address retention not_statedBivpn.net · | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Client source code published | Every client all | Every client all |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Separate pentest | Yes, and the report was read yes_verifiedAcure53.de · 3 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | — the question does not ariseno source published | A limited-assurance conclusion limitedAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Reported numbers plausible for this scale |
|---|
The numbers are plausible at this scale plausible |
The numbers are plausible at this scale plausible |
| Warrant canary discipline | Kept current maintainedBivpn.net · | Never had one noneBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Requests received | 34Bivpn.net · | 19Bprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | No secret-order regime on record none_knownBivpn.net · 2 sources · | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalentCeff.org · |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | 0 No demand on the public recordBivpn.net · 2 sources · | 1 documented demandBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
Nothing adverse on record cleanCivpn.net · |
A history of adware or malware adware_malware_historyCen.wikipedia.org · 3 sources · |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_only | Paid subscriptions only paid_only |
|---|
| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | Makes no such claim noBivpn.net · | Claims total anonymity or military-grade encryption yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | Covered outside affiliate sites too no | Covered outside affiliate sites too no |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | Disclosed by the provider, promptly self_disclosed_promptBivpn.net · | No incident on record none_knownCprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | No affiliate programme noneBivpn.net · | A standard payout standardBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
|---|
| App store declaration | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy |
|---|
| 2010Cen.wikipedia.org · |
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) | — not establishedno source published | Mid: a million users or more midBinvestegate.co.uk · |
|---|
| Ultimate beneficial owner as written | Nicholas Pestell, founder and CEO, 100% owner of IVPN LimitedBivpn.net · | Teddy Sagi, via Unikmind Holdings Limited (Isle of Man), sole shareholder of Kape Technologies plc since the May 2023 delisting; Kape owns PIA Private Internet Access, Inc.Cen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | None disclosedCivpn.net · | Antivirus · A review directory · Adtech or adwareCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | — not establishedno source published | IMBcains.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Owner group | independentBivpn.net · | kapeBkape.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | — the question does not ariseno source published | 2019-12Bkape.com · |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | The group's principal brand principalBivpn.net · | A secondary brand secondary_brandCkape.com · |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | Separate infrastructure separateBivpn.net · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Paying yearly | $60.00 a year at renewal, billed onceBivpn.net · | $47.88 a year at renewal, billed onceBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier none | No free tier none |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 4 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, An obfuscated protocolBivpn.net · 2 sources · | 3 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2Bhelpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | On every platform all_platforms | On every platform all_platforms |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | 5Bivpn.net · | unlimitedBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | No account needed no_accountBivpn.net · 2 sources · | An email address only email_onlyBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| P2P allowed | Allowed on some servers partialBivpn.net · | Allowed yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | Some services reachable partialBivpn.net · | Reachable yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
