purevpn is a commercial VPN product by GZ Systems Ltd., a British Virgin Islands limited company. The VPN service has applications for all major desktop operating systems and mobile operating systems, as well as standalone setup instructions for consoles and other devices.
PureVPN Key Takeaway
- Programs and apps are easy to use, yet they tend to be useless when it comes to configuration options.
- No logging policy verified through third-party audit. Information leaked in 2017 (before audit).
- 24/7 live chat support
- 31 day money-back guarantee
Summary of PureVPN’s main features and specifications
- system compatibility: Browser extensions for Windows, Mac and Linux, Android and iOS, Chrome and Firefox, routers and other devices
- Price determination: 1 month: $10.95, 1 year: $5.83 per month, 2 years: $5.82 per month
- features: Killswitch, Split Tunneling, P2P Dedicated Servers, 0-Logging, Paid Add-ons: Port Forwarding, Dedicated IP Address, DDoS Protection
Pros and Cons of PureVPN
Pros
- Supports up to 10 simultaneous connections.
- Servers optimized for P2P and streaming (via browser extensions).
- Passed a no-logging audit (following an incident in 2017 when it leaked information to the FBI). Entered into an agreement with the auditing company to conduct surprise audits without any prior warning to regain user trust.
- Good operating system and device support.
Shortcoming
- The apps are somewhat clunky to use and lack features.
- Some streaming services cannot be unblocked using PureVPN
- Linux application is command-line based only.
Download Alternatives for PureVPN
Main download pages for all desktop programs and mobile applications: purevpn download
PureVPN Alternatives
The following table lists PureVPN’s key features and compares them to other VPN services we’ve recently reviewed on this site.
| purevpn | nordvpn | expressvpn | drank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| server | >6500 | >5200 | >3000 | unknown |
| places | 78 countries | 59 countries | 94 countries | 78 countries |
| connection | 10 | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| kill switch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| split tunneling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| content blocking | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| 0-logging | Yes | yes, verified | yes, verified | yes, verified |
| smart dns | No | No | Yes | No |
| media streaming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands | panama | hong kong | United States of America |
| other features | Port forwarding, dedicated IP address, DDoS protection as a paid add-on. | Obfuscated Servers, Tor Servers, Double-VPN Connections | Custom WireGuard based protocol lightway | Customize OpenVPN parameters, open source |
| Price (cheapest, per month, longest subscription period) | $5.8 | $3.30 | $8.32 | $2.19 |
what is purevpn
PureVPN is a VPN service that requires a subscription. It is available for all modern operating systems and can also be added manually to routers and other hardware. PureVPN offers a 31-day money back guarantee.
Why do you need it?
VPN connections are useful in many ways. One of the main features is that interaction with sites and services on the Internet occurs through a VPN, which means that the IP address of the VPN is used, and not the user’s IP address.
Other benefits include options to bypass geographical restrictions, for example streaming Netflix or Hulu while abroad, protection against spying from governments, ISPs and network operators.
Privacy is a key feature when using a VPN, but they also serve other purposes:
- For P2P activities, which may be blocked or not allowed in a country.
- To unblock streaming services offered in other regions, for example watching Hulu, Disney+, or HBO.
- To access sites that are blocked on the network, by the ISP, or by the government.
- If the VPN routing is better than the ISP’s routing, they can improve performance.
How does PureVPN work?
PureVPN is available as a desktop program, as a mobile application, as a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome, and through manual setup for consoles and routers.
Customers require a subscription to use the PureVPN service, and they can use it on up to 10 devices simultaneously. To start using the service all you need to do is establish a connection to PureVPN using the installed application.
Analysis of PureVPN features
PureVPN ticks the right boxes in a number of key areas when it comes to VPN services. It has been audited that the company does not log what customers do when connected to the network, and IP tests have confirmed that IP information is not leaked. Apps and programs are available for all major operating systems, but Linux apps are command line only.
The VPN has dedicated streaming servers and P2P servers, and these worked well most of the time during tests. Unblocking streaming providers is often hit and miss, as providers like Netflix, HBO or Disney may block VPN server IP addresses.
We got good results for some services, including Netflix and Disney Plus, when using a VPN connection.
Privacy and Security Features of PureVPN
PureVPN has some privacy and security features. Its applications come with kill switch functionality, which disables the device’s Internet connection when the connection to the VPN is closed. Split tunneling is also supported, enabling VPN connections only for select applications.
The service uses AES-256 encryption, which is the standard at the moment. WireGuard, a modern protocol that is simpler and more secure, is supported, but may need to be enabled manually.
PureVPN Speed and Leakage Test
Speed and connection performance are an essential criteria when choosing a VPN. While there are other things to consider, for example privacy and security features, or price, it is important that download and upload speeds and ping do not drop too much when a VPN connection is established.
I ran all the speed tests three times to get an average value. The Internet connection I tested the speed on was a 100 Mbit download, 40 Mbit upload line. The first test was used to get a base value for Internet connection speed (without VPN). Two other tests benchmarked speeds and ping on local and remote VPN servers.
The company has recently upgraded several key server locations with faster hardware
Without VPN:
- Download Speed: 106Mbps
- Upload Speed: 33Mbps
- Ping: 11 ms
Local VPN Server Connection (Germany – Germany)
- Download Speed: 94Mbps
- Upload Speed: 32Mbps
- Ping: 21 ms
Remote VPN Server Connection (Germany – USA)
- Download Speed: 70Mbps
- Upload Speed: 32Mbps
- Ping: 153ms
The local speed results were quite good. In testing the download speed dropped by about 10%, the upload speed remained almost the same. Ping doubled but was still acceptable at 21 ms.
Connections to servers located far away, in this case from Germany to the US, are always a bit of a hassle when it comes to ping. In this case the download speed dropped further by 20 Mbit, while the upload speed again remained the same.
leak test
I ran several leak tests to find out if the device’s IP address, or other information, was leaked when connected to PureVPN. PureVPN passes all tests: IP address is not leaked when users connect to the VPN.
How to use PureVPN
PureVPN is available for all major desktop and mobile platforms. It can also be installed on routers, gaming consoles, and other devices, for example by manually adding the VPN to the router’s configuration.
Step 1: Install PureVPN
Setting up PureVPN is straightforward. The Windows client only displays a few options: You may want to uncheck the installation of Chrome extensions during setup if you don’t need it. Browser extensions include special features that extend the functionality of a VPN. Special mention should be made of the option to connect to a popular streaming website, such as Netflix US, ITV Player UK, or BBC iPlayer. The browser extension also prevents WebRTC IP leaking.
You can specify the installation directory on Windows.
Step 2: Configure PureVPN Client
The Windows client is somewhat useless when it comes to options. This immediately displays the option to connect to the server. All other options are displayed as icons on the left side of the PureVPN window.
The second icon displays available server space. It has a search option, displays pings for servers you’ve previously connected to, and includes options to add servers to favorites for quick access. Preferred servers are only displayed on the Servers page, not the homepage, which means you have to make an extra click before you can connect to one of the preferred servers.
There are just a few options listed in Settings. You can enable launch on system start and auto-connect to the VPN when the PureVPN application starts. If you do this, you can select a server you want it to automatically connect to.
The Internet kill switch is enabled by default, which is good. PureVPN automatically chooses the protocol by default. You can turn this off to manually select the protocol, IKEv2, TCP, UDP, WireGuard instead. WireGuard is the logical choice, as it is the most modern protocol, but you get a warning that some features may not work if the protocol is enabled.
Split tunneling works by selecting those applications that will use the VPN connection, while all others do not. This can be useful if you want to watch Netflix US or Japan using a VPN while using a regular internet connection for other activities.
The VPN app includes the option to share your free monthly account via email or link. Finally, PureVPN added an FAQ section to the app, which answers questions like “How do I change the protocol”, “I’m not able to connect”, or “I’m getting slow speeds”.
Step 3: Connect to the Server
To connect to the server you will need to go back to the home screen. It would be better if preferred servers were available directly from that screen, since you only get recommended servers there by default.
Company behind PureVPN
PureVPN is owned by GZ Systems Ltd., which is based in the Virgin British Islands, according to the website. If you research PureVPN, you will soon find a connection to Gaditech, a company based in Karachi, Pakistan. You’ll find PureVPN listed as one of the company’s brands official website.
Bottom line, is PureVPN worth it?
PureVPN is a solid choice when it comes to VPNs. It’s not the cheapest or fastest, nor the VPN with the most impressive features. Things have improved significantly for the company in recent times: server upgrades have improved speeds at key locations, and independent audits have allowed the company to regain some of its credibility following the 2017 incident.
The apps suck for the most part and need to be improved to be on par with top providers like NordVPN. Still, if you can get a subscription at a discount, for example during Black Friday week, you will have access to a better service.
Disclaimer
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