If you are looking for a way to protect your personal data as you browse around online and have heard about PureVPN, you might have considered it as a good platform to help you do that, right?
And I am guessing you want to know what it is all about and how effective it is in that area, isn’t it?
Well, this detailed PureVPN review will be taking an in-depth look into the platform and will be covering areas like what PureVPN is exactly, how it works, its main features, customer reviews, pros and cons, how to use it, cost and discounts, and how it compares with other similar platforms.
With that said, let’s get straight into things here.
Name: PureVPN
Website: www.purevpn.com
Price: varies with each plan
Rating: 80/100
Table of Contents
What is PureVPN
This is a VPN service provider that offers you online data protection services as well as unrestricted access to various resources online such as the location-based restrictions on different streaming services, bank, and business-based protection services, and more.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network which is pretty much a form of technology that helps you hide the IP address that reveals your location and other sensitive information about you and it adds a layer of protection to your online data to keep surveillance away from your online activities.
PureVPN offers these services with the aim of helping you secure your information and get unlimited access to the internet across all your devices.
PureVPN is available in over 140 countries, has over 6500 servers, and is available in over 180 locations. This goes to show that it has such wide coverage and so you can choose your location based on availability and use it seamlessly.
The service also has over 3 million users proving it to be a popular platform that has been trusted by many for their VPN needs.
PureVPN was created by a company based in Hong Kong known as GZ systems in 2006, and from there started operations in 2007 with only two locations. However, with time and improvements, the service grew to serve 16 more locations.
From there the company increased its coverage and also initiated its first consumer software for Mac and Windows. Later on, between 2011 and 2012, they began their iOS and Android apps, and with that their growth continued to scale higher providing users with more functionalities and freedom.
How PureVPN works
This service works mainly to protect you as you surf online.
It achieves this through creating a form of a “tunnel” that runs from your device to an internet server.
Through the created “tunnel”, all your information passes there and it gets encrypted or secured if you like, and as a result, blocks any hackers, ISPs (Internet Service Providers), or basically anyone from viewing or accessing any of the data you put out there as you are carrying out various tasks online such as visiting websites that ask for personal information, sharing files and streaming online videos and movies, among others.
Now PureVPN supports numerous great tunneling protocols and extreme encryption, and this is what ensures you utmost data security.
In fact, as you carry out your online activities, you can do so without having to worry about anyone watching.
The service can therefore be used by both individuals and employers seeking to protect themselves from prying eyes.
Features of PureVPN
This is what PureVPN offers to make your experience much better and smoother;
~ Provides you with internet security through securing your WiFi, the VPN kill switch that disables your connection if the VPN connection goes down just to secure your privacy, port forwarding to block hackers, offering you an IP add-on to give you control over your online reputation and also through DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection.
~ Access to all their servers regardless of the plan that you choose
~ Access to over 6500 servers in 180+ locations
~ Unlimited bandwidth so you can stream, browse and download as much as you want
~ 24 hour live chat support so that if you are experiencing any issues, you can contact an agent at any time
~ Allows split tunneling which allows you to choose the kind of data you want to send through VPN or ISP.
~ Access to their smart and easy to use apps that help you access PureVPN’s services on your mobile devices
~ Supports many devices be it PCs, routers, smartphone, Amazon Fire TV stick, Smart TV, Kodi, browser extensions, and gaming consoles
~ Allows for 10 simultaneous multi logins
~ Gives you internet freedom through p2p (peer to peer) protection, superfast speed of 10 Gbit, superfast streaming servers, access to restricted sites, fast p2p file sharing, and ability to defeat ISP throttling by getting unlimited server switching to make your connection unknown
~ Offers you great internet privacy through masking your IP address, DNS (Domain Name System) leak protection, WebRTC leak protection, surfing anonymously, IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) leak protection to fully protect you as you use the internet, allowing you to use your encrypted VPN connection and your ISP connection at the same time through the iOS on-demand feature
~ Uses the 256-bit (military grade) encryption to provide solid data protection services
PureVPN Customer Reviews
Generally, the feedback of the users on PureVPN was positive. People love the services the company is offering.
However, there are some complaints about two main aspects, these are, the slow-to-respond customer support (although it has been improved over time) and fairly slower speeds compared to its competitors.
Yes, it does have a good amount of speed that you can work with, but it is definitely not the fastest out there.
Other than those two, the company seems to be doing a great job.
Here is exactly what some of the users said about PureVPN:
The Positive Reviews
“I am very thankful to Adam reeds who provided me quality assistance on Live chat. He is very polite and helpful.”
“Alex helped me out with an upgrade tonight. Fantastic service… Been using the service for a year – works as needed, every time. Happy being secure!”
“5 stars for Neelov. Superb customer service.”
“I have been using PureVPN for 3 years and am very satisfied with its interface, features, and security. Kudos to PureVPN!!”
“Had a little issue logging into my account on the firestick contacted live chat issue was solved in minutes great service.”
The Negative Reviews
“My experience has been satisfactory but the only thing that I could say as something negative about this platform is the cost, it is a bit high compared to other platforms on the market. I have had no problems or inconveniences.”
“There are times when the VPN will have trouble connecting. Especially in public wi fi connections where it is most useful.”
“In an older version, the VPN stopped working after going into sleep and getting back on, however I didn’t got this problem since I updated the VPN. I can’t see oversea programs when I go on Netflix with it on, but my guess is that Netflix no longer check according to the VPN location but according to the account since other websites indeed see me in another country.”
Read more user reviews here.
Pros and Cons of PureVPN
The Pros
~ Offers a 31-day money-back guarantee
~ Offers great support to its customers with live chat especially if they need help in a specific area.
~ Easy to set up on any device you are using
~ High quality and useful features
~ Supports the use of multiple devices
~ Goes through firewalls
~ Is frequently improved and thus makes the user experience much better with each time
~ Safeguards even your crypto activities
~ Supports a wide variety of protocols
~ Provides a Chrome extension that you can use on your Chrome browser without having to go to PureVPN’s main website
The Cons
~ Conflicts with local internet might occur
~ Download speeds might be slow sometimes
~ While the support is great and helpful, it takes some time for them to reply
~ You pay extra for a dedicated IP, DDOS protection, and port forwarding services
~ Bad reputation after the 2017 case with no logs policy that showed that PureVPN does store some of your data
How To Use PureVPN
These are the steps you want to follow for effective use of PureVPN:
Step 1. Go to purevpn.com
Step 2. Choose your desired plan then pay for the subscription
Step 3. Download the PureVPN app then install it into your device
Step 4. Sign up with the app by providing your username and password
Step 5. Connect to one of PureVPN’s locations
Step 6. Access the features you want to make use of and make the most of them
Now to ensure that you are using PureVPN to its fullest potential, try to learn as much as you can about each of its features and how to best use it. There are tutorials and an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page to help with that.
Also, contact support if you experience any technical issues. You may have to wait for a while before you get a response but you are surely going to get one.
Try to exercise patience in the event that you are experiencing speed issues because most times they are often temporary and will work normally after some time.
However, in the case of extremely slow speed for days or weeks then you should contact the support team to have that resolved.
PureVPN Pricing Plans
Here are the 3 pricing plans of PureVPN with the discounts included:
√5 year plan $1.48/month
√1 year plan $4.16/month
√1-month plan $10.95 billed every month
The company says that the discounts are for a limited time period and will be going back to the normal prices soon.
The payment methods available are through credit card, PayPal, cryptocurrencies which are non-refundable, Payment Wall, Ali Pay, Blue Snap, and gift cards which are also non-refundable.
Competitor Comparison
Since PureVPN is not the only service provider of its kind, let’s look at how it compares to some of its top competitors, specifically, NordVPN, ProtonVPN, Private VPN, ExpressVPN, and Cyberghost.
√NordVPN vs PureVPN
This is another VPN service provider that helps encrypt your internet traffic and hides your location as well as IP address.
Compared to PureVPN that offers a 31-day guarantee, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you get an extra day with PureVPN.
When it comes to the pricing plans, NordVPN’s plans are slightly more expensive with the monthly plan going for $11.95 and the year plan going for $4.96 per month, when calculated on a monthly basis.
In addition to this, whilst PureVPN has over 6500 servers in 140 countries, this one has 5518 in 59 countries. So you get more coverage with PureVPN.
Moreover, NordVPN can only support up to 6 simultaneous connections when PureVPN allows you up to 10.
Looking further at the features, both have a few similarities nevertheless, NordVPN only allows for split funneling through its Chrome and Firefox while PureVPN offers that completely all the way.
However, NordVPN’s speeds are faster than those of PureVPN and their customer service offers a quick response.
Between the two, I would go for PureVPN in terms of the features it comes with. But if you want a quick response and a faster performance, you can get NordVPN.
√ProtonVPN vs PureVPN
This is a Switzerland based VPN solution that helps you enjoy great performance, speed, and security.
When put up against PureVPN, this one has only 1077 servers in 54 countries and with it, you can only have 5 simultaneous connections.
It offers a free plan, however, the other plans are slightly expensive ranging from £4 to £24 per month.
Looking at features generally, PureVPN definitely has more advanced features which give it a slight edge over ProtonVPN.
√PrivateVPN vs PureVPN
PrivateVPN is yet another VPN service provider that allows you unlimited safety, support, and speed.
Regarding how it compares with PureVPN, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, serves 60 countries, and through it, you can carry up to 6 simultaneous connections.
Comparing the pricing plans of the two, PrivateVPN range from $8.10 per month and get lower if you buy 3 months plan or a year’s worth of subscription, which makes it slightly more affordable plans than PureVPN.
However, it is safe to say that you pay more with PureVPN for the extra features you get which makes PureVPN still worth getting.
So I would still go with PureVPN here.
√ExpressVPN vs PureVPN
This platform helps you with censorship and unrestricted access content to allow you unlimited access to social media, music, videos, and much more from any part of the world.
Putting it up against Pure VPN, it’s different because it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, is available in 94 countries and 160 locations.
Its pricing plans are slightly higher with the monthly plan going for $12.95 per month and the yearly plan for a discounted price of $8.32 per month.
While PureVPN takes up to 10 connections, ExpressVPN takes up to 5 connections but you can make it completely limitless using their router app.
Based on the features and user reviews, many users prefer ExpressVPN because of its few extra features that go a long way as well as the great customer support system.
√Cyberghost vs PureVPN
Cyberghost also offers quite some features for online data protection.
It has higher coverage of over 6700 servers in 88 countries and you can use up to 7 devices simultaneously with it.
Its money-back guarantee gives you 2 weeks guarantee on the monthly plan and a 45 days guarantee on the longer subscription plans.
Its pricing plans are a bit on the higher side ranging from $12.95 a month for the monthly subscription plan to $3.99 per month for the yearly subscription plan.
Cyberghost’s customer service is also great as they offer live chats, something PureVPN doesn’t.
In this case, I would recommend Cyberghost if they have servers in your location because they offer a better deal.
My Final Thoughts
PureVPN is a great service to work with for all your data protection needs because it provides you with high quality and unique features at affordable prices.
For this reason, I recommend it if you intend to protect yourself online so that you are not vulnerable to data theft or any forms of attacks or spying.
Nonetheless, I acknowledge that the platform is not completely perfect and that is why you might experience some minor issues here and there, especially with customer service and the performance speeds.
If you really care about these two issues, you should consider getting Cyberghost or ExpressVPN as they much better.
And that’s pretty much it.
I hope this review has been insightful as far as PureVPN and VPNs in general go.
And if you have any thoughts or questions, please feel free to drop them below and I will get back to you the soonest. 🙂