PureVPN can honestly say they are the original personal VPN service provider. The idea for PureVPN was born in 2006 when a small Hong-Kong based company experimented with a service to unblock Geo-restricted websites and online security. Launched commercially in 2007, PureVPN extolled the values of “Quality, Freedom and Choice of Connectivity.” In this PureVPN review, we will highlight those values and then some.
Contents
Advantages
- Easy-to-use
- 80,000+ IP addresses from 450+ servers in 100+ countries
- Very affordable with as low as $4.16 per month price
- Supports almost every major platform (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, BlackBerry)
- Supports manual installation on Linux
- Configurable on routers to support consoles and SmartTVs
- Five multi logins with one account
- 24/7 live support
- Automatic Purpose, Protocol and Fastest Server selection feature
- Supports PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, OpenVPN & IKEv2
Disadvantages
- Offers free trials only occasionally
- Money-back guarantee for three days only
What is PureVPN?
Protecting your online identity and data is a must. We simply cannot afford the risk of allowing a hacker or any third-party to get their hands on our data to use it for targeted (read: annoying) advertising campaigns or worst still, to black mail us or release our private information to the general public.
While antivirus software does it very best to protect us against malicious software, it only does so by being reactive, i.e. it springs into action only after a threat is detected. Plus, it doesn’t fare well against hackers, government surveillance agencies, and third-parties that monitor our online activities for their personal evil motives.
There is where a VPN – specifically PureVPN – takes the center stage. Unlike antivirus software, PureVPN is proactive, i.e. it does not wait for a threat to arrive to spring into action. Firstly, it minimizes, if not eliminates, the threat of an attack by making a user practically invisible and completely anonymous to hackers, surveillance agencies and other third-parties. Secondly, it protects every little molecule of information with up to 256-bit of military-grade encryption, and tunnels it securely, making is practically impossible for anyone to break through or decipher the data.
Thirdly, it helps users overcome every restriction, geo-restriction, censorship policy, and blockage so that the users can access the content of their choice from wherever they want, whenever they want. For instance, we all know that Netflix is restricted to certain countries. So what if a Netflix subscriber travels from the US to let’s say Brazil? The answer is that even though the user has a valid Netflix subscription, they will not be able to watch their favorite programs because of geo-restrictions.
But with PureVPN, they will simply connect to a US server and appear to be in the US. Problem solved!
Features
If a VPN service or VPN product is not flexible enough to accommodate users from different regions, using different devices, having different requirements and facing different situations, then the VPN is not good enough. This is one area where PureVPN outshines its competitors. PureVPN supports just about any device with an internet connection. It is simple enough to be easily used by the least tech-savvy of people. It works wonder for when you want to be anonymous, when you want to access blocked or restricted content or when you want to ensure extra security for conducting financial transactions.
In short, it is a versatile piece of technology that takes anything that you could throw at it.
Here is What PureVPN Offers
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited server switching
- Five multi logins
- 256-bit of ultra-tech encryption
- Security and connectivity protocols
- 99% uptime
- Revolutionary add-ons like Internet Kill Switch, DDoS Protection, Web Protection and NAT Firewall, SmartDNS, etc.
- Purpose Selection feature
- Automatic Protocol Selection feature
- Fastest Server Selection feature
- 3-days money-back guarantee
- Live support 24/7
- Global server network and IPs
- One-click software and apps
- And many other features
Price/Package
PureVPN offers three package plans for as little as $4.16 per month. Plus, the company is known for launching regular discount campaigns. The current campaign by the company offers two years of service for the price of one! This brings the monthly subscription charges down to $2.08! We don’t know of any other VPN service provider offering the same features for the same price.
Payment Options
PureVPN offers a plethora payment options, making it easier than ever before for internet users to get complete internet freedom. Internet users have nearly 50 payment options to get a PureVPN subscription. Some of the most popular payments include PayPal, Credit Card, Debit Card, Bitcoin, Skrill, Payza, WebMoney along with Western Union and Bank Transfer options.
Servers
PureVPN has more than 450 servers in 100+ countries. While the number itself is astonishing, PureVPN’s network is self-managed and self-engineered. The servers support up to 1Gbit connection along with the latest protocols including PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, OpenVPN & IKEv2. Besides, PureVPN has also servers for dedicated or static IPS, and has designated DDoS protected servers for users who are looking to get DDoS protection. As of now, PureVPN is the only VPN provider offering DDoS protection.
Speed
Speed is another area where PureVPN triumphs its peers in the VPN industry. Given the fact that the speed does decrease somewhat regardless of which VON service you are using, PureVPN has dedicated add-ons to solve this issue. The Dedicated Streaming add-on and SmartDNS ensure smooth connectivity and buffer-free streaming. PureVPN ensure the best possible speed by maintaining its own Gigabit network of 450+ Servers with automatic load balancing for the fastest VPN experience, anytime and every time.
Connectivity
PureVPN is compatible with almost every device with an internet connection. This includes PCs, laptops, tablets, smart devices, smart TVs, gaming consoles, routers, Macs, iPhone, iPad, iPod, and the list continues. This flexibility of service means that no matter where you are, which device your are using, wherever you are travelling to, and which mode of transportation you are using, you can remain protected, anonymous, and completely free to access the content of your choice even while on the go.
Encryption
PureVPN is based in Hong Kong and that means that it is not mandatory for them to keep logs since there are no mandatory data retention laws in Hong Kong. Moreover, PureVPN has a very stringent and strict NO LOGS policy to the point that even they do not know what you are doing online.
They also do not share any data with ANYONE. There are, however, some dos and don’ts of using their service that are mentioned in their TOS. One of them is using specific servers for P2P file-sharing activities, but that also means that users looking to upload/download files via P2P file-sharing will always receive good speed since PureVPN has specially dedicated and designated servers for it.
Interface
PureVPN has one the easiest and simple-to-use interfaces in the VPN industry. The dashboard of the software allows you to do everything from selecting the fastest server to selecting a protocol to selecting a purpose to providing additional information to providing access to tutorials to entering your credentials. It’s like your very own cockpit, where you are the pilot in control of his own destination.
Customer Support
This is another area where PureVPN takes the leads and maintains it by a long mile. Very few VPN providers have the option of live support 24/7 available for their users, and PureVPN is not only one of them, it pioneered this concept.
PureVPN’s support staff is available round-the-clock, plus they have tutorials, pictorials, and detailed guides for almost every little thing. The guides and other support material is very easy to read and understand, and if at any point you are stuck at anything, then their live support is always just a click away.
Extras
The most impressive feature of PureVPN is the “Internet Kill Switch” which disables all of your internet activity if you lose internet connection, or a connection goes down for whatever reason. PureVPN kills the VPN connection which is restored once the internet connection and a VPN connection are reestablished. Internet Kill Switch disables those few precious seconds when your true identity is exposed.
PureVPN also offers add-ons such as NAT firewall, HDX Streaming and Dedicated IP for a small additional fee ($4.99 USD/each). These add-ons keep incoming traffic at bay, boost your streaming speed and extra 20Mbps and allow you to have you very own dedicated IP for accessing dedicated servers, databases and website control panels.
What we didn’t like
Refund Policy
There is no free trial period, and their money back guarantee lacks much to be desired. PureVPN only offers a three (3) days money back guarantee, hardly enough time to test out the product and determine if its right for you. Their return policy is a bit stringent as well.
You may ask for a refund if you haven’t used more than 500MB of data transfer (bandwidth) or 30 sessions. So if you don’t use the service within three days you can get your money back. Aside from the return policy the only other thing that didn’t impress us was the protocol list.
Protocols
PureVPN offers the standard protocols, PPTP, SSTP, L2TP/ IPSec, IKEv2 and SSL-based OpenVPN, but even their website will tell you which is best for security and worst for streaming. One of the features of their protocols is split tunneling, impressive in and of itself, but not unless you have administrator rights on your system (and administrator knowledge). For a guest in your home or a family member, this will not work. There are also some issues with the OpenVPN that leaves much to be desired.
Final Verdict
We have ranked PureVPN at 9.6 out of a possible 10 because of their versatility, dependability, affordability, and ease of use. No other service offers 80,000+ IPs from 450+ servers in 100+ countries at this price. Plus, PureVPN provides the pace of mind that’s impossible to put a price tag on.
