NordVPN vs PIA (2026): Which VPN Is Better?

NordVPN is the better VPN for most people. It wins the rounds most buyers care about: it unblocks far more streaming (17 Netflix libraries to PIA’s 4 in Top10VPN’s October 2026 tests), covers more countries (150 to 113) and adds post-quantum encryption and more security extras. Across our 11 rounds it won 4, Private Internet Access won 3, and 4 were draws.

PIA is cheaper ($2.19 a month to NordVPN’s $3.49), covers unlimited devices and offers port forwarding, so it suits big households, torrent seeders and tight budgets. Prices are in US dollars, checked on 22 October 2026, during NordVPN’s Black Friday sale. We compared both from their own websites, help centers and server lists, and credit speed and streaming results to the testers who ran them.

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NordVPN vs PIA at a Glance

New to NordVPN? Our guide to what NordVPN is and what each plan includes covers the basics.

Price and Renewal: PIA Is Cheaper

PIA costs less on every plan length you can compare. Its 2-year deal, the offer our link opens, is $2.19 a month. PIA’s regular order page also lists 1-year and 3-year plans, and the 3-year one renews for far less than NordVPN:

NordVPN’s Black Friday sale does narrow the gap on its better plans. Complete, which adds anti-malware, an ad and tracker blocker, the NordPass password manager and 1 TB of cloud storage, is $3.99 a month ($107.73 for 27 months), although it renews at $219.48 a year. Our NordVPN price guide lists every plan, and PIA’s pricing guide covers PIA’s. PIA’s offer page says only that its 2-year plan renews “yearly thereafter”, without a price.

EXPERT SUMMARY

PIA is cheaper up front and month to month, and its 3-year plan renews at $79 every three years, against $139.08 a year for NordVPN Basic.

Winner

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Simultaneous Devices: PIA Has No Limit

PIA lets you connect as many devices as you like; NordVPN stops at 10. PIA’s help center says it allows “an unlimited number of simultaneous connections on a single subscription”. NordVPN’s says this:

Ten is plenty for most people, and a router running NordVPN uses just one of those slots while covering everything connected to it. If you’re protecting a whole family’s phones, laptops and TVs, though, PIA takes the counting out of it. Our guide to how many devices NordVPN allows explains the router workaround.

EXPERT SUMMARY

Unlimited devices beat 10, even with NordVPN’s router workaround.

Winner

See PIA’s Deal

Servers and Locations: NordVPN Has the Bigger Network

NordVPN runs 7,000+ servers in 150 countries; PIA covers 113 countries and doesn’t publish a server count, saying only “thousands of servers”.

Both lean on virtual locations, which give you an IP address from one country using hardware in another. Count only the countries where the hardware actually sits and the gap narrows: by their own server lists on 22 October 2026, NordVPN had physical servers in 55 countries and PIA in 51.

• In the US: both cover all 50 states. NordVPN has about 2,500 US servers in 55 cities; PIA has 56 US locations, 32 of them virtual.
• Specialty servers: NordVPN has Double VPN servers in 10 countries, obfuscated servers in 15 and Onion Over VPN in 3. PIA instead runs streaming-optimized locations, 35 in its server list.

EXPERT SUMMARY

More countries, more countries with real hardware, and a published server count.

Winner

See NordVPN’s Deal

Privacy, Audits and Jurisdiction: A Draw

Neither keeps activity logs, and both have had that checked independently. NordVPN has the longer audit record and a home outside the main intelligence alliances; PIA’s claim has been tested in court and its latest audit report is public.

NordVPN is provided by nordvpn S.A. in Panama, which has no mandatory data retention law, within Nord Security, whose headquarters are in the Netherlands. Its no-logs policy has passed six independent assessments: by PwC in 2018 and 2020, and by Deloitte in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, the latest published in February 2026. Subscribers can read the reports in their Nord Account. The one mark against it is a 2018 breach of a single server it rented in Finland, after which it moved to RAM-only servers it owns. Our guide to whether NordVPN keeps logs has the details.

PIA is run by PIA Private Internet Access, Inc. in Denver, Colorado, so it’s under US law, and the US is a Five Eyes member. Its privacy policy is frank about that: “as we are a US company, we are merely compelled to comply with a request, but we are not legally required to store user logs, so we don’t”. Deloitte Audit Romania has assessed its no-logs policy three times, in 2022, 2024 and 2025, and anyone can download the latest report:

PIA also has a court record to point to: Top10VPN’s October 2026 review notes it had no data to hand over to the FBI in a 2016 case. Its owner is the bigger question for some readers. Kape Technologies, based in London, bought PIA in 2019 and also owns ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. Kape was formerly called Crossrider, and its past includes an ad-injection platform that was shut down in 2016.

Security and Protocols: NordVPN

NordVPN is ahead on newer protections: post-quantum encryption, its own obfuscation protocol and true double-hop servers.

• NordVPN: NordLynx, built on WireGuard, is the default, and NordVPN added post-quantum encryption in 2025. NordWhisper, OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPsec are there too, along with obfuscated servers for networks that block VPNs, Double VPN and Onion Over VPN. Its kill switch can cut your whole connection or just chosen apps.
• PIA: WireGuard or OpenVPN in its apps, all of them open source. Its advanced kill switch blocks your connection whenever the VPN isn’t on, even if the app is closed. Its Multi-Hop adds a hop through a Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxy rather than a second VPN server.

Top10VPN actually ranks PIA higher for security, 4th to NordVPN’s 7th of 59, mainly for its open-source apps and the control it gives you. Its October 2026 review also notes that PIA has no post-quantum protection yet, defaults to the weaker AES-128 cipher on OpenVPN and runs its own (colocated) hardware in only 9 countries. We weigh those last points more heavily. More on NordVPN’s default protocol in our NordLynx explainer.

EXPERT SUMMARY

Post-quantum encryption, NordWhisper, real Double VPN servers and owned hardware outweigh PIA’s open-source apps and extra settings.

Winner

See NordVPN’s Deal

Streaming: NordVPN, by a Wide Margin

NordVPN works with far more streaming services, including US and UK Netflix, which PIA no longer unblocks. Top10VPN tested both in October 2026, for reviews updated on 22 October (NordVPN) and 14 October (PIA):

PIA did well with US services other than Netflix, especially on its streaming-optimized locations. Two caveats apply to both: Netflix blocks every VPN on its ad-supported plan, and streaming services change their blocks often. Our guide to watching Netflix with NordVPN covers setup and fixes.

EXPERT SUMMARY

17 Netflix libraries to 4, plus US and UK Netflix and Sky Go.

Winner

See NordVPN’s Deal

Speed: A Draw

Both are fast, and you’re unlikely to notice a difference. Top10VPN gave them the same 9.7/10 speed score in October 2026 and measured an average 4% drop on nearby servers for each. PIA lost 18% on a connection to Sydney, while NordVPN posted the fastest downloads to Japan and Canada among Top10VPN’s ten highest-rated VPNs. Top10VPN’s one complaint about PIA’s speed is consistency: its results swing more from month to month.

Torrenting and Port Forwarding: PIA

Both allow torrenting, but only PIA gives you port forwarding with a single switch. Port forwarding lets other peers connect to you, which helps seeding.

PIA has a Request Port Forwarding option under Settings, then Network, in its Windows, macOS, Linux and Android apps, and supports P2P on every server. The catch for US readers: none of its 56 US locations supported port forwarding in its server list on 22 October 2026, so you’d connect to Canada or another nearby country. Top10VPN ranks PIA first of 59 VPNs for torrenting.

NordVPN allows P2P on its standard servers but offers port forwarding only with its paid Dedicated Server add-on, a private server in Paris, Berlin, London, Phoenix or Boston that NordVPN links to your email, IP address and account:

See our guides to PIA’s port forwarding and torrenting with NordVPN, or our list of the best VPNs with port forwarding.

EXPERT SUMMARY

Port forwarding on every plan, outside the US, without paying for a private server.

Winner

See PIA’s Deal

Extras: NordVPN

NordVPN bundles more tools, and its dedicated IP costs less.

• NordVPN, on every plan: scam and phishing protection, which filters ads and malicious domains while you’re connected; Dark Web Monitor for up to 5 email addresses; and Meshnet for linking your own devices. Complete adds anti-malware and a full ad and tracker blocker on desktop, NordPass and 1 TB of storage. A dedicated IP is a $3.69-a-month add-on, with servers in 32 countries.
• PIA: MACE, a DNS-level blocker that stopped 100% of test ads and 83% of trackers in Top10VPN’s tests. Its dedicated IP costs $5 a month in 25 locations across 10 countries, but uses an anonymous token, so the address isn’t tied to your account. Antivirus for Windows is a paid add-on. And its Smart DNS, which PIA’s features page still pitches for smart TVs, “is no longer compatible with streaming services”, according to a help article updated on 20 October 2026.

EXPERT SUMMARY

More built-in tools and a cheaper dedicated IP in three times as many countries, though PIA’s token system is the more private design.

Winner

See NordVPN’s Deal

Apps and Supported Devices: A Draw

Both cover the same platforms, and neither runs on Samsung, LG or Roku TVs.

• NordVPN: Windows, macOS, Linux (command line and app), iPhone and iPad, Android, Android TV, Fire TV and Apple TV (tvOS 17 or later), plus proxy extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
• PIA: Windows 10 and 11, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Android TV, Fire TV and Apple TV (tvOS 17 or later), plus Chrome and Firefox extensions.

For TVs without an app, both need a router or a shared connection; PIA’s own pages say Samsung and LG TVs don’t support VPN apps and Roku “doesn’t support VPN apps directly”. Our NordVPN router guide shows how to cover them.

Free Trials and Refunds: A Draw

Both let you try them free for 7 days and both refund you within 30 days, just through different routes. NordVPN’s 7-day free trial runs through its website in the US and 14 other countries, so it works on a computer as well as a phone; on Google Play its trial is 3 days. PIA’s App Store and Google Play listings both advertise a 7-day free trial in its mobile apps, billed through Apple or Google.

Every plan from either comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. PIA’s terms carve out a little more: app store purchases are refunded by Apple or Google rather than PIA, gift-card purchases aren’t refundable, and you can’t get a second refund if you sign up again within three months of the first. If you buy NordVPN and change your mind, here’s how to cancel NordVPN and get a refund.

The Verdict, Round by Round

NordVPN wins 4 rounds to PIA’s 3, with 4 draws, and the rounds it wins (streaming, security and network size) are the ones that shape everyday use. Top10VPN lands in the same order in its October 2026 rankings: NordVPN 2nd and PIA 6th of 59 VPNs.

Choose NordVPN if you stream, travel or want the strongest all-round package, and buy it while the Black Friday price lasts. Our full NordVPN review covers it in depth. Choose PIA if you need more than 10 devices, port forwarding outside the US or the lowest bill: PIA’s 2-year deal is $2.19 a month, and our PIA review has more.

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The Bottom Line

NordVPN is the better all-rounder: it streams far better, covers more countries and leads on newer security features, and its Black Friday deal brings it to $3.49 a month. PIA is the smart pick for big households and torrent seeders who want unlimited devices and port forwarding for less.

Get NordVPN’s Black Friday deal – or, for unlimited devices and port forwarding, see PIA’s current offer.