Windscribe vs Private Internet Access (PIA) [Comparison]

Without a doubt, Windscribe program is definitely the right one if you are looking for a VPN service that is quite cheap with above-average features.

The company offers excellent features while making sure that the program is still affordable. On the other hand, Private Internet Access is another amazingly cheap service but their features are not quite up to standard.

Although Private Internet Access (PIA) is considerably cheaper than Windscribe, the service of the former is quite low when compared to the latter.

The purpose of this guide is to compare the features of the two services and give you a clear picture of the right one.

Windscribe vsPrivate Internet Access (PIA) Compared

Security and Privacy

One of the attributes of a good VPN service is the security and privacy of the users. Can the users rest assured that their privacy is totally guaranteed whenever they are using the program?

Windscribe offers a world-class level of security with AES 256-bit encryption supported by a firewall that ensures that your online activities are not being monitored. Windscribe also supports post forwarding which makes it possible for customers to be able to access their devices remotely.

And there is also a built-in Adblocker that ensures you are not being disturbed with annoying ads during your browsing sessions.

Private Internet Access protects its users with both AES-128-bit encryption and AES-256-bit encryption ciphers. The service also works with OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols and a kill switch feature that ensures that your online activities are not interrupted.

All these are basic features of a good VPN service provider and should normally be expected in any serious VPN program.

However, the major difference between these two VPN services when it comes to security and privacy is that Private Internet Access is based in the United States, and that’s a serious drawback.

Most professional VPN users will find this fact to be discouraging, and it’s because the United States is part of a group of countries that mutually share intelligence. So you cannot be absolutely sure that the government is not monitoring your online activities whenever you are using PIA.

Therefore, Windscribe is the better one in terms of security and privacy.

Speed and Performance

This is another major attribute that we will be considering in this review.

The speed and the performance level of a VPN are some of the core driving aspects that everyone should take seriously. Nobody wants a VPN service that will take hours before successfully loading a website.

Windscribe is well aware of this factor, and it clearly shows in the number of servers that they currently have in several countries.

With more than 540 servers in 55 countries, it is clear that they know what they are doing in terms of speed and performance.

These numbers are well above other notable VPN services like ExpresssVPN, NordVPN and some other ones.

While users of Private Internet Access based in continents like Africa, Asia, South America will likely have speed issues compared to other customers of the same service that are based in North America and Europe.

This is because Private Internet Access servers are not evenly distributed around the globe. With more than 3000 servers stationed in Europe, America, which largely affects the speed of the service in other locations like Asia and Africa.

However, in terms of speed and performance, PIA is still quite good, but compared to Windscribe, they still have a lot of work to do.

Ease of Use and Customer support

It’s refreshing to know that both VPN services that we are comparing in this review work on a lot of platforms. You can use PIA and Windscribe on MacOS, Windows, Android, iOS, Linux and they are also compatible with routers.

They also have browser extensions for most popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Talking about ease of use, Windscribe is more user-friendly on all the operating systems mentioned above, which makes the service more suitable for VPN amateurs and you can also customize the features to make it easier for you to use.

When it comes to customer support, both VPN services can still improve. PIA does not have live chat support to help users, although there is a chatbot feature that can only handle frequently asked questions.

On the other hand, Windscribe has a feature that allows users to submit any issue that they might come across while using the program.

Torrenting and P2P

When it comes to torrenting, Windscribe is easier to use thanks to its speed.

Just like I mentioned earlier, Private Internet Access has most of its servers in Europe and America, because of this, it is quite difficult to use for transferring or downloading large files.

However, you can still depend on Private Internet Access for safe file sharing because of its extensive security features. So in terms of peer-to-peer file transfer, Private Internet Access is better than Windscribe.

Unblocking Streaming Services

If you are looking for a VPN service that has a sure way around streaming services copyright issues, then Windscribe is the right one for you.

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and some other ones have ways of detecting when a user is trying to have access to contents that are not allowed in a specific location.

Windscribe owns dedicated servers for streaming Netflix contents in locations where these contents are unavailable.

What makes Windscribe stand out in this category is because these dedicated servers will not encrypt your network, thereby making your connection to be as fast as possible which will also enhance your streaming speed.

On the other hand, PIA does not have the ability to unblock Netflix and other entertainment platforms in countries like Germany, Japan, Canada, although it works perfectly in other countries like the US.

In terms of streaming content on Netflix and other streaming services, Windscribe is definitely better than Private Internet Access.

Summary: Windscribe or Private Internet Access is better?

We’ve talked about the major factors that VPN users must consider before picking the right one. In terms of security and privacy, Windscribe is quite better because they have a strict no-logs policy.

In terms of support for Netflix and other streaming services, Windscribe outperforms Private Internet Access.

Both VPN services have equal support for devices, and they both lack live customer service for their users.

Considering all these factors, it’s clear that Windscribe is quite better than Private Internet Access.