Private Internet Access vs IPVanish

Both of these are registered in the United States, which most of this market treats as disqualifying on its own. Both allow unlimited simultaneous connections. Both have had their no-logs claim tested by an actual legal demand rather than by an auditor's questionnaire — which almost nothing else in this directory can say, and which is the only reason to compare them together.

The demand that arrived, and what each one handed over

Private Internet Access has been asked in court more than once and has produced nothing each time, because there was nothing to produce. That is the strongest form this evidence takes: not a promise, not an audit of a promise, but a demand that arrived and went away empty.

IPVanish was asked in 2016, under previous ownership, and answered. Homeland Security served an administrative summons; the company first replied that it kept no usage information, then suggested the agency come back with a more detailed demand, and supplied a subscriber's name, email address, home IP address and the times they connected and disconnected. The affidavit is on the public record.

IPVanish has changed hands twice since, and Schellman Compliance examined the no-logs claim in February 2025, so the position today is genuinely different from the position then. Private Internet Access scores 4 for privacy and IPVanish scores 3 for privacy, and it is worth being clear how differently they get there: one has a good history and disk-based infrastructure, the other has an audit and a bad history.

What the second year costs

Private Internet Access renews its three-year plan at the same $79 it charged, publishes open-source clients, and scores 4 for value. IPVanish charges $46.68 for the first year and $99.99 for every year after it, and scores 2.

The feature comparison is closer than that gap suggests. IPVanish has first-party apps for Apple TV, Android TV and Fire TV where Private Internet Access does not, and both offer split tunnelling, an ad and tracker filter and unlimited devices. Neither ships a kill switch that survived an independent lab's reboot and crash test.

Which should you choose?

Choose Private Internet Access unless you specifically need the television apps. It costs less over any term longer than a year, its clients are open source, and its no-logs claim has been tested in the way that actually counts.

Choose IPVanish if you want a native app on an Apple TV or a Fire TV and are prepared to pay $99.99 a year for it after the introductory term. Know what you are buying: a service whose promise was tested once and did not hold, under an owner who no longer runs it.