What Is PureVPN?

Pure VPN is a Hong Kong-based service owned by GZ Systems Limited.The platform boasts a myriad of servers and server locations, totaling over 6,500 in over 70 countries, as well as up to 10 simultaneous connections.

Regrettably, the service’s potential benefits are overshadowed by apprehensions regarding its no-logs policy, sluggish Windows application, and inadequate integration of WireGuard, resulting in the disablement of specific features when using Pure-VPN.

Quick Specs

PureVPN Device Compatibility

PureVPN offers a generous allowance of up to 10 simultaneous connections per account, surpassing the typical five connections offered by other VPN providers we review. It supports various operating systems including Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. However, caution is advised with the Linux client due to recently discovered vulnerabilities, as mentioned earlier. Additionally, browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are provided, although they often contribute minimally to the overall VPN experience, mirroring the case with PureVPN.

PureVPN at a Glance

Initially, PureVPN appears quite akin to numerous other contenders within its industry, lacking any particularly innovative or pioneering technologies. However, this observation doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on PureVPN; rather, it underscores the prevailing dynamics of the VPN market. With many providers offering comparable features and supporting common, often open-source protocols, prospective consumers are increasingly compelled to scrutinize the provider’s corporate ethos, business practices, and customer-centric approach to determine its suitability.

Pros

PureVPN boasts a remarkable selection of servers spanning multiple countries and regions, positioning itself as a formidable contender alongside industry giants like NordVPN in server quantity. At just $1.96 per month for a two-year subscription to its Standard plan, PureVPN offers exceptional affordability. While its allowance of up to 10 simultaneous connections exceeds the industry average for VPNs, it falls short of the allure presented by providers like Surfshark, which offer unlimited connections.

Cons

However, there are notable drawbacks associated with PureVPN. Foremost among them, and deeply concerning to us, is its track record regarding logging user data and sharing it with government entities. We’ll delve into this issue further in our discussion on the no-logs policy.

Furthermore, the implementation of the WireGuard protocol by the platform falls short of expectations. Notably, certain features like split tunneling are conspicuously absent when utilizing WireGuard. While such limitations might be understandable for a nascent protocol, it’s disconcerting to encounter them now, especially considering WireGuard’s widespread acclaim as the premier VPN protocol.

Lastly, we encountered significant latency issues while using PureVPN’s Windows application. Although it didn’t noticeably affect overall device performance, navigating the app itself proved to be sluggish. Moreover, the app crashed on a couple of occasions, typically when transitioning between in-app tabs. Interestingly, we didn’t encounter these problems on Mac, Android, or iOS devices, suggesting that this issue may be specific to certain platforms.

PureVPN Core Features

The features offered by PureVPN generally align with the standard features we seek in a VPN, including split tunneling, a kill switch, and DNS protection. Overall, these features function as expected for a top-tier VPN, although we did observe a few noteworthy aspects during our evaluation.

DNS Protection Measures

PureVPN’s DNS protection mechanisms operate effectively. We conducted several tests, including those administered by dnsleaktest.com, and PureVPN demonstrated reliable performance.

Dedicated IP

PureVPN provides Dedicated IP as an optional extra, with pricing contingent upon the duration of your subscription. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of this feature during our evaluation.

In addition to Dedicated IP, Pure-VPN offers Dedicated Server and Business VPN add-ons at a premium rate. These add-ons essentially serve the same purpose of enabling users to connect to the same IP address while using the VPN. Dedicated Server permits multiple users to acquire their own dedicated IP address across various server locations. Conversely, Business VPN offers the same functionality but allows for multiple device connections simultaneously and enables teams to establish a single IP address for collective use.

Kill Switch

PureVPN’s internet kill switch (IKS) operates as anticipated, halting internet traffic when not linked to Wi-Fi. Enabling it is straightforward, requiring only a click within the settings menu. Despite offering both Automatic and Manual IKS options, the latter supposedly providing customizable settings for full control, we found no such customization available in the app.

Seeking clarification, we contacted customer support, who informed us that the sole distinction between Automatic and Manual IKS lies in the behavior when disconnected from Wi-Fi. Manual IKS completely terminates the internet connection, whereas Automatic IKS merely blocks traffic while the connection remains active. However, customer support confirmed the absence of any additional toggling options for these settings.

Split Tunnelling

Pure-VPN’s split tunneling feature generally functions as anticipated, allowing you to direct specific apps’ internet traffic through the VPN while allowing others to use your regular internet connection. However, this capability becomes disabled when using the WireGuard protocol. Despite the app providing a warning about this limitation when WireGuard is selected as the preferred protocol, it remains a significant concern.

In our opinion, WireGuard stands as the premier VPN protocol currently available, one that we recommend users prioritize. Given its open-source nature, WireGuard is widely supported across most VPN services. However, certain providers, such as PureVPN, have not seamlessly integrated this protocol into their app, resulting in issues like the one described.

If you have no intention of utilizing split tunneling, this may not affect you. Nevertheless, the inability to utilize this feature with the most superior protocol raises concerns for us.

PureVPN Pricing and Plans

Although Pure-VPN offers three tiers of plans, each with monthly, yearly, and two-year pricing options, plans beyond the Standard tier do not enhance the VPN service itself. Instead, the Plus and Max plans introduce additional tools for users to explore, such as a Password Manager and End-to-End File Encryption. Unfortunately, we were unable to evaluate these features during our review, as we exclusively examined the Standard plan and the core PureVPN service.

PureVPN Ease of Use

While Pure-VPN proved straightforward to navigate when operational, the persistent latency and occasional crashes we encountered with the Windows client detracted from its user-friendliness.

Our impression of the app’s user interface was less than stellar, primarily due to the extensive promotion of add-ons and supplementary products within the interface. Notably, there’s an entire tab dedicated solely to advertising other PureVPN offerings, such as the PureKeep password manager, along with another tab focused on inviting additional users to the service. While these advertisements don’t intrude upon sections of the app directly involved in VPN usage, such as server lists or settings, their presence contributes to unnecessary visual clutter for users.

PureVPN Servers and Locations

With a network exceeding 6,000 servers across 80 server locations, Pure-VPN offers a commendable server presence, positioning it as a solid mid-tier VPN option, albeit without reaching remarkable heights. Notably, it includes several dedicated servers for P2P usage, which is a welcomed addition. Additionally, the presence of shortcuts for specific streaming services, which launch a new tab for the respective service upon clicking while connecting to the associated server, holds promise. However, as we’ll elaborate on later, PureVPN faces challenges in reliably accessing region-locked content.

PureVPN Speed and Performance

PureVPN provides the following VPN protocols:

• Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2): IKEv2 encrypts communication between a VPN client and server while securely exchanging keys over the internet. Although once widely adopted, IKEv2 has faced scrutiny due to vulnerabilities in its architecture, especially when implemented poorly or incorrectly.
• OpenVPN (TCP): OpenVPN, a renowned open-source security protocol, utilizes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Introduced in 2001, TCP ensures data packets are delivered reliably by prompting the sender to await confirmation before transmitting further or re-sending.
• OpenVPN (UDP): This variant of OpenVPN employs the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which facilitates faster data transmission without requiring the sender to wait for acknowledgments. While UDP is quicker than TCP, it sacrifices reliability.
• WireGuard: Considered the gold standard among VPN protocols, WireGuard is acclaimed for its speed and consistency. As a free and open-source protocol, WireGuard is widely adopted by VPN providers, often serving as the default protocol even when proprietary alternatives exist.

As anticipated, PureVPN’s speeds met our expectations. As is typical, the choice of protocol often has a more significant impact on speed and performance than the VPN client itself. Once again, WireGuard emerged as the clear frontrunner in speed, far outpacing both IKEv2 and OpenVPN.

PureVPN Security and Privacy

With the exception of reservations regarding its no-logs policy (details below), PureVPN generally maintains a comparable level of safety to other well-known VPN services across most platforms. However, recent discoveries have revealed multiple vulnerabilities in its Linux client, such as DNS Leaking and Remote Code Execution vulnerability. Although we were unable to assess the Linux client during our review, these findings are highly concerning, leading us to advise against PureVPN’s usage for Linux users at present.

No-Logs Policy

Despite PureVPN’s assertion of a no-logs policy and its independent audit, our confidence in the service remains compromised. This skepticism stems from a past incident in 2017 where PureVPN, despite claiming a no-logs policy, surrendered user data to the FBI during a cyberstalking inquiry. Consequently, we are cautious in placing trust in PureVPN. For individuals prioritizing data privacy, we would advise against opting for PureVPN.

Multifactor Authentication

Included in its standard VPN package, PureVPN provides multifactor authentication (MFA). Implemented through an authenticator app, PureVPN’s MFA option is among the prevalent methods, alongside sending verification messages to the linked email or phone number.

PureVPN Customer Service and Support

PureVPN provides round-the-clock live chat and email assistance. Throughout our evaluation, we engaged with the live chat feature, querying about the app’s kill switch settings. Despite initial interaction with a chatbot, the subsequent assistance from the customer support representative proved prompt and informative, effectively addressing our inquiries and clarifications.

PureVPN for Streaming

Despite our efforts, we were unable to circumvent region locks for streaming using PureVPN. Although the service offers dedicated server shortcuts for platforms like Hulu, HBO Max, and Netflix, our attempts to access content using these servers were unsuccessful. Even bypassing region locks for Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ without utilizing the shortcuts yielded similar outcomes. Combined with the service’s mediocre speeds, this makes it challenging to endorse PureVPN as a reliable VPN option for streaming purposes.

PureVPN Alternatives and How They Compare

PureVPN vs. Surfshark

Surfshark and PureVPN exhibit numerous resemblances, with comparable features and pricing structures. While Surfshark’s unlimited simultaneous connections might appeal to certain businesses, PureVPN’s availability of a Dedicated IP add-on could offer an equally enticing proposition. However, we advise against either option for personal use due to the concerning no-logs policies upheld by both companies.

Despite PureVPN’s detailed explanation of its no-logs policies in this review, Surfshark’s privacy policy indicates otherwise. It states, “To prevent service abuse, our servers store your user ID and/or IP address, and connection time stamps, but this information is automatically deleted within 15 minutes after termination of your session.” Consequently, Surfshark VPN does not truly qualify as a no-logs VPN, despite the company’s assertions. Hence, we cannot recommend either VPN for personal use.

PureVPN vs. IVPN

When considering personal use, IVPN emerges as the clear choice, given its consistent transparency and dedication to privacy, contrasting with PureVPN’s history of disclosing user data to government entities. However, for business purposes, PureVPN likely holds the advantage, primarily due to its inclusion of a Dedicated IP add-on and other features tailored for business use.

PureVPN vs. VyprVPN

PureVPN emerges as the clear choice for both personal and business applications in this comparison. Despite our reservations regarding PureVPN’s no-logs policy, its superior performance in terms of internet speeds, features, customer support quality, and overall value for money sets it apart from VyprVPN.

Is PureVPN Right for You?

In general, PureVPN falls within the average range among VPN services. It offers typical VPN features, its pricing is average, and it generally operates as expected. However, its mediocrity doesn’t meet our standards for recommending the product for either personal or business use.

PureVPN for Personal Use

We advise against using PureVPN for personal purposes. Despite its appealing features like 10 simultaneous connections and reasonable pricing, the company’s past deception regarding its no-logs policy is concerning. While there’s no evidence of ongoing retention or sharing of user logs, we adhere to the principle of not affording providers second chances when it comes to privacy assurances.

PureVPN for Business Use

PureVPN is not recommended for businesses. While the concerns regarding its no-logs policy are significant, the technical challenges encountered by the VPN are equally troubling. Its integration of WireGuard is notably deficient, with certain features failing to function properly with the protocol. If this is indicative of how the company manages the top protocol in the industry, businesses cannot rely on consistent, reliable service from PureVPN. Numerous other providers offer superior alternatives that are more deserving of your investment in terms of both time and money.

PureVPN in 2024: Feature Highlights, Pros, and Cons

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