TorGuard vs PIA Comparison

TorGuard vs PIA: Speed, Streaming & Torrenting Comparison in 2021

If you are looking for an updated TorGuard vs PIA comparison then you’ve come to the right place.

While both TorGuard and Private Internet Access are great if you want to conceal your identity through anonymous payments like Bitcoins, they perform very differently in other aspects.

In this TorGuard vs PIA comparison, we are going to compare TorGuard with PIA in terms of their connection speeds, streaming capabilities as well as torrenting support, among others features.

I hope that by the end of this TorGuard vs PIA comparison, you’ll be able to choose between either PIA or TorGuard.

Let’s get started.

Here is a quick summary.

TorGuardPrivate Internet Access
Websitetorguard.netprivateinternetaccess.com
Servers3,0003,340
JurisdictionUnited StatesUnited States
StreamingNetflix, Hulu, Amazon, iPlayerNetflix
Speed4.4/54.7/5
TorrentingAll serversAll servers
Kill SwitchYESYES
Works in China?YESNO
Devices810
Pricing$ 5/month$ 3.33/month

About

TorGuard is a VPN company based in the United States that enables you to access the internet securely and download torrent files anonymously. Here is an indepth TorGuard review.

Private Internet Access is also a VPN company based in the US that provides secure and completely private internet access using advanced encryption technologies.

Find a detailed Private Internet Access review here.

Server Collection

How does TorGuard vs PIA compare in terms of their total server count?

If you want to easily switch servers, with a variety of options, you should select a VPN with a larger collection of servers.

The more servers a VPN has the better their servers are expected to perform because the server loads will be spread out evenly during peak hours.

TorGuard has a collection of 3,000 servers that are based in 50 different countries at the time of writing this PIA vs TorGuard comparison.

PIA, on the other hand, also has a similar server count that totals to 3,340 servers and are base in 32 different countries.

While PIA has more servers in general, TorGuard does a better job of spreading out their servers to cover a wider geographical region. If you are looking for a VPN that has servers in more countries then I recommend TorGuard over PIA.

Streaming

Most streaming platforms these days offer content that is gated based on the country you are in.

So just having a subscription is not good enough if you want to access content that is destined for other countries.

In order to access all this content, you need a VPN that gives you an IP that belongs to that country whose content library you’d like to unblock.

How do PIA vs TorGuard streaming capabilities compare?

TorGuard, unfortunately, falls flat on its face when it comes to unblocking popular streaming platforms.

Using their shared servers, you won’t be able to unblock any of the popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu or even Amazon Prime.

A work around is to purchase a dedicated IP address that is based in the country whose content you want to access in order to unblock the streaming platforms in that country.

Since the TorGuard dedicated IPs are purchased separately, it adds to the total cost of using TorGuard.

Private Internet Access, on the flip side, is able to unblock Netflix TV shows that are destined for the US audience using their servers based in the United States.

However, I found that their servers are blocked for Netflix in other countries like Brazil as well as on other platforms like Hulu, Amazon Prime and iPlayer.

So as you can see, both TorGuard and PIA do not have great streaming support.

I don’t recommend either TorGuard or PIA if you are looking for a VPN that will unblock all the major streaming platforms. Instead, you should check out NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

Speeds

How do TorGuard vs PIA speeds compare?

Since most VPNs will lie about their server speeds of their websites, I always perform speed tests myself in order to put each VPN where it belongs.

Remember that if you want to have a great streaming and torrenting experience you should have a VPN that keeps at least 80% of your original connection speeds.

I tested the speeds of both TorGuard and PIA by connecting to three of their servers based in Hong Kong, the US and UK.

I then launched the website speedtest.net and used it to measure the download and upload speeds before and after connecting to their servers.

TorGuard had an average download speed of 87% of my initial speeds, for the 3 servers that I connected to.

Private Internet Access performed better with 94% on average of my initial download speeds before connecting to their servers.

As you can see, PIA is a much faster VPN than TorGuard.

I recommend PIA over TorGuard if you are looking for a VPN with stellar connection speeds.

Torrenting

Always download torrent files only after connecting to a VPN that provides you truly private and anonymous internet access.

It is the only way to cover your tracks online and ensure that your torrenting history cannot be traced and used against you by the government.

If you don’t think there is anything to hide from your government with regards to your online activities then you should not be reading a VPN review in the first place.

Which one between PIA and TorGuard will be able to provide you with anonymous torrenting?

To begin with, both TorGuard and PIA support torrenting on all their servers. So unlike other VPNs that will require you to first connect to certain P2P optimized servers, you can download torrent files from any of their servers.

In addition to that, both PIA and TorGuard have zero logs policies. These VPNs do not keep logs of your internet activities. Because of that, you’ll get to torrent anonymously on either TorGuard or PIA servers.

So if you are looking for a VPN that is great for torrenting, then I recommend PIA over TorGuard because you’ll get better download speeds.

Privacy Policy

Privacy is one of the main reasons why people purchase VPNs in the first place.

Nobody likes every one of their moves being watched by the government or internet service provider.

If you give all that information to one single entity, you are giving them unnecessary power that they can easily wield against you anytime they feel like.

It all begins by doing your research and ensuring that your VPN does not keep logs.

TorGuard and PIA are both located in the United States, which is not a privacy friendly location for a VPN company by a long shot.

First, is because the US is a founding member of the 14 eyes countries surveillance alliance that spy on their citizens and share their personal information.

In addition to that, this country has laws that obligate VPN companies to comply anytime the government comes asking for particular user logs.

That being said, both VPNs are committed to providing you private and anonymous internet access.

TorGuard and Private Internet Access both claim in their privacy policies that they do not keep logs of your internet activities.

In simple language, that is supposed to mean that there are no logs on their servers that can either be used to identify you or tie you to certain activities on their servers.

While that’s great, I believe TorGuard and PIA could make life easier for everyone by spelling out what logs exactly they don’t keep… just like other VPNs like NordVPN does.

However, I’d recommend either TorGuard or PIA if you are looking for a VPN with a no logs policy.

Encryption and Data Protection

When you talk about data protection with VPNs, you expect to hear about encryption algorithms and technologies.

A VPN does not store data, but it can ensure that your data is secure during transmission by encrypting it using a technology that is impossible to crack.

So how do TorGuard and PIA compare in terms of their encryption technologies?

TorGuard gives you options of either using a 128-bit encryption or a 256-bit encryption technology.

PIA, on the other hand, only supports a 128-bit encryption algorithm for encrypting your data before transmission.

Even through both encryption technologies are secure and have never been cracked before, 256-bit encryption offers better security while 128-bit encryption offers better speeds.

In addition to these technologies, VPNs also need certain technologies in order to securely communicate with each other.

TorGuard supports OpenVPN, OpenConnect, IKEv2 and L2TP/IPSec protocols.

Private Internet Access also supports OpenVPN, L2TP, IPSec and PPTP vpn connection protocols.

Even though PIA still supports it, the PPTP protocol is prone to attacks and should never be used unless you know what you are doing.

That being said, as it currently stands, both TorGuard and PIA will provide you with secure internet access because of these secure technologies that each one uses.

Ad Blockers

Tell me if this is you…

You visit a website, check out an ad and then close the browser.

Only that moving forward, every other website that you visit is now showing this very ad that you already saw on that first website.

How so?

Well, thank ad trackers for that.

They install tracking scripts in your browser, tracking you around the web and then build a profile about you so that they can optimize their ads for you.

While this technology might sound interesting to media buyers, it might also feel very intrusive and annoying to internet users… as you feel like someone’s target.

So if you want to remedy this then you need a VPN with an ad blocker that will not only disable ads on these websites but will also block the tracking scripts that these websites install on your browser.

TorGuard and PIA both have inbuilt VPN ad blockers in their apps that will protect you from aggressive advertising from such websites. Once activated, you’ll be able to browse these websites with the ads off and enjoy an ad-free browsing experience.

So if you are looking for a VPN that supports ad blocking then either PIA or TorGuard is a great option.

Dedicated IPs

The interesting thing about VPNs is that every time you connect to their servers they will assign you a shared IP address.

Because it is an IP that is also used by thousands of others, it makes it hard to identify who did what at any particular time on these servers because there were thousands of people on it anyway.

A dedicated IP is the exact opposite of this… where you are assigned an IP that is tied to your account and is unique to you alone.

While it makes it easy to track back certain activities on the server to you… some sensitive applications will only give you remote access through a dedicated IP.

You’ll need a dedicated IP to whitelist for example if you want to access your home security camera feed remotely.

TorGuard offers you dedicated IPs that are unique to you and are not shared by anyone. However, you need to purchase this IP separately, which will add to the cost of using TorGuard.

PIA does not support any kind of dedicated IPs at the time of writing this TorGuard vs PIA comparison in 2021.

It means if you are looking for a VPN that has a dedicated IP then you should choose TorGuard over PIA.

Kill Switch

It is true that a VPN will hide your IP address and make you invisible to your ISP.

However, this is only happening when you are connecting to their VPN servers and all your internet traffic is being channelled through your VPN tunnel.

If for some reason your VPN disconnects from the server, like when your internet connection drops, then your real IP can get exposed.

This would happen if other apps like your torrent client continue to access the internet during this time.

TorGuard and PIA both have a kill switch that will ensure that internet access is cut off for your entire device anytime that you disconnect from the server.

So those applications that might continue to access the internet and expose your IP do not get a chance.

With the kill switch on, you’ll only be able to then access the internet when you are connected to your VPN.

I recommend either TorGuard or Private Internet Access if you are looking for a vpn that has a kill switch.

Split Tunnelling

A split tunnel is where you split some of your internet traffic to go through your VPN tunnel while others are routed through your ISP.

An example of a situation when you need a split is when you have an app that runs backups that is being slowed down by your VPN connection speeds.

It is, therefore, logical to split tunnels so that traffic from your backup application is channelled through your ISP, as usual, so that you are able to maximize on the speeds that your ISP assigns your IP address.

How does Private Internet Access vs TorGuard compare in terms of their split tunnelling support?

TorGuard supports a split tunnel that enables you to whitelist certain applications and exempt them from your VPN tunnel. This way, they get to operate normally and optimally while forfeiting the added security and anonymity that a VPN provides, as traffic through these whitelisted applications becomes transparent to your ISP.

PIA on the other hand does not have a split tunnel and so will not let you whitelist certain applications.

If you are looking for a VPN that supports split tunnelling then I definitely recommend TorGuard.

Works in China?

So you are asking yourself whether you’ll be able to use either TorGuard anonymous VPN or Private Internet Access in China?

I will answer your question in a bit.

First of all, it is common knowledge to most people that China prohibits the use of VPNs to access government censored content.

In order to enforce this, all internet traffic in China is passed through a firewall that inspects the traffic and blocks it if it is destined to a censored website.

However, this deep packet inspection technology of the firewall is also able to detect and block any VPN traffic that could be used to circumvent this content censorship.

Either TorGuard or PIA needs to make their traffic look like normal HTTPS traffic in order to bypass China’s firewall.

TorGuard is able to achieve this using the OpenConnect protocol together with the STunnel feature. PIA, however, does not have any such technology and therefore is completely blocked and will not work in China.

If you are looking for a vpn that works in China then I recommend TorGuard over PIA.

Pricing

What does it cost to use either TorGuard or Private Internet Access?

As we near the end of this TorGuard vs PIA comparison, let’s compare their best pricing plans to establish the cheaper one.

Paying for a VPN month by month is always a very expensive route, so your best bet is to subscribe to a longer subscription plan.

All VPNs that I have reviewed so far will give you the biggest discount if you choose the longest plan.

TorGuard has a 1-year plan that costs $ 59.99/year, which amounts to $ 5/month, whereas PIA costs $ 3.33/month on their 1-year plan.

As you can see, PIA is a cheaper VPN compared to TorGuard.

However, it is very annoying that none of these VPNs offer plans that are longer than 1 year… so you have to create new accounts every year or renew plans every year that comes.

That being said, if you are looking for a VPN that will save you a ton on the 1 year plan then I recommend PIA.

Payment Options

How do you get to pay for your PIA or TorGuard subscription?

Let’s finish this PIA vs TorGuard comparison by looking at the various payment methods that they accept.

If a VPN offers more payment options, you are likely to easily find a payment that works for you. Especially if you are looking for anonymous payment methods that do not require you to provide a billing address.

TorGuard and PIA both support a variety of payment options that include all major credit cards, PayPal and crypto payments through currencies like Bitcoins.

So if you don’t want to give away a lot of information about you, you could signup with a disposable email address and pay with some Bitcoins.

Either TorGuard or Private Internet Access is a great option if you are looking for a vpn that supports Bitcoin.

In Conclusion

I hope this TorGuard vs PIA comparison has helped you learn about the pros and cons of these two VPNs.

Are you now ready to make a choice between either TorGuard or PIA?

If you are looking for a VPN that has excellent connection speeds, accepts Bitcoin payments and supports more connected devices then I recommend PIA. However, if you are looking for a VPN with servers in more countries, has great torrenting support and works in China then I recommend TorGuard.

Have you used either Private Internet Access or TorGuard before?

Please share your experience in the comments below.

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