PureVPN Review
6,500 servers. Cheap long-term plans. A complicated history.
PureVPN's defining moment in VPN history was not a product achievement — it was a 2017 case where the company provided detailed user activity logs to the US FBI while actively marketing a 'no-logs' policy. A man was arrested based on that data. PureVPN maintains it has since rebuilt its systems. We include it because it appears on many comparison sites and users deserve to know the full context.
Our scores
PureVPN
Overall score — April 2026
PureVPN has the cheapest long-term pricing in the category and a large server network — but a 2017 incident where they logged and shared user data with the FBI despite claiming no-logs is a credibility problem that can't be dismissed. Acceptable for casual use. Not acceptable for privacy-sensitive use.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- One of the cheapest VPNs at extended plans — around $2/month on longer terms
- 6,500+ servers in 78 countries — large, well-distributed network
- 10 simultaneous connections
- Port forwarding add-on available
- Annual security report published for transparency
Cons
- 2017 incident: provided user activity logs to FBI despite no-logs marketing claim — the most serious privacy breach in VPN history
- No independent no-logs audit to address the 2017 incident's credibility damage
- Based in British Virgin Islands but operated from Pakistan/Hong Kong — complex ownership
- Speeds below NordVPN and Surfshark — 79% retention
- Long-term pricing requires multi-year commitment; monthly price is uncompetitive
Speed
600 Mbps
Download
360 Mbps
Upload
13 ms
Latency
79%
Speed kept
600 Mbps average — 79% speed retention. Respectable but below Surfshark, NordVPN, or IPVanish. WireGuard is available and performs better than OpenVPN on most connections. Server quality is variable — some servers in Southeast Asia showed significant speed drops.
Tested: . 1 Gbps base connection.
Privacy & Security
The 2017 logging case is a legitimate historical black mark. PureVPN has published annual transparency reports since 2019 and claims to have moved to a no-logs infrastructure. However, no independent audit has been conducted to verify the current policy meets the standard that would have prevented the 2017 disclosure. Users with privacy requirements should use ProtonVPN, Mullvad, or IVPN instead.
Streaming
Netflix US, UK, and Canada unblock reliably. BBC iPlayer success rate was 80% in testing. Disney+ and Amazon Prime worked consistently. Streaming performance is solid for a budget VPN.
Pricing
$10.95/mo
Monthly
$3.74/mo
Annual plan
billed annually
$2.14/mo
2-year plan
billed every 2 years
PureVPN's long-term pricing is genuinely competitive — among the cheapest in the category. The 31-day money-back guarantee (longer than standard 30-day) lets you test extensively. Port forwarding as an add-on is available, though it costs extra.
User Ratings
3.9/5
Trustpilot
15k reviews
4.0/5
Google Play
70k ratings
4.4/5
App Store
35k ratings
35%
Community
Reddit sentiment
Ratings sourced from Trustpilot, Google Play Store, and Apple App Store. Community score is derived from Reddit/r/VPN sentiment analysis. Scores are aggregated periodically and may not reflect real-time data.
Verdict
PureVPN is acceptable for casual privacy (hiding from your ISP, accessing geo-blocked content) and it's cheap. For any use case where the no-logs policy actually matters — and especially for anything involving personal risk — the 2017 incident is disqualifying. Choose PIA over PureVPN if budget is the driver: PIA has court-proven no-logs at a comparable price.
PureVPN vs. Alternatives
| Feature | PureVPN7.7/10 | NordVPN9.2/10 | ExpressVPN8.6/10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our Score | 7.7 | 9.2 | 8.6 |
| Monthly Price | $2.14/mo | $3.39/mo | $8.32/mo |
| Servers | 6,500+ | 6,400+ | 3,000+ |
| Countries | 78 | 111 | 105 |
| Simultaneous Devices | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Speed (tested) | 600 Mbps (79%) | 730 Mbps (96%) | 755 Mbps (98%) |
| No-Logs Policy | |||
| Independently Audited | |||
| Kill Switch | |||
| Ad Blocker | |||
| Streaming | |||
| Torrenting / P2P | |||
| Port Forwarding | |||
| Obfuscation | |||
| Double VPN | |||
| RAM-Only Servers | |||
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands (operated from Pakistan/Hong Kong) | Panama (outside 5/9/14 Eyes) | British Virgin Islands |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 31 days | 30 days | 30 days |
All data verified April 2026.