Surfshark vs. PrivateVPN – At a Glance
Surfshark
This budget-priced VPN provider offers great value for users in search of reliable VPN protection that won’t break the bank. The provider’s large server network, excellent app support, and top-notch online security and privacy protections make it an excellent pick.
Surfshark also offers additional protective services for a small additional fee, including antivirus protection, truly private search, and data breach alerts.
PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN offers quality online protection. However, it comes up short in more than one important service category.
While the provider delivers fast, well-protected connections, it could definitely stand some improvement in the global server coverage and app support arenas.
How to Choose a VPN
When you’re considering which Virtual Private Network (VPN) provider is right for your needs, there are several features that you should consider.
In this article, I’ll compare two VPN providers, Surfshark and PrivateVPN. I’ll pit the two providers against each other in each service category, naming a winner in each category. At the end of the article, an overall score will be tallied and a winner will be declared.
By the end of this article, you’ll have more than enough information to make an informed VPN buying decision.
Surfshark vs. PrivateVPN – Features
Connection Speeds
Today’s internet is content heavy. Online gaming, streaming video and music, and file sharing, all require a fast connection.
I test the connection speeds of the VPNs I review. The speed tests are performed as follows:
- All tests are performed using a North American-based Windows server using a gigabit Ethernet connection.
- I perform speed tests using the Windows version of the VPN providers’ app. I use the OpenVPN UDP connection protocol when available.
- I connect to VPN servers located in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Hong Kong. I connect at three different times of day, over the course of three days.
- Once a connection is made, I run the Speedtest.net app to test the connection speeds. The Speedtest app is closed between each test.
You’ll likely experience different download speeds than I do. That’s because there are multiple factors that can affect speed test results. The speed of your usual ISP-provided connection speeds, your location, and the VPN server you connect to can all affect connection speeds.
PrivateVPN and Surfshark both deliver fast connections. This makes them both excellent choices for users that enjoy streaming, online gaming, file sharing, and other popular online activities. However, one provider delivers quite a bit more horsepower than the other.
Surfshark average download speeds measure in at 323.6 Mbps in testing.
PrivateVPN’s download speeds were still reasonably fast but much slower than Surfshark, coming in at 70.9 Mbps.
Average Connection Speed Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Avg. Connection Speed | Link |
| Surfshark | 323.6 Mbps | Visit Site |
| PrivateVPN | 70.9 Mbps | Visit Site |
Pricing
Today’s tough economy makes pricing a more important consideration than ever. However, you should never opt for a VPN simply because it is cheap.
While Surfshark and PrivateVPN are both reasonably priced, with just a few dollars separating them, Surfshark takes the pricing crown in this battle.
I don’t include exact pricing in my articles. That’s because VPN providers regularly change their pricing, running special deals from time to time. Visit the providers’ websites for their current pricing.
Pricing Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Money-Back Guarantee Period | Link |
| PrivateVPN | 30 Days | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | 30 Days | Visit Site |
Privacy
Do you ever feel like someone is watching you? Well, if you’re online, there is a good chance that somebody is watching. Whether it’s law enforcement, advertisers, your ISP, or hackers, they’d all like to see records of your online activities. That makes a VPN provider’s privacy protection an all-important feature.
A VPN service’s privacy protections should be considered by:
- Is the provider located in a privacy-respecting country?
- Does the provider save any user activity logs on its servers?
- Does the provider accept privacy-protecting payment options, like cryptocurrency?
Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, where local laws protect the privacy of online users. As such, the provider never saves user logs and it also accepts cryptocurrency to protect your payment privacy.
Surfshark runs all of its servers 100% from RAM, writing no data of any kind to a physical hard drive or SSD. This means that all data is securely wiped when a server is rebooted or shut down. Unfortunately, as we’ll soon see, Surfshark uses a third party for one feature of its customer support, meaning it introduces a privacy concern into the mix.
PrivateVPN also doesn’t collect or log user traffic data or browsing activity, and also accepts cryptocurrency as a subscription payment.
Privacy Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Privacy Ranking | Site |
| PrivateVPN | 4.0 | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | 4.5 | Visit Site |
Online Security
Let’s face it, if you’re online, someone could be monitoring your travels. The government, hackers, and even your internet service provider are interested in following you online. This makes a VPN’s connection protection an important factor to consider.
Surfshark’s comprehensive online protection includes banking-grade encryption and kill switch protection. The provider uses the OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec/IKEv2 connection protocols. The provider also offers “Camouflage Mode,” which disguises VPN traffic, making it appear to be normal browser activity.
Meanwhile, PrivateVPN uses government-grade encryption. It makes use of the OpenVPN over UDP/TCP, L2TP/IPSec, L3TP, IPSec, PPTP, and IKEv2 connection protocols. The provider also offers kill switch protection, as well as a “Stealth VPN” feature to disguise your VPN traffic.
Security Winner: It’s a tie
| Provider | Overall Security Score | Link |
| PrivateVPN | 5.0 | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | 5.0 | Visit Site |
Simultaneous Connections
If you’re like me, you own multiple internet-connected devices. This makes a VPN provider’s simultaneous connection allowance an important consideration.
A VPN’s simultaneous connections policy is also an important consideration for users with large families or small businesses.
PrivateVPN allows its users to connect up to 10 devices at once to its servers.
Surfshark allows its customers to simultaneously connect as many devices as they’d like to its servers.
Simultaneous Connections Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Simultaneous Connections Allowed | Link |
| Surfshark | Unlimited | Visit Site |
| PrivateVPN | 10 | Visit Site |
Streaming Support
A recent report says 85% of all U.S. households subscribe to at least one video streaming service. 7% of Americans subscribe to six or more streaming services. (Is that all? Amateurs!)
Unfortunately, many streaming services slap geographic restrictions on most content. This means that you will likely be prevented from accessing some of your favorite content when you’re traveling internationally.
A VPN can temporarily give your connected device an IP address located inside of a different country, making it appear to the rest of the internet that you are inside that country. This opens up access to geo-protected content that might normally be unavailable to you.
Surfshark delivers access to quite a few streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, ITV Hub, All 4, Hotstar, HBO, Sky, and other streaming services.
PrivateVPN also delivers access to a good number of streaming services, including Netflix US, Netflix UK, Hulu, Disney+, and others.
Streaming Support Winner: A tie
| Provider | # of U.S. Streaming Services VPN Unblocks | # of International Services VPN Unblocks | Link |
| Surfshark | 9+ | 5+ | Visit Site |
| PrivateVPN | 9+ | 5+ | Visit Site |
BitTorrent Support
P2P file sharing is a popular online activity and is even used by legitimate organizations to share files and documents. Even though sharing non-copyrighted files is perfectly legal in most countries, several ISPs block or throttle the activity out of hand, due to pressure from movie studios, record companies, and other copyright holders.
Happily, a VPN provider’s encrypted connections and other protections can effectively hide your BitTorrent activity.
Surfshark allows P2P file sharing on its server network.
PrivateVPN also allows BitTorrenting activity on its network. However, it suggests that P2P users connect to its servers that are located in Sweden.
BitTorrenting Winner: It’s a tie
| Provider | # of Countries Where VPN Allows BitTorrents | Link |
| PrivateVPN | All of them | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | All of them | Visit Site |
Global Server Coverage
The larger a VPN’s global server network, the more geo-restricted content you’ll have access to. Look for a VPN provider with servers spread among a large number of countries. It’s a bonus if the provider has multiple servers located in the countries it serves. This helps ensure that a single server’s performance won’t take a hit by being overloaded with users.
Surfshark has 3,200+ servers located in 100+ countries around the world.
PrivateVPN has 200+ servers located in 63+ countries around the world.
Global Server Coverage Winner: Surfshark (more countries)
| Provider | Server Count | Countries | Link |
| Surfshark | 3,200+ | 100 | Visit Site |
| PrivateVPN | 200+ | 63 | Visit Site |
Multi-Platform Support
If you own multiple internet-connected devices, a VPN provider’s native app support is an important consideration.
Surfshark offers native app options for iOS, macOS (with native Apple Silicon support), Android, Android TV, Windows, Linux, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browser extensions are also available. Comprehensive router support includes pre-configured routers through Flashrouters.com.
PrivateVPN’s device support is definitely lacking. Native app support is available only for iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows device platforms and also lacks browser extensions. The provider can also be manually set up on Linux devices and some routers.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: It’s a tossup
| Provider | Platforms Supported | Browser Extensions? | Router Support? |
Link |
| PrivateVPN | 5 | No | Yes – Manual setup. | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | 7 | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) | Yes – Manual setup. Also includes Flashrouter options. | Visit Site |
Customer Support
Surfshark and PIA both offer intuitive, reliable VPN services. However, you may still have an occasional question about their services.
Surfshark offers 24/7 live chat, email support, and a searchable troubleshooting library. Unfortunately, Surfshark gets half a point knocked off its score, due to the provider’s use of third-party contractor Zendesk for its chat feature. Third parties put customers’ privacy at risk.
PrivateVPN offers include a live messaging option, email support, and a non-searchable FAQ support section.
Customer Support Winner: Surfshark
| Provider | Customer Support Rating | Link |
| PrivateVPN | 4.0 | Visit Site |
| Surfshark | 4.5 | Visit Site |
And The Winner Is…
While both PrivateVPN and Surfshark provide reliable and comprehensive VPN protection, only one of the two can be named the champion in this virtual one-on-one.
Surfshark is the top dog, thanks to its coming out on top in the connection speeds, pricing, privacy, simultaneous connections, global server coverage, and customer support categories.
PrivateVPN did not win in any category.
The companies tied in the streaming, online security, BitTorrent, and multi-platform support categories.
For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit Surfshark.
