TorGuard vs PIA: Two VPN Providers Compared in 2023

Our Comparison Guidelines

Our Private Internet Access vs TorGuard comparison focuses on the similarities and differences between the two VPNs. The commonalities are few and far between, with only app design and security measures resembling each other. The two services approach almost everything else differently. You can check our full PIA review and TorGuard review for more details. 

Cloudwards Editor’s Choice

PIA is a better VPN than TorGuard, offering faster speeds, reliable unblocking ability and better security and privacy features. On top of all of that, PIA’s plans are all cheaper than TorGuard’s. The only downside is that it doesn’t have features for businesses like TorGuard does. If neither choice convinces you, check out our roundup of the best VPNs. 

Private Internet Access vs TorGuard: Comparison at a Glance

	Review	Review
General
Payment methods	PayPal, Credit card	PayPal, Credit card, Amazon, Paygarden, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Accepts cryptocurrency
Simultaneous connections	8	Unlimited
Supports split tunneling
Unlimited bandwidth
Free trial available		Only on Android/iOS apps
Refund period
Worldwide server amount	3000+ Servers in 50+ Countries	35,000+ servers in 91 countries
Desktop OSes	Windows, MacOS, Linux	Windows, MacOS, Linux
Mobile OSes	Android, iOS	Android, iOS
Browser extensions	Chrome, Firefox	Chrome, Firefox, Opera
Can be installed on routers
Streaming
Can access Netflix US
Can access BBC iPlayer
Can access Hulu
Can access Amazon Prime Video
Security
Encryption types	256-AES	128-AES, 256-AES
VPN protocols available	OpenVPN, OpenConnect, Stunnel, WireGuard	OpenVPN, IKEv2, Lightway
Enabled at device startup
Allows torrenting
No-logging policy
Passed DNS leak test
Killswitch available
Malware/ad blocker included
Support
Live Chat	office hours	24/7
Email support	24/7	24/7
Phone support
User forum
Knowledgebase

Which Is Better: TorGuard vs PIA?

PIA is a better VPN provider than TorGuard across the board. It’s faster, more secure, better guarantees user privacy and unblocks streaming services more reliably. TorGuard offers a wider range of plans, but PIA is cheaper when you compare the prices directly. 

We Recommend TorGuard if You Want…

• A VPN for three to six months: TorGuard offers six-month and quarterly plans. 
• A VPN for Business: TorGuard has a business plan with dedicated user management features. 

We Recommend PIA if You Want…

• An affordable VPN: PIA has affordable monthly, yearly and three-year plans. 
• A VPN for streaming: PIA unblocks all of the major streaming services. 
• A fast VPN: PIA has faster upload and download speeds that are perfect for streaming, gaming and torrenting. 

If You Want to Consider Other Services, Check Out…

TorGuard vs PIA: Similarities

Let’s start with the commonalities between TorGuard and PIA. Primarily, both VPN providers have similar-looking apps, offer similar encryption and protocols and come with kill switches.

Platforms, Interface and Ease of Use

Both TorGuard and PIA have apps for all major operating systems. For mobile devices, they have native apps for Android and iOS. If you’re using a desktop device, there are TorGuard and PIA apps for Linux, Windows and macOS.

In our experience, PIA is an easy-to-use VPN with more refined mobile and desktop apps, just like CyberGhost (see our CyberGhost review). 

It’s no surprise that PIA is on our best VPNs for beginners list. Its apps are cleaner, better organized and more intuitive than TorGuard’s. For instance, TorGuard requires you to log in each time you want to use the VPN, and there’s no search button to help you find a server quickly. 

For Linux users, we recommend PIA over TorGuard thanks to its graphical user interface (GUI) app for Ubuntu 18.04+ (LTS), Mint, Debian, Fedora and Arch. This is why PIA is the best VPN for Linux. TorGuard provides a command-line interface for many Linux distros, but you’ll need to be tech-savvy to set them up. 

PIA and TorGuard also offer browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, and you can install both VPN services on a router if your device doesn’t support VPNs. For example, if you connect your smart TV to the internet through a VPN-protected router, the TV will automatically have a VPN cover. See our article on the best VPN for smart TVs to learn more.

Encryption and Protocols

You can bank on PIA and TorGuard to secure your online traffic. Both VPN providers encrypt user traffic using AES-256 encryption by default, which is one of the strongest encryption ciphers out there. 

TorGuard’s website claims that it offers AES-128 and Blowfish protocols, but there’s no option to choose those ciphers on its apps. You’ll have to set up the protocols manually. 

In terms of VPN protocols, TorGuard and PIA offer both OpenVPN and WireGuard. If you use the WireGuard protocol, your traffic will be encrypted with ChaCha20, which is equivalent to AES-256 in strength. Choose OpenVPN if security is your foremost reason for using a VPN. WireGuard is a better option if you need a VPN for speed-related activities like streaming. 

Leak Protection and Kill Switch

Both PIA and TorGuard block IPv6, which prevents a common cause of DNS leaks — browsing history leaks due to unexpected changes to the new internet protocol. Both VPNs also offer a kill switch, which blocks your internet connection when your VPN disconnects. This is a vital failsafe to prevent your data from leaking. 

PIA offers both normal and advanced kill switch settings, much like Surfshark’s soft and hard kill switches (see our Surfshark review). The normal kill switch stops your internet connection when the VPN accidentally disconnects. The advanced kill switch is a system-wide kill switch that prevents you from connecting to the internet if the VPN is not activated. 

TorGuard offers only a system-wide kill switch. When it’s activated, you won’t be able to access the internet at all unless you connect to a TorGuard server. 

PIA vs TorGuard: Differences

In this section, we’ll explore speeds, streaming performance, prices, server locations and privacy features, all key areas where PIA and TorGuard diverge. 

Speed

Any VPN will reduce speeds to an extent, but the best ones have a marginal impact. As in all of our VPN speed tests, we checked both PIA and TorGuard’s download speeds, upload speeds and latency to see the impact these VPNs have on speed. 

Download Speed (Higher is better)

Upload Speed (Higher is better)

Latency (Lower is better)

Source: Cloudwards VPN Speed Test. We test daily. Data averaged from 11/14/23 to 12/14/23

Data for region: USUKAUBRSASG

PIA’s download speeds are better than TorGuard’s. During our tests, it maintained at least 70% of our initial speeds in every location, whereas TorGuard went below 20% in some cases. This makes PIA a better choice for streaming and downloading large files.

You should also choose PIA if you’re going to use a VPN to upload content, video chat or torrent. PIA maintained at least 70% of initial upload speeds, whereas TorGuard was inconsistent. PIA also has more consistently low latency, making it a better choice for playing online games. 

Prices

If you’re looking for a good-value VPN, choose PIA over TorGuard. PIA’s plans are straightforward — offering a monthly, yearly and three-year plan, all three of which are more affordable than TorGuard’s respective plans.

TorGuard has a complex pricing structure, with monthly, quarterly, yearly, two-year and three-year plans. The plans are grouped into the regular Anonymous VPN plan, an Anonymous + PrivateMail bundle and an Anonymous + Streaming bundle. 

The Anonymous + PrivateMail bundle adds five email aliases and encrypted file and email storage, while the Anonymous + Streaming bundle includes two streaming IPs. 

TorGuard’s Anonymous VPN monthly plan starts at $9.99 per month, whereas PIA’s monthly plan costs $11.95 per month. However, TorGuard’s monthly Anonymous VPN plan allows only eight simultaneous connections. You can increase that to 12 simultaneous connections, but you’ll have to pay $12.99 per month. If you opt for the streaming bundle, the monthly rate is bumped even more. 

PIA is a better-value choice with unlimited simultaneous connections at every level. At $3.33 per month, PIA’s yearly plan is cheaper than TorGuard’s. PIA’s yearly plan works out to a total of $39.95 per year. PIA’s most discounted deal is the three-year plan, which costs $2.19 per month ($79 per year).

Simultaneous Connections

Choose PIA over TorGuard if you have a large household or want to share your VPN connection with many people. PIA offers unlimited simultaneous connections, whereas only 12 devices can connect to a single TorGuard account at once. 

Streaming

Compared to TorGuard, PIA is the better VPN for streaming. We have been testing PIA for years, and it always unblocks the major streaming platforms at the first crack. This includes Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney Plus and even the usually stubborn Netflix. 

The story is quite different for TorGuard. In our tests, it could unblock Netflix libraries, but that was about it. We couldn’t access other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer or Hulu with TorGuard. TorGuard has dedicated streaming IPs that are optimized for unblocking streaming services, but you’ll have to pay extra for them. 

Even after purchasing a dedicated streaming IP, we couldn’t get into Amazon Prime Video or Hulu. In addition, a dedicated TorGuard streaming IP is not good for much else besides streaming — it doesn’t allow torrenting, for instance. 

The most reliable and best-value choice for streaming is PIA, though it trails behind ExpressVPN, our choice for overall best VPN, in terms of streaming. You can discover more in our ExpressVPN review.

Torrenting

TorGuard and PIA are handy VPNs for torrenting, but if you must choose, go with PIA. PIA is one of the best VPNs for torrenting because all of its servers support P2P downloads. With TorGuard, however, you might have to sift through different servers to download torrents easily. That said, both PIA and TorGuard offer port forwarding, which helps you download torrents more quickly. 

Server Locations

TorGuard has over 3,000 VPN servers in more than 50 countries. PIA doesn’t disclose its server count, but it has servers in 91 countries. This means that PIA has a better server spread than TorGuard, including more servers in underserved locations like the Middle East and Africa. 

Even though most of TorGuard’s servers are in the US and Europe, PIA is still a much better choice in those locations. For example, if you want a US IP address, PIA offers servers in all 50 US states, leaving you spoiled for choice. 

Dedicated IP Addresses

A dedicated IP is a unique IP assigned to you that helps to avoid blacklists, skip repeated verification requests and access sensitive online services like banking. Both PIA and TorGuard offer dedicated IP addresses at an extra fee, but there are some differences. 

PIA offers dedicated IPs in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Germany. TorGuard offers more dedicated IP locations, including the US, the UK, Switzerland, Turkey, South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Brazil and Australia. 

PIA’s dedicated IP starts at $2.50 per month, whereas TorGuard’s dedicated IP is priced at $7.99 per month. We recommend PIA’s dedicated IP for its reliability over TorGuard’s. Only choose TorGuard’s dedicated IPs if PIA doesn’t have IPs in the country you want. 

Business Features

Though you can use PIA for a small business thanks to its unlimited simultaneous connections, TorGuard is a much better VPN for businesses. TorGuard’s business features include dedicated IPs, private email accounts and a user management control panel where you can control employee access to the VPN. 

TorGuard business plans include a dedicated account manager who makes sure the VPN is meeting your business needs. We consider TorGuard one of the best business VPNs on the market. 

Privacy

A shady VPN might end up sharing your information with third parties, defeating the very purpose of using a VPN. As a result, we always check the kind of data that VPNs log from users and what they do with that information.

PIA is a privacy-friendly VPN that doesn’t collect personally identifiable information from users. As evidence of its no-logs policy, PIA’s infrastructure only comprises RAM-only servers, which clears any lingering data with every server reboot. 

TorGuard VPN is not as upfront about its privacy friendliness as PIA. However, the privacy policy does contain a reference to logging: “TorGuard does not collect or log any data from its virtual private network (VPN) or proxy services.” Unlike with PIA, though, there’s not much backing this up. It would be better for TorGuard to run RAM-only servers to bolster its no-logs claim. 

In addition, TorGuard has yet to undergo any independent audits of its logging policy or server infrastructure. Deloitte inspected PIA’s server fleet and gave it a clean bill of health in 2022.

The Verdict: Why We Think PIA Wins Overall

PIA beats TorGuard in virtually all key departments. It’s a faster VPN, boasts more security features and is more trustworthy in terms of privacy. On top of all of that, PIA is far cheaper than TorGuard, with TorGuard’s plans sometimes costing three times as much as PIA’s.

Have you used TorGuard or PIA? Do you prefer one service over the other? Or did you go for a completely different option? Let us know in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.

FAQ: TorGaurd vs PIA Compared

• Is PIA the Strongest VPN?

  PIA is a robust VPN with strong encryption and protocols. However, if you’re looking for the strongest VPN, we recommend ExpressVPN. All of its servers are obfuscated RAM-only servers with perfect forward secrecy.

• Is PIA Still Trustworthy?

  Yes, PIA is worth trusting because it sticks to a strict no-logs policy. An audit by Deloitte confirmed this, as does the fact that it’s never been caught working with law enforcement. Plus, it uses RAM-only servers, which erase all of their logs every time they reset.

• Is TorGuard the Best VPN?

  TorGuard is a useful VPN, but it’s not the best VPN on the market. That honor belongs to ExpressVPN, which boasts robust security and privacy features, fast speeds and excellent unblocking ability.

• Is PIA Better Than ExpressVPN?

  PIA is a more affordable VPN than ExpressVPN. However, ExpressVPN is faster, more reliable at unblocking and has a larger server spread, boasting servers in 105 countries.

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