TorGuard vs PIA: Are they Same? Let see who WIN

When talking about VPN services which have been there in the industry for long enough to be stable and reliable then we cannot miss two names. These are TorGuard and PIA. Both TorGuard and Private Internet Access are very well known and well established in the VPN industry. Both of them are also well known to be reliable for protecting users’ privacy and being really reasonable in pricing.

So, today we are going to put both of these well-known services to test. It is going to be a TorGuard vs PIA matchup in which we are going to evaluate everything about these services and find out which one is better than the other. We will test all the important aspects of both the services and evaluate which one is the victor in the PIA vs TorGuard battle.

This comparison will be divided into these sections, Performance and Speed, Streaming and Unblocking, P2P and Torrenting, Price and Features, Apps and Functionality, Security and Protocols and Servers and Locations. After all these rounds, we are going to match the scores and see which one is better. It is either going to e TorGuard or Private Internet Access.

Performance and Speed

The first matchup is for the speed and performance of the services. Firstly we are going to compare the speed of both of these services in the table below.

The difference in speed for both, TorGuard and PIA, is minute. It is so close that it would not even matter. However, the performance in terms of connection stability and time to connect to our desired connection of PIA was slightly better than TorGuard. Still, it was slight enough to call it a tie.

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 8

Streaming and Unblocking

One of the most important and popular uses of a VPN is for unblocking and streaming. VPN has been wide used for its unblocking capabilities and many still use it just to get access to various entertainment sites which are geographically restricted in their regions for streaming. Considering this, we tested TorGuard and PIA to unblock and stream the most popular and tricky streaming service. That’s why  we suggest Nordvpn to stream Netflix.

Yes, we are talking about the US Netflix. After the crackdown of VPNs by Netflix, it has become extremely difficult for many services to get around the restrictions. There are only a handful of services which are able to get users the access to US Netflix because of its widest Netflix titles’ library.

In our test, both, Private Internet Access and TorGuard VPN could not unblock US Netflix. We tried from various servers in the US but none of the two could help us get access to the US Netflix. Then we went on to easier streaming sites and both the services did well on these. The streaming experience was also good enough to enjoy the content. Our scores for this round would be:

TorGuard: 7
PIA: 7

P2P and Torrenting

The use of VPN for torrenting and peer to peer file sharing is understandable. There are various users who seek the reliable VPN services which support torrenting while keeping them protected. Not all services support torrenting and some are actually bad for your privacy, so using them for torrenting is pointless.

We tested both the services for torrenting because both, PIA and TorGuard, fully support torrenting. The important aspect is that both the services keep zero logs and they are a few of those which can be trusted with thyeir logging policies. In terms of performance, the download speed and compatibility of TorGuard and PIA are actually quite impressive. Our score for them:

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 8

Price and Features

The prices of both the services seem affordable when compared to the industry average, however PIA is so much better than TorGuard when it comes to the prices.

In addition to this, the main features in TorGuard vs PIA are compared in the following table.

In terms of pricing, Private Internet Access certainly is better than TorGuard. PIA is one of the most affordable VPN services in the industry and it is often found a difficult one to compete because of its low price. On the other hand, TorGuard is more expensive than PIA. In terms of features, it a tough competition, but TorGuard offers some extra features which PIA does not. All in all, our scores are:

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 8

Apps and Functionality

Be it TorGuard or PIA, both the services offers VPN apps for all the popular platforms including Mac OSX, Android, iOS, and Windows. Additionally, both the services offers free browser extensions as well. Now, in terms of functionality and options, both services are different. The functionality of both is good in its own way. Usability of both is pretty decent as well. Overall we would score:

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 8

Security and Protocols

When it comes to the security of the services, the most important element is the level of encryption these services offer. So, both the services have AES encryption with a 256-bit key. It is a good standard and it is often dubbed as the military grade encryption. In addition to this, the protocols supported by PIA include PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN. On the other hand, TorGuard offers OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, IPsec, and SSTP. So, we scored them:

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 8

Servers and Locations

The number of servers and server locations determines the performance and level of freedom a service can offer to its users. So, it is essential to compare the number of servers and the number of countries which these services offer. But if you see our NordVPN vs PIA comparison the results are different.

In this round, TorGuard is slightly better than PIA. Our scores for this are:

TorGuard: 8
PIA: 7

Final Words

The overall scores of PIA vs TorGuard in numbers.

The difference in these services is not too big, still the number suggests TorGuard to be slightly better than PIA. Still, PIA is certainly more affordable than TorGuard with a service of similar quality.