VPN by Private Internet Access

• of VPN Service — $39.99/year ($3.33/mo) (derived from the IAP title)

Last verified 2 Sep 2026

4.7 149146 ratings · App Store

1. 2/5I used to love this product

   I’ve been a subscriber to PIA for 2 or 3 years now and this year, I’m going to let my subscription lapse. I joined PIA because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews, and for a time, I was in agreement. The iOS, Windows, and macOS clients were all dead simple to use and I even had the private IP subscription to eliminate all the annoying CAPTCHAs sites like Google throw in your way. Now, however, it seems like 50% of the times the latency and speeds are completely unusable for even the most basic of web browsing, making it so that I have to turn the VPN off to even be able to browse the web sometimes—which defeats the entire purpose of paying for a VPN. Additionally, while the desktop apps have gone relatively undisturbed, the iOS app has gotten buggier over time. The switch doesn’t always line up with the status of the VPN and the widgets are completely worthless considering all they really do is open the app and sometimes but not always display the current connection status. Additionally, in a recent update, there’s a live notification always living in the Dynamic Island with the PIA logo and a connection status symbol with seemingly no way to disable it, which gets incredibly annoying. I wish I could enjoy using PIA like I used to, but now I have enough grievances now to where I’m ready to move on. Hopefully these issues can be fixed in the future.

   anonymous93104 · 2 Sep 2026

2. 1/5Good before latest update

   I’ve been using PIA for years, but when iOS 16 was released, PIA has had MAJOR connection issues. And now with this latest release, it won’t stay connected at all. Whenever I set my phone down and it goes to sleep, EVERY SINGLE TIME that I pick it up, PIA is either disconnected or will start to try to connect after disconnecting itself, eating my battery and heating up my phone. Then I have to go into iOS settings and do battle with the VPN settings in a no win to get PIA to connect and stay connected. Sometimes it says it’s connected, but I can’t reach a website, the App Store, Gamecenter, or anything requiring internet access. And don’t get me started about leaving my house when my phone automatically switches from WiFi to 5G. If I want to use Waze for example, Waze can’t find the network because PIA is blocking it because PIA won’t connect won’t like it did seamlessly two years ago. So I have to pull over and do battle again through iOS VPN settings just to get PIA to work. It can take FIVE MINUTES. This is such a disastrous update. And my subscription just renewed last month. There are better options out there, and I might ask for a refund. Fix this abomination of an update please. FYI, I had to disconnect PIA in order to reach the App Store to write and submit this. The proof is in the pudding. FIX IT.

   tps42 · 2 Sep 2026

3. 1/5Connection Issues

   I don’t know what you guys did on this new update, but now it’s a huge struggle to connect on iPad and iPhone. It’s try...try...try again, over and over and over hoping it will connect. Switching regions is till a 50% chance it will catch. On my Mac Pro it’s produces slow buffering video streaming even at 100mps speed, slow website loading on both Safari and Firefox and major connection issues on iPad and iPhone. Huge disappointment to a customer of 3 years. Sending “slow speed complaint” for the last 3 years weekly has not improved the service at all and is getting very annoying now. This new update put me over the edge to look for a better service. My one year is up in a month and will be looking for a better provider. **UPDATE** Since the new Mac update recently, everything is running beautifully...connection is flawless on Mac. Connection speed is faster, disconnection speed is also faster. The new design is great and have had no problems with this new Mac update. So CHEERS to the nice job. What ever you did to the Mac update needs to be done with iPhone and iPad update. Connection problems still arise when connecting to Canada and Mexico on iPad and iPhone even after iPhone PIA update. I use them because of the lower MS numbers. Thank you for fixing the Mac issues. Here’s hoping fixes will come to iPad and iPhone issues.

   Dissapointed Customer01 · 2 Sep 2026

4. 3/5When it stays connected I like it

   Like everyone else, I have huge connection problems. It loses the VPN IP regularly and does not reconnect when moving between networks. I have to manually power cycle every time I leave my home wifi. Even if PIA shows connected, if you have the kill switch on, apps and browsing is often blocked because somehow PIA has lost the server. I also experience slow speeds and super long reconnect times for PIA. I'm on cellular right now at a coffee shop, I've been at the same table for an hour, and PIA has lost the VPN IP twice and killed my connections. I did fine the first month, then when I purchased the 3yr plan it went south. I thought the reinstall (to change accts) messed with it, but based on reviews and comments it may have simply been unfortunate timing. I really like PIA's philosophy and want to stay with them. But when I have to turn it off to finish my work because I'm having that many problems, I'm forced to consider another. I'll keep trying. I paid for 3 yrs after all. (And to the March 22 reviewer who is annoyed by all the "can't connect" comments: I HAVE "experimented" with the settings. It still doesn't work. I'm glad yours does. Truly. But that doesn't mean mine does.)

   USCGRgranny · 2 Sep 2026

5. 2/5Suddenly stopped working

   I have been using PIA for well over a year on both iOS and Windows and have not had any problems. Up until now I would’ve gave it 5 stars. However, all of a sudden v3.6.1 stopped working for me on my iPhone running 13.5.1. At first it wouldn’t connect, it would just spin and now will not allow me to login citing an “SSL error, secure connection to server cannot be made.” Deleting and re-downloading, switching SSID’s etc has not fixed this. Outside of the app not working, my big issue is with the nonexistent costumer support. Initial triage of the issue from PIA was basic. I was told to escalate my ticket since all options were exhausted. So the Development crew replied hours later but showed how they clearly did not read my issue at all from the trouble ticket. If you explicitly state that you do not currently have service and are operating strictly from WiFi as well as you are not able to login, the first two “troubleshooting techniques” should not be “switch to data, or switch from openVPN to WireGuard.” The PIA app still functions on my Windows 10 notebook, but when you pay for services, you expect it to function as stated. I will not be renewing with PIA and will move to ExpressVPN and pay the extra money unless this can actually be rectified.

   AmS16!! · 2 Sep 2026

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