PureVPN advertises itself as the “world’s fastest VPN” and, while we can’t quite vouch for that, it’s certainly the fastest we’ve tested. With the VPN routing all our traffic via PureVPN’s New York server, we saw download speeds of an impressive 31Mbits/sec – just 11% slower than a direct connection via our UK-based ISP. A helpful graph tracks your data rate while connected, so you can be sure you’re getting what you’ve paid for.
As with CyberGhost, the client offers you a choice of several usage modes, depending on whether you’re interested in video streaming, accessing blocked sites, safeguarding your privacy or using BitTorrent without being tracked.
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Technically-minded users may find this unnecessarily fussy: at the end of the day, it’s four different ways of accessing the same basic service. Those less au fait with the workings of VPNs, however, might welcome the goal-orientated approach, rather than having to choose a suitable exit node from a list spanning 141 different countries.
That applies particularly to Stream mode, which offers a friendly list of services you might want to connect to. Eighteen services are defined, including BBC iPlayer, HBO Now and Hulu. Netflix US is there too, and (to our admitted surprise) this worked perfectly for us – although since Netflix has been actively working to block VPNs, we can’t promise it will remain available forever.
If you want to get more hands on, the multi-tabbed Preferences pane has you covered. Here you can access all the configuration options you’d expect, such as whether to automatically activate the VPN when Windows starts up. You can also configure “Split Tunnelling” mode: this routes the traffic from specified apps over the VPN, while allowing the rest to use your regular connection.
For those hoping to take PureVPN for a test drive, there’s no free tier, but paid subscriptions are covered by a seven-day money-back guarantee. Pricing starts at $10 per month (around £8), while a year-long subscription attracts a 50% discount – that is, $60 (around £48). This allows you to use up to five devices simultaneously – be they Windows, Mac, Android, iOS or Linux – and you can also configure your router to route all traffic over PureVPN, and protect your whole network.
One strength of PureVPN isn’t technical but geographical: it’s based in Hong Kong, which has no mandatory data-sharing or retention laws. In principle, the company could be forced by the local authorities to reveal what it knows about their users, but if you want to stay under the radar, we’d feel a lot happier about this than a VPN based in the UK or US. You can even pay with a variety of cryptocurrencies and gift cards, if you don’t want your subscription to show up on your credit card statement.
Verdict
In all, PureVPN is an impressive service. If you want a minimal client that stays out of the way then you might find the interface a tad overbearing, but it’s hard to argue with its excellent speeds, decent privacy credentials and – right now, at least – access to Netflix US. It’s not exactly cheap, especially if you choose to pay monthly. But if you have a long-term need for a VPN then PureVPN could be the ideal choice.