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Most pairings have an obvious answer. This one does not. Unlimited devices on both sides, a few dollars between the prices, and both companies headquartered inside intelligence-sharing arrangements.
The tie-breakers turn out to be a court record and a corporate map, which is not where anybody expects a VPN comparison to end up.
The Short Answer
Surfshark scores 4.6 on our scale, Private Internet Access scores 4.5. That gap is the smallest we have written about.
Both allow unlimited simultaneous connections. Each one costs roughly fifty dollars for a two-year term. Moreover, they sit in countries that share intelligence with allies.
Surfshark wins on streaming and features. PIA wins on evidence and on price over time, if you can confirm what its renewal actually costs.
Neither One Is Independent
Start here, because it reframes everything below.
Surfshark merged with Nord Security on 2 February 2022. The same group owns NordVPN, and both companies stated the brands would keep separate teams, infrastructure and roadmaps.
PIA belongs to Kape Technologies, which also owns ExpressVPN and CyberGhost.
⚠️ So four of the five providers on our own front page belong to two groups. Proton VPN is the one whose owner runs no competing VPN, and that is worth knowing before any feature comparison begins.
One difference between the groups is concrete. Kape owns the review site vpnMentor, which discloses the relationship itself. Nord Security owns no review site, so nobody there is grading their own homework — we mapped every group on one page.
Where They Genuinely Differ
Four points, and only four, separate these two.
Jurisdiction. Surfshark operates from the Netherlands, inside the Nine Eyes arrangement. PIA is American, and the United States is a Five Eyes member. Neither is Panama or Switzerland.
Evidence. PIA answered federal subpoenas in 2016 and June 2018 and produced nothing. Surfshark holds two Deloitte audits and has no equivalent court moment.
Speed. Our table records a 21% loss for Surfshark, measured by CNET. PIA has no figure from a named laboratory, so we do not publish one — what those percentages mean in practice matters more than the ranking.
Streaming. Surfshark is the steadier performer, and our streaming guide ranks it accordingly. PIA is the inconsistent one.
Price, Devices and the Number That Will Not Settle
Here the two nearly collapse into each other.
Surfshark costs about $54 for a 27-month first term, then roughly $79 a year. PIA costs about $49 for two years.
⚠️ PIA’s renewal remains the figure we cannot confirm. Published sources give $57 a year in one place and $11.59 a month in another, so the checkout page is the only reliable answer.
Both offer unlimited devices, which removes the criterion that usually decides a purchase at this price.
| Provider | Simultaneous | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 10 | — |
| Surfshark | Unlimited | no cap in terms |
| ExpressVPN | 10/12/14 | by tier |
| CyberGhost | 7 | router counts as one |
| PureVPN | 10 | up to 50 with paid add-on |
| IPVanish | Unlimited | no cap on any plan |
| Windscribe | Unlimited | including Build a Plan |
| Private Internet Access | Unlimited | no tier gating |
| Mullvad | 5 | no paid add-on |
| TunnelBear | Unlimited | no cap on any plan |
| Norton VPN | 5 | 10 on Ultimate, US only |
| Hotspot Shield | Disputed | sources give five and ten |
| IVPN | 5 | 10 on Pro Suite |
| PrivadoVPN | 10 | 1 on the free tier |
| StrongVPN | 12 | more than either market leader |
| PrivateVPN | 10 | free dedicated IP on one plan |
| VyprVPN | Disputed | sources give five and ten |
What the Court Record Is Worth
Worth being precise, because this is PIA’s strongest card and it is easy to overstate.
Two subpoenas produced nothing in cases nobody at PIA scheduled. That tests one narrow question at a moment the company did not choose.
An audit tests more and proves less. It examines systems in depth on an agreed date, and Surfshark has two of those.
⚠️ Neither is a guarantee about tomorrow. What a VPN hides and what it does not is the honest frame, and both of these providers sit in countries that can serve a demand.
Who Should Pick Which
Choose Surfshark if you stream, or if you want the broader feature set. It scores higher on our scale, it handles platforms more consistently, and it has a measured speed figure from a named source.
Choose PIA if the court record persuades you, or if you want open-source clients. It is cheaper on the initial term and its apps can be read rather than trusted.
⚠️ Choose neither if the ownership question is the point. Proton VPN is the provider on our list without a corporate sibling, and NordVPN against PIA covers the other pairing readers ask about.
How We Research
This comparison draws on Cloudwards, Tom’s Guide and Nord Security’s own announcement for the merger of 2 February 2022 and the statement that both brands keep separate infrastructure, on Wikipedia and CleanVPNs for the holding structure and the absence of any Nord Security review site, on VPNVertex and vpnMentor’s own disclosure for the Kape ownership of ExpressVPN, PIA, CyberGhost and vpnMentor, on CyberInsider and VPNpro for the 2016 and June 2018 PIA subpoenas, and on our own tables for every price, audit count and speed figure quoted here. Where our table and an outside source disagree on a number, we use ours. Our full approach lives on the About Us page, and NordVPN against Surfshark covers the pairing inside the other group.
Surfshark vs PIA FAQ
No, but neither is independent. Surfshark merged with Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, in February 2022. PIA belongs to Kape Technologies, which also owns ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. Both groups say their brands run separate teams and infrastructure.
PIA on the initial term, at roughly $49 for two years against about $54 for Surfshark’s 27 months. After that Surfshark charges around $79 a year, while PIA’s renewal figure is reported inconsistently by published sources, so check the checkout page.
Neither, in practice. Both offer unlimited simultaneous connections, which removes the criterion that usually decides purchases in this price range. The decision falls to jurisdiction, streaming consistency and what you consider proof of a no-logs policy.
Not in the way PIA has. Surfshark holds two Deloitte audits, which examine systems on an agreed date. PIA answered federal subpoenas in 2016 and June 2018 and produced nothing. Those are different kinds of evidence, and neither provider has both.
Surfshark, on published testing. Platform access changes month to month for every provider as services flag server addresses, so treat any ranking as a snapshot. PIA is described consistently as the less reliable of the two on this point.
The Verdict
This is the closest comparison we have written. Unlimited devices on both, prices within a few dollars, and neither jurisdiction is the one a privacy purist would choose.
Surfshark is the better everyday product, and it holds the higher score on our scale by a tenth of a point.
PIA holds the one credential that cannot be bought. Two federal demands, answered with nothing, at moments nobody arranged.
⚠️ And neither company stands alone. One belongs to the group behind NordVPN, the other to the group behind ExpressVPN, and only one of those groups also owns a site that reviews VPNs.