Private Internet Access
The cheapest full-featured VPN here, with unlimited devices, open-source apps and three Deloitte no-logs audits, owned by Kape in the United States.
Who owns it
Private Internet Access (PIA Private Internet Access, Inc., Denver; founded 2009 under London Trust Media; acquired by Kape Technologies for $95.5 million on 16 December 2019, so a sister of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost) is the budget pick with real engineering behind it. Everything is open source on GitHub under GPLv3 (desktop, mobile, extensions) and the desktop app ships the piactl command line. WireGuard and OpenVPN, a Shadowsocks obfuscation layer that doubles as multi-hop, port forwarding on selected servers, MACE DNS blocking, kill switch, split tunnelling, RAM-only servers, 91 countries and UK exits in London, Manchester and Southampton, unlimited simultaneous devices. The no-logs claim has been tested harder than most: a 2016 FBI subpoena and a 2018 federal trial both ended with PIA able to say only that an IP was "on the east coast of the United States", and Deloitte has examined the policy under ISAE 3000 three times, as of June 2022, January 2024 and December 2025, with the latest report public and its scope including the token-based dedicated-IP system. A UK dedicated IP costs £2.25 a month on the three-year term (£81 up front, "save 50%").
What it costs
Prices in GBP as shown to a UK visitor on 7 September 2026, VAT basis not stated: £9.99 month-to-month, £2.99 a month on one year (£35.88), £1.67 a month on "3 years + 3 months" (£65 for 39 months). The pricing page says the one-year plan "autorenews annually at £35.88" and the long plan "autorenews at £65 every 3 years". The free months drop off, so the effective rate rises 8%, but there is no stated step-up, which is rare in this category. Two cautions. The terms reserve the right to change fees with notice, and several dated one-star Trustpilot reviews from July and August 2026 describe being renewed at a different amount than promised and waiting weeks for refunds; Trustpilot is 4.3 on 10,994 reviews, not currently invited, 10% one-star. And it is a US company under Colorado law, owned by Kape (the former Crossrider adware business taken private by Teddy Sagi in 2023), which also owns the review sites vpnMentor and Wizcase. Business features are absent by design: the "Corporate VPN" page sells the consumer plan with bulk discounts and says it has no admin controls, roles or policies, and there is no SSO or device-to-device network. Support is 24/7 chat and email in English, French, German and Romanian, no phone. Saaskly has no commercial relationship with PIA.
Not yet tested by Saaskly: assessed on published pricing, documentation and third-party reviews.
Pros
- +Cheapest here with no stated renewal step-up; unlimited devices
- +Fully open-source apps, Linux CLI, port forwarding, UK dedicated IP from £2.25/mo
- +Three Deloitte no-logs audits and two US court cases with nothing to hand over
Cons
- −US jurisdiction and Kape ownership (ex-Crossrider; also owns vpnMentor/Wizcase)
- −No team plan, admin console, SSO or device-to-device network
- −Trustpilot one-stars allege renewals at a different price and slow refunds
Pricing
Minimum commitment: £65.13 (£1.67/mo × 1 seat × 39 months). The least you can spend before walking away; excludes numbers, minutes and add-ons.
3 years + 3 months
£9.99/mo · month-to-month
£1.67/mo on an annual commitment
Month-to-month costs 498% more
- ✓Per account, unlimited devices; £65 for 39 months, renews at £65 every 3 years (£1.81/mo); one-year £35.88 renews at £35.88; GBP as shown to a UK visitor 7 Sep 2026, VAT basis not stated (no tax line at checkout); Dedicated IP £2.25/mo (£81 per 3 years), UK available.
Specifications
| Rating | 3.5 |
| Pricing and plans | |
|---|---|
| Month-to-month | £9.99/mo |
| Longest plan, per month | £1.67/mo (39-month term) |
| Renewal, per month | £1.81/mo |
| Renewal premium* | 8% |
| Pricing pattern | Intro discount |
| Business plan | No |
| Intro term (months) | 39 |
| Free tier | None |
| Money-back (days) | 30 |
| Features | |
| Type | Privacy VPN |
| Devices | Unlimited |
| Fixed IP | Paid add-on: £2.25/mo, UK available |
| Device-to-device network | Not offered |
| WireGuard | ✓ |
| Port forwarding | ✓ |
| UK servers | ✓ |
| Countries | 91 |
| RAM-only servers | ✓ |
| Kill switch | ✓ |
| Split tunnelling | ✓ |
| Multi-hop | ✓ |
| Ad / tracker blocking | ✓ |
| Integrations and developers | |
| SSO | No |
| Linux client | ✓ |
| Open-source apps | ✓ |
| API | No |
| MCP server | No |
| Ownership and trust | |
| Jurisdiction | United States (Colorado) |
| Owner | Kape Technologies |
| No-logs audit | Deloitte, 2025 |
| Trustpilot (reviews)† | 4.3 (10,994) |
| Support | |
| 24/7 live chat | ✓ |
| Support channels | 24/7 live chat, Email (EN / FR / DE / RO) |
*Renewal premium: how much more the longest plan costs per month after its introductory term than during it, as a percentage of the intro rate. VPNs advertise the intro rate; you pay the renewal every term after. 0% means the advertised price is the real price. Prices are per month, effective (plan total ÷ months), as shown to a UK visitor on the research date, in the currency the vendor bills UK customers in; see each profile for the VAT basis.
†Trustpilot: uk.trustpilot.com TrustScore and review count on the research date. Three cells are weak signals and are shown for completeness: Cloudflare (1.4) is mostly non-customers blocked by CAPTCHAs on other companies' websites and no review mentions WARP; Tailscale (23 reviews) and Mullvad (186) are tiny unprompted samples. NordLayer has no Trustpilot profile, so its cell is blank.
Researched and drafted with AI assistance; reviewed and approved by Tim Meredith. How we use AI
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