PrivateVPN review: documented features, ownership and limits

Our assessment

PrivateVPN is a Swedish VPN worth shortlisting if you want port forwarding and a Stealth VPN switch in the same apps, on up to 10 devices, for a low quoted bill: $72.00 for the first 36 months. It is operated by PrivateVPN Global AB, and the Stockholm-based web-hosting group Miss Group lists it among its brands. Its documented apps cover Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad, and Fire TV.

Is PrivateVPN safe? Its privacy policy says it keeps no activity logs, but we found no independent audit cited on any official PrivateVPN page we checked, so that promise rests on the provider’s word. Other limits are concrete: no split tunneling in its apps, no Linux app, refund terms much narrower than the “money-back guarantee” badge, and official pages that contradict each other on devices, server counts and kill-switch platforms.

This is a documentation-based review. We have not tested PrivateVPN: no speed, leak, streaming or hands-on app tests were run for this site. Everything below comes from PrivateVPN’s own pages, checked on 13 October 2026, plus labeled third-party reports on ownership.

Pricing and renewal

PrivateVPN sells one service in three lengths. The headline plan collects $72.00 for 36 months, sold as 12 months plus 24 months extra; $72.00 ÷ 36 = $2.00 is the monthly equivalent. PrivateVPN’s plan card states “(72.00 USD billed every 12 months after 36 months)”, or $72.00 ÷ 12 = $6.00 a month in each renewal year. Keeping the plan for 48 months would cost $72.00 + $72.00 = $144.00 at those amounts.

We rate that renewal figure as medium confidence. The site generates the card sentence from the same price field as the first payment, there is no separate renewal table, and the Terms allow fee changes with advance notice, effective at renewal. Prices are labeled “incl. VAT”, and we did not verify whether US sales tax is added at payment. The 3-month plan costs $17.99 and the 1-month plan $9.90; both fall below the USD 45 minimum in PrivateVPN’s refund terms.

The PrivateVPN coupon guide has the full plan table, the checkout steps and the currency check to make before paying.

Devices, apps and manual setups

PrivateVPN’s Terms allow 10 simultaneous devices per subscription, and its FAQ and pricing page agree. Older router and Kodi pages still say six, but the Terms state that they prevail over other site text. Beyond 10 devices, the Terms suggest a router setup or a second subscription.

Its own apps cover Windows 11, 10, 8.1 and 7 SP1; macOS 12 and later, with a manual L2TP guide for older Macs; Android; iPhone and iPad; and Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick. ChromeOS uses the Android app. The Chrome extension is a proxy, not a full VPN. A marketing page describes an Android TV app, but the help center has no Android TV guide, so we treat it as unverified. Apple TV and game consoles aren’t documented.

Linux is the main gap. The features page lists Linux among its dedicated applications, but the help center offers only manual OpenVPN, WireGuard, AnyConnect, L2TP and StealthVPN guides, covering distributions such as Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, CentOS 8 and Manjaro. Router guides cover ASUS, DD-WRT, GL.iNet, Linksys, OpenWrt, OPNsense, pfSense, Tenda, Tomato and TP-Link, and NAS guides cover Synology and QNAP.

In the apps, WireGuard and OpenVPN (TCP port 443) run on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, with L2TP also on Windows and Mac and IKEv2 on iOS.

No split tunneling in the apps

PrivateVPN documents no split tunneling inside its own apps. Our search of its 183 help-center articles found only manual or third-party methods:

None of these is a switch in the PrivateVPN app, and the IP-based rules route by address rather than by app. If you need one app to bypass the tunnel, read our split tunneling guide and look at providers with documented app rules, such as NordVPN on Windows and Android.

Kill switch and Application Guard

PrivateVPN’s FAQ says the kill switch “automatically stops all internet traffic” if the VPN connection suddenly fails, until you reconnect. Its setup guide shows a different route on each platform:

• Windows: in Connection Guard, enable Kill Switch.
• Mac: in Connection Guard, set Kill Switch to “Auto” or “Always”; the guide doesn’t define the two modes.
• Android: in VPN Settings, enable Kill Switch; a troubleshooting guide also uses Android’s Always-on VPN with “Block connections without VPN”.
• iPhone and iPad: no toggle. The guide says to choose IKEv2, which “includes a built-in kill switch”.
• Linux: a manual firewall script for OpenVPN.

The Windows app also has Application Guard, which PrivateVPN says “will automatically terminate the selected program if the VPN connection is lost”. That closes chosen programs rather than blocking the whole connection. The help center doesn’t state the kill switch’s default setting or what happens after a manual disconnect. PrivateVPN’s kill-switch marketing page claims more platforms, including Linux, Kodi and routers, and describes a “full-system kill switch” that blocks all applications; the help-center guides are more specific, so we rely on them. Our kill switch guide explains which situations to check.

Port forwarding, dedicated IPs and Stealth VPN

Port forwarding is included. PrivateVPN says it “supports port forwarding on selected servers” and that availability may vary by location, but it publishes no list of those servers and shows no add-on price. In the Windows and Mac apps, you note the “random ephemeral port” assigned after you connect, and its Transmission guide warns that “the port may change when reconnecting”. Port forwarding isn’t documented for the Android or iPhone apps. If you use it for file sharing, you are responsible for following copyright law.

Dynamic dedicated IP servers are listed in eight cities: Sydney, Tokyo, Oslo, Torun, Stockholm, London, Los Angeles and New York. They appear under a Dedicated IP tab in the Windows, Mac, Android and iOS apps, and as OpenVPN configuration files. We found no price for them, and PrivateVPN doesn’t define “dynamic dedicated”, so don’t assume an address reserved for you alone.

Stealth VPN is a toggle in the Windows, Mac, Android and iOS apps, which PrivateVPN says is “designed to make VPN traffic appear like regular internet traffic” on networks that restrict VPNs. Its FAQ also claims DNS leak protection in those four apps and IPv6 leak protection in all of its applications. These are provider statements, not results we measured.

Where PrivateVPN is based and who owns it

PrivateVPN is operated by PrivateVPN Global AB (reg. no. 559282-2182), Box 2128, SE-442 02 Ytterby, Sweden, according to its Terms and privacy policy. The Terms are governed by Swedish law, and disputes go to Sweden’s National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) or the Swedish courts.

Its parent is Miss Group, a web-hosting group headquartered in Stockholm, which lists privatevpn.com under “Our Brands” on its own website. Third-party sources date the purchase: the trade publication Private Equity Wire reported on 17 June 2022 that Perwyn-backed Miss Group had acquired PrivateVPN, with day-to-day management moving to Miss Group’s team in Sweden, and a July 2022 deal note from the M&A adviser IMAP also dates the purchase to June 2022. We found no later ownership change, and PrivateVPN’s help center runs in a workspace named “Miss Group EU”.

Logging policy and the missing audit

PrivateVPN’s privacy policy, last updated 16 October 2023, says it does not “collect or store logs of your activity, including no logging of browsing history, traffic destination, connection time stamps, DNS queries, IP addresses (neither allocated IP nor connected IP), data content or bandwidth.” An account still needs an email address and a password. Payment processors handle billing details such as the purchase date, the payer’s IP address, ZIP code, full name and card details, and PrivateVPN says it can access that data for refunds and accounting.

We found no independent audit of any kind cited on the official PrivateVPN pages we checked, including 183 help-center articles. That doesn’t show the policy is untrue, but it leaves only PrivateVPN’s statement to go on. NordVPN, by comparison, cites six point-in-time no-logs assurance engagements by PwC and Deloitte. PrivateVPN’s policy also looks dated in one place: it names LiveAgent as the chat provider, while the site now uses Intercom.

Refunds, cancellation and conflicting pages

The plan cards promise a “30-day money-back guarantee”, but PrivateVPN’s Terms exclude orders under USD 45, renewals, Bitcoin and other crypto payments, and App Store purchases, and they require a reason sent to support@privatevpn.com. To stop renewal, sign in to the account page and click Cancel Subscription; PrivateVPN says this only turns off auto-renewal, and App Store or Google Play subscriptions must be canceled in that store.

Several official pages contradict each other, so we follow the binding or more specific source:

Reasons to choose another provider

• You need app split tunneling. NordVPN documents app rules on Windows and Android; PrivateVPN has none in its apps.
• You want independently assessed privacy claims. NordVPN cites six no-logs assurance engagements; PrivateVPN cites no audit.
• You use Linux or Apple TV. NordVPN lists apps for both; PrivateVPN offers manual Linux guides and doesn’t document Apple TV.
• You need more than 10 connections at once. Surfshark lists unlimited devices.
• You want a refundable short plan. PrivateVPN’s 1-month and 3-month plans fall below its refund minimum.

NordVPN vs PrivateVPN compares the two side by side, including the four-year bill.

Common questions

Is PrivateVPN safe?

We can’t confirm that independently: we haven’t tested it, and PrivateVPN cites no independent audit. What is documented is a Swedish operator, a no-activity-logs statement in its privacy policy, kill-switch options in its main apps and leak-protection claims in its FAQ. If third-party assurance matters to you, weigh that gap before buying.

Where is PrivateVPN based?

In Sweden. The service is run by PrivateVPN Global AB, a Swedish company whose Terms are governed by Swedish law, and its parent, Miss Group, is headquartered in Stockholm.

Is PrivateVPN good?

It is a reasonable documented fit if you want port forwarding, a Stealth VPN switch and a low quoted price for up to 10 devices. It is a poor fit if you need app split tunneling, a Linux app or audited privacy claims. We have no speed or streaming results to add.

Is PrivateVPN the same as Private Internet Access?

No. PrivateVPN (privatevpn.com) is the Swedish service reviewed here, while Private Internet Access (PIA) and PrivadoVPN are separate services with their own apps, prices and terms. Our PIA review covers Private Internet Access.