PureVPN review

Updated 21 September 2026 · Based on vendor documentation and protocol specifications · Read our methodology

Quick verdict

PureVPN covers the three mainstream protocols and pairs them with unusually broad platform support, including Apple TV and Fire Stick apps that most providers leave to router configuration. There is no obfuscated transport in its protocol documentation, which matters only if you expect to meet networks that actively block VPNs.

Documented facts

Protocols: 3 (WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2)
Obfuscation: None listed
Native TV apps: Apple TV, Fire Stick
Simultaneous devices: 10
Refund window: 31-day money-back guarantee
Per-platform protocols: Not published

$3.24/month

Get PureVPN Deal31-day money-back guarantee · 10 devices

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How to read this review

Everything below comes from PureVPN's own published documentation, retrieved 21 September 2026, or from public protocol specifications, except where a section is explicitly marked as resting on our review-pass captures. We did not run a controlled lab benchmark, and we publish no speed figures, scores or audit verdicts we have not verified. Where a screenshot is cited it supports the visible state at the time of capture, not long-term behaviour.

Protocol support

PureVPN's protocol list is conventional but well balanced: a fast UDP default, a configurable fallback and a mobility protocol. The vendor publishes its own speed and security grades for each, which we reproduce below as vendor statements rather than as measurements.

Protocols and vendor-assigned grades as published by PureVPN, retrieved 21 September 2026. The speed and security ratings are the vendor's own, not measurements by VPN Sherlock.

Protocol	What the vendor says
WireGuard	Listed as "Very Fast" with "Excellent" security
OpenVPN	Listed as "Good" speed with "Excellent" security
IKEv2	Listed as "Fast" with "Very Good" security

The three protocols cover the common situations: WireGuard where UDP is allowed, OpenVPN where you need a configurable fallback, and IKEv2 for phones moving between networks. What is missing is an obfuscated transport. On an ordinary home or office connection that is irrelevant; on a network that fingerprints VPN handshakes it is the difference between working and not — see VPN obfuscation. PureVPN also does not publish which protocols are available on each individual platform, so if a specific protocol on a specific device is your reason for buying, confirm it first.

Documented features

Protocol spread covering speed (WireGuard), configurable fallback (OpenVPN) and mobility (IKEv2).
Platform breadth: apps listed for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Linux and Fire Stick, plus browser extensions. Native TV apps avoid the router configuration that would otherwise be needed for those devices.
No obfuscated transport is listed on the protocols page.
Per-platform protocol availability is not published, which is a documentation gap rather than a product limitation.

Platform coverage

Platform list as published by PureVPN, retrieved 21 September 2026. Which protocols run on which platform is not stated.

Platform	Notes
Windows	Native app
macOS	Native app
Android	Native app
iOS	Native app
Linux	Native app
Apple TV	Native app — uncommon; avoids router setup
Fire Stick	Native app — uncommon; avoids router setup
Browsers	Extensions listed

Encryption and authentication

Cipher choice follows from protocol choice rather than being a separate setting you tune. On WireGuard the suite is fixed — ChaCha20-Poly1305 for the data channel, Curve25519 for key agreement, BLAKE2s for hashing — and there is no negotiation, which removes a whole class of downgrade risk. On OpenVPN and IKEv2 the data channel is normally an AEAD construction such as AES-GCM, agreed during the handshake. Both AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20-Poly1305 are unbroken; ChaCha20 tends to be quicker on processors without AES hardware acceleration, which covers a lot of older phones.

What matters more than the cipher name is forward secrecy: each session should use ephemeral keys that are discarded afterwards, so that compromising a server's long-term key later would not decrypt traffic recorded earlier. All three mainstream protocols provide this when correctly configured. Treat "military-grade encryption" as marketing language — AES-256 is a public NIST standard anyone can use. The detail is in VPN encryption.

Leak protection and kill switch: what to check

Vendor documentation across this sector tends to describe DNS leak protection and a kill switch in general terms, without stating behaviour per operating system or during the moments when leaks actually happen. Rather than restate marketing copy, here is what is worth verifying yourself on this provider, in the order the failures usually occur.

DNS. Connect, then confirm every resolver shown in a leak test belongs to the VPN rather than your ISP.
IPv6. Check that either no IPv6 address appears or the one shown belongs to the VPN. An IPv4-only tunnel can let IPv6 traffic escape.
WebRTC. Test in each browser separately. No VPN client can fully close this, because the exposure happens inside the browser.
Kill switch under crash. End the client process from the task manager rather than disconnecting cleanly; traffic should stop immediately.
Kill switch on network change. Switch Wi-Fi to cellular, or disable and re-enable the adapter.
Reconnect and server change. Watch for a gap in protection while the tunnel is rebuilt — this is where most real leaks appear.

The full procedure, including what to record, is in how to test a VPN. We publish our own results for no provider, because we have not run a controlled testing programme — so these are checks for you to run, not findings for you to take on trust.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

Native apps on Apple TV and Fire Stick, which removes the main reason households end up configuring a router.
IKEv2 available for phones that change network.
A conventional, well-understood protocol set with no proprietary unknowns.

Limitations

No obfuscated transport listed, so heavily filtered networks may be a problem.
Per-platform protocol availability is undocumented.
Vendor-assigned speed grades are marketing claims, not measurements.

What our review-pass screenshots show

We captured a short set of checks while running PureVPN. These are single observations, not a controlled test programme.

DNS: the detected resolver and public address matched the selected US server.
WebRTC: the test reported "No Leak", with the public address matching the PureVPN server.
BBC iPlayer: a recording shows iPlayer unavailable first, then playing after connecting to a UK server.
Throughput held a substantial share of the unprotected baseline on a European server, with latency on the US route reflecting the distance.

What we could not verify

Stating gaps plainly is more useful than filling them with plausible-looking numbers.

Question	Status
Throughput on any route	Not measured. We have not run a controlled testing programme, so we publish no speed figures for any provider.
Independent security audit	We do not assert an audit exists unless we can point at the report, its author and its date.
Server count and locations	Vendor-published figures change frequently; we do not restate them as fact.
Streaming platform access	Varies by platform, server and region, often week to week. We make no fixed claims.
App screenshots	We hold no licensed product screenshots and will not reuse images from other sites.
Per-platform protocol availability	The vendor's protocol page does not break this down; confirm directly.
Vendor speed and security grades	Published by PureVPN without a stated methodology. We reproduce them as claims, not findings.

Who it suits

Households with streaming hardware that would otherwise need a router setup.
Users who want IKEv2 for mobile network switching.
People who prefer standard, publicly specified protocols only.

Less suitable if: you expect to use networks that actively identify and block VPN traffic, since no obfuscated transport is listed.

Pricing and plans

Commercial terms exactly as published on VPN Sherlock. We do not refresh these from vendor sources; confirm current pricing at checkout.

$3.24/month

10 devices31-day money-back guarantee

Get PureVPN Deal Read our full review

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure. Pricing shown as published on VPN Sherlock; confirm current terms at checkout.

How it compares

The table below carries the commercial terms exactly as published on VPN Sherlock. There are no speed or score columns, because we have not run the tests that would justify them.

Commercial terms as published on VPN Sherlock, September 2026.

#	VPN	Best for	Key features	Protocols	Devices	Price	Learn more
1		Best overall	Six published protocols — the widest range among the five compared here	6 (incl. Shadow, ZoogTLS)	Unlimited	$2.49/month	Get dealRead review
2	Proton VPN	Clearest obfuscation	The only provider here that publishes how its obfuscation protocol is built	3 (incl. Stealth)	10	$4.99/month	Get dealRead review
3	PureVPN	Most devices covered	Native Apple TV and Fire Stick apps, which removes the usual reason to configure a router	3 (WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2)	10	$3.24/month	Get dealRead review
4		Most obfuscation options	Two proprietary transports, one of them available at router level. No IKEv2	4 (incl. OpenWeb, StealthVPN)	5	$5.00/month	Get dealRead review
5	Windscribe	Most flexible	Manual config generation for all three protocols, plus a free tier you can evaluate first	3 (OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard)	Unlimited	$3.00/month	Get dealRead review

For a fuller picture of where each product sits, read the ZoogVPN review, Proton VPN review, Astrill VPN review, Windscribe review.

How it differs from the other four

PureVPN's protocol list is the most conventional of the five: three mainstream protocols, no proprietary transports and no obfuscation. Against ZoogVPN and Astrill VPN that is a clear gap if you meet networks that actively block VPNs, and against Proton VPN it means no documented Stealth equivalent. What it has instead is platform reach — native Apple TV and Fire Stick apps that none of the other four list, which removes the usual reason a household ends up configuring its router. Windscribe reaches similar hardware, but through manual configuration rather than an app.

Most regret with a VPN subscription comes from buying on a feature list and discovering a platform gap afterwards. The refund window exists for this; use it deliberately rather than hoping.

Confirm the protocol you actually need is available on the device you will use it on. Per-platform availability varies more than headline protocol counts suggest.
Check the current price and terms at checkout. Figures on this site are preserved as previously published and are not refreshed from vendor sources.
Run the leak and kill-switch checks above in the first day, while a refund is still straightforward.
Test the specific thing you are buying for — a particular network, a particular service, a particular country — rather than a generic speed test.
If something does not work, request the refund inside the stated window rather than waiting to see whether it improves.

Frequently asked questions

Which protocols does PureVPN support?

PureVPN lists WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 - the conventional set, with no obfuscated transport. It does not publish which protocol is available on which platform, so if you need a specific one on a specific device, confirm before subscribing rather than assuming the list applies everywhere.

Does PureVPN work on Apple TV and Fire Stick?

PureVPN lists native apps for Apple TV and Fire Stick, which is uncommon. It matters because those devices usually cannot run a VPN client at all, leaving router configuration as the only route - and a router VPN is slower and harder to switch between countries. A native app avoids that whole problem for the devices that have one.

Does PureVPN offer an obfuscated protocol?

None is listed on its protocols page. That is only a gap if you are on a network that actively identifies and drops VPN traffic, which is a narrower situation than it sounds - most blocking is port-based and a TCP transport on 443 handles it. If you expect deep packet inspection, this is the wrong provider for that job.

Does PureVPN's wide device support come with a catch?

The catch is the missing obfuscation rather than the device list. Native apps on Apple TV and Fire Stick genuinely remove a configuration problem. What you give up relative to ZoogVPN or Astrill is any transport designed to survive a network that actively blocks VPNs.