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Cybersecurity · head to head

Private Internet Access vs Very Good Security

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Private Internet Access

Cybersecurity

Long-standing VPN service with a large server network and flexible multi-year plans

From
$11.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Private Internet Access monthly plan is priced noticeably higher than the discounted multi-year commitments, penalizing short-term users.; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Private Internet Access covers Split tunneling, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Private Internet Access and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Private Internet Access and Very Good Security differ
AttributePrivate Internet AccessVery Good Security
Starting price$11.99/month$1000/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month
Platformswindows, mac, linux, ios, androidWeb, API

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Private Internet Access

  • Split tunneling
  • Kill switch
  • Ad and tracker blocking
  • Dedicated IP add-on
  • Bundled antivirus add-on

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Private Internet Access

  • Encrypting traffic on public Wi-Fi with a kill switchnot Very Good Security
  • Blocking ads and trackers network-wide via MACEnot Very Good Security
  • Maintaining a consistent connection identity with a dedicated IP add-onnot Very Good Security
  • Committing to a long-term plan for a lower effective monthly ratenot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Private Internet Access
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Private Internet Access
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Private Internet Access
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Private Internet Access

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Private Internet Access

  • Monthly plan is priced noticeably higher than the discounted multi-year commitments, penalizing short-term users.
  • Dedicated IP and antivirus are paid add-ons rather than included features.
  • Headquartered in a jurisdiction whose privacy reputation some competitors market against, despite audited no-logs claims.
  • App interface is less streamlined than some higher-priced premium VPN competitors.

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Private Internet Access

$11.99/month
  • Monthly$11.99/month
    • Billed month to month
    • Full server network access
    • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • 1-Year$3.1/month
    • Billed annually at $37.19
    • Full server network access
  • 2-Year$2.19/month
    • Lowest advertised rate, billed every 2 years
    • Full server network access

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose Private Internet Access if

  • You need split tunneling.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want kill switch.
Private Internet Access review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Private Internet Access or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Private Internet Access starts at $11.99/month and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Private Internet Access or Very Good Security?
Private Internet Access starts at $11.99/month and Very Good Security at $1000/month.
Does Private Internet Access or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Private Internet Access runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
What is Private Internet Access best used for?
Private Internet Access is most often used for encrypting traffic on public wi-fi with a kill switch, blocking ads and trackers network-wide via mace, maintaining a consistent connection identity with a dedicated ip add-on, committing to a long-term plan for a lower effective monthly rate. Of those, encrypting traffic on public wi-fi with a kill switch and blocking ads and trackers network-wide via mace are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Private Internet Access do that Very Good Security cannot?
Private Internet Access covers Split tunneling, Kill switch, Ad and tracker blocking, Dedicated IP add-on. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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