NordVPN vs PIA

NordVPN and PIA split in a way that is easy to feel in normal use. One removes the device-count chore; the other gives you a clearly confirmed multi-hop option. Start with which of those would change your routine, not with the total number of boxes each service can tick.

Two practical reasons, not a feature pile

PIA's client apps are open source across the supported platform set. PIA's paid plans do not make you count simultaneous devices. That is a strong pairing if you care about inspecting the client software and also do not want the subscription to become a device-management exercise.

The routing story is less clean

Multi-Hop is not a clean yes-or-no for PIA right now. NordVPN is the clearer multi-hop choice in this pair, so use that difference only if extra-hop routing matters to your routine.

A clearer multi-hop choice

NordVPN has a confirmed multi-hop route in the current feature set. NordVPN has streaming-focused server tools or labels, so you are not starting every stream with blind server roulette. If you want both an explicit extra-hop route and server guidance for streaming, those are concrete reasons to accept a more conventional device-limit model.

Less openness at the client level

Not all of NordVPN's client apps are open source. PIA is the open-client side of this trade-off. That difference matters if source visibility is part of your trust checklist rather than something you never plan to look at.