PIA vs PrivateVPN

PIA versus PrivateVPN is mostly a question of how many extras you need around the basic VPN tunnel. PIA is the broader setup here; PrivateVPN keeps the brief narrower.

The privacy claim has independent audit evidence

PIA's no-logs claim has an independent audit behind it. PrivateVPN does not currently have a completed independent no-logs or security audit. If outside verification is part of your buying criteria, this is the cleanest trust difference in the pair.

Device limits and traffic routing are looser too

PIA's paid plans do not make you count simultaneous devices. PrivateVPN uses a connection cap rather than an unlimited-device model. PIA has split tunneling on at least part of its supported platform set. Split tunneling is not confirmed as available for PrivateVPN. Those solve two different annoyances: how many devices can connect, and which traffic has to use the tunnel.

Router setup still exists

PrivateVPN officially documents router setup. PIA officially documents router setup. Both services document router configuration, so that feature is a shared basic here.

The gaps are easy to see

The audit, device-limit, and split-tunneling gaps are the main compromise on the PrivateVPN side. If you do not care about them, the smaller toolkit may still cover you. If you do, the decision is not close.