PureVPN vs IceVPN (2026): Which Is Better?
These two are closer relatives than either says out loud: IceVPN runs on Atom by Secure white-label servers, which its own users have traced back to Gaditek, the company whose founders also founded PureVPN. So the question is partly whether to buy the audited original or the cheaper newcomer on rented capacity. PureVPN, tested here at 8.4, unblocked 12 of 14 streaming services, averaged 466 Mbps on our line, has port forwarding and a KPMG always-on no-logs audit, and its two-year plan is $2.14 a month — cheaper than IceVPN's $2.99 yearly rate. IceVPN, provisionally 5.7 and not yet tested by us, failed Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ in both published hands-on tests, has no audit, and its real draw is the $249 lifetime plan and a 20 GB free tier that PureVPN has no answer to. On everything we can measure, PureVPN.
Who wins each category
- Privacy & securityPureVPNPureVPN 8.7 · IceVPN 5.5
- SpeedPureVPNPureVPN 7.9 · IceVPN 7.0
- StreamingPureVPNPureVPN 8.6 · IceVPN 3.0
- Apps & easePureVPNPureVPN 8.3 · IceVPN 5.0
- ValuePureVPNPureVPN 9.2 · IceVPN 7.5
Sub-scores from this month's tests, except IceVPN, whose scores are provisional (published tests and user reports — see the review); weights are privacy & security 30%, speed 25%, streaming 15%, apps & ease 15%, value 15%. Methodology
Choose PureVPN if…
- Tested here: 466 Mbps average and 12 of 14 streaming services unblocked, against IceVPN's reported failures on Netflix, Hulu and Disney+
- KPMG always-on no-logs audit on servers it operates itself; IceVPN has no audit and rents its servers
- Cheaper on the long plan — $2.14 a month for two years against $2.99 for one — with port forwarding, obfuscation and apps for every TV platform
Choose IceVPN if…
- A $249 lifetime plan, which PureVPN does not offer — worth it only if IceVPN is still running in five to seven years
- A 20 GB-a-month free plan with a choice of three countries; PureVPN has no free tier
- Cheaper month to month: $4.99 against PureVPN's $12.45
PureVPN vs IceVPN: the numbers
 PureVPN | IceVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 8.4 | 5.7provisional — not tested by us |
| Rank · badge | #5 · Best long-term deal | Not ranked · Cheap lifetime plan |
| 2-year price / mo | $2.14 | $2.99 (1-year — no 2-year plan) |
| 1-year price / mo | $3.32 | $2.99 |
| Monthly price | $12.45 | $4.99 |
| Renewal | renews at the 2-year rate | renews at the listed regular yearly price ($59.88, about $4.99 a month) |
| Money-back | 31 days | 30 days |
| Simultaneous devices | 10 | 5 |
| Avg download speed | 466 Mbps | Not tested by us |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands | Gibraltar |
| Owner | GZ Systems | Ice Privacy Ltd (the Icedrive company) |
| No-logs audit | KPMG always-on audit | None |
| Servers | 6,500+ in 65 countries | 82 locations in 68 countries (rented, Atom white-label) in 68 countries |
| Protocols | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec |
| Torrenting | P2P allowed on P2P servers | P2P allowed; no port forwarding |
| Free plan | No | 20 GB/month, 3 countries, 1 device |
| Support | 24/7 live chat, email, help centre | email / ticket, 24/7, Icedrive community forum, no live chat |
| Visit PureVPN | Visit IceVPN |
What each one actually costs
The advertised rate covers the first term only. These are the totals once the renewal is counted.
| PureVPN | IceVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan priced | 24-month plan | 12-month plan |
| Intro rate / mo | $2.14 | $2.99 |
| Then renews at / mo | $2.14 — no jump | $4.99 (+67%) |
| First term, up front | $51.36 | $35.88 |
| Total over 2 years | $51.36 | $95.76 |
| Total over 3 years | $77.04 | $155.64 |
| True cost / mo over 3 years | $2.14 | $4.32 |
| Money-back | 31 days — refunded in 6 days | 30 days — not yet claimed by us; the plans page says 30 days, the terms of service say 14 |
| Check PureVPN price | Check IceVPN price |
PureVPN is cheaper both ways — lower to start and $78.60 less across three years once the renewals are counted. Same arithmetic as our price calculator: the first term at the advertised rate, every month after it at the rate the provider publishes for renewals.
Speed by region
Download on a 940 Mbps line, 3 runs per server, median reported. Highlighted cell = fastest.
IceVPN has not been through our speed rig yet, so there is no region-by-region chart for this pair. Speed figures other people have published are on the IceVPN review, attributed to whoever measured them.
PureVPN averaged 466 Mbps on our 940 Mbps line, adding 11 ms of latency.
Streaming, service by service
| PureVPN | IceVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Unblocked | 12 of 14 | 3 of 7 reported (not tested by us) |
| Netflix US | ||
| Netflix UK | n/r | |
| Netflix JP | n/r | |
| Netflix CA | n/r | |
| Netflix AU | n/r | |
| Prime Video | ||
| Disney+ | ||
| Hulu | ||
| Max | ||
| Paramount+ | n/r | |
| Peacock | n/r | |
| BBC iPlayer | ||
| ITVX | ||
| DAZN | n/r | |
| n/r — no published result found | n/r — no published result found |
Security features
| PureVPN | IceVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Kill switch | ||
| Split tunnelling | ||
| Obfuscation / stealth | ||
| Port forwarding | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Ad & tracker blocking | ||
| Multi-hop (double VPN) | ||
| RAM-only servers | ||
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, browser extensions, routers | Windows, macOS (no kill switch or split tunnelling), Android (last updated Oct 2025), Linux (manual OpenVPN only) |
Has the no-logs promise ever been tested?
Every VPN on this page says it keeps no logs. The claim only means something once someone has demanded the data — a police raid, a court order, a subpoena. Here is what happened to each of these two when that came up, and what it means if it never has.
- PureVPNNever tested
No police raid, court order or subpoena against PureVPN has been made public. That is not a mark against it — most providers have never been asked — but it does mean the policy has never had to hold up under pressure.
Audit: KPMG always-on audit · British Virgin Islands
- IceVPNNever tested
No police raid, court order or subpoena against IceVPN has been made public. That is not a mark against it — most providers have never been asked — but it does mean the policy has never had to hold up under pressure.
Audit: None · Gibraltar
What each one is our top pick for
One of these scores higher overall, which does not make it the right buy for every job. These are the use cases where each one comes first on its own list.
- PureVPN1 category
Regular 5-year promotions at the lowest per-month price of any audited VPN; renews at the same 2-year rate.
- IceVPNNo category
IceVPN is not our top pick in any of our use-case lists. It can still be the right buy on price or on one feature — the rest of this page is where that case gets made.
Questions
Is IceVPN or PureVPN better?
PureVPN, on the evidence available. It is tested here, audited, faster on our line than any figure reported for IceVPN, unblocks 12 of 14 streaming services where IceVPN failed the big three, and its two-year plan is cheaper per month than IceVPN's yearly one. IceVPN's advantages are the lifetime plan and the free tier, neither of which PureVPN offers.
Does IceVPN use PureVPN's servers?
Not directly, but the two are connected. IceVPN has said it runs on Atom by Secure, a white-label VPN backend; Reddit users traced Atom and Secure to Gaditek, whose founders also founded PureVPN. That is community research rather than a confirmed corporate link. What it does establish is that IceVPN's servers are rented rather than its own, which is one reason its privacy score is provisional and low.
Which is cheaper, IceVPN or PureVPN?
It depends on the term. PureVPN's two-year plan at $2.14 a month beats IceVPN's yearly plan at $2.99. Monthly, IceVPN's $4.99 beats PureVPN's $12.45. And only IceVPN sells a lifetime plan, $249 once, which overtakes the yearly plan after about seven years at the promotional rate.
We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. Scores and the winner are decided by the tests before any commercial consideration. Disclosure