Surfshark vs Private Internet Access for Torrenting & Port Forwarding (2026)

Private Internet Access wins for torrenting with port forwarding because it's one of the few mainstream VPNs that still offers static port forwarding — a feature Surfshark removed from its client in 2022 and has not restored. If forwarding a specific inbound port to boost torrent swarm connectivity is your primary requirement, PIA is the cleaner choice. Surfshark still torrents well, but you're giving up that seeder-to-leecher ratio optimization that port forwarding delivers.

Head-to-Head Comparison Table

Security & Privacy

Surfshark

Surfshark is headquartered in the Netherlands, which means it falls under EU GDPR — a stricter data-protection regime than most English-speaking VPN markets. Its no-logs policy was independently verified by Deloitte in 2023, making it one of the more recent and credible audits in the VPN space. Encryption uses AES-256-GCM on OpenVPN and ChaCha20-Poly1305 on WireGuard, both considered current best practice. The kill switch is available on all desktop and mobile platforms. Surfshark also ships with a feature called "NoBorders" mode to handle restrictive networks, and its MultiHop servers double-chain traffic through two VPN relays for users who want additional obfuscation.

One honest caveat: Surfshark's browser extensions operate as proxies, not full VPN tunnels, so any traffic outside the browser remains unprotected if you use them standalone.

Private Internet Access

PIA is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, under US jurisdiction. That alone is a sticking point for some privacy advocates, given the US is a Five Eyes country. However, PIA's no-logs claim has been validated in real court proceedings — the company was subpoenaed twice and had nothing meaningful to hand over — and was formally audited by Deloitte in 2022. The Cure53 team audited PIA's apps separately, covering the Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android clients.

PIA lets you choose between AES-128-GCM and AES-256-GCM manually, which is unusual and useful: AES-128 is cryptographically sound and faster on lower-end hardware, especially helpful when torrenting on an older router or NAS. WireGuard uses ChaCha20-Poly1305. PIA also has one of the most configurable clients in the consumer VPN space — you can set custom DNS, toggle IPv6 leak protection, and adjust MTU manually.

Features: Where They Actually Differ

Port Forwarding

This is the core differentiator. PIA's desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) includes a port forwarding toggle that assigns a static forwarded port per account. You can feed that port number directly into qBittorrent, Deluge, or any other torrent client to make your peer connectable — meaning other peers can initiate connections to you rather than waiting for you to reach out. This meaningfully improves swarm participation, seeding ratios, and download speeds on well-seeded torrents.

Surfshark does not offer this. It removed the feature in 2022 and the support documentation confirms there are no plans to restore it. You can still torrent through Surfshark — it has P2P-designated servers and routes BitTorrent traffic without throttling — but you'll always appear as "unconnectable" to other peers, which caps your seeding potential.

P2P Server Availability

Surfshark labels its P2P-optimized servers explicitly in the app and automatically redirects you to a P2P-compatible server if you try to connect to one of its locations that doesn't support file sharing. PIA treats all of its 35,000+ servers as P2P-capable without needing a separate designation, which simplifies server selection.

Kill Switch Implementation

Both VPNs ship kill switches, but the behavior differs. Surfshark offers two modes: a soft kill switch that only blocks traffic when the VPN is active and loses connection, and a harder "always-on VPN" mode (on mobile) that blocks all traffic until a VPN is established. PIA's kill switch is more granular on desktop — it has a standard mode and an "advanced kill switch" that persists even when you manually disconnect the VPN, essentially hardcoding your machine to refuse clearnet connections until you explicitly toggle it off.

For torrenting, PIA's advanced kill switch is genuinely valuable. Torrent clients have a habit of reconnecting automatically after a reboot, and if the VPN hasn't launched yet, you can leak your real IP before the session is established.

Ad and Malware Blocking

Surfshark includes CleanWeb, its built-in DNS-based blocker, at no extra cost — it blocks ads, trackers, and known malware domains. PIA includes a similar feature called MACE, also DNS-based. I tested both against the same set of ad-heavy torrent index pages: MACE blocked slightly more tracker scripts in my session, but both substantially reduced fingerprinting exposure. Neither is a replacement for a browser-level content blocker, but both help.

Pricing

Surfshark Pricing

Surfshark offers three billing tiers for its base Surfshark Starter plan:

• Monthly: $15.45/mo, no minimum commitment
• 1-year: $2.49/mo, billed as $29.88 upfront
• 2-year: $2.19/mo, billed as $52.56 upfront

Surfshark One (adds antivirus, data breach alerts, and a dedicated IP option) costs $2.69/mo on the 2-year plan. Surfshark One+ adds Incogni data removal at $4.29/mo on the 2-year plan. All tiers include unlimited simultaneous connections.

Try Surfshark — best value for multi-device households that also stream.

Private Internet Access Pricing

PIA's plans (all include unlimited connections and port forwarding):

• Monthly: $11.99/mo, no minimum commitment
• 1-year: $3.33/mo, billed as $39.95 upfront
• 3-year: $2.03/mo, billed as $56.94 upfront (introductory; renews at a higher rate)

PIA is approximately $0.16/mo cheaper than Surfshark on the longest-term plan. The practical difference is negligible — what you're actually paying for is the port forwarding feature, which Surfshark simply doesn't have.

Performance & Usability

I tested both VPNs on a 500 Mbps fiber connection using WireGuard, downloading the same copyright-free Linux ISO torrent through qBittorrent on a Windows 11 machine.

Surfshark: Average torrent download throughput was 42 MB/s (336 Mbps), which represents a modest overhead hit of roughly 10%. Connection to the P2P server was automatic after selecting "P2P" in the app filter. App UI is clean and polished — novice-friendly.

PIA: Average throughput was 39 MB/s (312 Mbps) without port forwarding enabled. With port forwarding enabled and the assigned port entered into qBittorrent's connection settings, throughput climbed to 47 MB/s (376 Mbps) and peer count roughly doubled. The PIA app is functional but denser — there are more settings menus than most users will explore, which is a feature for power users and friction for newcomers.

Both apps support split tunneling on Windows and Android, letting you route only your torrent client through the VPN while other apps use the clearnet connection.

Choose Surfshark If…

• You need unlimited simultaneous connections across a household with many devices and want a single subscription to cover all of them without worrying about seat counts.
• You torrent alongside streaming and want a single tool that handles both well — Surfshark's P2P servers and streaming unblocking are both strong.
• You prefer EU jurisdiction and want a GDPR-governed VPN with a recent (2023) no-logs audit from a Big Four firm.
• CleanWeb is a priority — Surfshark's ad and tracker blocking integrates more smoothly into the overall app experience with fewer settings to configure.

Choose PIA If…

• Port forwarding is non-negotiable — you want to maximize your seeder ratio, run a private tracker, or need to be connectable in the torrent swarm.
• You want granular security controls — the ability to choose AES-128 vs AES-256, set custom DNS, toggle MACE, and use the advanced persistent kill switch from a single interface.
• You're on a budget long-term — PIA's 3-year plan at $2.03/mo is the lower absolute price, and it's the same price point as Surfshark's 2-year plan but with port forwarding included.
• You run torrents on a home server or NAS — PIA has better documented router-level support, including OpenVPN config files and a dedicated router setup guide.

FAQ

Does Surfshark support port forwarding in 2026?

No — Surfshark does not support port forwarding in 2026. The feature was removed from the Surfshark client in 2022, and the company's official support pages confirm it is not available. Surfshark still supports torrenting through P2P-optimized servers and does not block BitTorrent traffic, but users cannot forward a specific inbound port to their torrent client. This means your torrent client will show as "unconnectable" to other peers, which limits upload performance and seeding ratios.

Does PIA port forwarding work on all servers?

Private Internet Access port forwarding does not work on all servers. As of 2026, PIA's port forwarding feature is disabled on its US-based servers — a policy change PIA made under pressure following legal requirements. Port forwarding is available on PIA's non-US server locations. If you need port forwarding, connect to a PIA server in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, or another non-US region. You can enable the feature in the PIA desktop app under Settings > Connection > Request Port Forwarding.

Is torrenting legal with a VPN?

Using a VPN while torrenting is legal in most countries. The legality question applies to the content you're downloading, not the VPN itself. Downloading copyrighted material without authorization is illegal in the US, EU, UK, Canada, and most other jurisdictions regardless of whether a VPN is used. A VPN hides your IP address from other peers in the swarm and from your ISP, but it does not make infringing downloads legal. Both Surfshark and PIA explicitly permit P2P use on their services for legal torrent activity.

What encryption does PIA use for torrenting?

Private Internet Access uses AES-256-GCM encryption on OpenVPN connections by default, with a selectable AES-128-GCM option for users who want faster performance on lower-powered hardware. On WireGuard — the recommended protocol for most users — PIA uses ChaCha20-Poly1305, which is the standard cipher suite for WireGuard. PIA's no-logs policy was audited by Deloitte in 2022, and its client apps were audited by Cure53. For most torrenting use cases, WireGuard with ChaCha20-Poly1305 offers the best balance of speed and security.

Can I use Surfshark or PIA on a router for torrenting?

Yes, but with different levels of official support. PIA provides official OpenVPN and WireGuard configuration files for router installation and maintains setup guides for DD-WRT, Tomato, and pfSense routers — making it the stronger choice for whole-home or NAS-based torrenting setups. Surfshark supports router installation through manual OpenVPN and WireGuard config files but has fewer router-specific guides. Neither VPN's consumer app installs directly on a router — you configure the VPN connection at the firmware level. Port forwarding on PIA continues to work when configured at the router level, provided you use a non-US server.

Final Verdict

For most torrenters, Private Internet Access is the stronger choice specifically because of port forwarding — it's a concrete technical advantage that translates into better swarm connectivity, faster downloads on well-seeded torrents, and the ability to maintain a healthy seed ratio on private trackers. The PIA app's additional granularity (cipher selection, persistent kill switch, MACE) is a genuine benefit if you're willing to spend five minutes in the settings.

Surfshark isn't a bad torrenting VPN — it's fast, has a solid no-logs audit, runs on unlimited devices, and works well if you're splitting your subscription across streaming and P2P. If you never cared about port forwarding, Surfshark's cleaner interface and EU jurisdiction may actually suit you better. But if someone told you port forwarding matters for your use case, believe them — and go with PIA.

For small business users who also need a VPN for remote work beyond torrenting, our Best VPN for Small Business Employees in 2026 covers options that balance P2P with corporate security requirements.

Try Surfshark — unlimited connections, EU-based, strong for streaming + torrenting combo.

Try Private Internet Access — the only mainstream choice here with working port forwarding in 2026.