Hi. Just found that PureVPN consumes noticiable amount of CPU even when VPN connection is not active. macOS Monterey 12.2.1, MBP 2019 2.4 i5 16GB, PureVPN 8.5.0-PRODUCTION12. I also see PureVPN in “Using Significant Energy” battery list. That’s not normal. I have only icon in status bar, main Dock app window is closed (“Hide icon from dock” in preferences is active and main window definitely closed). Had 8.4.0 earlier — the same issue. I also have ZenMate VPN — CPU consumption is near 0 when VPN connection is not active. Please fix your app
Ok, I opened Xcode’s Instruments CPU Profiler and found out that Lottie still executes all animations looks as, even if main window closed, that’s the issue of high CPU usage there I think, right as I thought initially. Your devs needs to look at how Lottie handled there, it should be stopped/paused or something when main window closed.
Yes, just confirmed that this is because of animation in “Dashboard” screen. If I switch to another screen without animation, like “Profile” screen for example, before closing main PureVPN window then CPU load drops to near 0. If to stay on “Dashboard” screen and then close the window — CPU load still there.
Ok, I opened Xcode’s Instruments CPU Profiler and found out that Lottie still executes all animations looks as, even if main window closed, that’s the issue of high CPU usage there I think, right as I thought initially. Your devs need to look at how Lottie handled there, it should be stopped/paused or something when main window closed.
Hi u/PureVPNcom, when this one will be fixed? Several month passed. I just updated to the latest client – issue still there :(( I see that you have time to change branding across the app but not to fix things
I have also been expericening this. I first noticed it after upgrading to Monterey. I have other VPN apps on my mac such as PureVPN, Tunnelblick, WatchGuard SSL VPN, and FortiClient and all of them consume 0-0.1% CPU at idle.
I have opened two support cases in the past about this issue. One on May 18th, 2022
Me: May 18, 2022
PureVPN for macOS seems to consume a lot of CPU when sitting idle and not connected. I have installed several other VPN applications and compared their idle CPU usage. In all cases, their idle usage is 0% whereas PureVPN is 8-10%.
PureVPN Support May 18, 2022
Hi, Thank you for contacting us. Please confirm the mac OS version and PureVPN App version as well so that we will check and assist you accordingly Feel free to contact us for further assistance. Regards, Neelov PureVPN Customer Support Team Best for Self Support: support.purevpn.com
Me: May 18, 2022
PureVPN version: 8.4.6 (1589) macOS version: 12.3.1
PureVPN Support May 18, 2022
Hi, Thank you for contacting us. Your case has been reported to the concerned department you will be updated shortly Feel free to contact us for further assistance. Regards, Neelov PureVPN Customer Support Team Best for Self Support: support.purevpn.com
Me: May 18, 2022
I have just tested this on another MacBook Pro and see the same behavior so this issue does not appear to be specific to my machine only.
Me: May 19, 2022
Please be advised that the application randomly spikes to 100% and locks up my networking. This typically happens at boot time but sometimes happens long after boot up.
I never head from them again on this ticket and they clsoed it.
The next was May 20th, 2022
Me: May 20, 2022
This is a follow-up to your previous request #1886788 “High CPU usge when idle” This issue has not been resolved…why was the ticket closed? This is still a problem and makes the product unusable as it keeps locking up my networking.
PureVPN Support May 21, 2022
Hi, Thank you for considering PureVPN for all your online security needs. We understand how you feel about the situation and we’re sorry for the trouble this has caused. We have reported this issue to our App development team they are looking into it as soon as we get update from back end team we will update you accordingly. Feel free to contact us if you require any further assistance. We are here to help! Thanks Travis PureVPN Customer Support Team Best for Self Support: support.purevpn.com
and again, they closed the ticket.
Doesnt appear they are making this a priority. My worry is that it is either a bug or the app is doing something in the background like distributed computing.
Heres another fun observation around this. When I launch the application, in this case after a reboot, the app locks up and goes unresponsive. While it is unresponsive, I have NO functioning network connectivity until it becomes responsive again. Are you seething this as well?
I would like to apologize to all who are facing this issue. I have forwarded the issue to the concerned team. Allow me a few days as it’s due to be fixed in the next update! I will keep you guys update within the given thread here!
I’ve also had lots of problems recently - up to a few months ago I could get good upload/download speeds, but now I turn on my VPN - and no other apps - and see it uploading and downloading an awful lot of data. If I go to my Activity Monitor I can see it showing lots of traffic. With the VPN launched BUT NOT CONNECTED, I’m seeing 10-100 ‘packets’ being sent every second, same being received - but I haven’t connected to a VPN at all yet, what the hell?
I’ve now connected the VPN - again, no other apps are running except text, activity monitor, PureVPN, and this Safari window - and there’s been over 500kb up and over 400kb down in one minute. At 3 minutes, I’m at 1.24MB uploaded, 740KB downloaded.
But on top of this, I need to access torrent files, and torrents aren’t moving at all - 0.0% up an down, while this is still building.
UPD 2:
Yes, just confirmed that this is because of animation in “Dashboard” screen. If I switch to another screen without animation, like “Profile” screen for example, before closing main PureVPN window then CPU load drops to near 0. If to stay on “Dashboard” screen and then close the window — CPU load still there.
I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. We have addressed the issues that we believe may have caused the recent problem, and these fixes will be implemented in the upcoming build scheduled to be released next week hopefully.
I recieved an email from support asking to try the new update. The issue still exists.
Copy of today’s email from support:
Hello,
I hope you are doing well
I am extremely sorry for all the inconvenience which you have to go through. I can totally understand your situation right now.
We are really saddened to see one of the PureVPN family members leaving us. It really breaks our hearts.
I would like to inform you that this issue of yours was already reported to the concerned teams and they are now able to resolve this issue.
Please give us one more chance because I don’t want to lose such a valuable customer as you and I am willing to resolve your issue because we’ve recently launched updated and improved versions of PureVPN Apps. A number of our customers are successfully using PureVPN with these updated Apps
You are requested to please reinstall the updated apps from the links below:
For Windows: Download the Best VPN for Windows PC or Laptop in 2025
For Mac: Download the Best VPN for Mac in 2025
We are hopeful that the above-provided methods are going to resolve your issue and you will use Purevpn services with peace.
Everything deserves a last chance and so do us and I am sure you will not hesitate to give it to us!
Seeing you disappointed, disappoints us the most and I will try my best to take away all your disappointments.
I will be eagerly waiting for your response.
Customers like you are of great value to us and we would love to resolve your issue.
--
Regards,
Rebekah William
Customer Success Manager
Please Rate Our Response
and my response
Latest version does not fix the issue.
Steps to reproduce:
Launch PureVPN and leave on Dashboard.
Close PureVPN windows (leave running in background).
I just noticed that both of these updates were in the original post. Did you update/add them just now or did I just completely overlook them (very much possible)?
Any news on WHEN it will be fixed? I’m on latest 9.8.0, issue still there.
