How we tested NordVPN

NordVPN review scores

NordVPN price plans

• Prices start from $3.39 per month with NordVPN Basic.
• NordVPN Plus offers the best value balance of features and price.
• Auto-renew fees are eye-watering – remember to opt-out, please.

NordVPN is a relatively expensive product – pricier than the like Surfshark and PIA, but similar to ExpressVPN and Proton VPN – but it's very much worth the extra spend.

NordVPN’s price plan structure varies depending on the country you reside in. Most countries get 3 or 4 plans to choose from. Basic and Plus are standard across all nations; it’s the upper-tier plan options that differ.

In the US, for example, you can also choose either Complete or Prime. Canadians have the choice of Complete and Ultra. Folks in the UK only get Ultimate, and Australia only gets Complete. It can be quite confusing.

What isn't confusing, however, is the device limit. NordVPN offers 10 simultaneous connections, much like Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, regardless of which region you pick up a plan from.

Thankfully, no matter your region, you can only choose between three plan lengths: 1-month, 12 months, and 24 months. What’s more, no matter the plan, you pay for the total duration upfront, as with any VPN. This means that while NordVPN’s price per month starts from $3.39 a month, you’d pay around $81 upfront rather than a traditional monthly fee.

Something you should consider with NordVPN’s pricing is that, unlike many other VPN companies, NordVPN adds local tax to the advertised pricing. So, it can come off a little more expensive than you think once you get to checkout.

It's also worth noting that NordVPN's pricing will fluctuate throughout the year. NordVPN Basic, for example, can be anywhere between $2.99 – $3.39 per month. Black Friday is usually the best time to buy.

The total prices you face emphasize the importance of choosing a plan you'll make the most of. The $50-plus jump between the Complete and Prime 2-year plans is a big one. The only difference between the two is the NordProtect cyber-insurance service. So, make sure that's something you really need if you're going for Prime.

The $25 jump from Basic to Plus, however, is arguably among the best value choices available. Basic doesn't offer much beyond the VPN product itself, as we'll cover in the features section, whereas Plus provides some of the most useful additional features of NordVPN such as the excellent Threat Protection Pro.

And if you really do want that 1 TB of encrypted storage, then an extra $27 for NordVPN Complete is a good idea.

Do beware, though, and we cannot stress this enough, that NordVPN enforces some big price hikes after your two-year plan discount runs out. You can avoid it by remembering to cancel your subscription or by resubscribing. Just don't let it automatically renew. It's very easily done given customers are opted-in by default.

NordVPN is currently involved in several legal battles with customers over "deceptive" auto-renewals. These price rises aren't hidden by any means, but they are certainly much steeper many other VPN providers.

If these prices prove anything, it's that the first thing you should do after signing up is turn off auto renewals.

Score: 8/10

Features: What can NordVPN do?

• NordVPN Basic and Plus plans are the same across the world.
• Full NordProtect cyber-insurance only available in the US.
• NordPass password manager included with all plans apart from Basic.

NordVPN Basic

The Basic plan from NordVPN does exactly what the name suggests. The main feature is the VPN product itself and not too much more. It's the same full VPN software as available on all NordVPN plans.

Also included with Basic is the Threat Protection system – rather than the superior Threat Protection Pro offered on Plus plans and above.

Threat Protection on NordVPN Basic plans works by filtering your online traffic through NordVPN’s DNS servers to block ads and malicious sites.

It’s nowhere near as effective at blocking malicious sites as Threat Protection Pro, though you get a respectable level of ad-blocking capability no matter which version you have.

NordVPN Plus

The Plus plan is my favorite NordVPN plan. Available in any region, it strikes a good balance between value and power by incorporating what I think are NordVPN’s most essential tools and features.

Most notably, you’re given Threat Protection Pro. This takes the Basic plan’s Threat Protection package up a notch by adding malware protection via file scanning, improving ad-blocking capabilities (including the addition of tracker blocking), and introducing further measures to protect against phishing and other malicious websites.

NordVPN also recently announced that Threat Protection Pro was to be bolstered thanks to a team-up with CrowdStrike. We haven't seen the true impact of this new partnership yet, but it promises to take Threat Protection Pro to the next level by integrating aspects of CrowdStrike's Threat Intelligence technology.

Unfortunately, these improvements can only be seen on NordVPN’s desktop apps, which is great if your home PC is the device you’re most concerned about, but leaves you short-changed across all of your mobile devices.

This is especially unfortunate since Surfshark, for example, offers its complete protective toolkit for mobile too – including antivirus on Android, which NordVPN doesn’t have whatsoever.

Something included across almost any device, however, is NordPass. We rate NordPass as the best password manager available right now, so getting it thrown in alongside your VPN package is some serious value.

It’s compatible across all major desktop operating systems, as well as popular web browsers such as Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge, and Opera, and of course, iOS and Android mobile devices.

NordPass encrypts your passwords using XChaCha20 but also secures password generation, passkey support, and easy synchronization of data between platforms, so you’re never stuck without the details you need.

What's more, you can use NordPass' data breach scanning – which is traditionally kept for premium NordPass plans. That said, we found it only worked through the NordVPN app, which could be confusing if you're using it alongside NordPass.

NordVPN Complete

Entering the upper echelons of NordVPN is where things get complex since, as mentioned, no one country gets the same premium plans. For the moment, we’ll stick with what the US gets.

NordVPN Complete adds one feature to the spread offered by a Plus Plan: 1 TB of end-to-end encrypted storage. For an extra dollar a month, that may initially seem to be a great deal, but first, consider whether the added storage is actually going to be used.

If, like me, you’ve already pushed the limits of your free storage allowances on systems like Google and iCloud, then maybe it will, but will the added storage outweigh the convenience these services offer? The value for money for that 1 TB of storage is good, but, if you won’t use it, why pay more?

In terms of the value, it’s definitely worth mentioning that among the top VPN providers, only Proton VPN currently offers encrypted storage with any of its packages.

Though to get 500 GB of storage with Proton, you pay $3 per month more than you’d pay for a NordVPN Complete plan. And that makes NordVPN Complete comparatively better value if storage with your VPN is a priority.

NordVPN Prime

Much like Complete, Prime only brings one new thing to the party, though this time it’s a biggie – NordProtect.

NordProtect is an all-in-one package aimed at protecting your identity at all costs. Firstly, Dark Web Monitoring searches for your social security number, phone number, and email on the dark web 24/7, with immediate notifications should anything be found.

Your credit card also gets similar protection. 1-Bureau credit monitoring notifies you about changes, including inquiries into your credit file, new accounts, and unauthorized use. You can also make use of VantageScore credit scoring, should you wish for insights into how to improve your credit.

TransUnion, the company behind VantageScore, also provides credit freeze assistance as part of NordProtect. This not only helps to prevent credit card fraud, but also ensures your credit score isn’t impacted if you fall victim to it.

If that wasn’t enough, you’re also provided with identity theft insurance up to $1M in coverage, and cyber extortion insurance up to $100K in coverage.

All this protection does come at a hefty cost, however, as Prime Plans start from $6.99 per month on the two-year plan.

That takes your total payment to $50 more than Complete, and your cost on renewal rises to around $340 before tax. So, make sure you really need NordProtect before signing up.

A surprising omission from almost all NordVPN plans worldwide is Incogni. Developed by Nord Security, NordVPN and Surfshark’s parent company, Incogni is a data removal tool that removes your personal information from company databases and people search sites, helping reduce the risk of scams, fraud, and identity theft.

Only Canada’s Ultra plan includes Incogni. Though, much like the US Prime plan, you’ll be forking out a fair sum for it, with prices starting from CA$8.19 per month.

If there’s one constant piece of advice we can give about picking a NordVPN plan, it’s this: know what you want. They all offer value, but only if you actually use the features you're buying.

Score: 10/10

Server network and locations

• Most countries covered of any tested VPN (127).
• Second most locations overall (after ExpressVPN) with 165.
• Approximately 8,000-strong network of RAM-only servers.

NordVPN offers the largest selection of server locations of any VPN we test. While ExpressVPN's 187 locations beat NordVPN's 178, no one beats NordVPN’s 127 countries.

The spread of these locations also earns it top marks. 39 locations in North America is only beaten by PIA (60) and ExpressVPN (70), 53 locations in Europe is only usurped by ExpressVPN (58) and Surfshark (54), and 17 locations in Africa is only topped by Proton’s 26.

NordVPN is one of the top two VPNs in South America, Asia, and Oceania, with 10, 38, and 8 locations, respectively.

Nord also recently expanded its virtual server network. The provider now offers 79 vitual locations in regions where physical servers are not possible. This is perfect if you're travelling to regions with tight internet restrictions and require a stable, secure connection.

Much like other top VPNs, NordVPN’s network runs on RAM-only servers. This is now reasonably standard practice, since RAM-only servers not only ensure no user data is accidentally stored (since they wipe on reboot) but they are also more efficient in terms of speed, latency, and power consumption.

This ensures the servers are capable of handling NordVPN’s various server uses, be that P2P, multi-hop, or Meshnet, without noticeable drops in performance.

Earlier in 2025, NordVPN threw a challenge to the VPN industry, claiming that the exact number of servers across its locations isn’t important. This means we no longer have a precise figure to use to compare NordVPN with its competitors.

Surfshark, a VPN also owned by Nord Security, uses around 4,500 servers currently, while Proton VPN uses over 15,000. Our latest research suggests NordVPN's figure is somewhere over 8,000 servers, which is above average, but by no means the most.

Realistically, however, we rarely see VPN servers reach absolute maximum load, and, frankly, with the spread of locations NordVPN has, you'll never be short of another place to connect to. There's really nothing we can complain about here, loads of locations, RAM-only servers, top marks!

Score: 10/10

Privacy

• Strong, privacy-focused protocol choices – NordLynx and NordWhisper
• Double VPN and Onion over VPN boost privacy and anonymity
• Tapjacking protection is a handy bonus for Android users

NordVPN’s privacy is founded on its no-logs policy. Not only is the policy in depth, but it has been audited five times, most recently by Deloitte at the end of 2024.

That depth doesn't make for good casual reading but it does successfully cover every important topic, and in enough detail that we’re comfortable with saying that nothing is amiss.

The closest NordVPN comes to recording data is its enforcement of the 10 device limit. As it explains, username and timestamp information is “used to limit the amount of concurrent active user sessions and is automatically deleted within 15 minutes after a session is terminated”.

In-app, NordVPN’s primary privacy focal point is its NordWhisper protocol.

Introduced in January 2025, the protocol is based on the Tor Project’s WebTunnel technology. It wraps your encrypted VPN traffic in a standard HTTPS connection to hide it from detection. This disguises it as standard web traffic and makes NordWhisper especially effective in regions of high internet censorship and places where people found to be using VPNs can be punished.

For everyday connectivity, you’re not short of options either. OpenVPN is available in both its TCP and UDP forms. The former provides a more stable, reliable connection for emailing, browsing, and the like. The latter is more focused towards speed for gaming, streaming, or similar.

Alongside this, you also get NordVPN’s other proprietary protocol, NordLynx. NordLynx uses a ‘double NAT’ system to remove privacy vulnerabilities you’d be at risk of by using traditional WireGuard.

By combining double NAT technology and WireGuard, NordLynx allows you to experience the speed benefits of WireGuard, without any identifiable information being stored, even temporarily, in a server.

NordLynx is also NordVPN’s first post-quantum encrypted VPN protocol. It ensures that your data remains secure even once quantum computing arrives with its enormous boost in code-cracking, number crunching power.

NordVPN has chosen to use ML-KEM, an approved quantum-resistant cryptographic standard, with NordLynx.

NordVPN’s use of RAM-only servers helps too. Since RAM-only servers don’t store any data permanently. That means you’re never at risk of being personally identifiable should Nord’s servers be seized, since there’s no data to be found.

Connecting to NordVPN offers several privacy-centric options. Double VPN works as the name suggests, routing your connection through two VPN servers rather than one. In other words, your data is encrypted twice.

That makes your connection twice as difficult for cybercriminals to crack, your IP address is further protected (since the second server doesn’t have any information about it), and your ISP knows nothing about where you end up on the web.

This makes Double VPN perfect for those needing greater protection in regions where governments attempt to intercept messages or surveil online activities.

NordVPN currently offers 12 Double VPN locations, including 2 locations in the US and Canada. This is far fewer than the likes of Proton VPN and Surfshark.

Proton VPN offers 64 locations that utilize its Secure Core technology, while Surfshark’s Nexus network allows you to make any two server connections you want from its entire server network.

Another option for concealing your VPN connection is NordVPN’s obfuscated servers. These servers differ from NordVPN’s NordWhisper protocol as they obfuscate your connection via more traditional means – for example, hiding certain data packets using additional SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption.

It makes your internet connection faster, due to the simpler obfuscation methods being used, but you are more likely to be detected by anti-VPN technologies than if using NordWhisper.

If you’re looking to access the darker corners of the web securely, NordVPN also offers Onion Over VPN connections. Available via its Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Zurich server locations. This connection routes your traffic through both a VPN server and the Tor Network.

As a result, since the Tor Network’s servers are volunteer-operated, you are secured by a VPN before entering it in case a bad actor has planted servers intent on tracking your online activity and stealing your data. This added security when using Tor is something only offered by a few top VPNs, the most notable of which are NordVPN and Proton VPN.

Depending on the platform you’re using, NordVPN also offers several handy privacy settings you can use to further affirm your privacy. Android users get arguably the biggest spread. Notably, NordVPN’s ‘Tapjacking protection’ is something you won’t find on any other NordVPN platform, or offered by any other VPN for that matter.

The system aims to protect users against malicious overlays and is as simple to use as toggling on and forgetting about it. Having had the protection turned on for a matter of months now, I can comfortably say I've never found an instance where an overlay has slipped through the net, and I've never noticed it adding unwanted strain to my phone’s performance either.

Score: 10/10

Security

• Strong encryption and post-quantum encryption standards already live.
• Threat Protection Pro performs well against malware and phishing sites
• Lots of options for granular security customization.

NordVPN’s security is top-notch.

We tested its claims of strong AES-256-GCM encryption on OpenVPN using a 4096-bit Diffie-Hellman key, and we saw exactly that. Our tests registered AES-256-GCM-SHA384 encryption with 4096-bit certification using TLS 1.3. This makes NordVPN’s OpenVPN protocol as secure as possible, ensuring you needn’t worry about your connection, no matter your location.

On NordLynx, you’re similarly protected. Since the protocol is based on WireGuard, it uses the same ChaCha20 encryption you’d expect to see, using Poly1305 for authentication. This means you’re using the latest and greatest encryption capabilities across both of NordVPN’s primary protocols.

Post-quantum encryption has also already reached NordVPN. While providers such as Proton VPN and Surfshark are yet to implement it or are in the early stages, NordLynx is already post-quantum ready, with the future-proof encryption method available at the switch of a toggle.

While that might seem superfluous right now, it's a key differentiator given the existence of harvest now, decrypt later attacks.

OpenVPN and NordWhisper aren’t post-quantum-equipped quite yet. It's worth knowing that if you turn on post-quantum encryption, it'll turn itself off if your automatically selected protocol isn't NordLynx. This can be fixed in a matter of clicks by turning automatic protocol choosing off, instead selecting to always use NordLynx

You also won’t be post-quantum-protected when using Meshnet or NordVPN’s obfuscated server connection; the same goes if you add a dedicated IP to your plan.

If you’ve turned on post-quantum encryption before using Meshnet, beware that this automatically turns Meshnet off, making you choose between your secure local network and a super-secure VPN connection.

NordVPN also, of course, a more standard suite or security options in place.

Auto-connect jumps straight to mind, since you can fully customize exactly when and how NordVPN auto-connects you to a server.

It covers both the server type, and the instances in which it connects. This includes options for Double VPN, Obfuscated, Onion-Over, and P2P servers, and connecting when on Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or mobile networks. You can even create lists of trusted networks that are excluded from auto-connect parameters.

I use this kind of customization to make sure that I'm always protected and I particularly like it to my ensure my connection on-the-go.

If you want to continue the granular levels of security tailoring, you can also control the DNS server address you connect to, your visibility over LAN, and, on desktops, whether your computer can still be accessed remotely when connected. It’s worth noting, with LAN invisibility especially, toggling these settings can impact performance.

For example, with LAN invisibility turned on, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users won’t be able to use AirDrop. You may also experience significant performance impacts due to how Apple integrates the relevant API parameters in its hardware. If you want to know more, NordVPN released a complete breakdown you can read here.

Something that continues to impress is NordVPN’s kill switch. It's often the downfall of less secure VPN providers. In our security testing, a kill switch is key to ensuring your connection is never inadvertently exposed to bad actors, governments and the like.

We tried to break NordVPN’s kill switch in various ways, including uninstalling NordVPN’s network adapter driver while connected. Not only did NordVPN disconnect us successfully without any IP leaks, but it recognized the issue, reinstalled and activated the driver, and reconnected us, all within seconds.

If we could wish for one thing to improve NordVPN’s kill switch, it would be moving away from the native kill switch system on Android devices.

Across all platforms aside from Android, you can turn the kill switch on and off as you please. On Android, the native kill switch forces you to use the VPN at all times and disconnects you completely from the internet should the connection fail.

While this is super-secure, it’s frustrating should you only require a VPN connection in certain situations.

Something we’ll cover in more depth in the compatibility section is NordVPN’s feature parity across platforms. Split tunneling, another of NordVPN’s security capabilities, is a notable victim of some of NordVPN’s variations by device.

Windows users can create either a list of apps that must use the VPN or a list of apps that must not. Android users can only choose which apps won't use the VPN, and Mac and iOS users don’t get split tunneling at all – though this is reasonably common among VPNs owing to the security systems in place on Apple devices.

Our testing showed no reason to doubt NordVPN’s split tunneling capabilities, though it would be great to see its Android apps gain the same capabilities as Windows. Lacking the choice in this way puts NordVPN behind the likes of Surfshark and Proton VPN, which offer both choices on their Android apps.

We’ve mentioned NordWhisper already, but NordVPN also offers traditional obfuscated servers too. This is helpful since, at the time of writing, NordWhisper isn’t quite available on all platforms as yet – though Windows, Android, Linux, Mac, and iOS all have it already.

These servers, however, have one big problem: accessibility. Not only does NordVPN only offer obfuscated servers in 16 of its 127 countries, but also, depending on the app and protocol you’re using, you may not even see the option. NordVPN’s obfuscated servers only work over OpenVPN, which is understandable given the added security it brings, even if at a huge speed deficit, but if you’ve not manually selected OpenVPN as your protocol choice, your app may not show them.

Our testing on Apple devices showed the option simply doesn’t exist in the app unless you go into your settings and change to OpenVPN.

Windows and Android users don’t face the same issue. The option appears in the ‘Specialty Server’ section, no matter the protocol chosen, which makes much more sense and begs the question of why it isn’t this simple across all devices.

What’s more, the lack of locations means those in regions distant from a server will face even greater performance drops than you’d expect anyway from obfuscated servers.

Another feature lacking in locations is NordVPN’s Onion-over VPN capabilities, though in this instance, this is less of a problem since many providers don’t offer this at all. Onion-over VPN allows you to connect to sites on the Tor Network while secured by a VPN connection, something only offered by Proton VPN among other top VPN providers. In NordVPN’s case, it offers three countries to connect to: the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

By comparison, Proton’s six locations include Sweden and Switzerland, but the additions of France, Germany, Hong Kong, and the US give the VPN provider not only wider EU coverage but broader coverage worldwide.

As with any VPN connection, reduced locations often mean worse speeds, either due to distance to the server or the load the server is under, and NordVPN’s Onion-over VPN servers prove no different.

Onion-over VPN connections (otherwise called Tor-over VPN) always require greater processing. That makes a dent on performance straight away, no matter the location, but the 741 Kbps download speeds we saw in testing demonstrate just how limited you can be, yes, that was Kbps by the way!

Finally, Double VPN. This is NordVPN’s version of a multi-hop connection, though its simpler than some competitor alternatives. This is because NordVPN doesn’t allow you to choose your entry and exit server, unlike Surfshark.

Even Proton, whose Secure Core Technology limits the choices you have, gives users a few choices. We won’t directly compare NordVPN and Surfshark here, since Surfshark’s Nexus technology gives users complete freedom to multi-hop between every Surfshark server, something no other VPN provider offers.

Outside of the VPN itself, NordVPN also offers Threat Protection and Threat Protection Pro. As mentioned already, Threat Protection only works at a DNS level to filter out ads and malicious websites.

This means it doesn’t offer much from a security standpoint, though we can’t fault it as a nice addition to the Basic plan, especially given the popularity of effective ad-blocking.

Threat Protection Pro works at a deeper level, protecting your desktop devices from phishing and malicious URLs, as well as ads and trackers. It can even scan for and block malicious downloads.

While this is nice, there are several downsides. Firstly, Threat Protection Pro isn’t actually an antivirus. It can’t scan files already on your computer for malware, nor can it remove them. Secondly, the full Threat Protection Pro suite is only available on desktop devices, while mobile users only get Threat Protection.

That limitation puts NordVPN behind Surfshark here. Surfshark includes a full antivirus with its Surfshark One plan – and it works on mobile as well as desktop.

That said, you can’t fault Threat Protection Pro’s results.

We tested Threat Protection Pro against 50 brand-new malware-hosting and phishing pages, and it was the top-performing software of anything similar we tested among VPNs. It blocked 91% of phishing sites and 86% of malware sites.

By comparison, Surfshark Antivirus achieved only 38% and 68% in these same tests, putting a stretch ahead.

While these results do impress when compared to VPNs, a dedicated antivirus software performs far better than even Threat Protection Pro.

The likes of Avast, McAfee, and Kaspersky achieved over 90% success in phishing protection tests carried out by AV-Comparatives in 2024. This is why we normally recommend picking up one of the best antivirus software in addition to your VPN of choice.

Score: 10/10

Speed

• NordVPN is still among the fastest VPNs using WireGuard.
• Minimal latency and jitter make the best VPN for gamers.
• Struggled over OpenVPN in latest speed tests.

We recently widened our testing parameters to involve more data points and a 10 Gbps maximum speed capacity on our VPN test lab.

Despite its speeds over NordLynx jumping from 901 Mbps to 1256 Mbps this time round, these speeds still put NordVPN fourth on our list – beaten by Proton VPN and Surfshark using WireGuard and ExpressVPN’s Lightway Turbo protocol.

Which VPN is the fastest?

We've compared the fastest speeds achieved by every VPN – these are the best

Fastest VPN protocol speed

NordVPN (NordLynx)

1256

Surfshark (WireGuard)

1615

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

1521

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

1479

05001,0001,5002,000

Mbps

Fastest VPN protocol speed Data

Product	Value (Mbps)
NordVPN (NordLynx)	1256
Surfshark (WireGuard)	1615
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	1521
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	1479

Almost all of our top VPNs saw improved speed results in our latest testing. Regardless of what you're connecting for, these speeds should more than suffice.

Take ExpressVPN’s results with a pinch of salt, though, since Lightway Turbo is only available on its Windows app, and ExpressVPN has warned that it might cause issues with some websites and games.

None of that is true for NordLynx and, although Lightway Turbo’s 1479 Mbps speeds put it a margin ahead of NordLynx on paper, most users won’t see this difference in day-to-day usage.

Instead, you’ll likely benefit more from the added compatibility of NordLynx.

NordLynx’s results do, however, put it among the best VPN protocols for gamers, since in our testing, it recorded only 7.2ms latency and 2.4ms jitter when connected to our nearest server.

High latency results in laggy gameplay, and high jitter can lead to unstable gameplay and stuttering, so recording latency and jitter at low result is key when choosing the best gaming VPN.

NordVPN is bested for latency only by ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo, and, along with Surfshark, it's the best for jitter among the top VPNs. Across the board, it's NordVPN that we recommend for gamers.

Gaming VPNs comparison

Latency and jitter are two key measures when considering VPNs for gaming. Here's how the very best VPNs stack up right now

< Prev

Latency comparison

Next >

NordVPN (NordLynx)

17.2

Surfshark (WireGuard)

21.7

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

21.7

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

14.8

07.51522.530

ms

Latency comparison Data

Product	Value (ms)
NordVPN (NordLynx)	17.2
Surfshark (WireGuard)	21.7
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	21.7
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	14.8

NordVPN (NordLynx)

2.4

Surfshark (WireGuard)

2.3

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

5.2

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

5.3

01.534.56

ms

Jitter comparison Data

Product	Value (ms)
NordVPN (NordLynx)	2.4
Surfshark (WireGuard)	2.3
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	5.2
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	5.3

1 of 2

Second only to ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo protocol, NordVPN holds a sizeable gap over Proton VPN and Surfshark for latency

Connecting to US NordVPN servers from the UK proved less effective. NordLynx achieved only 857 Mbps when connecting across the Pond. This makes it around 400 Mbps slower than Proton VPN in this scenario (which achieved 1242 Mbps), and over 500 Mbps slower than ExpressVPN’s Lightway Turbo, which managed 1374 Mbps. Only Surfshark proved slower with lowly 355 Mbps.

NordVPN did still hold up well for latency and jitter over long distance, proving, again, that it's a great gaming VPN choice – perfect, in this instance for avoiding unwanted lag while connecting to servers abroad for gaming, streaming, or other high-intensity tasks.

It was also great to see NordLynx's results become far more consistent, having been notably irregular last time round.

The figurehead speeds we mention in our reviews come from a series of tests taken in the morning and evening that we then take an average of, and this time round, these results bore far more similarities to each other than previously.

Our last round of testing saw NordLynx drop around 500 Mbps of average speed from morning to evening. This time around, our results ranged only by 200 Mbps – a big improvement in the consistency you can expect. The same was true for our US testing, where the variation dropped to only around 80 Mbps.

And the improvements don't stop there. NordVPN's OpenVPN performance had previously been cause for concern, but has now risen to become a top performer. Registering 974 Mbps in our latest testing, only Surfshark (978 Mbps) and ExpressVPN (1038 Mbps) beat it. Proton saw the big drop this time around, with only 240 Mbps.

This improvement is key if you're after OpenVPN for its greater stability over NordLynx, or its router VPN capabilities (since many work best using OpenVPN).

Again, though, while Surfshark and ExpressVPN are fractionally quicker in this sense, in real world scenarios you may rarely notice this difference.

Score: 9/10

Unblocking streaming services

• The only VPN to unblock every streaming service we tested first time.
• Never encountered unwanted CAPTCHAs, VPN detection, or dropouts.
• All servers are streaming optimized.

NordVPN was the clear winner in our latest unblocking testing. It was the only VPN that successfully unblock every streaming service we tested.

We test Netflix, across the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan, Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube. We also tested NordVPN at unblocking local free streaming services, including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, C4, 9Now, and 10Play.

All of these services proved no trouble. We never encountered VPN detection, unwanted CAPTCHAs during login, or any dreadful lag, buffering or connection dropouts to ruin our streaming experience with NordVPN. This was the same whether we were attempting to watch something live or catching up on demand.

For comparison, both Surfshark and ExpressVPN suffered issues accessing US YouTube. The former was completely unsuccessful, even after some tinkering.

Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark all struggled with 10 Play. Proton was completely unsuccessful. Channel 4 also proved tricky for both Surfshark and Proton VPN, though both resolved the issues after some settings changes.

What was even more impressive was the lack of impact of NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro ad-blocker. Normally, we find that the ad-blockers of VPN services disrupted the streaming capabilities of local, ad-based services like Channel 4 and ITV, but we saw no such issues with NordVPN. The same cannot be said of Proton VPM and Surfshark.

NordVPN never found itself unable to load services due to their advert reel requirements, even when connecting to ad-based services abroad, such as Peacock. Top marks.

Something certainly playing into this success is that all of NordVPN’s servers are streaming-optimized. This move not only means you never have to scroll through to find those with the correct optimization, but it also means you’re never short of another server to connect to if one struggles to connect to the streaming service you’re trying to access.

Score: 10/10

P2P and torrenting

• Most servers are P2P optimized.
• Lots of guides to help beginners get started.
• No port forwarding support.

Nothing summarizes NordVPN’s torrenting capabilities more than the fact that all but four of its countries offer P2P-optimized servers – sorry to those looking to torrent connected to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and North Macedonia!

What’s more, finding the server you need is super simple. NordVPN’s P2P-optimized locations can be found in its Specialized Servers section on any app, and you even get the option to quickly connect to the fastest server if you’re not after somewhere specific and would rather sheer performance.

Thankfully, NordVPN’s speed capabilities mean your torrenting experience is likely to be more limited by your peers than your VPN. What’s more, its security measures meant we never found ourselves receiving warnings from our ISP when testing its capabilities with uTorrent, no matter if we were using NordLynx or OpenVPN.

As is standard among top VPNs, NordVPN doesn’t support port forwarding due to the security risks posed. A full blog article outlines their reasons for this, which you can read here.

If you’re new to torrenting, it’s also great to see NordVPN has a whole variety of guides for setting up proxies with popular torrenting services, including BitTorrent, uTorrent, and qBittorrent. They’re easy to digest and come with all the information you need packed in, too.

Score: 4/5

Compatibility

• Apps for every platform – including Linux GUI and routers.
• A similar look across almost every app.
• No Threat Protection Pro on mobile.

NordVPN has apps across every platform out there, including a GUI Linux VPN and router VPN capabilities, alongside the expected web extensions and smart TV apps.

The majority of NordVPN's apps share a similar feel and consequently enough regularity that the features you can access will be found where you’d expect them. Smart TVs are, as expected with most VPNs, the platform with the most differentiation in layout, but that change brings added simplicity and makes it easy to use.

I mentioned already that NordVPN isn’t stellar in terms of its feature-parity across platforms, but for the most part, NordVPN’s compatibility is nothing to be concerned about.

As you can see, in the table below, like most VPNs, Windows gets everything, and iOS users get the least. In amongst this, though, are several key differentiators.

NordVPN users on iOS and Mac don't get to enjoy split tunneling. In the past, that proved difficult for all VPN providers on iOS and Mac due to Apple's security infrastructure, but now the likes of IPVanish and Surfshark are beginning to roll the feature out. NordVPN users have no such luck.

It’s not often that we see Android users facing big feature shortfalls as well but, most frustrating, of the absentees is that there's no Threat Protection Pro on any mobile devices. That's a real loss.

Threat Protection Pro is the best-performing VPN security add-on we've tested, and is a notable step up from the results we saw basic Threat Protection, which mobile users do get.

By comparison, Surfshark's full antivirus capabilities are available across any platform, including the regular file scanning feature – something not offered by NordVPN.

Score: 4/5

Usability

• Simple set up – but ensure you disable auto-renewals.
• Similar user experience across most apps.
• Reducing the use of the map has improved functionality hugely.

Set up

Setting up NordVPN is simple enough. Once you’re signed up, you can download the VPN directly from the website (unless you’ve signed up within the iOS or Android app, in which case you’ll have already installed it to do so). From there, you’re almost on your own.

Loading the installer gives you the option of also adding NordPass and the NordVPN browser extension to your device. Both are great tools and super handy to have – and then you’re straight into the NordVPN app.

Something we recommend doing as soon as you’re in is stopping your auto-renewals. This will stop you getting a nasty and very expensive surprise when your initial NordVPN agreement runs out.

Stop auto-renewal by heading to the Account section of your Settings menu. It takes almost no time at all.

User Experience

NordVPN is as close to identical as it can be across the majority of its apps nowadays, which is only a good thing for sure.

The only times you’ll see anything especially different is on smart TVs, as is expected with most VPNs, and streaming devices such as Fire TV Sticks.

Older Fire TV Sticks, especially, will be in for a shock, as, depending on your device generation, you can be hit with a much older-appearing UI than anywhere else.

Even NordVPN's Chrome extension shares a similar feel. While you can't use it to access VPN protocols or specialist servers, you're never left wondering where anything is.

What's more, you're still equipped with everything from the kill switch, auto-connect, and split tunneling, to otherwise hidden features such as location spoofing, which is only available via the web extension and sets your browser to the location and time zone of your VPN server. It's by no means perfect, but you have all the essential tools in a familiar package.

One of NordVPN’s quirky inclusions in its desktop and mobile apps used to be an interactive map interface you could use to select your server. While this did look rather pleasing, we’ve never found ourselves using it in all the years it’s been there, nor did it ever do anything to make the connection process quicker. So, we’re glad to see it getting phased out on desktop devices in favor of more screen space for features such as Threat Protection Pro.

This change makes it supremely quick and easy access to almost every tool, whether on mobile or desktop.

The home screen brings quick access to every VPN country available, each of NordVPN’s specialty server types, Meshnet, Dark Web Monitoring, and the three key aspects of Threat Protection Pro – anti-malware, advanced browser protection, and ad and tracker blocking.

Accessing these features in more detail is as simple as clicking the corresponding icon on the side-nav, and once you’re where you want to be, you’re greeted by explainer after explainer giving you everything you need to know to understand the tool and how it’ll benefit either your VPN connection or your online security.

I do have two gripes with the desktop version however:

Firstly, the search bar isn’t the most advanced. While some VPN providers will allow you to search for a location and choose between its specific capabilities, for example, P2P or obfuscated, Nord’s shows you the location as though you were connecting normally.

If you’re after, say, a P2P server, you’d have to search P2P, and then choose a server from the icon that appears – a method slower than simply choosing P2P in the specialty servers section you’re greeted with on the home screen.

Secondly, the desktop app no longer offers both choices of pausing your connection or disconnecting entirely. Instead, you now get a pause button which, once clicked, becomes a dropdown with a series of pause durations alongside a disconnect button.

While I understand adding steps to the disconnection process reduces the chance someone will, thus improving their security, for those of us who know when we do and don’t want to be connected, it’s an unnecessary added step. Still, it's a pretty minor beef.

Mobile users get a similarly efficient experience, which we love. While it retains the interactive map, you can access every country, Meshnet, and all of Nord’s Specialty Servers from your home screen – though, understandably given screen restraints, there’s no room for Threat Protection or Dark Web Monitoring this time round.

You still get the same detailed explanations of each feature and setting throughout the app, though you’re still stuck with the same limited search capabilities and pause button that the desktop app uses.

Oddly, something omitted from the main screen across desktop and mobile is any reference to key features, such as protocols or the kill switch. To set up or change these, you need to head into the settings instead. What’s more, while on desktop you can click one button to set the server you’re connected to as your auto-connect, you’re given no such convenience on mobile – though for many this won’t be so useful.

Aside from the minor gripes, NordVPN’s apps are the best they’ve been in years – efficient, clean to look at, and easy for beginners.

The few issues we’ve found, and their minor impact show just how much thought has gone into NordVPN's usability across the board.

Score: 5/5

Accessibility

• NordVPN's website is among the most accessible VPN websites.
• Not a huge amount of language support.
• Keyboard-only navigation could be better.

We put NordVPN.com through an AccessibilityChecker audit, and its score of 83% puts it among the most accessible VPN websites out there. It scores higher than Proton VPN (35%), Surfshark (41%), and ExpressVPN (21%) and PIA (10%). This makes it the most accessible VPN website of all our best VPNs.

Website Accessibility Scores

AccessibilityChecker audit of the home pages of each VPN website

Accessibility score

NordVPN

83

Surfshark

41

ExpressVPN

23

Proton VPN

35

PureVPN

35

Mullvad

89

IPVanish

71

CyberGhost

17

AdGuard VPN

17

PrivadoVPN

10

Hotspot Shield

23

TunnelBear

74

Accessibility score Data

Product	Value (Percent)
NordVPN	83
Surfshark	41
ExpressVPN	23
Proton VPN	35
PureVPN	35
Mullvad	89
IPVanish	71
CyberGhost	17
AdGuard VPN	17
PrivadoVPN	10
Hotspot Shield	23
TunnelBear	74

NordVPN offers a very easy to navigate website for those with visual accessibility needs. The apps could have better keyboard-only support, though.

The site passed all interaction and navigational checks. One element failed a screenreader test due to a prohibited ARIA attribute, and 36 elements failed visual and structural accessibility tests because of poor contrast between foreground and background.

On investigating the contrast issue, it turned out it referred to text that became clearer when scrolled over.

Looking at NordVPN on desktop, we found it supports 13 languages, including options including English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional.)

However, much like Surfshark, it lacked others, including Arabic, Turkish, and Swedish. This seems a simple enough area both NordVPN and Surfshark can improve on, especially since providers such as Norton VPN and Proton VPN have 26 and 28 languages supported, respectively.

Keyboard support on NordVPN is also not the best. Disconnecting our mouse for a second, it quickly became apparent that doing anything other than actually connecting to a VPN server wasn't easy enough.

Unless you’d happened to connect to where you wanted to recently – so it’d appear in your ‘Recent Connections’ list – it was nearly impossible to get a connection going. Using Meshnet, Threat Protection Pro, or anything else, however, was simple.

An easy comparison to make here is with PIA, whose app allows you to scroll its country list, highlight a country, and connect within a few taps of the keyboard – it really should be this simple.

Score: 2/5

Customer support

• 24/7 live chat and email support available alongside a support site
• Easy access to support via the apps
• Excellent online user guides.

NordVPN offers several customer support options, including a support site, 24/7 live chat, and a 24/7 email ticketing system.

Usefully, the app gives you easy access to raising a ticket or accessing the support site if you need help.

We found running diagnostic testing from within the app when you encounter a problem helps speed up the support process, as it reduces the number of additional questions agents need to ask. You can even include a list of apps installed on the impacted device in case any of them may be a contributing factor that the support agent can identify.

Putting its Live Chat service to the test, we found it sufficiently responsive, with an agent responding typically after 2-3 minutes. Its email service wasn’t so hasty. We had to wait around 18 hours before receiving a response to our test question.

Despite its sluggishness, the email system was effective. Our agent solved our test issue by asking a selection of relevant questions at once, collecting our responses, and using them to diagnose the problems.

It was also refreshing to avoid the typical customer support responses of “have you reinstalled the app?” or “have you cleared your cookies?” since the questions we were asked required detailed enough responses that there was no need. This also reduced the amount of back-and-forth required to resolve our test issues.

NordVPN’s customer support page is also very helpful. It doesn't bombarded the reader with category options to click between straight away, as is expected nowadays. Instead, you’re greeted by five overarching categories, one of which is about exploring other Nord Security products. So, in reality, four categories, and a search bar.

There is a trade-off for usability, though. For example, entering any of the categories removes the search bar from your screen, forcing you instead to use the breadcrumb trail at the top of the page to return to the main screen and search from there.

This leaves you doing a lot of unnecessary navigation if you’re merely looking for a quick fix, especially if you’ve clicked through several options in the categories already to try and find your answers that way.

To NordVPN's credit, once you find the article you need, it's usually extremely helpful.

For example, Nord’s proxy setup guide for uTorrent not only gives you the super-clear steps you need, but it also tells you how to then check that what you’ve done is working.

This is great for any kind of VPN user and typically of how strong NordVPN is on customer support.

Score: 4/5

User reviews

Although all review sites should be approached with a level of skepticism, they do offer a good enough gauge of how trustworthy a VPN is and how well it performs if you’re looking at a quick glance.

Across Google Play and the App Store, NordVPN has ratings equal to the very top VPNs. Its rating on TrustPilot is lower than most at only 4.2 out of 5, with 12% of the 44,000+ reviews being 1-star too.

The majority of negative reviews on Trustpilot surround NordVPN’s auto-renewals, which, should you be worried about it, can be turned off in a matter of clicks. We recommend doing this early on in your subscription to ensure you’re not stung down the line.

Track record: can you trust NordVPN?

• Reasonably spotless reputation throughout its history.
• 2018 breach is only notable blot on its record.
• Currently facing some lawsuits around its auto-renewal practices.

NordVPN’s history is, for the most part, positive, though 2018 proved to be a tricky year.

A breach in March 2018 saw NordVPN’s reputation tarnished, in part due to the obvious security concerns, but mainly since it didn’t admit to the breach for another 18 months, with the announcement coming only in October 2019.

The breach was only to one VPN server in Finland, and NordVPN explained in the belated announcement that none of NordVPN’s own servers were compromised, claiming the breach “was made possible by poor configuration on a third-party data center’s part”.

NordVPN was supposedly only made aware of the issue in April 2019, prompting a review and the consequent delay in announcing the breach to customers.

It’s not thought that any identifiable data was stolen in the breach, due to its small scale and the fact that it didn’t breach Nord’s central infrastructure, and all 5,000 servers NordVPN used at the time were audited on the breach’s discovery to remove further vulnerabilities.

NIST’s vulnerability database also has three weaknesses on record from that same year, though thankfully, none in the seven years since, suggesting that there’s little to worry about now.

In 2019, NordVPN would become one of the founding members of the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), an industry-led consortium focused on “improving digital safety for consumers by building understanding, strengthening trust, and mitigating risk for VPN users”.

This consortium also consists of ExpressVPN, StrongVPN, Surfshark, and encrypt.me, and aims to improve public trust in VPNs and help users make informed decisions.

While this bears no direct impact on its reputation, it’s a clear sign of good intent from NordVPN that has shown little reason to be doubted since.

NordVPN would go on to experience around five years with its reputation out of the spotlight, but a lawsuit against its auto-renewal practices would abruptly end this.

Wittels McInturff Palikovic (WMP) filed a $100m lawsuit against the VPN provider, alleging that it "uses deceptive and illegal auto-renewal practices" in August 2024. In May 2025, a second action was filed on similar grounds.

While this case remains ongoing, the topic of auto-renewals remains on the lips of almost all VPN users, with many of the best VPNs adopting similar practices.

This has lead to similar instances across the industry of users facing unexpected payments for subscriptions and getting pretty upset about it.

If you’re concerned about getting stung, we recommend turning off auto-renewal once you’re logged into NordVPN. You can do that as soon as you've installed it in a matter of a few clicks.

NordVPN's latest headache came in January 2026, when a hacker claimed to have breached a NordVPN development server. No sensitive user information was compromised in the alleged breach, and NordVPN has continuously denied its success.

Score: 4/5

Final verdict

NordVPN is the best VPN for most people. While it’s more expensive than Surfshark, it has superior streaming performance, comparable speeds, and a suite of features, including the best password manager available, depending on the plan you choose.

We recommend a NordVPN Plus plan over its other alternatives. It provides tools, including premium password management and ad and tracker protection, as well as malware blocking and data breach alerts, all alongside its full VPN capabilities.

Who should use NordVPN?

✅ Those looking for top streaming performance: NordVPN performed flawlessly across our streaming tests. It had no issue unblocking any provider we threw at it. It never struggling with buffering or unexpected dropouts. Plus, it has apps for almost any platform you might wish to stream on.

✅ Those wanting a top password manager alongside the VPN: Included in Plus plans and above, NordPass ranks as our top password manager right now. It offers passkey support, features including secure password sharing and strength detection, and is compatible with almost any platform.

✅ Those wanting effective ad and malware blocking: NordVPN Threat Protection Pro performed the best in our latest testing for protection against malware and blocking ads.

Who should try a different VPN instead?

❌ Those wanting full antivirus protection included: While Threat Protection Pro offers solid security capabilities, it is by no means a fully-fledged antivirus. Providers such as Surfshark offer true antivirus protection in their more premium plans, alongside features included with NordVPN such as ad and malware protection.

NordVPN FAQs

NordVPN testing methodology

Throughout this review, I'll refer to things either 'I' or 'we' have seen. Whenever I say 'I' have seen something, this means it is something I, Rob Dunne, and I've seen it in hands-on testing of NordVPN.

When talking about things that 'we' have seen, this refers to anything uncovered during our technical lab testing. This is performed by VPN Technical Editor, Mike Williams.

We test each VPN every six months. These tests cover speed, ad-blocking, anti-phishing and malware, streaming service unblocking, and local IP address leaks. Plus, the server networks are spot-checked to confirm that the VPN server locations are accurate. We also check through each VPN provider's security credentials, privacy policy, and executable files.

You can take a look at our VPN testing methodology to see the full measures we put each VPN through.

The TechRadar VPN team fact-checks every VPN review we write, using our own research and knowledge alongside information provided by NordVPN. We update this review regularly to include any new features or information about the product, ensuring that what you’re reading is 100% up to date and as you would find the product if you downloaded and used it today.

If you notice anything while using NordVPN that doesn't match what you read on this page, please let us know in the comments or by emailing us. We will then do our best to offer product support information or include corrections and warnings to other users, depending on which is appropriate.