NordVPN Review

NordVPN’s base in Panama, rigorous “no-logs” policy, and utilization of shared IP addresses position it as an excellent choice for those prioritizing privacy. It stands out as one of our top VPN recommendations due to its cutting-edge features and unwavering commitment to security protocols. Nevertheless, there is still potential for enhancement in the overall service provided.

NordVPN has emerged as a leading VPN service, supported by data from our recent consumer study. According to our findings, 27% of VPN users prefer NordVPN, which is twice as popular as the next competitor, Proton VPN. While NordVPN offers standard features like IP address concealment and data encryption, we conducted an in-depth analysis over a month on various devices to determine its unique selling points. For a comprehensive evaluation, we recommend reading our detailed review. One thing is certain – NordVPN stands out as a top choice among VPN providers currently available.

NordVPN has emerged as a leading VPN service, supported by data from our recent consumer study. According to our findings, 27% of VPN users prefer NordVPN, which is twice as popular as the next competitor, Proton VPN. While NordVPN offers standard features like IP address concealment and data encryption, we conducted an in-depth analysis over a month on various devices to determine its unique selling points. For a comprehensive evaluation, we recommend reading our detailed review. One thing is certain – NordVPN stands out as a top choice among VPN providers currently available.

NordVPN Quick Highlights

Encryption	256-bit AES or ChaCha 20
VPN protocol	OpenVPN or WireGuard (NordLynx)
IP addresses	Dynamic (static IP addresses are optional)
Servers	6,000+ in 61 countries
Apps	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, and web browser extensions

Our rating

• A two-year plan costs just $3.99 per month.
• Each plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Students can receive a 15-percent discount for a two-year plan.

NordVPN Packages

Let us begin by examining the three distinct levels. These consist of the Standard plan, the Plus plan, and the Complete plan. All three plans provide the same VPN features found in the NordVPN application. The specific features will be detailed shortly. The Plus and Complete plans include extra Nord Security software, as NordVPN is just one of the various software options available from NordSecurity. Below is a summary of the contents of each plan.

Standard	Plus	Complete
NordVPN (Virtual Private Network)	Yes	Yes	Yes
NordPass (password manager)	No	Yes	Yes
NordLocker (encrypted cloud storage)	No	No	Yes

NordVPN Packages

Consider the following figures. Remember that each plan comes with NordVPN, meaning that if you only require a VPN, the Standard plan is equally effective as the Complete plan. However, if you desire a password manager or secure cloud storage, the Plus and Complete plans provide added value for a slightly higher cost compared to the Standard VPN plan.

Subscription options	Standard	Plus	Complete
1 month	$12.99	$13.99	$14.99
1 year	$59.88 ($4.99 per month average)	$71.88 ($5.99 per month average)	$83.88 ($6.99 per month average)
2 years	$95.76 ($3.99 per month average)	$119.76 ($4.99 per month average)	$143.76 ($5.99 per month average)

1. The longer your subscription with NordVPN, the better the rate you get. For example, the Standard plan can be as low as $3.99 per month on average with a two-year subscription. Despite the long commitment, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to cancel for any reason within the first month and receive a full refund.

2. NordVPN provides discounts and deals, particularly for customers purchasing a one-year or two-year subscription. These deals often include extended subscriptions of up to four months. This is a great opportunity to enjoy free access to one of the top VPNs, which is why NordVPN made our list of the best free VPNs, despite not offering a free trial.

NordVPN’s Features

Servers around the world

NordVPN’s server fleet has been expanding rapidly, with over 6,200 servers today compared to about 5,500 nearly a year ago. In addition to this growth, NordVPN boasts physical and virtual servers in 111 countries, the highest number among the VPNs we have tested. This number is slightly more than ExpressVPN’s 105 countries. It is important to mention that NordVPN utilizes a combination of physical and virtual servers in its network.

• A physical server assigns users IP addresses based on the country where the server is located. For instance, connecting to a physical server in the U.S. will result in receiving a U.S. IP address.
• A virtual server offers users IP addresses from a country different from the physical location of the server. For instance, a server located in Singapore may provide IP addresses from India.

NordVPN provides both types of servers, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Virtual servers enable access to IP addresses in regions where establishing a physical server could be unfeasible. For instance, India recently implemented a law mandating server farms to store sensitive data, contradicting NordVPN’s privacy policy. By utilizing a virtual server located in Singapore that offers Indian IP addresses, NordVPN circumvents this regulation. This approach is also beneficial for nations with inadequate internet infrastructure, as deploying physical servers in such locations could result in sluggish connections.

Physical servers, however, tend to offer greater reliability when it comes to changing IP addresses. This is due to their physical presence in the country, which eliminates the need to depend on network switches and relays. Additionally, the proximity of physical servers allows for faster speeds, as users can select the server closest to their location. As we have previously discussed in relation to VPNs, being closer to a server typically results in faster speeds. A VPN with a wide network of physical servers, such as NordVPN (with over 60 locations), is well-suited for travel.

Let us now examine how NordVPN’s server network stacks up against other leading choices.

VPN	Number of servers
NordVPN	6,200
Surfshark	3,200
Private Internet Access	3,200
ExpressVPN	3,000
Proton VPN	1,300

When selecting a VPN, it is important to consider more than just the number of servers available. The key factor to consider is whether the VPN has servers in the specific locations you will need. Prior to making a purchase, make sure to utilize VPN free trials to verify the server locations.

Headquartered in Panama

NordVPN has a global presence, but its main offices are situated in Panama

This is advantageous for us as Panama is not part of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes surveillance alliances. Depending on where a VPN company is based, it may be compelled by government authorities to disclose customer data it has collected. For example, governments may request VPN companies to hand over IP address logs for investigative purposes. While we do not support illegal activities, it is concerning to us if governments have unrestricted access to user logs from VPNs. This is why we appreciate NordVPN, as it operates outside the reach of such government bodies.

Kill Switch

Every VPN has its flaws. Even the most reliable VPNs can experience intermittent connections. For example, during a Netflix session with NordVPN, an error suddenly appeared. Upon investigation, it was discovered that NordVPN unexpectedly timed out, exposing our true location to Netflix and causing the movie we were streaming to be halted due to regional restrictions. We had utilized a VPN to bypass Netflix’s content limitations based on location.

We were fortunate to only be engaged in that activity. If, for instance, we had been using a VPN for torrenting, our ISP would have detected it as soon as our VPN connection was lost, and we could have potentially received another piracy notice even though we were downloading a non-copyrighted file. Luckily, NordVPN has a kill switch in place. The kill switch is an essential feature for secure VPNs.

Applications with a kill switch provide better protection by being able to halt your device’s internet connection if the VPN becomes disconnected. In the scenario mentioned, instead of exposing our online activity, a dropped connection would have simply halted all internet traffic. Nothing comes in, nothing goes out. There is no better contingency plan than that.

Data usage

NordVPN enables you to engage in your usual online activities with enhanced privacy. You have the freedom to browse, download, and stream without limitations. Additionally, you have the option to switch your Netflix region to unlock content not accessible on Netflix U.S. simply by connecting to a server in another country. Our team has tested this feature and can confirm its effectiveness.

Heads Up: Netflix and other streaming platforms are always trying to combat the use of VPNs to unblock geo-restrictions. If they detect that you’re using a VPN, they can block the VPN IP address you’re using. If that ever happens, simply disconnect and try a different server.

Minimal Logging

Utilizing a VPN involves placing your trust in the VPN service provider. While the VPN secures your internet traffic through encryption to conceal it from your ISP and potential online trackers, it also has the capability to decrypt the same data it has encrypted. In the event that they opt to do so, VPNs have the ability to log your online data effortlessly and potentially capitalize on it.

We consistently verify the amount of data a VPN stores, and our findings regarding NordVPN were satisfactory. NordVPN has been identified as the top no-log VPN service available. Primarily, all your online activities while using NordVPN are not logged. NordVPN is unaware of the websites you visit, the files you download, or the content you stream. Additionally, it does not have access to your real IP address.

Nevertheless, NordVPN did record certain data, although this data was not connected to our internet usage. For instance, it kept track of contact details and personal information required for account management, like email addresses. It also stored our default payment details.

Regarding the use of VPN, NordVPN recorded details such as the time of our last session, the information we shared with customer support during our interactions, and certain details about the NordVPN application we utilized (such as version and device ID). We were comfortable with NordVPN gathering this information, as it contributes to the enhancement of the company’s VPN service and because the data cannot be linked directly to us.

Regarding the use of VPN, NordVPN recorded details such as the time of our last session, the information we shared with customer support during our interactions, and certain details about the NordVPN application we utilized (such as version and device ID). We were comfortable with NordVPN gathering this information, as it contributes to the enhancement of the company’s VPN service and because the data cannot be linked directly to us.

• It was audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland in 2018 and July 2022.
• It was audited by VerSprite in June 2021.²
• It started 2023 with a policy audit by Deloitte, which they repeated to end 2023. The latest audit report was released in January 2024.

Strong Encryption

The primary purpose of utilizing a VPN is to conceal your online activities from the scrutiny of ISPs, government agencies, and hackers. In order to achieve this, VPNs such as NordVPN encrypt all of your online traffic to obfuscate the data and maintain its privacy.

NordVPN employs the most advanced encryption standard currently used by VPNs: 256-bit AES encryption. To illustrate its level of security, 256-bit AES is also referred to as “military-grade encryption” due to its use by the U.S. government for encrypting top-secret communications.

We observed the identical encryption standard during our evaluation of Surfshark, a highly-rated VPN, indicating that it is utilized by the top VPN services. While we felt confident using both Surfshark and NordVPN, we did observe that Surfshark had fewer servers than NordVPN, resulting in slightly slower connection times depending on our location. For further information, please refer to our comparison of Surfshark and NordVPN.

NordVPN utilizes ChaCha20 in addition to 256-bit AES to secure connections established via NordLynx, their exclusive VPN protocol. While ChaCha20 is not as impregnable as 256-bit AES, it is recognized as a lightweight and user-friendly encryption standard, particularly suitable for mobile devices. This encryption standard is optimized for WireGuard, the foundation of NordLynx.

Internet Protocols

NordVPN utilizes top-tier VPN protocols, including OpenVPN and WireGuard, to ensure fast and secure online traffic delivery. OpenVPN is renowned for its speed and high level of security, supporting 256-bit AES encryption seamlessly. It is also versatile, allowing various types of data packets to pass through, making it the ideal choice for most desktop users. On the other hand, users can also choose to use WireGuard through NordLynx. Although newer than OpenVPN, WireGuard is gaining popularity due to its impressive speed. Unlike OpenVPN, WireGuard is particularly suitable for mobile users because of its lightweight nature, consuming minimal processing power and battery life. In addition to these protocols, NordVPN offers IKEv2/IPSec, an older and less secure protocol that is still valuable in specific applications, such as high-speed downloads or online gaming that require stability.

Split Tunneling

NordVPN automatically encrypts all web traffic and directs it through a secure VPN server by default, a feature known as full-tunnel mode. However, it is worth noting that NordVPN also provides the option of split tunneling.

Split tunneling provides the benefit of allowing specific traffic to be directed through the VPN tunnel while other traffic can bypass the tunnel and use regular, unencrypted networks. This can be advantageous in situations where users want to access certain services through the VPN while still being able to access local services through their regular network.

Double VPN

NordVPN utilized a double VPN feature, which involved routing our data through several servers to add extra layers of encryption. This technique, referred to as VPN server chaining or multi-hop, bolstered our security by ensuring complete privacy and anonymity in our online activities.

In the event that a hacker were to successfully breach one layer of encryption, a second layer of encryption would serve as an additional safeguard. Many VPNs typically rely on a single server, thus providing us with reassurance that our data was shielded by double encryption layers until it arrived at its intended destination.

Dedicated IP Address

NordVPN utilizes shared dynamic IP addresses as the default option, allowing multiple users to share the same IP address that changes with each connection. However, dedicated IP addresses can be purchased as add-ons during checkout. By opting for a dedicated IP address, NordVPN will allocate a server IP address exclusively for your use.

NordVPN Dedicated IP	2 years	1 year	1 month
Average cost per month	$4.19	$5.89	$8.99
Total cost at checkout	$100.56	$70.68	$8.99

There are numerous benefits to utilizing a dedicated IP address, one of which includes a reduced need to complete CAPTCHAs. Websites can detect when multiple users are accessing them from the same IP address, which raises suspicion. This is why you may experience more frequent CAPTCHAs when using a VPN with shared IP addresses. By using NordVPN’s dedicated IP addresses, you can ensure that no one else is sharing the same IP address as you, reducing the likelihood of online services flagging your connection requests. NordVPN offers dedicated IP addresses in various countries such as the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Canada, and Japan.

NordVPN is a highly popular virtual private network (VPN) service provider known for its robust security features, user-friendly interface, and extensive global server network. Established in 2012, NordVPN has quickly grown to become a leading name in the VPN industry, providing privacy and security solutions to millions of users worldwide.

Key Features of NordVPN

1. Security and Privacy:
   • Encryption: NordVPN uses military-grade AES-256-bit encryption to secure user data. This ensures that any information transmitted through their servers remains confidential and protected from hackers and cyber threats.
   • No-Logs Policy: NordVPN has a strict no-logs policy, meaning it does not track, collect, or share users’ browsing data. This commitment to privacy is independently audited, providing users with peace of mind.
   • CyberSec: This feature blocks ads and protects against malware, phishing attempts, and other cyber threats, enhancing the overall security of the browsing experience.
2. Global Server Network:
   • Servers Worldwide: NordVPN boasts over 5,400 servers in 60 countries. This vast network allows users to access content from around the world, bypassing geographical restrictions and censorship.
   • Specialty Servers: The service offers a variety of specialty servers, including Double VPN, which routes traffic through two servers for extra security, and P2P servers optimized for file sharing and torrenting.
3. Speed and Performance:
   • NordVPN is renowned for its fast and reliable connection speeds. The company has implemented NordLynx, a VPN protocol based on WireGuard technology, which significantly enhances performance while maintaining strong security.
4. User-Friendly Interface:
   • Ease of Use: NordVPN provides easy-to-use apps for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The intuitive design ensures that even users new to VPNs can navigate the service without difficulty.
   • Customer Support: 24/7 customer support is available through live chat and email, offering prompt assistance for any issues or queries users may have.
5. Additional Features:
   • SmartPlay: This technology allows users to securely access streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, regardless of their location.
   • Automatic Kill Switch: This feature ensures that if the VPN connection drops, internet traffic is immediately blocked, preventing any data leaks.

Benefits of Using NordVPN

• Enhanced Online Privacy: NordVPN masks users’ IP addresses and encrypts their internet traffic, ensuring that their online activities remain private and secure from prying eyes.
• Access to Global Content: With its extensive server network, NordVPN enables users to bypass regional restrictions and access content from any part of the world.
• Protection on Public Wi-Fi: NordVPN provides a secure connection on public Wi-Fi networks, protecting users from potential threats like data theft and hacking.
• Consistent Performance: The service is designed to deliver high-speed internet access without compromising on security, making it ideal for streaming, gaming, and other data-intensive activities.

Detailed Analysis of NordVPN’s Features

Advanced Security Features

1. Double VPN: This feature routes your internet traffic through two VPN servers instead of one, adding an extra layer of encryption. This double-hop encryption makes it exceedingly difficult for anyone to trace your activities back to your original IP address.
2. Onion Over VPN: For users seeking even higher levels of privacy, NordVPN offers the Onion Over VPN feature. This integrates the anonymity of the Tor network with the added security of a VPN, ensuring that your data passes through several layers of encryption.
3. DNS Leak Protection: NordVPN includes DNS leak protection to ensure that your browsing data is safe from being exposed through DNS queries, which could reveal your internet activity to your ISP or other third parties.
4. Dedicated IP Addresses: For those who need a consistent IP address, NordVPN offers dedicated IP addresses. This can be useful for accessing specific services that require the same IP address, or for business purposes.

Comprehensive Server Network

• Geographic Diversity: NordVPN’s servers are distributed across all continents, including regions often overlooked by other VPN providers, such as Africa and the Middle East. This ensures that users can find a server close to their location for optimal performance.
• Obfuscated Servers: These servers are specifically designed to work in countries with heavy internet censorship and VPN restrictions, such as China and Iran. They mask the fact that you’re using a VPN to bypass such restrictions.

Performance and Reliability

• NordLynx Protocol: Built around the WireGuard protocol, NordLynx is a cutting-edge VPN protocol designed to offer superior speed and performance without compromising security. It ensures that users can enjoy a seamless browsing experience, even while performing data-heavy activities like streaming and online gaming.
• Server Load Balancing: NordVPN regularly monitors the load on its servers to balance the traffic efficiently, reducing congestion and maintaining high speeds for users.

User Experience and Accessibility

• Multi-Platform Support: NordVPN offers applications for all major platforms and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and even certain routers. This ensures that users can protect all their devices with a single NordVPN subscription.
• Browser Extensions: Lightweight extensions for Chrome and Firefox provide quick and easy protection for your browsing activities without the need to run the full application.
• Quick Connect: The Quick Connect feature automatically selects the best server based on your location and usage, providing an optimal balance of speed and security without manual configuration.

Customer Service and Support

• Extensive Knowledge Base: NordVPN’s website includes a comprehensive knowledge base with detailed articles, guides, and FAQs covering all aspects of the service. This can help users troubleshoot common issues or learn more about VPNs.
• Live Chat and Email Support: Available 24/7, NordVPN’s support team can be reached through live chat or email, providing timely and professional assistance for any issues or questions users might encounter.

Industry Recognition and Trust

• Independent Audits: NordVPN has undergone multiple independent security audits to verify its no-logs policy and security claims. These audits increase user trust by providing transparency about NordVPN’s operations and security measures.
• Awards and Accolades: NordVPN has received numerous awards from tech review sites and publications, recognizing its excellence in security, performance, and user satisfaction.