NordVPN Review

NordVPN is one of the most established names in the VPN industry. The headquarters are based in Panama, which is privacy heaven. The company won’t log your traffic or store it anywhere.

The no-logs policy is verified by 3rd party service, which is even more impressive. With more than 5,500 servers available, it allows you to connect to many different IP addresses and enjoy industry-leading speeds.

Throughout the years, NordVPN has proved it’s a valuable VPN service that is up with the best in each department – streaming, torrenting, and browsing security.

NordVPN suffered a breach in 2018 that caused some panic, but it has since learned its lesson and stepped up its game.

Customer Experience

User experience is the single most crucial factor when evaluating a VPN provider, and NordVPN scores well in that department. It has 4.4 out of 5 stars in TrustPilot out of more than 21,000 reviews. While it’s safe to assume that not all reviews are genuine, we thought most people liked the service offered.

It’s good news that NordVPN offers 24/7 live support over chat, and there are plenty of online resources available where users can find information on how to set up their accounts and operate with the software.

When checking negative reviews, we found something concerning. In most cases, their team is using canned responses instead of providing a solution that is available to everyone (to build more trust.)

We expected a little more, to be honest, as PrivateVPN, ExpressVPN, PIA, and others all have higher scores.

Usability

The Panama-based VPN provider has millions of users, and one of the main reasons is the great user interface. It is intuitive, without too many details that would bother beginners. You will quickly learn how to use NordVPN.

With NordVPN, you can connect easily with a click of a button. The menu is easy to find on both desktop and mobile versions. You can connect to a server from the list or use the “Quick Connect” option that automatically connects you to the nearest server.

NordVPN operates on all operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux). The iOS app is amazing, but that cannot be said about the Android app, which was a bit less user-friendly.

We weren’t very impressed with the NordVPN simultaneous connections limit – only 6. If you have 2 TVs, a couple of smartphones, and laptops for you and your partner, you might find yourself out of luck. From our experience, the minimum these days is 10, and others – such as Surfshark, even offer unlimited devices.

Price

What is the NordVPN price? It’s a tricky question. NordVPN is a little bit different when it comes to pricing models. Why? Because it offers three packages on top of the length-based subscription plans.

Standard plan: The most budget-friendly plan will cost you $3.69 per month. That will require you to subscribe for two years. The annual plan will cost you $59.88 or $4.99 per month, and if you opt to pay month by month, you will have to pay $11.99.

Plus plan: The “Plus” plan will grant you access to features like a cross-platform password manager and data breach scanner. Biennial subscriptions are again the cheapest – $123.93 (or $4.59/mo), with the annual sub coming at $70.68 ($5.89), and the monthly subscription will see you pay $12.89 each month.

Complete plan: The “Complete” plan has everything that the “Plus” plan has, plus 1TB of encrypted cloud storage. You’ll have to pay $159.03 (or $5.89/mo) for a biennial plan, $86.28 for an annual subscription ($7.19/mo), and $14.19 each month, should you decide not to subscribe for a more extended period.

Remember that all prices are without VAT, so if you live in a country with VAT, you should pay it on top of the cost.

NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard practice in the industry. However, NordVPN does not provide value for money when compared to many VPN providers. It charges a premium compared to other services – even other top VPNs in the market, like Surfshark, PIA, CyberGhost, and PrivateVPN.

Security features

We must admit that NordVPN security is among the best in the VPN market. By default, everything is opened through NordLynx, which is a VPN protocol based on WireGuard.

The main benefit of using NordLynx over the standard OpenVPN protocols is the improved speeds (especially for long distant servers) and the smaller data usage. This is especially useful for mobile devices.

NordVPN also protects your data with many security features. Starting from the standard AES-256 bit encryption, DNS Leak Blocking, RAM-based servers, a kill switch, and even a multi-hop (double VPN) feature for enhanced security, although we have to warn you that using multi-hop can dramatically reduce your speeds.

NordVPN also offers advanced features like Smart DNS, split tunneling, and even opens the Tor browser via VPN. We have to say, though, that split tunneling works on Android and Windows only. On top of that, NordVPN doesn’t cope well with bypassing censorship, so you should bear that in mind.

Streaming

Is NordVPN good for streaming? If that’s your query, the answer is positive. NordVPN opens many Netflix libraries successfully and works just as well with Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer. If you need to watch some other streaming platform, we advise you to get in touch with the customer service team, where you will find the answer to your question more accurately.

We enjoyed great speeds while loading content, which is an excellent sign. Since there are plenty of servers, you can find less congested ones for your needs. The NordLynx protocol will also consume less data if you watch your favorite TV series on a tablet or smartphone.

However, Netflix has become better at identifying VPNs, and some NordVPN IPs have been caught, so make sure you avoid getting into trouble.

Torrenting

P2P torrenting is one area where high speeds can really make a difference. NordVPN’s strict no-logs policy will protect your data even if something happens.

Not only can you download, but you can also seed at fast speeds, which is excellent, considering
torrenting websites can limit your speed if you don’t contribute to the network.

Around 85% of the servers are suited for P2P torrenting, but you cannot use some servers for P2P activities, which is quite unfortunate. There are Dedicated IP servers that are perfectly suitable for downloading music, movies, and video games.

As usual, you will get the best value if you choose a server closer to you and, if possible – a server owned by no other than NordVPN itself. Torrenting violates the laws in many countries, and being exposed for a minute could have severe consequences. Turning on the kill switch is an absolute must.

Speeds

NordVPN speed is among the top, if not the best, out of all VPNs on the market. With an average speed loss of 2-3% when browsing with local servers, it is a piece of great news for streaming and torrenting fans and one of the reasons millions of people worldwide are choosing the Panama-based VPN provider.

Even far-away servers don’t suffer from severe drops. In fact, not a single server dropped below 55% of the bandwidth speed, which is a fantastic result. What’s more, the speeds are not only high but also consistent.

NordVPN has even started moving to 10GBps servers allowing customers to enjoy even higher speeds, especially customers on more expensive Internet plans.

Verdict

When shopping for a VPN, it’s important to consider the speed of the service and how many devices you can connect to it at once. NordVPN offers incredible speeds, excellent security features, and many servers in different countries. Although its customer support could be improved and prices – more affordable compared to other VPNs, NordVPN is an excellent choice for people who want to maximize download speeds while torrenting and for the ones who enjoy watching streaming services.