How Much Does NordVPN Cost?

NordVPN is arguably the most high-profile VPN service, and for good reason. In addition to 6,800 servers in 113 countries, NordVPN lets you connect up to 10 devices at the same time, which is more than enough for most people. It also has a strict no-logs policy and is based in Panama, which is considered a haven for data privacy.

This service isn’t available for free. So, is investing in NordVPN worth it? Are competitors like ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access and Surfshark better value-for-dollar? We recently reviewed all four NordVPN plans and compared them to the competition to find out.

>> Compare: NordVPN vs. Private Internet Access

Basic Subscription information

How Much Does NordVPN Cost?

There are four different NordVPN plans available, but if you’re only interested in the VPN service, then the only plan to focus on is the Basic package. Usually available with the discounted two-year price of $2.99 per month, the basic plan is NordVPN’s bread and butter.

But if you’re interested in the security and privacy offered by a VPN, you’re probably also interested in the other services that are bundled with the VPN service in the Plus, Complete, and Prime plans. For an extra 90 cents per month (over two years), the Plus plan includes an ad blocker and password manager. For $5.49 per month, the Complete plan adds cloud storage. For $8.49 per month, the Prime plan throws in identity theft protection.

Keep in mind that if you buy a two-year plan, you must pay for the entire thing up front. For the basic plan, the upfront cost for two years is $96.93. If you only want a one-year commitment or month-to-month commitment, the average cost per month for each plan increases.

Your Options from NordVPN

The Basic plan is the cheapest option, but it only includes the VPN. You can secure up to 10 devices at once, which can be Windows devices, smartphones, streaming devices, and even gaming consoles.

This same service is available no matter what plan you choose. So if you just want a VPN, the Basic plan is all you need.

The Plus plan includes access to Nord’s password manager, NordPass, in addition to the VPN. If you don’t have a password manager yet, bundling it with a VPN makes sense, particularly since the Plus plan from NordVPN only costs about a dollar more than the Standard plan. Normally, NordPass costs $1.69 per month if you pay for a whole year. NordPass is also one of the best password managers, so we think the NordVPN Plus plan is a sweet deal.

>> Keep Reading: NordPass Review

The Complete plan is a combination of NordVPN, NordPass, and NordLocker, a secure cloud backup that encrypts every file stored in it. The Complete plan includes 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage.

Lastly, the Prime plan adds in NordProtect. It’s a basic identity theft protection service by NordVPN that includes dark web monitoring, credit monitoring, cyber extortion protection, and identity theft insurance. The insurance will reimburse up to $1 million of eligible expenses if you suffer from identity theft while under NordProtect protection. We are yet to test out NordProtect, but it does have some of the main features of the best identity theft protection services on the market.

>> More from Nord Security: NordStellar Threat Exposure Management for Businesses

Here are their prices:

Our NordVPN Recommendations

The monthly plans are affordable and you get to pay them on a monthly basis so they work if you’re a student or just looking for a short-term VPN. Just know that there are VPNs that offer slightly cheaper monthly plans if that’s what you’re after. For example, Proton VPN subscriptions cost $9.99 on a monthly term.

However, we recommend buying a long-term (either one-year or two-year) subscription when possible because of the discounted rate. While you’ll shell out a large amount upfront, you’re technically paying less than you would with a monthly plan.

Let’s take the two-year Basic plan for example. It costs $80.73 right now and comes with three extra months, bringing your total subscription length to 27 months. Now, $80.73 is no chump change, but if we average the monthly cost over 27 months, it comes down to only $3.59 per month. That’s just over a quarter of the original $12.99 monthly price. So if you’re going to use a VPN long-term, getting a longer subscription at a time is a no-brainer.

You don’t have to worry about buyer’s remorse either. Two years is a long time, but with the 30-day money-back guarantee, you can cancel your subscription and receive a full refund if you change your mind. We’ve personally tested canceling our VPN subscription with NordVPN, and we received the refund we requested.

Now, if you’re torn between Basic, Plus, Complete, and Prime, we say choose based on what you need. Don’t feel obliged to buy just because they offer good value. They all offer the same VPN features anyway, so go with the Plus or Complete plan only if you need a password manager or secure cloud storage.

Deals and Discounts

Before you enter your credit card details, take a look at our NordVPN deals page. Every now and then, NordVPN slashes prices and throws in some freebies to sweeten the deal. Some times of the year are obvious, like Black Friday. But other months are a little out of the blue, like NordVPN’s anniversary in February and Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. Remember, holiday deals are available now.

If you’re a student, there’s also a permanent discount for you. You can’t use it in conjunction with other deals, but 15 percent off is a pretty good offer, especially for one of the best VPNs for school. To enjoy the discount, you’d have to sign up for a two-year plan through Student Beans and Youth Discount (or Descuento Estudiante if you live in the E.U. or South America).

Even without discounts, though, NordVPN is still one of the best-value VPNs. Price-wise, NordVPN’s pricing is in line with VPN prices from the competition such as Bitdefender. In fact, it may even be considered an affordable option.

ExpressVPN subscriptions, for instance, start at $4.99 per month. On the surface, it’s more expensive than NordVPN’s two-year plan, but ExpressVPN only lets you protect eight devices. With NordVPN, you can connect up to ten devices simultaneously. And while NordVPN is slightly pricier than, let’s say, IPVanish’s $3.33 yearly plan, the extra cost is worth it given that NordVPN includes the features below.

• Speedy internet with no throttling or bandwidth limits
• 256-bit AES encryption
• No logging of IP addresses, servers, websites, or files you visit
• Ability to stream
• Protection of mobile devices
• Malware, malicious sites, ads, and trackers blocking
• 6,800+ servers in 111 countries
• Coverage of 10 devices at once
• Apps that are compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Android TV, Firefox, Chrome, and Linux browsers and devices

• Automatic kill switch
• Dedicated IP address (costs extra)
• P2P sharing
• Masking of our IP addresses
• Double VPN that hides activity behind two encrypted servers
• Onion Over VPN; this feature sends our web traffic through an encrypted tunnel, which gives us more security as we browse.
• Enhanced security to block ads, suspicious sites, and malware
• Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox
• Dark web monitoring
• Worldwide access
• Split tunneling
• 24/7 customer support

Favorite Features

There’s a lot to love about NordVPN. But we’re going to focus on some specific features that stood out to us during our testing. Here are the highlights.

• Global coverage: NordVPN’s reach is far and wide, and it’s spreading faster than any other VPN. Just over the past six months, it added over a thousand servers to its fleet. It now offers more than 6,800 servers and it has both physical and virtual servers in 111 countries. While you likely will not use every single one of those servers and locations, it’s nice to know that wherever you may end up using NordVPN, there’s always a server near you ready to provide lightning fast speeds.
• Connect up to 10 devices at the same time: Most of us have more than one internet-connected device. We have smartphones, computers, maybe even a tablet. They all need a VPN, and thanks to NordVPN’s 10-device limit, you can protect all your devices with just one subscription. Sure, it’s not as impressive as Surfshark or Private Internet Access that supports unlimited devices, but NordVPN’s 10-device limit can get the job done for most people.

• Strong encryption: NordVPN used AES-256 encryption, which is what the NSA recommends1 and what the U.S. government uses to encrypt top-secret messages.
• Minimal logging: NordVPN did not collect data like our IP addresses, the servers we used, the websites we visited, or the files we downloaded. And, because its headquarters is based in Panama, it’s not part of any international surveillance alliances like Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or Fourteen Eyes2. PricewaterhouseCoopers even audited NordVPN and confirmed that its policy description was fair and accurate.

• Ultra-fast streaming: There’s no throttling or monthly caps on network bandwidth, so we could binge-watch our favorite shows with no restraint. Needless to say, we watched Netflix with our VPN a lot, especially since NordVPN let us change our Netflix region.
• Automatic kill switch: If our VPN connection accidentally dropped due to something like an unstable Internet connection or a server failure, the kill switch activated and blocked our device from accessing an insecure Internet.
• A dedicated IP: This was not included in the VPN subscription, but for an additional $3.69 per month, we got a dedicated VPN IP address in the location of our choosing. A dedicated IP address, unlike shared IP addresses in a normal VPN connection, gives you an IP address that no one else can use.
• Dedicated P2P servers: When you need to send large files quickly, transferring them via P2P servers will get them where they need to be faster. NordVPN is one of our top-rated VPNs for torrenting, especially if you don’t want your ISP throttling your speeds.
• Double VPN: This concept, known as VPN server chaining or multi-hop, enhanced our security, protected and hid our IP addresses by running our data through two encrypted VPN servers. It’s not a feature everybody will use, especially since it slows down your internet speed more significantly than a normal VPN connection, but it’s useful to journalists, whistleblowers, and those living within the jurisdiction of restrictive governments.

• NordVPN Threat Protection: This advanced security measure blocked websites that had reputations for hosting malware or phishing. It also blocked malware downloads, working almost like antivirus software. The keyword there is ‘almost.’ While it can prevent your devices from downloading malware, it can’t remove malware that has already snuck in. Having antivirus software is still necessary.
• Split tunneling: Sometimes you don’t want every website and app running through your VPN. For example, maybe your work software won’t recognize a VPN’s IP address and block you from logging in. Split tunneling comes in handy in situations like that. It creates two tunnels – one that is connected to the VPN and one that’s not. You can set which apps or websites will use the non-VPN tunnel, letting you keep your VPN connection active for activities you want to keep private.
• 24/7 customer support: We didn’t run into any issues when we used NordVPN, but we could access its customer support line via its robust help center archive, email support, and live chat features.

On top of those VPN features, the NordVPN app includes several free features that even non-VPN users can access. Simply download the VPN app on your device. We’ve already raved about Threat Protection Pro above. So let’s talk about Meshnet.

Meshnet is a virtual LAN feature. It lets you connect multiple devices to a secure network, creating a virtual local area network. Using Meshnet, it’s possible to do actions you can normally only do when you’re connected to the same LAN, like access your wireless printers, send over files locally, or even use another device as a network access point.

Can I Try NordVPN for Free?

Well, NordVPN doesn’t have a free trial in a traditional sense, but you can try NordVPN for 30 days risk-free via the money-back option. Not many VPNs offer free trials anyway, so the money-back guarantee is as good as a VPN free trial.

This means you’ll be charged immediately. But you’ll get to experience the full NordVPN product without any restrictions or locked features. If you decide at any point within the first 30 days that NordVPN isn’t for you, you just need to send a message to the support team. When we canceled our subscription, it took about a week for the funds to show up in our account. But that’s normal for most online refunds.

Payment Options

NordVPN accepts a number of payment methods, including credit cards and cryptocurrencies.

How Can I Cancel?

We loved NordVPN, and as our top-rated VPN, we made it our permanent VPN for all our personal privacy needs. That said, it may not be the best VPN for you. If you find that that’s the case after purchasing a subscription, here’s how to cancel your VPN subscription and potentially get your money back (if you cancel within 30 days of purchase).

1. Sign in to your account.
2. Find your Dashboard tab.
3. Click the Menu symbol.
4. Click Cancel Automatic Payments. This will allow you to cancel a recurring payment, but it will not issue any refunds.
5. If you’d like a refund, you’ll need to contact customer support via email or live chat to cancel your account. Contact customer support through the email or chat buttons on NordVPN’s website.3
6. Check your inbox for a confirmation email.

Server Locations

NordVPN has over 6,000 servers spread across 111 countries, but what exactly does that mean to users? For starters, 6,000 servers is impressive. It shows that NordVPN has the network to support millions of users. More servers means more resources to process terabytes of traffic. For comparison, our #2 pick VPN – Surfshark – has only about 3,200 servers. NordVPN has double that and they’re adding new servers all the time.

On top of that, those servers provide IP addresses from 111 countries. It’s easy to get a U.S. IP address from any VPN, but that’s not the case for less popular countries. For example, since requiring VPNs to log sensitive data, a lot of VPNs have removed their servers from India. Getting an India IP address is not so easy now.

NordVPN’s solution is to provide virtual servers. These servers are not located physically in the country they say they are in, but they change your IP address to an IP address from that country. For example, NordVPN’s India virtual server is physically located in Singapore, but if you connect to the server, you’ll get an India IP address.

In terms of physical and virtual server locations, NordVPN’s 111 locations currently reigns supreme. It narrowly beats ExpressVPN (105 countries), Surfshark (100 countries), and CyberGhost (100 countries).

In Summary

NordVPN is one of the most popular VPNs, and for good reasons. It offers a one-size-fits-all solution for anyone looking to cover their digital footprints. Also, it offers pricing to fit any budget.

With a variety of pricing options, NordVPN is one of the cheaper VPNs out there, especially if you are down for a longer-term commitment. We love that NordVPN is headquartered in Panama; it puts our minds at rest that it won’t share our data with the federal government. See our full NordVPN review for a more in-depth look at its benefits.