How Much Does NordVPN Cost?

Features and performance come first to us when comparing VPNs, and in a recent bout of tests where we compared over 60 VPNs, NordVPN came out on top. We concluded that of all the VPNs we tested, it offers the best privacy, online protection, and VPN features. It also earned a near-perfect 9.7 out of 10 rating from us.

But here’s the catch: NordVPN is pricier than our second and third picks, Surfshark and Private Internet Access. And price is also a crucial factor to consider when choosing a VPN. The question is: Can NordVPN justify its higher price tag? Let’s start by looking at how much NordVPN subscriptions cost, and then see what those subscriptions include.

>> Compare: NordVPN vs. Private Internet Access

Subscription information

How Much Does NordVPN Cost?

NordVPN is just one of the several cybersecurity products from the company Nord Security. And since the company’s goal is to make the internet a safer place, it offers bundles built around NordVPN that include other Nord products as well.

Those bundles range in price from $3.99 per month to $14.99, depending on which products are included and the length of the subscription. Like most VPNs, the longer you sign up for NordVPN, the better the prices.

The three options are Standard, Plus, and Complete.

Your Options from NordVPN

The Standard plan is the cheapest option, but it includes nothing else besides the VPN. With it, you’d be able to use NordVPN’s apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, plus its software that works on smart TVs including Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android TV. The Standard plan is a VPN subscription – nothing more, nothing less.

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. Password managers typically cost about $3 to $5 per month, so you’ll enjoy significant savings if you go with this plan.

Lastly, 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.

Here are their prices:

At first glance, the monthly plans seem to be the cheapest, but if we do the math, you’re better off with the one-year or two-year plans if we think long term. They come out cheaper. That is, if you’re willing to fork out a larger sum upfront.

Let’s take the two-year Standard plan, for example. It costs $95.76. That’s for the whole subscription, so the average monthly cost of using NordVPN with that plan is only around $4. That’s way cheaper than the $12.99 Standard monthly plan. Keep in mind that while NordVPN is above-average in terms of price, it’s cheaper compared to many VPNs. ExpressVPN’s one-year plan, for example, costs $100. For the same amount, you’d get access to NordVPN’s Standard plan for two years.

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 Standard, Plus, and Complete, 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

Aside from discounting its long-term subscriptions, NordVPN offers deals occasionally to sweeten the pot. And if you time your purchase right, you may be able to get NordVPN for a lot lower than the advertised rates. Pay our NordVPN deals page a visit to see how to find the best deals, but in general, try to coincide your purchase with special holidays like the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and even NordVPN’s anniversary in February.

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 $8.32 per month, almost double the cost of NordVPN’s two-year plan. And while NordVPN is slightly pricier than, let’s say, IPVanish’s $3.99 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
• 6,200+ 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

That is a long list of features, but let’s zoom in on the best NordVPN features we tested. Here’s a highlight reel:

• 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 6,200 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 $3.79 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.
• P2P sharing is possible: We shared data amongst our team quickly and directly. NordVPN is one of our top-rated VPNs for torrenting, especially if privacy is a priority for you.
• Double VPN: Two servers hid our activity. This concept, known as VPN server chaining or multi-hop, enhanced our security, protected and hid our IP addresses, and hid where we went on the internet from everyone, even our internet service provider. 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, so we felt protected from online attacks.
• Split tunneling: Not all apps or websites work with a VPN. If you’re streaming your favorite Netflix show, for example, you might lose access to it if you connect to a VPN server in another country. That’s because VPNs make websites think you’re browsing from the server’s location. 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. Those features include Meshnet and Threat Protection Pro.

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.

The second feature is more impressive – it’s like antivirus software, but focused on online security. Threat Protection Pro detects and blocks malicious links and websites, phishing attempts, ads, trackers, and other digital threats. It can also scan downloads for malware.

You can access those features for free, whether you have a VPN plan or not.

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.

It’s worth mentioning that NordVPN charged our cards right away, but as mentioned earlier, we got our money back after canceling and requesting a refund. It took more than a week before it reflected in our statement, but that’s normal for online refunds. Overall, the cancellation and refund process went smoothly.

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.

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.