NordVPN Review (Nov. 2023): What Our Experts Think of This VPN
NordVPN, with its 14 million-strong user base, is a global leader in online privacy and security. We put this VPN through a series of tests, and we’re pleased to say it lives up to the hype.
NordVPN keeps you safe and anonymous online. It is also great for unblocking geographically restricted content. We used NordVPN to unblock Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services from multiple locations. Its ultra-fast speeds and broad network of servers allowed us to access content from different parts of the world and stream with zero interruptions.
NordVPN boasts strong privacy, too, with a strict no-logs policy. This makes it a fantastic option for restrictive regions like Iran, China, the UAE, etc.
We’ve tested over 80 VPNs, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better VPN than Nord. The best part is that NordVPN is super affordable, and you can try it risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee. Read our detailed NordVPN review below to discover why this is our number one VPN.
Comprehensive security features keep you safe online
Strict no-logs policy for ultimate privacy
Perfect to unblock Neflix and other streaming services
Dedicated Tor and P2P VPN servers for safe and easy torrenting
DoubleVPN for foolproof protection in censorship-heavy regions
Dedicated IPs available for greater security and control
What We Don't Like:
Limited multi-language support
Web-based login instead of in-app login
NordVPN is an excellent VPN for novices and advanced users. We found it super easy to set up and use on different devices. And it offers plenty of customization options for those who want to do more from a VPN.
We highly recommend NordVPN whether you want to unblock Netflix, bypass censorship in restrictive regions, or improve your online privacy.
Visitthe NordVPN website to learn more about this VPN service.
NordVPN is incredibly affordable, especially when you opt for a long-term subscription. You pay just $ 2.99 per month for a two-year subscription! This is a fantastic deal, considering the comprehensive security and privacy features it offers.
Every purchase also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test the service hands-on and decide if it’s worth the price.
Pay with crypto to stay completely anonymous. Crypto payments cannot be traced back to you, and you won’t need to provide any personal information like you do when paying with other methods.
Do you get your money’s worth with NordVPN?
Yes, absolutely! Considering its speed, privacy features, unblocking capabilities, and price, we think NordVPN provides good value for money! Going for the two-year plan gives you the most bang for your buck. And, if you don’t like this VPN, you can always get a refund with the 30-day money-back guarantee.
NordVPN is a great VPN for streaming. It allowed us to access streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime, and many other platforms.
NordVPN’s innovative SmartPlay feature combines the speed of SmartDNS with the security of a VPN to unblock global content. You don’t need to do anything to activate this feature; it automatically works when you stream content while connected to NordVPN.
Furthermore, NordVPN shines in server variety, boasting an extensive network of VPN servers in countries with the largest streaming libraries. During our tests, we used NordVPN to unblock geo-restricted content from the US, UK, Canada, and beyond.
Platform
Can NordVPN unblock it?
Netflix (US)
✔
Netflix (UK)
✔
Disney Plus (EU)
✔
Hulu (US)
✔
BBC iPlayer (UK)
✔
Prime Video (EU)
✔
HBO Max (EU)*
✔
NordVPN and Netflix
NordVPN is one of the best VPNs for Netflix. We enjoyed lag-free streams in full HD, no matter which regional version we tested. It was a thrilling experience to catch all seasons of our favorite show, Supernatural, on Netflix US.
With Netflix doubling down on VPN usage, the list of VPNs that can unblock Netflix grows smaller by the day. NordVPN is one of the rare VPN providers that can still reliably unblock Netflix, no matter where you are!
In addition to Netflix US, we could also unblock Netflix libraries from The Netherlands, UK, Canada, Mexico, Japan, France, and several other countries. In total, NordVPN can unblock up to 21 different Netflix libraries — pretty impressive!
NordVPN effortlessly unblocks Hulu, and there’s no buffering or lagging. We used NordVPN to watch Hulu Originals like The Handmaid’s Tale and Castle Rock.
We could stream in HD during our tests, which makes NordVPN even more impressive.
NordVPN and Prime Video
It’s pretty difficult to unblock Amazon Prime Video, even with a good VPN. We were impressed to find that NordVPN works like a charm to unblock this popular streaming service.
We had a blast catching Thursday Night Football on Prime while traveling around.
NordVPN and HBO Max
HBO Max has some of our favorite shows, so it was great to see that NordVPN can unblock it from anywhere. During our tests, we used NordVPN to watch the final episodes of Succession on HBO Max! We had a smooth experience without any speed or video quality issues.
Unblocking sports streams with NordVPN
NordVPN can unblock various sports streams and websites. We’ve successfully used NordVPN to stream UFC fights, NFL and NBA games, and Formula 1 and Moto GP races.
While it’s increasingly difficult to access sports content from around the world — with the sports industry cracking down on VPN usage — NordVPN still stands strong. It can unblock most sports channels and streams.
NordVPN has special servers for P2P downloading. We put these specialized P2P servers to the test and found that they work optimally, delivering great speeds without any throttling.
To find NordVPN’s P2P servers, go to the Specialty servers menu and choose P2P. The app allows you to pick specific countries and individual servers. We especially like the server load indicators, which should prevent lags due to overcrowded servers.
If you want the best speed, we recommend picking the “fastest” option in both fields.
NordVPN’s fast servers with impressive download speeds make it an excellent choice for torrenting. We recommend activating NordVPN’s kill switch for safe and anonymous downloading.
Of course, privacy is an important factor to consider when torrenting, as your real IP address should remain hidden.
We used ipleak.net to test for IP leaks when torrenting with NordVPN. The result showed the VPN IP address and not our real IP. This means that NordVPN effectively hides your IP and maintains complete anonymity when you’re downloading files from the internet.
On the flip side, if a VPN leaks your IP, your torrenting isn’t private, and you’re exposed. Your internet service provider can throttle your connection, and you may even be fined for copyright infringement (depending on what you’re downloading).
NordVPN has 5,800+ servers spread across 60 countries.
America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Moldova, The Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom
Asia-Pacific: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
Africa, The Middle East, and India: India, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates
While NordVPN doesn’t have as many servers as other VPN providers, like Private Internet Access (PIA), for example, its servers are way more effective at unblocking geo-restricted content.
Specialized servers
NordVPN offers three types of specialty servers:
Specialized P2P servers: We found these great for fast and private downloading.
Double VPN: These servers have an extra layer of security and are recommended for use in restrictive countries like China
Onion over VPN: These allow you to access the Onion network with increased privacy and without using the Tor browser.
Dedicated IP address
NordVPN has a dedicated IP service. Its dedicated IPs all work with the OpenVPN protocol and cost $4.19/month. You can use NordVPN’s dedicated IPs on up to two devices simultaneously. There are many benefits of using a dedicated IP. Among other things:
You have a lesser risk of being blocked when using a VPN to access streaming platforms and other websites.
You won’t compete for traffic, which can result in faster speeds.
To get a dedicated IP with NordVPN, just follow these steps:
Create a new account on the NordVPN website (alongside the normal account you already own).
Choose a payment method.
Click “Got a coupon?” on the payment page and add the NordVPN coupon code “norddedicatedip.” You’ll now automatically get a discount on your subscription.
Complete the remaining steps of the process.
Contact the NordVPN team via live chat or email and ask them to give you your dedicated IP address.
At the time of writing, NordVPN only offers IP addresses for servers in the following locations:
The US
Canada
Germany
The UK
The Netherlands
France
Japan
Australia
Italy
Sweden
Note
Using a dedicated IP will increase your NordVPN annual subscription cost.
How Fast is NordVPN?
NordVPN doesn’t have any speed or bandwidth limits. While using a VPN affects your internet speed, we didn’t experience any noticeable speed loss with NordVPN.
For this review, we tested NordVPN’s speed across multiple servers and on multiple devices. We found that NordVPN offers super-fast download speeds of up to 90.66 Mbps (96% of our download speed without a VPN).
We checked our connection speed without a VPN and then connected to NordVPN to see how speeds changed.
We used the trusted speedtest.net website to run the tests from our office in the Netherlands. We tested different NordVPN servers across the world multiple times. The table below summarizes the results.
Keep in mind
The overall performance of a VPN depends on your location and initial speed, so your results may differ from ours. The table below represents potential speeds.
Server
Download (Mbps)
Upload (Mbps)
Ping (MS)
No VPN
202.01
238.93
5
The fastest server (Amsterdam)
194.06
143.04
8
The Netherlands (Amsterdam)
193.44
139.59
6
Germany (Frankfurt)
188.38
136.53
13
The UK (London)
195.15
151.09
15
The US East (New York)
180.16
68.01
92
The US West (Los Angeles)
156.7
44.66
153
Canada (Montreal)
167.05
79.64
98
Brazil (Sao Paulo)
122.93
28.22
213
South Africa (Johannesburg)
142.67
32.71
186
Japan (Tokyo)
125.39
28.05
240
Australia (Perth)
128.19
22.11
283
As you can see from our speed test results, NordVPN had a minimum impact on our internet speed. We did not run into any issues with streaming videos, even when connected to distant servers like those in the US.
We could also enjoy games like Call of Duty and Counter-Strike without lag, a testament to NordVPN’s excellent speeds. It’s one of the fastest VPNs available today.
Is NordVPN Safe?
Safety is a prime factor to consider when choosing a VPN. After assessing NordVPN’s security and privacy features, it’s clear that this VPN keeps your personal information and browsing activity safe from prying eyes.
We routinely review VPNs, and one of the key tests is whether a service leaks your data. This can happen in several ways:
DNS leaks: This happens when your DNS requests (your internet page queries) are sent via your internet service provider instead of traveling through your VPN tunnel.
WebRTC leaks: WebRTC supports audio and video streaming without additional software, such as Microsoft Teams, Discord, etc. But WebRTC can leak your real IP address if you’re using a low-quality VPN.
IP address leaks: Your IP address can be leaked if your VPN isn’t configured to support IPv6, the newer form of IPs.
During our tests, we didn’t discover any data leaks. Our ipleak.net report showed zero WebRTC and DNS leaks.
NordVPN prevents DNS leaks by operating proprietary DNS servers. Your DNS queries travel through an encrypted tunnel and are resolved on the VPN server you’re connected to. So you don’t have to worry about your private data getting into the wrong hands.
Our IP address checker confirmed that NordVPN wasn’t leaking our real IP.
NordVPN only asked for our email address when we were signing up. Naturally, you also need to provide your billing information to subscribe.
You can also sign up with your Google or Apple account, but we don’t recommend using other services to create VPN accounts. You’d just be sharing personal information that you don’t have to.
NordVPN is registered in Panama. The absence of mandatory data retention laws in the country allows it to maintain a strict no-logging policy. We checked, and Panama isn’t part of the notorious 14 Eyes alliance.
To improve its data security, NordVPN started switching to diskless (or RAM-only) servers in May 2022. We caught up with NordVPN’s customer support team in February 2023 and confirmed that around 90% of their servers are now diskless.
In our experience, this is an excellent step; user data can’t be stored server-side, as there’s no hard drive to store it. All user data is deleted with every server reset.
Meanwhile, NordVPN is building a network of colocated servers that it will manage in-house. This means NordVPN will have sole control and visibility over its entire ecosystem. That’s a win for security in our books. To date, NordVPN already has 580 colocated servers, and there are plans for all its 5,800+ servers to follow this path.
This is impressive in its own right, but we also looked at NordVPN’s data logging policy. Here’s the user data the company records:
Personal info: Email address, billing information, country details (for VAT calculation purposes)
Technical info: NordVPN will collect your IP address and device info when you use its website or contact customer support (including its chatbot). This data is used to provide the requested service and prevent fraud, DDoS attacks, and similar hacking attempts. However, the information is deleted on each server reset.
We frown on recording user IP addresses, so we were glad to see that NordVPN doesn’t keep any activity logs (the sites you visit, for example). There’s no chance of tracing your online traffic back to your device or you.
NordVPN keeps your billing info for 10 years after your last transaction. Your email is kept for one year after you end your subscription. All data is end-to-end encrypted.
You have certain rights regarding your data. At any time, you can request access, deletion, or rectification. You can also request a copy of the collected data (portability), object to data processing, withdraw previously given consent, or lodge a complaint.
Deloitte audited NordVPN’s no-logs policyin February 2023. This process involved hardware inspections, reviews of technical logs, and interviews with NordVPN employees. At the end of the audit, NordVPN was rated as a certified no-logs VPN for the third time, highlighting its commitment to privacy.
NordVPN is a founding member of the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI) alongside other well-regarded VPN service providers such as Surfshark and ExpressVPN. The initiative champions best practices for VPN operators and educates consumers on how VPNs help bolster security, much like our team at VPNOverview.
Meanwhile, NordVPN has a bug bounty program, encouraging ethical “white hat” hackers to search for bugs in NordVPN’s system that may leak user data and result in other security risks. According to NordVPN, around 1,600+ reports were made through its bug bounty program in the first two years. These resulted in around 910 bounties paid.
Our experts rank NordVPN as one of the safest VPN services on the market. Its location, verified no-log policy and ongoing efforts to improve security and privacy are unrivaled.
Protocols and encryption
NordVPN encrypts your traffic with the AES-256 cipher, which is considered military-grade. It’s one of the safest encryption methods available today, and it’s also used by banks, hospitals, and other institutions.
The overall flexibility of your VPN largely depends on the VPN protocols you’re using. They ensure reliable performance, help you bypass online censorship, and unblock services like Netflix US, for example.
With that in mind, here’s a list of NordVPN’s protocols and our expert recommendations:
OpenVPN (TCP/UDP): The most popular VPN tunnel, thanks to its excellent speed/security ratio. This protocol meets our needs and will do so for most users, too. UDP connections are faster but easily blocked. TCP is slower but more resilient against obstacles like the Chinese firewall, for example.
NordLynx: NordVPN’s proprietary protocol is based on WireGuard, and we were impressed with this innovation. NordLynx fixes WireGuard’s privacy issues with its “custom double Network Address Translation (NAT) system.” Its small code base makes it less vulnerable to hack attacks than OpenVPN.
IKEv2/IPSec: We usually avoid this protocol when OpenVPN or WireGuard is an option. Mobile users and frequent travelers love it because of its reconnection capabilities. It allows you to switch between networks without ever dropping your connection. However, it makes you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. In our opinion, both OpenVPN and NordLynx are superior.
We recommend using OpenVPN or NordLynx, as they are the fastest and most secure VPN protocols.
Kill switch
If your VPN connection stops working for whatever reason, a kill switch will cut off your internet connection to prevent potential data leaks. NordVPN apps for desktop devices come with two automatic kill switches:
Internet kill switch: It blocks your internet access completely when your VPN connection drops. It’s a similar solution to ProtonVPN’s permanent system-wide kill switch.
App kill switch: This failsafe closes certain apps when your VPN stops working. You can choose what apps are added to the list, and they won’t be able to access the internet without VPN protection.
You’ll find the kill switch settings on the menu of your NordVPN app. When we installed NordVPN, the kill switch was not activated by default. You’ll find it in your client under Settings > Kill Switch and activate it manually.
We did not doubt that NordVPN’s kill switch was effective, but, of course, we tested it. This involved enabling each kill switch independently and attempting to access the internet after disconnecting from NordVPN.
In both cases, NordVPN passed our tests. Next, we added Slack to the list of apps under the App Kill Switch, and we couldn’t access our team’s channels while the VPN was inactive. This meant the kill switch was effective, as expected.
Onion over VPN and Double VPN
Double VPN (or multi-hop) simply routes your traffic through two VPN servers instead of one. Naturally, double encryption makes you much safer and harder to attack.
It can even help you bypass geo-restrictions and censorship in countries like Iran. Providers like NordVPN and Surfshark are our go-to in countries with strict internet content restrictions.
With that said, encrypting your traffic twice may severely impact your speed. So, we don’t recommend using this feature unless you absolutely have to. This especially goes for hardcore gamers who want smooth and lag-free sessions.
Meanwhile, Onion over VPN combines the advantages of an Onion router with VPN security. Essentially, your traffic can enter the Onion network through a random relay anywhere in the world. Every point of connection is encrypted, making it very difficult to pinpoint the origin of your traffic.
However, since onion servers are run by volunteers, anyone can operate one. That’s why you need a VPN to hide your real IP from the entry node. So, if someone is monitoring large chunks of the Onion network, they won’t be able to trace your traffic back to you. We recommend reading our article about Onion over VPN if this is confusing.
Threat Protection
Threat Protection is a NordVPN security feature that blocks malicious ads and protects you against malware, phishing, and other online threats. According to NordVPN, it blocks threats before they can even reach your device.
This nifty tool also keeps you safe from DDoS attacks and blocks online trackers, allowing you to surf the internet without leaving a trace.
Every week, Threat Protection generates a seven-day protection summary. The idea is to put you in control of your digital hygiene. It lists all the blocked ads, malicious websites, malware, and trackers. By analyzing this report, you can learn which sites and behaviors to avoid in the future.
Bear in mind that we noticed two separate versions: Threat Protection and Threat Protection Lite. The latter won’t delete detected malware. Also, you can use the full version without a VPN connection on a separate subscription, but you cannot do the same with the Lite version.
Additional Nord Services
Besides the features of this VPN, Nord has additional services available at an extra cost. They include:
NordLayer: A secure VPN solution for businesses
NordLocker: A cloud storage solution
NordPass: A password manager
Meshnet: A virtual networking solution
Note
While these services are separate, you can get NordLocker and NordPass with the NordVPN Complete Plan or choose them as add-ons when subscribing to NordVPN.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these services below.
NordLayer: Dedicated VPN client for businesses
NordLayer is NordVPN’s network security solution for businesses. It allows organizations to use the internet safely, working seamlessly even for hybrid and distributed workforces. NordLayer protects employees from phishing, ransomware, and malware-ridden files.
NordLayer also protects your files and sensitive data, especially in transit, using AES-256 encryption. For added security, you can access virtual private gateways, which means that your organization gets a dedicated server. This lets you implement IP allowlisting and granular network segmentation.
NordLayer’s dedicated server pool covers 30+ server locations, including Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, and the Republic of South Africa.
You can easily integrate NordLayer with your current infrastructure as it’s a scalable, hardware-free solution. It’s also compatible with different tools, including Google Workspace, OneLogin, Azure AD, Okta, and JumpCloud. You even benefit from priority support and a dedicated account manager.
The pricing options are also flexible:
Lite: $8/user/month
Core: $11/user/month
Premium: $14/user/month
Custom: For large companies with specific requirements
Most VPNs are now launching similar services, but we’re among the many who consider NordVPN to be the pioneer. We asked our in-house VPN review analyst, Wisdom Sablah, about his thoughts on NordLayer. Here’s what he had to say:
I have examined and tested several business-grade VPNs over the years, and I’ve concluded that none compares to NordLayer. I love that you can access dedicated servers in up to 30 countries. Plus, it has an intuitive control panel that I used to define permissions and monitor user activity. Customer support is also top-notch; I got priority customer support whenever I needed help. Overall, I recommend NordLayer over all other business VPNs.
Wisdom Sablah
VPNOverview
NordLocker: A reliable encrypted cloud storage solution
NordLocker functions similarly to Dropbox. It’s a cloud storage service that you can use to share files with other people. One of the added benefits of NordLocker is that you can also use it as an encrypted storage locker.
While it’s not on our list of the best cloud storage solutions for 2023, at the moment, you can get 3GB completely free of charge. If you need more space, you can pick one of the two premium packages:
500 GB: $2.99/month
2 TB: $5.99/month
All three options come with unlimited end-to-end encryption. However, premium NordVPN users have 24/7 priority support, while the free version only gets email support.
Nord also offers business-grade packages for NordLocker. Apart from the aforementioned features, they also come with an admin panel for access control, secure file management, private sharing, and access on any platform. The pricing goes as follows:
Business 100 GB: $3.29 per user/month
Business 500 GB: $13.29 per user/month
Business Plus 2 TB: $15.69 per user/month
Custom plan: A package tailored to your business
Interested in NordLocker? You can add it at checkout when purchasing NordVPN or get it standalone from NordLocker’s website by clicking the button below.
Read our in-depth NordLocker review to learn more about the features and performance of this cloud storage service.
NordPass: Our best password manager of 2023
Are you using a password manager yet? We wouldn’t go online without one. This software protects your passwords while helping you make good choices when you create new ones.
NordPass is a feature-packed password manager that will bring your password protection to a new level. With this tool, you can:
Save unlimited passwords + enable autosave and autofill
Import & export passwords
Keep notes and credit cards
Fill forms with personal info
Sync passwords, notes, and credit cards across devices
Share items with people you trust
Replace old, weak, and reused passwords
Scan the internet for data leaks involving your passwords
NordPass offers a 30-day free trial, which is enough time to test it and see if it works for you. After your trial expires, you can keep using the limited free version.
NordPass is also currently our best password manager. As a trusted source of VPN and cybersecurity information, we’ve managed to snag a discount of up to 34%.
Below, we’ve detailed the current pricing for the two premium subscriptions.
Premium plan:
$1.29/month for the two-year plan
$1.69/month for the one-year plan
Family plan (six users):
$2.49/month for the two-year plan
$2.99/month for the one-year plan
NordPass is also available to companies, and the pricing is as follows:
NordPass Business (price per user):
$3.59/month for the two-year plan
$3.99/month for the one-year plan
Want to try out NordPass? You can add it to your cart when subscribing to NordVPN, or you can click the button below to visit the NordPass website and get it separately from NordVPN’s other tools.
You can find out more about the pros and cons of this password manager in our NordPass review.
Meshnet
Meshnet grants you remote access to other devices around the world. It uses encrypted tunnels, but instead of connecting you to a VPN server, it establishes a point-to-point connection between two devices. In March 2023, NordVPN made Meshnet free for all users as part of its efforts to “make the internet a safer, freer place.”
Meshnet is similar to what Radmin VPN tried to accomplish. Some of Meshnet’s benefits include:
Hosting and joining virtual LAN parties: This is especially useful for online multiplayer games. Now, you can use Meshnet to create virtual encrypted LAN connections with other players around the globe.
Access files stored on remote devices: With Meshnet, you can remotely access files stored on your devices. Whether it’s your home or business computer, all you need is a phone with an internet connection, and you can access their shared files no matter where you are.
Share your files securely: You can share files with your colleagues or share your projects for others to see on your local web server.
Route your online traffic: Meshnet allows you to route your traffic through another machine. This means that you can access the internet under that other machine’s IP address.
You can’t add people to your Meshnet network without their consent. You’ll have to send them an invitation and wait for their response.
Meshnet allows you to link up to 10 devices that you own and 50 external devices. All devices under the same NordVPN account are linked automatically.
Is NordVPN Easy to Use?
NordVPN manages to stay beginner-friendly without sacrificing any advanced options. As such, it can cater to both VPN beginners and power users alike.
You can view NordVPN’s website in 20+ languages, but its client supports only seven. While this is only a minor annoyance, we would like to see more translations added in the future to improve accessibility, especially given NordVPN’s international reach.
You can install NordVPN on up to six devices. Six simultaneous VPN connections are more than enough for most users, including those looking to protect their entire households.
Overall, NordVPN is super easy to install and use on any device — desktop, tablet, or mobile.
NordVPN is a breeze to download and install on Windows. The software was up and running within minutes, and we did not face any issues. Thanks to its intuitive interface, you can quickly connect to a server and secure your internet connection.
The main window features a prominent world map with the available server locations. You can also pick a server from the list on the left, which includes specialty servers as well. While there are 5,800+ servers, we could easily pick out countries without having to scroll endlessly.
The “Quick Connect” button lets the app pick a server for you automatically. Alternatively, you can use the search bar to find a server and click on it to connect.
The NordVPN Settings menu in the bottom-left corner opens up a slew of extra options:
General: This allows you to inspect the app version, launch at startup, launch minimized, show status notifications, pick a language, and enable CyberSec.
Auto-connect: This allows you to enable Wi-Fi auto-connect, pick a protocol, choose a server for auto-connection, and create a list of trusted Wi-Fi networks.
Kill switch: This allows you to activate the internet/app kill switch and create a list of controlled apps.
Split tunneling: This allows you to enable split tunneling and include/exclude specific apps.
Advanced: This allows you to create a custom DNS, use obfuscation, enable LAN invisibility, allow remote access, run diagnostics, and send feedback to the company.
Dark web monitor: Enable this option to monitor the dark web for leaked info linked to your email address.
NordVPN on Mac
A lot of VPN apps fall short on macOS and lack key features. However, the NordVPN client is optimized for Mac and does not compromise on any features. We did not run into any issues using it on macOS.
NordVPN on Android
NordVPN is a perfect VPN to have on the go because it performs exceptionally well on Android. It was super easy to download from the Google Play Store, and we could sign into our account without any issues. The NordVPN Android app has a nice interface on mobile, too, and works effectively without impacting device performance.
NordVPN on iPhone
The NordVPN iOS app is also easy to use and creates a stable connection. You’ll have to allow the app access to your device, but it’s a trusted application. From here, the app can manage your connections.
Establishing a connection on mobile is straightforward, as is picking a country and server. We also paid close attention to our battery while running NordVPN in the background, and it didn’t appear to have a significant effect on our battery life. Of course, you’re bound to burn through your charge quicker when running NordVPN alongside your usual activities.
NordVPN provides excellent customer service. Our interactions with customer support were fast and efficient, and the agents were enthusiastic and polite.
For self-help, the website features a rich knowledge base packed with tutorials, FAQs, troubleshooting manuals, and everything else you can imagine. If you can’t find your answers there, you can use their live chat option as well.
Each category on the Support page dives deeper into various troubleshooting and guidance articles. Of course, you might need help from a human, as we did when investigating how to request a 30-day free trial refund.
Before getting human support, you’ll have to go through the NordVPN chatbot, which is not very helpful. It can provide you with some simple answers but can’t solve any complex problems.
However, you can request communication with a live agent by typing “live agent” or something along those lines, and the chatbot will queue you in. Note that you’ll have to provide a valid email address before talking to a support agent.
During our tests for this NordVPN review, we got our answers from the live support team in minutes. They were very knowledgeable and ready to help. If the live chat is unavailable, you can also contact the support team via email.
Overall, we were happy with our experience with NordVPN’s customer service.
NordVPN’s money-back guarantee: How to get a refund
NordVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee. This means you can cancel your subscription anytime within 30 days of purchasing it, and you’ll get a full refund, no questions asked.
To request a refund and cancel your NordVPN subscription, send an email to support@nordvpn.com with the subject line, “Request for Refund.”
Alternatively, you can use the 24/7 live chat on the NordVPN website to contact customer support about canceling your subscription.
We sent NordVPN an email to cancel our subscription and got a response in less than an hour. The refund was initiated immediately, and we got the money back within a few days.
The great thing is you can also get a refund if you paid using crypto. However, the amount refunded may be different from what you paid due to fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market.
Overall, getting a refund from NordVPN is easy and straightforward. We can confirm that they honor their money-back guarantee as long as you request your refund within the 30-day period.
What Reddit Users Think About NordVPN
Reddit is an interesting place to discover what other users think of services like NordVPN. Truth be told, the Reddit community can be quite critical. We analyzed hundreds of NordVPN threads and their comments to see how Redditors feel about NordVPN.
One Reddit user said they started facing difficulties with NordVPN’s speed over the past months, as seen in the screenshot below, taken in May 2023.
But many other Redditors replied to that thread saying that NordVPN works perfectly fine for them.
In another thread, one Redditor said his connection speeds have skyrocketed after switching from OpenVPN to NordLynx. He claimed NordLynx is key to a smooth NordVPN experience. Such comments are the reason NordVPN is our best VPN according to Reddit users.
After scanning through hundreds of threads on subreddits like r/nordvpn, r/vpnreviews, r/VPNTorrents, and many more, these are our conclusions:
Reddit users are divided when it comes to liking or disliking NordVPN. Many users love NordVPN, just as many seem to loathe it.
Other VPN services face similar or even harsher criticism — Reddit is a tough crowd!
NordVPN is generally praised for its speed and ease of use.
NordLynx is widely loved by the Reddit community, and NordVPN is seen as innovative.
Some users dislike NordVPN’s marketing strategy and the fact that NordVPN seems to pop up everywhere — in TV ads, as a sponsor on podcasts, in Twitch live streams, etc.
Do We Recommend NordVPN?
To date, we’ve published more than 75 VPN reviews to promote awareness about online security. As you may have gathered from our NordVPN review, this provider is easily up there among the best VPNs you can find right now. In fact, NordVPN ranks #1 in our overall list.
Speed and security, two primary concerns when choosing a VPN, are excellent with this VPN provider. The team behind NordVPN has gone above and beyond, even creating a bug bounty and making a full-scale move to colocated, fully-owned VPN servers. It’s clear that user security is not simply a box-checking exercise for NordVPN.
Combine these factors with NordVPN’s feature-packed and user-friendly software, and it’s easy to see why this VPN is a top choice across the board. We had a hard time finding fault with the service, aside from a need for greater language accessibility.
However, we believe in choice — particularly when you consider just how many VPNs are out there. Below, we’ve compared NordVPN to other providers to show you how it measures up to the competition.
NordVPN offers excellent speeds and top-notch security features.
NordVPN is capable of unblocking Netflix and other streaming platforms.
We particularly liked the sleek and beginner-friendly interface and web guidance.
The NordVPN server network is massive: 5,400+ servers in 60+ countries.
Optional extras like NordPass and NordLocker were nice to see for enhanced online security.
NordLayer is their premium business solution for network access security.
NordVPN: Frequently Asked Questions
Looking for a quick answer to your question about NordVPN? Have a look at our FAQ below. Click on a question to see the answer.
Does NordVPN have a free version?
No, unfortunately, NordVPN does not offer a free version. However, NordVPN does have a 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to try it out free for 30 days. We had no trouble obtaining a refund within two days.
Free VPNs are not always suitable compared to paid VPN options. Free VPNs often have a data or speed limit, which makes them less suitable for streaming, for example. Still want to try out a free VPN? Then take a look at our article: the best free VPNs.
Is NordVPN secure?
NordVPN is one of the very best VPNs when it comes to security. This provider uses OpenVPN, among other VPN protocols. According to many cybersecurity experts, this encryption protocol is the most secure VPN protocol at this moment.
Furthermore, NordVPN’s no-log logging policy provides the highest level of privacy. Lastly, NordVPN offers several extra safety features, such as a kill switch, double VPN connections, and Onion over Tor.
Does NordVPN unblock Netflix?
NordVPN works well with Netflix and allows you to watch Netflix content from several countries. As such, you can use NordVPN to watch the US version of Netflix when you’re abroad for business or leisure or to get access to the Italian version of Netflix, for instance.
If, for whatever reason, you encounter a problem with accessing Netflix, you can try to connect to a different server, contact NordVPN’s customer support, or try an obfuscated server or dedicated IP address.
Can I download torrents with NordVPN?
You most definitely can. NordVPN offers special P2P servers optimized for peer-to-peer traffic for this very purpose. You’ll find these in the main menu of the NordVPN app on the left.
Does NordVPN offer dedicated IP addresses?
Yes, NordVPN offers dedicated IP addresses in the following countries: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France.
To get a dedicated IP, you’ll have to create a new account with a special coupon code, and then contact the NordVPN support team to activate your dedicated IP.
Is NordVPN trustworthy?
NordVPN is very trustworthy. With its no-logs policy and independent audits, in addition to the fact it doesn’t have to follow 14 Eyes alliance data-sharing requirements, we recommend NordVPN for those looking for a privacy-focused VPN.
Personal Opinions from VPNOverview Experts
“Fast, secure, and offers a massive server network. The best VPN all around.”
9.3
David Janssen
Cybersecurity Analyst
We have always had a soft spot for NordVPN. Their encryption, user-friendliness, and price have always been of a great standard. In earlier years their biggest downside was speed. The speed of the connection in Western Europe couldn’t be compared to the speed they offered users in the U.S.
However, NordVPN has invested a lot in their server network over the last few years. This resulted in the great speeds we experienced in our latest tests. Now, NordVPN most definitely deserves its place among the greatest VPN providers.
Tove Marks
Tech Journalist
The look of the NordVPN software really speaks to me because it is calm and very clear. Without a doubt their price is perhaps their biggest plus. It truly is one of the cheaper premium VPN services on the market. Personally I might not delve into all their additional safety options but it is nice to know they are there if I ever were to need them. I would definitely recommend NordVPN.
NordVPN was my 3rd VPN service. I subscribed for 2 years because they had a decent review. After one month of use the turned off my service because their “automated tools” detected I was “web scraping”. I am a retired person using a single desktop. I have NEVER done anything like webscraping. Repeated emails to support to cancel my account are replied to by robot mail saying my account is suspended indefinitely. No further explanation. No Cancellation. Word of warning: they are clearly monitoring your traffic and given their crappy analysis tools they probably have all that data laying around on their servers. Let my loss be your gain: DO NOT USE NORDVPN!!
Hi John! We’re sorry to hear your account has been suspended unfairly. It is true that NordVPN reserves the right to refuse service instantly (“without any indication, notice or refund”, as per their Terms of Service). This is also to combat abuse of their services. However, in this case it seems a mistake was made. If you reach out to support@nordvpn.com via email with this story, they should contact you within 24 hours (not a bot, but a real person) to get to the bottom of this. We hope this situation can be resolved!
Nord vpn can not bypass censorship in russia even if using obfuscation servers. In nordvpn support they told that obfuscation not help if blocked ip adress (
Thank you for your comment! You’re right that, at this moment, NordVPN doesn’t consistently work in Russia. We’ve amended our article to reflect that. If you’re looking for VPNs that do work there, you can check out our best VPNs for Russia listicle. We do hope that, in time, NordVPN will start working in Russia again, too.
I signed up for a 3 month plan. The service mostly worked well enough. HOWEVER, be advised, they auto renew and bill a full 2 WEEKS in advance. I was planning to cancel the service before the 3 months was up, had it on my calendar with a reminder. But, they don’t want you to cancel, so they bill you 2 weeks early. I contacted them as soon as the confirmation hit my inbox, but they refused to cancel/refund me. Said it’s in the terms and conditions. I asked if they could just refund the renewal as a courtesy, but they don’t do courtesy. And so in 3 months I will never do NordVPN again.
We’re sorry to hear things happened the way they did. If you cancel your subscription at any point during your plan, you will still have access to the VPN for as long as your subscription runs. If you haven’t already, we’d advise you to cancel your subscription now, so you can make sure it’ll take effect in three months. Regardless, thank you for sharing your experience!
Unfortunately, I have experienced difficulty accessing the Nord servers in Iran and despite contacting customer service several times, I have received the same unhelpful response each time. In my experience, this has led to a lack of customer satisfaction. I would recommend exercising caution before investing in a service that may not be able to meet your needs in the specific region.
Hi Alireza,
It’s unfortunate you’re having issues connecting to NordVPN’s servers in Iran. Due to the country’s strict censorship, most VPNs aren’t working properly in Iran at the moment. In September last year, Nord said Iran’s internet restrictions have “negatively affected” access to VPN services. Nord and other VPN providers are hard at work to find new ways to circumvent these restrictions. Did you use NordVPN’s obfuscated servers? If you still can’t connect, try one of the other options in our article on the best VPNs for Iran.
Yes! NordVPN frequently works with special deals. You can always get the best and cheapest prices through the links on our website. You can even use NordVPN’s money-back guarantee to grant yourself a free Nord trial.
Hi Toby! We’re sorry to hear that. Did you use the obfsproxy feature offered by NordVPN? You can find this under the “Advanced” tab in your NordVPN settings. If this doesn’t work, NordVPN’s support team should be able to help you out. It’s also best to install the app before you’re within the country’s borders, if that’s an option that’s available to you.
I am paying for a two year subscription but have had to uninstall the program. It is unusable on windows. No matter what I try – short of becoming a software engineer or something, I can’t have nord VPN and the internet simultaneously. Kind of defeats the purpose.
That’s really unfortunate, and definitely not how it’s supposed to work. Many of our colleagues use NordVPN on their Windows computers on the daily and haven’t run into any issues. It sounds like you might be dealing with a specific (likely solvable) problem. Have you tried contacting NordVPN’s support team? Their 24/7 live chat should be able to help you out with any issues you run into.
The pricing is very misleading for Australian customers. Although there is no mention that the price shown is in USD, and that there is a note stating: “Payments are charged in AUD. Payment provider fees may apply. Plan automatically renews until cancelled.”, the fact is that your credit card will be charged in AUD, but the actual price shown is in USD. To me this seems like a bit of a fraud. So my $86.86 transaction really turned out to be a $120.38 transaction. Honestly, I probably would have been happy paying the $120, but to be deceived like this makes you feel like the whole operation is dodgy.
Hi Paul! We’re sorry to hear this. It’s definitely unpleasant when you think you paid one amount for a service, but it turned out to be much higher. When we visit the payment page, we do see the prices mentioned in “US$” right now, also from an Australian IP address. It seems like NordVPN might have already tackled this issue and adjusted it, so no other users suffer the same confusion. We hope you’re able to enjoy your subscription regardless!
My plan (I’m in Canada) was automatically renewed about two weeks before expiry. Apparently, automatic renewal in is their terms of service agreement. They actually quoted me the part where it said that. However, I did get them to cancel the automatic renewal “feature”. (I couldn’t find where to do it.)
And yes, I’m pretty sure it was in USD converted to $CDN on my credit card bill (I just checked..it was)
Hi Lloyd!
We’re glad Nord’s customer support was able to help you turn off auto renewal in the end. It is a bit hidden, indeed. If you log in on your account on their website, you can find it under the “Billing” section by going to “Subscriptions”. There, you can easily turn this option off.
As a general tip, we’d advise anyone who doesn’t want to deal with any kind of automatically recurring payment to turn off auto renewal from the very start. The company will usually contact you automatically if your service is about to run out, and then you can actively decide whether you’d like another year (or two, or three) of the same service.
I bought the subscription last year and ended up not useable for me. I thought I canceled but apparently not. Anyway, I was charged $99 a few days ago via PayPal. I immediately emailed paddle.net and asked the subscription to be canceled and my money to be refunded. They canceled it but was told that I cannot get a refund because they have a 30 day refund only from the ORIGINAL subscription policy. Really???
We’re sorry that happened to you! It might be worth checking whether your subscription was renewed at the VPN itself, or at Paddle, which is essentially a third-party. It might be worth contacting NordVPN’s customer service support if it’s the first. Perhaps they can help you out, although they, too, might consider the first 30 days of the original subscription period the official money-back guarantee.
Just purchased a premium membership from NordVPN. While processing my payment a NordPASS membership was added to the bill without my doing anything to add this. So an extra $35 showed up on my bill. Incredibly deceiving and dishonest.
NordVPN plays fast and loose with their provided software, provides ineffective customer support and their system has cost me several hours of lost work due to hanging and killing the Internet connection randomly, requiring a reboot.
I have a large LAN system (for a home system) and when I signed on I installed NordVPN on my bastion firewall server and my Android Pixel 3 smartphone. All was well.
Then NordVPN “upgraded” their system causing my router to be non-functional, leading me to install ‘apps’ on devices on my LAN (4). Installing their ‘app’ on my Linux workstation was problematic, required several hours but a particularly helpful NordVPN CS got it running. Then they updated their Linux ‘app’ (3.0 ⇾ 3.1), and the Linux system started failing frequently, usually while doing something requiring Internet connectivity. That makes it a prime target for deprecation.
As it stands now my rating would be “User-friendliness 1.5” and because failing while connected “Servers 1.0”.
After today’s repeated fiasco, I believe I’ll wait a few months before trying again.
Doing ‘alpha’ testing in a production environment reaches the foolhardy status
Our experiences with NordVPN so far have been pleasant, however, we’re sorry to hear that yours hasn’t. Hopefully NordVPN fixes your troubles soon enough, and, if not, maybe compensate you in some other form or manner. If you still want to try out another VPN, maybe you could try FastestVPN or our top 5 VPN page for some suggestions, thanks for letting us know about your experience with NordVPN!
I Purchased nordvpn because one site that I accessed required this vpn in order to receive some of their content. After activating nordvpn, I noticed that the site stated that I did not have the vpn. I contacted nordvpn who said that they would get back to me. This continued for several days, and nordvpn reply only concerned buffering and disconnections.
I am done. I need a refund.
I am running an ASUS AC5300 router. I was thinking about connecting the router to NordVPN that way all my clients connected to the router go through the VPN. I am wondering about the speed for all connected clients. I would like to know if you have configured a router this way.
Used Nordvpn on Win 10 for over a year during which time the app & support has always been inconsistent & unreliable. Initial auto-connect randomly doesn’t work requiring turning off auto-connect, blocking internet without Nord & other settings leaving my data vulnerable while connecting to the internet, logging into Nord & turning on. A few weeks ago the program wouldn’t update. Per support’s instructions I deleted the program & reinstalled via a link they provided because the website download didn’t work. It still didn’t update until a few days later a message said to update. The new version 6.38.15.0 will not auto-connect at all. Their current recommendation seems to verify what I’ve always experienced: it doesn’t work at all with the new version. How can I trust that the program protects my data as it does in your review. I realize my experience is different from the review.
Email support has been useless in my experience. On 8-2-21 I found on the website to TRY the following settings which seem to verify they don’t work. Turn off ‘Auto-connect on app launch’ & off on ‘Auto-connect on unsecured Wi-Fi”. Disable the Choose a VPN protocol and server automatically option. Select the OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP) protocol.
Can I trust my personal data & patient medical records with NordVPN?
Our experience with NordVPN has been mostly positive, so we would trust them with our data. However, we do realize not everyone has the same experience with a VPN for various reasons. If you’re not 100% sure NordVPN is for you, maybe one of the other VPNs we have in our top 5 VPNs is better suited for your needs.
very user-friendly app that does not require much of a knowledge to use, especially on my smartphone. I usually keep it on at all times as I wander a lot and use it only on my computer to access websites that would be locked. It’s a nice compromise for the price of the product with all the feature included, really cant complain about it.
As the title says, it’s a great tool for accessing Netflix catalogs. I remember when we could travel back then that I was using it mainly for that. Like I was going overseas to Europe and was always interested by watching their Netflix, it was so different from ours. Apart from that, I didn’t use the VPN much, thanks Miss Rona… because I would have loved to explore the features they have… From my experience, I really liked it and can’t wait to explore it more.
I bought NordVPN few weeks ago before realizing I don’t need much of a VPN so I contacted the support to ask for a refund as it was not yet 30 days after the purchase. The person who replied to me was kind enough and everything went smooth. It was a good but short experience. One sure thing, if I need a VPN in the future, I know which one I will choose.
We’ve been using nordvpn for few years and everything was fine until we recently renewed with a discounted 2 year offer. Things worked fine for a few weeks then suddenly we were disconnected for no reason. We tried everything to reconnect but couldn’t even login to nord account. We had this problem on multiple devices. Nothing worked no matter what we tried. We tried support for help but no joy. We wanted refund but they said after 30 days they don’t refund. They took our money, gave vpn for few weeks then disconnected! Very dodgy! I don’t recommend nordvpn. We feel disappointed and conned.
We’re sorry to hear that, after being able to use NordVPN without problems for a few years, for some reason it doesn’t seem to work as well anymore. We’re pretty sure NordVPN already tried to solve it, but did you perhaps try to change the protocol to OpenVPN? NordVPN recently switched to WireGuard (NordLynx) and made it its default protocol. This might cause a problem for some people. Hopefully, it does end up being resolved by Nord, whether that’s through a refund or a working VPN.
What are your takes on Nord’s latest update that changes the log in method? You don’t log in directly within the app. It makes you go through a browser then back to the app. I’m seeing a lot of complaints about difficulty connecting and undermining security.
We’ve recently updated our review and put some of our thoughts on this in the “What information does NordVPN Need?” section. We asked NordVPN about it and they say it will help with security, because they only have to protect one point of access. However, we have also read that quite a lot of users aren’t as happy with the change and making valid points. The most important one being: because it’s on a webpage, it’s easy for countries and ISPs to block access to NordVPN. They simply have to block the login page or site altogether. Most users seem to not have any problems with the new login, but for other users it makes NordVPN unusable.
It seems good in theory, but in practice, there are a lot of issues that still need to be fixed. So, all in all, it has potential, but at the moment it isn’t great because of the usability and security issues.
This review will be some kind of feedback after few months of using Nord VPN. I like to read lots of different reviews on a product before getting it, and it took me some time to read reviews about this provider. I decided to go for it simply because they were running a sale and didn’t want to miss it. One sure thing, I don’t regret going for Nord VPN as it has met my expectations. To be honest, this VPN review represents the most what it is in reality with many key points like servers wise or the simple interface (yes I hate when it is difficult to use).
Regarding my use, I mainly turn it ON it at home to bypass some geo-blocked movies but it happens that I keep it ON with my phone while I hang out with family & friends. Until now, everything has been pretty easy and smooth.
I have always been used to torrent until the day I received a notice telling me to stop or it could be the fine. I didn’t want to stop I had to find a way, well I guess I found it with NordVPN! Honestly, it’s been few years and I never received any notice. The best is to check if the server is not leaking and so far it never happened. The reason why I choose them is mainly because they are no-logs, that was my nr. 1 reason.
Have been using Hola for years to unblock certain sites and video streams, but recently someone warned me that it may not be the best or safest VPN to use. I’m thinking about giving NordVPN a try. They show TV ads about Nordvpn in my country and that made me curious. They seem to be getting pretty good reviews. I am just interested in unblocking content, is it still worth dropping Hola and trying out NordVPN just for that purpose?
HolaVPN and NordVPN have very different philosophies when it comes to protecting and safeguarding users. Hola prioritizes paying users at the expense of free users, while NordVPN is a premium provider that takes security and privacy seriously for all its users.
So with the current political climate some of us are more concerned about our privacy, especially with big government allying with corporations. Does this review still hold up
We update our VPN reviews monthly to ensure that we give people the most up-to-date information available. Our most recent update was about a week ago, so the review should still be up-to-date.
NordVPN was my 3rd VPN service. I subscribed for 2 years because they had a decent review. After one month of use the turned off my service because their “automated tools” detected I was “web scraping”. I am a retired person using a single desktop. I have NEVER done anything like webscraping. Repeated emails to support to cancel my account are replied to by robot mail saying my account is suspended indefinitely. No further explanation. No Cancellation. Word of warning: they are clearly monitoring your traffic and given their crappy analysis tools they probably have all that data laying around on their servers. Let my loss be your gain: DO NOT USE NORDVPN!!
Hi John! We’re sorry to hear your account has been suspended unfairly. It is true that NordVPN reserves the right to refuse service instantly (“without any indication, notice or refund”, as per their Terms of Service). This is also to combat abuse of their services. However, in this case it seems a mistake was made. If you reach out to support@nordvpn.com via email with this story, they should contact you within 24 hours (not a bot, but a real person) to get to the bottom of this. We hope this situation can be resolved!
Nord vpn can not bypass censorship in russia even if using obfuscation servers. In nordvpn support they told that obfuscation not help if blocked ip adress (
Thank you for your comment! You’re right that, at this moment, NordVPN doesn’t consistently work in Russia. We’ve amended our article to reflect that. If you’re looking for VPNs that do work there, you can check out our best VPNs for Russia listicle. We do hope that, in time, NordVPN will start working in Russia again, too.
I signed up for a 3 month plan. The service mostly worked well enough. HOWEVER, be advised, they auto renew and bill a full 2 WEEKS in advance. I was planning to cancel the service before the 3 months was up, had it on my calendar with a reminder. But, they don’t want you to cancel, so they bill you 2 weeks early. I contacted them as soon as the confirmation hit my inbox, but they refused to cancel/refund me. Said it’s in the terms and conditions. I asked if they could just refund the renewal as a courtesy, but they don’t do courtesy. And so in 3 months I will never do NordVPN again.
We’re sorry to hear things happened the way they did. If you cancel your subscription at any point during your plan, you will still have access to the VPN for as long as your subscription runs. If you haven’t already, we’d advise you to cancel your subscription now, so you can make sure it’ll take effect in three months. Regardless, thank you for sharing your experience!
Poor Service
Unfortunately, I have experienced difficulty accessing the Nord servers in Iran and despite contacting customer service several times, I have received the same unhelpful response each time. In my experience, this has led to a lack of customer satisfaction. I would recommend exercising caution before investing in a service that may not be able to meet your needs in the specific region.
Hi Alireza,
It’s unfortunate you’re having issues connecting to NordVPN’s servers in Iran. Due to the country’s strict censorship, most VPNs aren’t working properly in Iran at the moment. In September last year, Nord said Iran’s internet restrictions have “negatively affected” access to VPN services. Nord and other VPN providers are hard at work to find new ways to circumvent these restrictions. Did you use NordVPN’s obfuscated servers? If you still can’t connect, try one of the other options in our article on the best VPNs for Iran.
Thanks for sharing such an informational post! Is there any promo code or NordVpn coupon code available ?
Yes! NordVPN frequently works with special deals. You can always get the best and cheapest prices through the links on our website. You can even use NordVPN’s money-back guarantee to grant yourself a free Nord trial.
I’ve tried to use Nord VPN twice in the last 5 years in China, it’s never worked. Maybe it performs well in other places but it’s useless in China.
Hi Toby! We’re sorry to hear that. Did you use the obfsproxy feature offered by NordVPN? You can find this under the “Advanced” tab in your NordVPN settings. If this doesn’t work, NordVPN’s support team should be able to help you out. It’s also best to install the app before you’re within the country’s borders, if that’s an option that’s available to you.
I am paying for a two year subscription but have had to uninstall the program. It is unusable on windows. No matter what I try – short of becoming a software engineer or something, I can’t have nord VPN and the internet simultaneously. Kind of defeats the purpose.
That’s really unfortunate, and definitely not how it’s supposed to work. Many of our colleagues use NordVPN on their Windows computers on the daily and haven’t run into any issues. It sounds like you might be dealing with a specific (likely solvable) problem. Have you tried contacting NordVPN’s support team? Their 24/7 live chat should be able to help you out with any issues you run into.
The pricing is very misleading for Australian customers. Although there is no mention that the price shown is in USD, and that there is a note stating: “Payments are charged in AUD. Payment provider fees may apply. Plan automatically renews until cancelled.”, the fact is that your credit card will be charged in AUD, but the actual price shown is in USD. To me this seems like a bit of a fraud. So my $86.86 transaction really turned out to be a $120.38 transaction. Honestly, I probably would have been happy paying the $120, but to be deceived like this makes you feel like the whole operation is dodgy.
Hi Paul! We’re sorry to hear this. It’s definitely unpleasant when you think you paid one amount for a service, but it turned out to be much higher. When we visit the payment page, we do see the prices mentioned in “US$” right now, also from an Australian IP address. It seems like NordVPN might have already tackled this issue and adjusted it, so no other users suffer the same confusion. We hope you’re able to enjoy your subscription regardless!
My plan (I’m in Canada) was automatically renewed about two weeks before expiry. Apparently, automatic renewal in is their terms of service agreement. They actually quoted me the part where it said that. However, I did get them to cancel the automatic renewal “feature”. (I couldn’t find where to do it.)
And yes, I’m pretty sure it was in USD converted to $CDN on my credit card bill (I just checked..it was)
Hi Lloyd!
We’re glad Nord’s customer support was able to help you turn off auto renewal in the end. It is a bit hidden, indeed. If you log in on your account on their website, you can find it under the “Billing” section by going to “Subscriptions”. There, you can easily turn this option off.
As a general tip, we’d advise anyone who doesn’t want to deal with any kind of automatically recurring payment to turn off auto renewal from the very start. The company will usually contact you automatically if your service is about to run out, and then you can actively decide whether you’d like another year (or two, or three) of the same service.
I bought the subscription last year and ended up not useable for me. I thought I canceled but apparently not. Anyway, I was charged $99 a few days ago via PayPal. I immediately emailed paddle.net and asked the subscription to be canceled and my money to be refunded. They canceled it but was told that I cannot get a refund because they have a 30 day refund only from the ORIGINAL subscription policy. Really???
We’re sorry that happened to you! It might be worth checking whether your subscription was renewed at the VPN itself, or at Paddle, which is essentially a third-party. It might be worth contacting NordVPN’s customer service support if it’s the first. Perhaps they can help you out, although they, too, might consider the first 30 days of the original subscription period the official money-back guarantee.
Just purchased a premium membership from NordVPN. While processing my payment a NordPASS membership was added to the bill without my doing anything to add this. So an extra $35 showed up on my bill. Incredibly deceiving and dishonest.
I have asked for a full reimbursement.
NordVPN plays fast and loose with their provided software, provides ineffective customer support and their system has cost me several hours of lost work due to hanging and killing the Internet connection randomly, requiring a reboot.
I have a large LAN system (for a home system) and when I signed on I installed NordVPN on my bastion firewall server and my Android Pixel 3 smartphone. All was well.
Then NordVPN “upgraded” their system causing my router to be non-functional, leading me to install ‘apps’ on devices on my LAN (4). Installing their ‘app’ on my Linux workstation was problematic, required several hours but a particularly helpful NordVPN CS got it running. Then they updated their Linux ‘app’ (3.0 ⇾ 3.1), and the Linux system started failing frequently, usually while doing something requiring Internet connectivity. That makes it a prime target for deprecation.
As it stands now my rating would be “User-friendliness 1.5” and because failing while connected “Servers 1.0”.
After today’s repeated fiasco, I believe I’ll wait a few months before trying again.
Doing ‘alpha’ testing in a production environment reaches the foolhardy status
Our experiences with NordVPN so far have been pleasant, however, we’re sorry to hear that yours hasn’t. Hopefully NordVPN fixes your troubles soon enough, and, if not, maybe compensate you in some other form or manner. If you still want to try out another VPN, maybe you could try FastestVPN or our top 5 VPN page for some suggestions, thanks for letting us know about your experience with NordVPN!
I Purchased nordvpn because one site that I accessed required this vpn in order to receive some of their content. After activating nordvpn, I noticed that the site stated that I did not have the vpn. I contacted nordvpn who said that they would get back to me. This continued for several days, and nordvpn reply only concerned buffering and disconnections.
I am done. I need a refund.
Sorry to hear your experience with NordVPN wasn’t satisfactory. If you would like to get a refund, you’ll have to contact NordVPN on their website.
I am running an ASUS AC5300 router. I was thinking about connecting the router to NordVPN that way all my clients connected to the router go through the VPN. I am wondering about the speed for all connected clients. I would like to know if you have configured a router this way.
Used Nordvpn on Win 10 for over a year during which time the app & support has always been inconsistent & unreliable. Initial auto-connect randomly doesn’t work requiring turning off auto-connect, blocking internet without Nord & other settings leaving my data vulnerable while connecting to the internet, logging into Nord & turning on. A few weeks ago the program wouldn’t update. Per support’s instructions I deleted the program & reinstalled via a link they provided because the website download didn’t work. It still didn’t update until a few days later a message said to update. The new version 6.38.15.0 will not auto-connect at all. Their current recommendation seems to verify what I’ve always experienced: it doesn’t work at all with the new version. How can I trust that the program protects my data as it does in your review. I realize my experience is different from the review.
Email support has been useless in my experience. On 8-2-21 I found on the website to TRY the following settings which seem to verify they don’t work. Turn off ‘Auto-connect on app launch’ & off on ‘Auto-connect on unsecured Wi-Fi”. Disable the Choose a VPN protocol and server automatically option. Select the OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP) protocol.
Can I trust my personal data & patient medical records with NordVPN?
Our experience with NordVPN has been mostly positive, so we would trust them with our data. However, we do realize not everyone has the same experience with a VPN for various reasons. If you’re not 100% sure NordVPN is for you, maybe one of the other VPNs we have in our top 5 VPNs is better suited for your needs.
very user-friendly app that does not require much of a knowledge to use, especially on my smartphone. I usually keep it on at all times as I wander a lot and use it only on my computer to access websites that would be locked. It’s a nice compromise for the price of the product with all the feature included, really cant complain about it.
As the title says, it’s a great tool for accessing Netflix catalogs. I remember when we could travel back then that I was using it mainly for that. Like I was going overseas to Europe and was always interested by watching their Netflix, it was so different from ours. Apart from that, I didn’t use the VPN much, thanks Miss Rona… because I would have loved to explore the features they have… From my experience, I really liked it and can’t wait to explore it more.
I bought NordVPN few weeks ago before realizing I don’t need much of a VPN so I contacted the support to ask for a refund as it was not yet 30 days after the purchase. The person who replied to me was kind enough and everything went smooth. It was a good but short experience. One sure thing, if I need a VPN in the future, I know which one I will choose.
We’ve been using nordvpn for few years and everything was fine until we recently renewed with a discounted 2 year offer. Things worked fine for a few weeks then suddenly we were disconnected for no reason. We tried everything to reconnect but couldn’t even login to nord account. We had this problem on multiple devices. Nothing worked no matter what we tried. We tried support for help but no joy. We wanted refund but they said after 30 days they don’t refund. They took our money, gave vpn for few weeks then disconnected! Very dodgy! I don’t recommend nordvpn. We feel disappointed and conned.
We’re sorry to hear that, after being able to use NordVPN without problems for a few years, for some reason it doesn’t seem to work as well anymore. We’re pretty sure NordVPN already tried to solve it, but did you perhaps try to change the protocol to OpenVPN? NordVPN recently switched to WireGuard (NordLynx) and made it its default protocol. This might cause a problem for some people. Hopefully, it does end up being resolved by Nord, whether that’s through a refund or a working VPN.
What are your takes on Nord’s latest update that changes the log in method? You don’t log in directly within the app. It makes you go through a browser then back to the app. I’m seeing a lot of complaints about difficulty connecting and undermining security.
We’ve recently updated our review and put some of our thoughts on this in the “What information does NordVPN Need?” section. We asked NordVPN about it and they say it will help with security, because they only have to protect one point of access. However, we have also read that quite a lot of users aren’t as happy with the change and making valid points. The most important one being: because it’s on a webpage, it’s easy for countries and ISPs to block access to NordVPN. They simply have to block the login page or site altogether. Most users seem to not have any problems with the new login, but for other users it makes NordVPN unusable.
It seems good in theory, but in practice, there are a lot of issues that still need to be fixed. So, all in all, it has potential, but at the moment it isn’t great because of the usability and security issues.
This review will be some kind of feedback after few months of using Nord VPN. I like to read lots of different reviews on a product before getting it, and it took me some time to read reviews about this provider. I decided to go for it simply because they were running a sale and didn’t want to miss it. One sure thing, I don’t regret going for Nord VPN as it has met my expectations. To be honest, this VPN review represents the most what it is in reality with many key points like servers wise or the simple interface (yes I hate when it is difficult to use).
Regarding my use, I mainly turn it ON it at home to bypass some geo-blocked movies but it happens that I keep it ON with my phone while I hang out with family & friends. Until now, everything has been pretty easy and smooth.
I have always been used to torrent until the day I received a notice telling me to stop or it could be the fine. I didn’t want to stop I had to find a way, well I guess I found it with NordVPN! Honestly, it’s been few years and I never received any notice. The best is to check if the server is not leaking and so far it never happened. The reason why I choose them is mainly because they are no-logs, that was my nr. 1 reason.
Have been using Hola for years to unblock certain sites and video streams, but recently someone warned me that it may not be the best or safest VPN to use. I’m thinking about giving NordVPN a try. They show TV ads about Nordvpn in my country and that made me curious. They seem to be getting pretty good reviews. I am just interested in unblocking content, is it still worth dropping Hola and trying out NordVPN just for that purpose?
HolaVPN and NordVPN have very different philosophies when it comes to protecting and safeguarding users. Hola prioritizes paying users at the expense of free users, while NordVPN is a premium provider that takes security and privacy seriously for all its users.
So with the current political climate some of us are more concerned about our privacy, especially with big government allying with corporations. Does this review still hold up
We update our VPN reviews monthly to ensure that we give people the most up-to-date information available. Our most recent update was about a week ago, so the review should still be up-to-date.