- Is NordVPN free? The full answer
- What’s in the free plan (and what isn’t)
- Where the free plan ends
- What you pay after the free plan
- Coupons, discounts and extended trials
- How to create the free account (short version)
- The Android trial and app store purchases
- What about free NordVPN accounts from generators?
- U.S. customer card
- Free alternatives on this site
- Is the free plan worth starting with?
Quick answer: Only a 7-day trial — then you pay. NordVPN has no free plan, and the trial needs a card or PayPal. Instead you get a 30-day refund on the first purchase. Basic was $74.85 for the first 15 months on 10/27/2026, then $139.08 a year, plus sales tax.
I didn’t start the trial: it needs a card or PayPal, and this site doesn’t enter payment details in its runs. I took the checkout to the card form on 10/27/2026 and read the trial terms in NordVPN’s help center.
Is NordVPN free? The full answer
No. There is no free plan on NordVPN’s pricing page. Its download page says that to use the VPN you need a subscription, the 7-day free trial on select plans, or months earned through referrals. The account itself is created at checkout, from the email you enter before paying.
The trial is the closest thing to free. NordVPN’s help center, updated 10/22/2026, describes seven days for new users on 1- and 2-year plans, in 15 countries including the United States. You enter a card or PayPal at the start. You aren’t charged during the trial, but the plan begins automatically on day eight unless you cancel.
What’s in the free plan (and what isn’t)
There is no free plan, so here is what each way in gets you, from the help center and the pricing page on 10/27/2026:
| 7-day trial | 3-day Google Play trial | 30-day money-back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who | New users, 1- and 2-year plans, 15 countries | New Android users from Google Play | First purchase on any plan |
| Card or PayPal up front | Yes | Google Play billing | Yes, you pay first |
| Charged during it | No | No | Yes, refunded on request |
| Features | Every feature of the chosen plan | Per Google Play’s terms | Every feature of the plan |
| How it ends | Plan starts at the price shown | Managed by Google | Refund within 30 days via support |
| Cheapest plan after | Basic $74.85 for 15 months | Per the in-app price | Basic $74.85 for 15 months |
| Check prices | See plans |
Basic covers 10 devices with the VPN, scam and phishing filtering and a dark web monitor for five emails. Complete and Prime add malware protection, a password manager, storage and, in Prime, credit monitoring.
Where the free plan ends
The wall comes before you start: the payment screen. The checkout asks for an email, then a payment method, before any account exists. NordVPN’s help center says Google Pay, Union Pay, Sofort and crypto turn the trial option off, so only a card or PayPal works.
The second wall is day eight. “Unless you cancel before the 7-day trial ends, your chosen plan will begin automatically,” the article says, at the price shown when you started. NordVPN says it emails a reminder first. Free account generators are not a way around this: NordVPN’s help center calls them a terms violation that can get the account suspended.
What you pay after the free plan
From the U.S. pricing page on 10/27/2026, before tax:
- Basic: $74.85 for the first 15 months, then $139.08 a year. Monthly: $14.99.
- Complete: $89.85 for 15 months, then $219.48 a year.
- Prime: $134.85 for 15 months, then $296.28 a year.
- 2-year terms: Basic $94.23 for the first 27 months, renewing at the same yearly prices.
- Sales tax: added at checkout by ZIP. With a New York ZIP the checkout showed 8.875%.
Our browser was shown Canadian dollars, so these figures come from the U.S. version of the pricing page. Prices verified on 10/27/2026 on NordVPN’s site. The full table and the cancel steps are on the NordVPN pricing page.
Coupons, discounts and extended trials
The discount is the intro price. On 10/27/2026 the U.S. pricing page carried a Black Friday banner offering “78% off + 3 extra months” on Complete. Every long plan showed a crossed-out price next to the intro one. The footer links to a student and employee discount and a refer-a-friend program, which I didn’t check.
The checkout has a “Got a coupon?” field. As of 10/27/2026, I couldn’t find any public coupon or promo code for NordVPN beyond those offers, and I don’t list codes from coupon sites I can’t verify. The money-back guarantee is the safer test. You pay, and you can ask for a refund within 30 days of the first purchase.
How to create the free account (short version)
- Open nordvpn.com/pricing, choose a 1- or 2-year plan and look for the free trial option at checkout.
- Enter your email address, which becomes your Nord Account.
- Pay with a card or PayPal, the only methods that allow the trial. Nothing is charged for seven days.
- Download the app, sign in, and set a reminder for day six if you might cancel.
The full walk-through by device is on the how to use NordVPN page. Our own run stopped at the card form, and the separate Nord Account sign-up page blocked our connection.
The Android trial and app store purchases
Android has its own route. The help center describes a separate 3-day free trial for first-time users who install NordVPN from Google Play, one per customer, run under Google Play’s terms. You cancel it in Google Play, and Google answers the questions about it.
Buying inside an app changes the refund rules. NordVPN’s terms say App Store purchases follow Apple’s refund policy, and NordVPN can’t refund them. Google Play payments can be refunded through NordVPN’s support within 30 days, or by Google within 48 hours of payment. An owner wrote on Reddit on 10/01/2026 that a refund through Apple was denied.
If you might want your money back, note that the automated refund button the help center describes covers purchases made on NordVPN’s website.
What about free NordVPN accounts from generators?
Some sites advertise free NordVPN logins. NordVPN’s help center calls these account generators “malicious websites” and warns that using one to avoid paying breaks its terms and can get the account suspended. It also warns that such accounts can be hacked or used to steal personal information. This site doesn’t link to them.
U.S. customer card
| 1. What you'll actually pay at checkout | Checkout opened without an account on 10/27/2026. With a New York ZIP it added 8.875% sales tax ($6.11) for a $74.96 total before the card, on a Basic 1-year price of $68.85 offered to our non-U.S. connection ($74.85 on the U.S. pricing page). Above the button: renews annually at $139.08/year, notice by email before the charge details → |
|---|---|
| 2. What's in the plan (and what isn't) | No free plan. A 7-day trial for new users on 1- and 2-year plans needs a card or PayPal. Basic: VPN on 10 devices and Dark Web Monitor. Complete adds anti-malware, an ad blocker, a password manager and 1 TB of storage. Prime adds credit monitoring and up to $1M identity theft insurance details → |
| 3. How to cancel and get a refund | Nord Account → Billing → Cancel next to auto-renewal → Cancel auto-renewal, with a confirmation email, per the help center. Refund within 30 days of the first purchase through support; renewals are not refundable; App Store purchases go through Apple. Not tested details → |
| 4. What personal data they ask for — and how to delete it | Checkout asks for an email and payment details, plus a ZIP for tax. NordVPN says it keeps the email, a VPN username and transaction IDs, and no activity logs. Deletion: Nord Account settings with an email code, or a form. One server breached at a Finnish data center in 2018, disclosed 10/21/2019 details → |
| 5. Who can sign up (U.S. only, state limits, age) | Sold worldwide; the terms require users to be 18 or older and are governed by the law of Panama. Sales tax is added at checkout by ZIP. No state limits found details → |
| 6. Support: channels and hours (ET) | 24/7 live chat (an AI chatbot first, then an agent) and an email form; no phone support. No question sent: the chat and the form ask for an email, and we had no test inbox details → |
| 7. What we saw inside the account | Not seen: the Nord Account sign-up page blocked our connection with Cloudflare, and an account is otherwise created only by paying. Apps described from the help center, store listings and owner reports details → |
Free alternatives on this site
If you want a VPN with no card at all, Proton VPN has a permanent free plan. It has no data cap, one device at a time and servers in 10 countries. The Proton VPN free plan page lays out its limits, and NordVPN vs Proton VPN compares the paid plans.
The paid options beyond these two are on the NordVPN alternatives page, and the basics are in what is a VPN.
Is the free plan worth starting with?
There is no free plan, so the real question is which way in costs you least. If you have a card or PayPal and can set a reminder, the 7-day trial costs nothing. If you’d rather not leave a card on file, buy the plan you want and use the 30-day refund if it doesn’t suit you.
Either way, note the renewal price before you start: Basic goes from $74.85 for 15 months to $139.08 a year. The NordVPN review covers the audits, the apps and the owner complaints.
What we checked
- Trial: not started — it needs a card or PayPal, and this site doesn't enter payment details in runs. Terms read from the help center article updated 10/22/2026 and the download page, 10/27/2026
- Checkout: opened without an account on 10/27/2026 and taken to the card form with a New York ZIP. It showed the tax, the total, the renewal price and a coupon field. Nothing was paid
- Coupons: pricing page banners, the checkout and NordVPN's help center checked 10/27/2026. Third-party coupon sites were not used
- Vendor pages: pricing page (U.S. version through a reader), trial, refund and account generator articles, download page — read 10/27/2026
- Not checked: the trial sign-up, the trial reminder email, the cancel screen
FAQ
Is NordVPN free?
No. NordVPN has no free plan as of 10/27/2026. New U.S. users can get a 7-day free trial on 1- and 2-year plans. It needs a credit card or PayPal and turns into a paid plan unless you cancel. Every paid plan also has a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first purchase.
Do I need a credit card for the NordVPN free trial?
Yes, or PayPal. The help center says the trial needs one of those two payment methods. Choosing Google Pay, Union Pay, Sofort or crypto turns the trial option off. You aren't charged during the seven days, but the plan starts by itself at the price shown when you began.
How long is the NordVPN free trial?
Seven days for new users on 1- and 2-year plans, in 15 countries including the U.S., per the help center updated 10/22/2026. Android users who install from Google Play can get a separate 3-day trial that Google manages. One trial per customer.
What happens when the NordVPN trial ends?
The plan you picked starts automatically and you pay the price shown when you started the trial. NordVPN says it emails a reminder of the price and conditions first. To stop it, open the Nord Account, go to Billing and click Cancel next to the free trial.
Is there a NordVPN coupon or promo code?
The discount is built into the intro price, and on 10/27/2026 the pricing page showed a Black Friday banner for “78% off + 3 extra months” on Complete. The checkout has a “Got a coupon?” field. As of 10/27/2026, I couldn't find any public coupon or promo code for NordVPN beyond those.
How much does NordVPN cost after the trial?
Basic was $74.85 for the first 15 months on the U.S. pricing page on 10/27/2026, then $139.08 a year. Complete was $89.85, then $219.48, and Prime $134.85, then $296.28. Monthly plans start at $14.99. Tax is added at checkout.