NordVPN vs Proton VPN: Which Is Better in 2026?

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Both companies have affiliate programs this site may join, so both get buttons. Neither let us into an account on 10/27/2026: NordVPN’s sign-up page blocked our connection, and Proton’s free sign-up stopped at a human verification step. Both checkouts went as far as the card form.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	NordVPN	Proton VPN
Our score	7.0/10	8.6/10
Company	Nord Security; terms name nordvpn S.A., Panama	Proton AG, Geneva, under the Proton Foundation
Free plan	No; 7-day trial with a card or PayPal	Yes: 1 device, 10 countries, no data cap
Cheapest paid plan, first term	$74.85 for 15 months (Basic)	$53.88 for 12 months (VPN Plus)
Renewal, per year	$139.08 (Basic)	$83.88 (VPN Plus)
Monthly	$14.99	$9.99
Devices	10	10 on Plus, 1 on Free
Tax and renewal before the card	Yes: 8.875% NY tax, $74.96, renewal printed	Yes: 8.875% NY tax, US$58.66, renewal printed
Refund	30 days on the first purchase	30 days on the initial purchase
No-logs audits	PwC and Deloitte, six times, latest 12/2025; report after login	Securitum yearly 2022–2026; public reports
Disclosed incidents	One rented server in Finland, 2018 (disclosed 10/2019)	None found as of 10/27/2026
Extras	Malware and ad blocking, password manager, storage, credit monitoring in higher plans	NetShield blocker on Plus; Mail, Pass, Drive in Unlimited
Support	24/7 chat (AI first) and email; no phone	Form and email; live chat on paid plans
Check prices	See plans	See plans

Prices verified on 10/27/2026 on NordVPN’s and Proton VPN’s sites. NordVPN’s figures come from the U.S. version of its pricing page, because our browser was shown Canadian dollars.

Price: free plan, first term and renewal

Proton VPN is cheaper at every step. Its free plan costs nothing and has no data cap. VPN Plus was $53.88 for the first 12 months on 10/27/2026, then $83.88 a year, and the 2-year term renews at the same $83.88. NordVPN has no free plan. Basic was $74.85 for the first 15 months, then $139.08 a year.

NordVPN’s per-month intro price looks close, $4.99 against Proton’s $4.49. The gap opens at renewal: $55.20 a year more for NordVPN Basic, and more for Complete and Prime. NordVPN’s higher plans add a password manager, storage and, in Prime, credit monitoring, which Proton sells separately in its own apps.

Checkout: tax and renewal before the card

Both checkouts did what most subscriptions don’t. With New York billing, both added 8.875% sales tax and printed the renewal price above the payment button, before any account existed. NordVPN’s total for Basic was $74.96, Proton’s for VPN Plus US$58.66.

The differences are in the small print. NordVPN’s offer terms allow renewal charges up to 14 days before the renewal date, after an email notice. Proton names no renewal date at checkout. NordVPN’s checkout also priced our non-U.S. connection at $68.85 instead of the U.S. page’s $74.85, so check the base price before you pay.

Logging and audits

Both say they keep no activity logs, and both have paid outside firms to check. NordVPN’s no-logs policy was reviewed by PwC in 2018 and 2020 and by Deloitte from 2022 to 12/2025, per its own posts. The full reports open only after you log in to a Nord Account.

Proton’s has been audited by Securitum every year from 2022 to 2026, and each report is linked as a public file. Its apps are open source. The one incident on record is NordVPN’s: a single rented server in Finland, accessed in 2018 and disclosed by NordVPN on 10/21/2019. I found no FTC case against either company.

Speed: what independent tests show

We don’t run our own speed tests. Two outlets tested both VPNs on the same rig in 2026, and they disagree.

• CNET (Moe Long, 10/20/2026) measured average download speed loss: 27.2% for NordVPN and 40.8% for Proton VPN, on 1 Gbps Ethernet and 500 Mbps Wi-Fi.
• Tom’s Guide (tests in 03/2026) used a Windows cloud PC on a 10 Gbps line in the eastern U.S.: 1,249 Mbps for NordVPN and 1,475 Mbps for Proton VPN.

Both outlets say they may earn affiliate commissions. On a typical home connection, either is likely to be limited by your own line before the VPN.

Apps, devices and servers

Both cover Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV, with browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Both allow 10 devices on paid plans and count a router as one. Proton Free allows one device. Both document a kill switch on their main platforms, and NordVPN’s isn’t available on Fire TV Stick.

NordVPN claims “thousands” of servers across 225 locations. Proton’s pages give several counts on the same day, from 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries on the pricing page to 21,722 servers in 149 countries on its servers page. Owners of both reported dropped connections in 10/2026.

Support and refunds

NordVPN runs 24/7 live chat, starting with an AI chatbot, plus an email form, and no phone. Proton offers a support form and an email address to everyone and live chat on paid plans, with no published hours. I sent neither a question, because both ask for an email address and I had no test inbox.

Both give 30 days on the first purchase. NordVPN’s help center describes an automated refund button after you contact support. Proton’s terms route refunds through the support form, and Trustpilot reviewers in 10/2026 said some refunds came as account credit.

Company, jurisdiction and the fine print

NordVPN’s terms of service, last updated 08/10/2026, name nordvpn S.A. in Panama City as the contracting company. They require users to be 18 or older and point disputes to the courts of Panama. Federal court records list eight lawsuits by individual plaintiffs against nordvpn S.A. and related companies from 2024 to 2026. In one, the parties reported a signed class action settlement agreement on 07/28/2026.

Proton’s terms, last modified 10/09/2026, name Proton AG in Geneva, under the supervision of the non-profit Proton Foundation. Users can join from 13 with a parent’s consent. U.S. consumers agree to individual arbitration and a class action waiver, with a right to opt out. I found no consumer class action against Proton AG on CourtListener.

One practical difference sits in the account. Deleting Proton VPN deletes your whole Proton Account, including any Proton Mail address on it. Deleting a Nord Account ends every Nord product on that login, including NordPass.

What owners say about each

I read the newest posts in r/nordvpn and r/ProtonVPN through an archive, and the newest U.S. App Store reviews of both apps, on 10/27/2026. I didn’t verify each case.

• Both: dropped connections led the complaints. NordVPN owners described apps stuck on “Connecting…,” and Proton owners described traffic stopping for seconds at a time on iPhone.
• NordVPN: refunds and renewal charges. An App Store reviewer wrote on 10/16/2026 that a $4.99 offer was “billed as $121 annually” in small print. An iPhone redesign that replaced Disconnect with Pause also drew posts.
• Proton VPN: sites, banks and streaming apps rejecting its addresses, and upgrades bought through Google Play or Apple that didn’t apply. On Trustpilot, refunds paid as account credit.

The store ratings are close: NordVPN had 4.7 from 711,493 App Store ratings, Proton VPN 4.6 from 124,948. Trustpilot is not: 4.2 from 51,355 reviews for NordVPN, 2.1 from 1,021 for Proton VPN. Both companies invite reviews there, and NordVPN’s profile shows a paid Trustpilot subscription.

What it’s like to be a U.S. customer

	NordVPN	Proton VPN
What you’ll pay at checkout	$74.85 for 15 months plus tax; renewal $139.08 shown before the card	$53.88 for 12 months plus tax; renewal $83.88 shown before the card
How to cancel	Nord Account → Billing → Cancel next to auto-renewal → Cancel auto-renewal	Subscription → Cancel subscription → Continue → confirm → reason
Refund	30 days, first purchase, via support	30 days, initial purchase, via the support form
Deleting your data	Self-service with an email code, or a form	Self-service; deletes the whole Proton Account
Who can sign up	Worldwide; 18 or older; Panama law	Worldwide; 13 or older with consent; arbitration for U.S. users
Support	24/7 chat and email; no phone	Form and email; chat on paid plans

Details are in the NordVPN review and the Proton VPN review.

Who should pick NordVPN

• You want a password manager, cloud storage or U.S. credit monitoring in the same subscription.
• You’ll pay for two years and accept the renewal price after that.
• You want 24/7 live chat without paying extra for it.
• Your use is on a fast line where CNET’s result, the smaller speed loss, is the one that matters.

Who should pick Proton VPN

• You want a free VPN with no data cap, or a paid plan that renews for less.
• You want audit reports you can read without logging in.
• You already use Proton Mail or Pass.
• You don’t need extras beyond the VPN and an ad and malware blocker.

Verdict

Proton VPN wins this one, 8.6 to 7.0 on this site’s scores. It has the free plan, the lower renewal price and the more open audit record. NordVPN’s case is the bundle: if you’d pay for a password manager and storage anyway, Complete folds them into one bill.

Neither opened an account for us, so both scores rest on documents, the checkouts and owners. Before you buy either, read the renewal line above the payment button, and set a reminder. The full pictures are in the Proton VPN review and the NordVPN review. The NordVPN alternatives page adds Surfshark, PIA and others.

What we checked

• Test accounts: none at either. NordVPN's sign-up page blocked our connection on 10/27/2026, and Proton's free sign-up stopped at a human verification step the same day
• Checkouts: both taken to the card form without an account on 10/27/2026, with New York billing. Both showed the tax, the total and the renewal price before the card. Nothing was paid
• Vendor pages: both pricing pages, both checkouts, both help centers on trials or free plans, cancellation, refunds, deletion, support and logging, both terms of service, both audit posts — read 10/27/2026
• Speed: no test of our own. CNET (10/20/2026) and Tom's Guide (03/2026) tested both on the same rig, and both outlets earn affiliate commissions
• Owners: the newest r/nordvpn and r/ProtonVPN posts via an archive, the newest U.S. App Store reviews, Trustpilot, Google Play and Chrome Web Store ratings of both — read 10/27/2026

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