NordVPN vs ProtonVPN: Which VPN Is Better in 2026?

NordVPN, by four rounds to three, and it is the closest result we have scored. NordVPN wins speed on nearby servers, security features, streaming and the devices-and-support round, which between them describe what using a VPN feels like day to day. ProtonVPN wins price, privacy and server network. Pick NordVPN if you want the better-performing product, more Netflix regions, consoles covered without a router and 24/7 live chat. Pick ProtonVPN if you want open-source apps and audit reports published in full, port forwarding, coverage in far more countries, or a renewal bill of about $84 a year instead of $139.

ProtonVPN, at every term. Month to month it is $9.99 against NordVPN’s $14.99, on the annual plan about $4.49 a month against $5.49, and on the two-year plan about $2.99 against $3.49. The gap that matters most is renewal: ProtonVPN Plus renews at $83.88 a year, about $6.99 a month, while NordVPN Basic renews at roughly $139, so from the second term onward Proton costs about $55 a year less. ProtonVPN also has a free plan with unlimited data on one device, which NordVPN does not offer at all. Both refund within 30 days, though NordVPN refunds in full and Proton prorates.

In most places, yes, but it depends where you connect. In paired 2026 testing on a gigabit line NordVPN reached 903 Mbps in Seattle against ProtonVPN’s 698, and 825 Mbps in New York against 524. In the UK the two were close, 658 against 614. Averaged across those three, NordVPN gives up about 16% of an unprotected connection and ProtonVPN about 35%. Measured as a global average across every region, though, the two sit within two points of each other, and ProtonVPN is the faster of the two on distant servers in Australia and Japan. Both run WireGuard, so the difference is capacity and routing rather than protocol.

ProtonVPN, on the evidence you can check yourself. Every Proton VPN client is open source, its five consecutive annual Securitum no-logs audits are published in full by the auditor rather than released to account holders, and it holds a SOC 2 Type II as well. NordVPN has the better address, Panama, which has no data-retention law and sits outside the intelligence-sharing alliances, and a longer record of six Deloitte engagements since 2018, but its apps are closed source. The live question is Switzerland: a proposed revision to the OSCPT surveillance ordinance would require user identification and up to six months of data retention. It has not passed, Proton has said it would leave the country if it does, and it has already moved most of its infrastructure out.

Ten each, on every paid plan, which makes this one of the few specs where the two are genuinely level. ProtonVPN’s free plan is limited to one device. Both count simultaneous connections rather than registered devices, so you can install the app on as many machines as you like and only ten can be connected at once. Both also support manual installation on a compatible router, which covers everything on your Wi-Fi through a single connection, and neither sells its own router hardware. On ProtonVPN a router setup gives up the Stealth protocol; on NordVPN the full protocol set is available.

NordVPN. Both unblocked Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer and Prime Video in our checks, so this is about reach and smoothness rather than access. NordVPN reliably reaches more than fifteen Netflix regions to ProtonVPN’s ten or so, and played back without buffering where Proton delivered full HD with occasional loading delays. Both have native apps for Apple TV, Android TV and Fire TV, and NordVPN adds Nvidia Shield. For a games console the difference is larger: NordVPN includes SmartPlay smart DNS at no extra cost, so a PlayStation or Xbox needs only a settings change, while ProtonVPN has no smart DNS and requires a router.

Largely, yes. Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on new subscriptions, so you can buy the other one, run it for a few weeks and refund whichever you like less. Read the terms first, because they differ: NordVPN refunds the full amount, while ProtonVPN prorates the refund to the days you did not use. ProtonVPN also has a free plan with unlimited data, so you can try it for as long as you like before paying anything. On both sides the trap is auto-renewal, since the intro price covers the first term only. That matters more for NordVPN, at roughly $139 a year against ProtonVPN’s $84.