On the surface, NordVPN looks like a really impressive service. It claims to have a huge global server network, the ability to unblock tons of streaming platforms, and iron-clad security and privacy features. Plus, you can get it all for just $3.19/month. That all sounds great, but is there a catch?

To find out, I did an in-depth analysis of NordVPN. I tested its speeds and how well it performs when you’re streaming, torrenting, or gaming. Additionally, I dug deep into its security features, making sure it can truly keep you safe online. I also looked into its location, privacy policy, and independent audits to see how trustworthy it is.

Overall, NordVPN is a fast, safe, and reliable VPN. I got superfast speeds on nearby and long-distance servers. Plus, I was able to unblock an impressive number of geoblocked streaming platforms. NordVPN also has world-class security and privacy features and it’s backed by a legit 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out without risk.

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NordVPN is excellent for streaming. Although it doesn’t have streaming-optimized servers, its proprietary NordLynx protocol offers fast speeds, making it possible to stream in Ultra HD quality.

My global team of testers confirmed that NordVPN offers smooth and reliable connections for several major streaming platforms. Each team member tested the streaming sites licensed in their location and reported no hiccups in their streaming quality.

Our international team of testers confirmed NordVPN works with 30+ global streaming platforms, including:

Works With: 15+ Netflix Libraries

My team tested NordVPN from 15+ locations, and it provided seamless connections for each respective Netflix library, including in the US, UK, Canada, and Japan. While in the US, I connected to its New York server and was able to watch Shameless on Netflix US in Ultra HD without interruptions.

The picture quality remained the same throughout the entire episode as I streamed Netflix from the US

Works With: Disney+

I used the auto-connect feature to be paired to the fastest US server based on my US location, and Disney+ loaded within seconds. I watched Inside Out in UHD without any buffering the entire time.

Use Quick Connect to get the optimal streaming speeds for your location

Even when I used servers across the country, the video quality never dropped, and I experienced no slowdowns.

Works With: Hulu

NordVPN has a huge US server network, so it’s easy to find a local server for streaming Hulu. While in the US, I tested a couple of servers on the East and West Coasts, and each gave me a speedy and reliable connection.

The video loaded instantly, and the quality remained the same while watching

Seeing as NordVPN offers multiple Japanese servers (in Tokyo and Osaka) you can also use it to watch Hulu JP if you’re in Japan.

Works With: BBC iPlayer

If you’re located in the UK, you can use NordVPN to watch UK-exclusive platforms like BBC iPlayer. My teammates located in the UK confirmed that it works reliably with the platform.

NordVPN played Champion on BBC iPlayer safely and in great quality

There are over 440 fast and secure UK servers spread across London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. So it’s easy to find a local UK connection for watching BBC iPlayer from the UK without buffering.

Also Works With: Max, Amazon Prime Video, ITVX, ESPN+, and Others

While in the UK, you can also use NordVPN to safely watch ITVX. There are a lot of UK servers to choose from, and most of them offer fast speeds for HD streaming.

NordVPN also works with Max and Amazon Prime Video — each of the US servers I tried from my location in the US gave me fast speeds and a stable connection, so I could stream all my favorite shows smoothly.

If you’re a sports fan from the US, you can also use NordVPN to watch ESPN+ and DAZN. Live NBA games on ESPN+ loaded in less than 10 seconds, and the video quality never dropped below HD while I streamed from the US. You can use the auto-connect feature to find the fastest US server based on your US location to watch live and on-demand games lag-free.

Doesn’t Work With: Sky Go

As per our UK team of testers, the only platform that NordVPN didn’t work with reliably was Sky Go.

Our testers in the UK got the error code on Sky Go with all NordVPN UK server locations

Our UK testers tried all its UK server locations, including London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Manchester, but none of them worked with Sky Go. After getting an error code, they decided to reach out to a support representative through the 24/7 live chat.

The live chat agent gave them a few troubleshooting tips, like trying a different server or protocol, but none of them worked. This isn’t a huge issue, as NordVPN worked well with other UK platforms.

Overall, the team and I were impressed by NordVPN’s streaming abilities. It worked well with almost all platforms we tried and got consistently fast speeds for smooth streaming.

NordVPN offers very fast speeds on most servers. Considering it’s normal for a VPN to drop your speeds by at least 20%, I was impressed by how fast it is, especially on some of the longer-distance servers.

Here is what I focused on while testing NordVPN’s speeds:

• Download speed refers to the time it takes to download data, such as images, music, and video from the internet to your device. It’s measured in Mbps (megabits per second).
• Upload speed is the time it takes for data to travel between your computer and the internet. It can affect how long it takes to upload a video from your computer to the internet. It’s also measured in Mbps.
• Ping refers to how long it takes for data to travel back and forth between your device and the game server. The lower the ping the better speeds for gaming you will get. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms).

We measured NordVPN’s speeds over the course of a few months from the same location in the UK. All the tests were conducted using NordLynx, as it offers the fastest speeds. In the chart below, you can see the average speeds reached by each server.

Download speeds dropped an average of 4% on nearby locations and 22% on long-distance servers

These are some of the best VPN speeds in the industry. On nearby servers, it’s barely noticeable you’re using a VPN, as they’re nearly identical to the baseline connection. Speeds on some of the long-distance locations, like Australia, are particularly impressive, and far better than what some other VPNs have to offer (many VPNs drop your speeds by over 50% at those distances).

Local Speed

The following results show baseline speeds without the VPN connected:

No VPN (London, UK)

NordVPN’s nearby server speeds were measured using the NordLynx protocol and the Quick Connect option (which automatically connects you to the server with the fastest speeds for your location). The server we tested was located in London, and speeds were almost as fast as our base connection.

London, UK

The next speed test shows results from France, a nearby country. Surprisingly, speeds were even faster than the ones from within the same base country (the UK).

Paris, France

Next, we tested a couple of other servers in nearby countries (Germany and Poland) and had identical results. In both cases, speeds never dropped by more than 4%.

The Paris server was even faster than the UK server, where our tests were conducted

With that in mind, it’s safe to say you’ll get excellent speeds if you use NordVPN’s nearby locations for streaming or browsing, even if your base speeds aren’t as fast as our tester’s.

Long-Distance Speed

As expected, NordVPN’s speeds dropped more the further away the server was, but were still very fast. For instance, I was impressed by the results on servers in the US. There was an average speed loss of only 10% on the New York and Los Angeles servers, which is above average compared to most VPNs.

Here are the speed results of the New York and Los Angeles servers, respectively.

New York, United States

Los Angeles, New York

Then, servers in more distant locations were tested, such as Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

NordVPN was surprisingly fast on faraway servers, with speeds never dropping by more than 36%

The Brazil and Japan servers dropped speeds by only 21% and 35%, respectively. The biggest loss was on the Australia server, where speeds only reached 69.11 Mbps (36% speed loss). Many VPNs drop your speeds by half at distances of over 15,000 km, so this is still really impressive.

Overall, NordVPN offers excellent speeds. Even if you have lower base speeds, you won’t encounter speed losses that are too significant, so you’ll most likely experience no considerable slowdowns while using the VPN.

NordVPN is a good VPN for gaming. It allowed me to play without lag on all nearby servers and some long-distance ones. Naturally, the ping increased the further away the server was from my location.

To test how the VPN performs, I played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on my Windows PC while connected to the optimal server for my location. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the game to start, and my ping remained consistently below 60 ms.

I used the NordLynx protocol while playing CS: GO for the best speeds

A ping rate under 100 ms is usually considered optimal for gaming, so these are excellent results. In comparison, I got a ping of 50 ms with no VPN connected, so there wasn’t any noticeable difference in gameplay when I played with NordVPN.

To see how the VPN performed at longer distances, our testers from the UK first tried the New York server. The ping rate never dropped below the 75 ms mark, and they experienced no considerable slowdown. It did, however, take longer (around 4 minutes) for the game to load. As expected, there was some lagging with the Los Angeles server, but the game was still playable.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case with even longer-distance servers. I experienced significant lagging on the Japan connection, so playing a fast-paced game like CS: GO was hardly an enjoyable experience (I got killed off a few times because I couldn’t respond fast enough to other players). The Australia server gave me a ping rate of around 200 ms, so it was impossible to play at those distances.

Overall, NordVPN is a solid VPN for gaming, as long as you stick to servers that aren’t too far from your location. Luckily, the VPN operates a huge server network worldwide, so finding an optimal server for lag-free gaming shouldn’t be a problem.

NordVPN has good global coverage, with 5,974 servers in 60 countries. Most servers are in Europe and North America, with strong representation in the UK and the USA (there are thousands of servers spread across 15 cities in the US). However, smaller European countries like Andorra and Liechtenstein, as well as less popular VPN locations such as China, Russia, and Pakistan, lack server support.

Almost all of NordVPN’s servers are colocated (owned and maintained by its staff). The only exceptions are its remote locations. This is a much safer alternative than simply renting their VPN servers. Plus, it uses RAM-only servers (volatile memory), which means your data isn’t written to memory like it is on traditional hard drive servers.

You can also connect to the fastest server for your location with “Quick Connect”

While virtual servers are common among VPNs, especially in countries where VPNs are banned, NordVPN operates exclusively physical servers. Virtual servers can sometimes provide better performance when they are closer to the user's physical location than the country they wish to connect to, so it would be nice to have this option.

Aside from its regular connections, NordVPN also offers specialty security servers, such as Double VPN, P2P optimized, Obfuscated, and Onion over VPN servers. It also offers dedicated IP addresses, but they are not included in its regular subscription plans. If you’re willing to pay extra for a dedicated IP address, you can choose between 7 US locations (Buffalo, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Miami) and the following:

P2P Optimized Servers

Unfortunately, it doesn’t support torrenting on all servers, but NordVPN has an optimized server network for P2P sharing.

P2P servers are available in 50+ countries worldwide

Obfuscated Servers

NordVPN’s Obfuscated servers offer the ultimate stealth by disguising your VPN traffic as normal internet traffic. They’re so effective that they’ve allowed NordVPN to work in restrictive countries like Russia, as well as on restricted networks like at work and school.

You can only use NordVPN’s obfuscated servers with the OpenVPN (TCP) protocol. If you’re not seeing the obfuscated server option in the main dashboard, simply change the protocol in your VPN’s settings, and you’ll see them listed under Specialty Servers.

Click on the dropdown menu to choose a specific country to connect to

Onion Over VPN Servers

When visiting the Dark Web, you need an extra layer of protection. If your ISP knows you’re accessing the Dark Web, they could alert the authorities or flag your traffic as suspicious. This can put you in a tough spot if something bad happens. NordVPN’s Onion over VPN servers prevents your ISP from seeing that you’re using Tor.

Instead, all your ISP can see is that you’re using a VPN. Only NordVPN will know that you’re using Dark Web — but since it doesn’t keep any logs and all of your data is wiped from the servers with every reboot, this won’t affect your privacy.

NordVPN’s Onion over VPN servers have the added benefit of allowing you to access .onion websites from any browser. This saves you the trouble of downloading and using the Tor or Onion browser.

Double VPN Servers

These servers are also known as multi-hop servers. When you use NordVPN’s Double VPN servers, your traffic goes through two servers. So, you’ll get an extra layer of encryption, which makes your data nigh uncrackable. These servers are available on Windows, macOS, and iOS.

These will slow down your speeds significantly, so I don’t recommend them for everyday use

Even though it can boost your security, it’s not recommended for everyday use, torrenting, or streaming because it will slow your speeds down. If you just want to browse, stream, or torrent, it’s best to have it off.

I tested the speeds to see what kind of results I would get. It wasn’t as bad as I expected (after all, my traffic had to run through two different servers), but I still wouldn’t recommend it. A 54% drop can be really huge for someone with lower download speeds.

NordVPN gives you all of the security essentials, plus more. This includes military-grade encryption, strong protection against IP/DNS leaks, a powerful malware blocker, and a highly customizable kill switch. It also uses multi-factor authentication so you can safeguard your NordVPN account from unauthorized logins.

There are also several reputable protocols to choose from, including NordLynx, which is NordVPN’s very own proprietary protocol. For added protection, NordVPN lets you connect to its double VPN servers that route your traffic through an additional VPN server.

Overall, security is one of NordVPN’s strongest sides. It outperforms most other VPNs in this category, and it’s hard to think of any security feature that’s missing.

Military-Grade Encryption and 3 Secure Protocols

NordVPN protects your data with AES 256-bit encryption, which is a standard in the industry and used by governments and banks. This encryption is so hard to crack through with brute force attacks that it would take hackers billions of years to get through it.

Plus, it uses the SHA-512 hash function, which means it scrambles your login credentials into 512 meaningless pieces of data. These hashes are compared to the ones stored on the server upon signing up. You are only given access to your account if they match.

NordVPN is one of the few VPNs to offer the SHA-512 function (most providers use SHA-256). This makes it very difficult for hackers to gain access to your account.

You also get protected by Perfect Forward Secrecy, which changes your encryption key regularly. So, even if a hacker grabs the key and accesses your data, it limits how much of your information they can access.

NordVPN offers three secure protocols:

• NordLynx protocol — Based on WireGuard, this speed-boosting protocol is set as the default on NordVPN’s apps. Since WireGuard isn’t the safest protocol yet, NordVPN combines it with double NAT, which ensures that no identifying data ends up on the server. It’s available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS.
• OpenVPN protocol — You can choose between UDP and TCP versions. UDP is the faster one, so it’s good for streaming, but the TCP version is more secure. It’s available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.
• IKEv2/IPSec protocol —This protocol is good for boosting security and privacy, and it’s available on Apple devices. It’s also good for mobile devices using a 3G or 4G LTE connection because it’s quicker at restoring dropped connections.

The Windows app supports the NordLynx, OpenVPN (UDP), and OpenVPN (TCP) protocols

Strong Leak Protection and Advanced Kill Switch

NordVPN offers full protection against DNS, WebRTC, and IP leaks. Your DNS requests can be used by your ISP to snoop on your browsing activity, so it’s essential for a VPN provider to keep them private.

Thankfully, NordVPN runs its own DNS servers, which ensures strong DNS leak protection and privacy. The best part is that this feature is turned on by default, so there’s no need to change any settings to stay safe.

I felt confident that no-one could snoop on my connection while I was using NordVPN

I tested 10+ of its servers across the globe with ipleak.net, and I never experienced any data leaks. With each test, the site only showed the IP address and DNS server that I was connected to with NordVPN, while my real IP address and location remained hidden.

NordVPN’s kill switch ensures your personal info and data won’t be revealed, even if your VPN connection drops. On Windows and macOS, NordVPN has two different kill switch options.

• Internet Kill Switch will completely shut down your internet access when you’re not connected to the VPN or if your connection drops. It’s available with every NordVPN app except the macOS OpenVPN client (you need to use its IKEv2 client, which has both types of switches). This is great for added security when you’re torrenting or using Tor.
• App Kill Switch allows you to choose which apps will get closed if your connection fails. So, for example, you can choose to shut down Google Chrome or a different browser but not your other apps. This is available on Windows and Mac OS. It’s good to use when you’re streaming, so the streaming platform won’t detect that you’re using a VPN and block you.

Like with most other VPNs, the kill switch option is not on by default, so you have to manually enable it when you download the VPN app. But, you only have to toggle it on once.

The app kill switch option is only available on Windows and macOS

Once I turned on the internet kill switch, I got temporarily disconnected from the internet every time I switched servers.

The kill switch function is available on all NordVPN apps, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. To activate it on Android, you need to enable the “Always On VPN” and “Block Connections Without VPN” options in the device’s settings.

Split Tunneling

With the split tunneling feature, you can choose which apps you want (and don’t want) encrypted. This helps free up some bandwidth and speed up your connection. It’s useful when you need extra protection to use certain websites since you can protect those and leave the rest of your traffic unencrypted.

This option is available on Windows and Android (Android TV as well). To turn this on, just go to settings and press the toggle button. Then, pick what apps should use a VPN connection.

Since it doesn’t encrypt unnecessary traffic, split tunneling also helps prevent speed loss

If you turn this setting off, all of your traffic will be routed through NordVPN. The same thing happens if you get a NordVPN extension — essentially, you’ll only protect your browser, but not all of the traffic traveling from your device. You can also select which websites can bypass the VPN connection.

Threat Protection

NordVPN’s Threat Protection protects you from ads and trackers while browsing. Plus, it detects malware on any files downloaded. Threat Protection is available on the Windows and Mac apps, and you can also get it as a separate product, no active VPN subscription is required.

What’s particularly impressive about this feature is that it works continuously, even when the VPN is disconnected.

You can customize Threat Protection to your preference by switching the toggle buttons on/off

I tested Threat Protection on my Windows PC and was impressed by the results. It effectively blocked most banner and pop-up ads on sites like Forbes and Daily Mail. I also tried visiting a few known malicious websites, but Threat Protection stopped me every time.

This only applies to the Windows and Mac apps, though. On Android, iOS, and Linux devices, the feature is called Threat Protection Lite, and it only works when you connect to a VPN server. Also, Threat Protection Lite doesn’t delete malware from downloaded files.

Meshnet

Meshnet is one of NordVPN’s most unique features. It allows you to connect different devices all over the world through encrypted private tunnels. Powered through NordVPN’s NordLynx technology, it works as a virtual encrypted LAN to connect your devices. For example, you could easily access files from a friend in another country, and the connection between your 2 devices would be secure.

You can also funnel traffic from 2 devices through one IP address. This gives you access to additional residential IPs. You’ll typically be using data center IPs with a VPN, which are more likely to get banned than home addresses (residential IPs).

However, I recommend sticking to the VPN’s servers more often than not because connections like this won’t be encrypted, leaving the data on your devices vulnerable.

It’s easy to use the Meshnet feature. All you have to do is enable it on your device and link a new device by sending an invitation. You’ll send this link through an email. This will send them a special IP address assigned to the device you installed the NordVPN app on.

Once you’re linked up, you can use Meshnet for sharing files, streaming, and gaming. You can connect up to 6 devices to NordVPN, which will automatically be linked with Meshnet once it’s enabled. In addition, you can connect up to 50 external devices with Meshnet. I really like this feature, and it makes NordVPN stand out.

Dark Web Monitor

This is another unique feature — NordVPN’s Dark Web Monitor detects if your email address appears on a leaked database on the dark web.

It’s available on macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS, and it’s simple to set up — you can enable it with a single click. The tool runs quietly in the background, and you don’t need to be connected to the VPN for it to work.

On desktop, Dark Web Monitor is readily available in the left-hand side menu

I enabled it on my Windows PC and was immediately notified that there were no leaks associated with my email address on the dark web.

Incogni

Incogni is a bonus security feature that you can only get for an extra fee on top of your regular NordVPN subscription. It’s a data removal service that sends that contacts various data brokers that likely have your personal information, such as your email, phone number, and location, and asks them to remove it from their database.

NordVPN claims it keeps no logs, and this has been proven true several times with audits by independent organizations like Deloitte. It’s also based in Panama, a privacy-friendly jurisdiction that’s outside the reach of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.

Overall, it has a strong reputation as one of the most trustworthy VPNs today. Still, it’s recently made a small change in its privacy policy that has raised some concerns and is worth taking a closer look into.

Does NordVPN Keep Logs? No, but It May Oblige Legal Requests

NordVPN has a strict no-logs policy — it collects no personal information that can be used to identify you, like your IP address, or traffic and connection logs. It only retains information needed to create your account, like your email address, subscription data, and billing information.

This isn’t a huge deal, as you can always use a burner email address and pay with cryptocurrency if you want to remain completely anonymous.

However, NordVPN has recently made a subtle change in its privacy policy that is a bit concerning. It previously stated that it will not comply with any requests made from foreign governments to share or log user data.

However, it’s now changed the wording to imply that it will comply with data requests made by law enforcement only if they’re in line with the regulations of the jurisdiction in which it operates.

Thankfully, it’s based in Panama, so it’s not obliged to store logs of user data

The company has since clarified that the wording was misinterpreted and that even though it stores no user data, it would have no other option if required to do so by law. Luckily, it’s been proven that NordVPN doesn’t log vital information, like your IP address or online activity, so it doesn’t have much to share.

Still, this raises the question of how dedicated the VPN truly is to protecting user privacy.

Was NordVPN Audited? Yes

In December 2022, NordVPN’s no logs policy was audited for the third time. The audit was performed by Deloitte, an independent security organization, and it proved that NordVPN really stands by its no-logs claims — it doesn’t monitor user activity or store any personally identifiable information on its servers.

On top of that, it underwent a security audit performed by Cure53 in the same year. In this analysis, the third-party auditor conducted a thorough test on NordVPN’s servers, infrastructure, and apps. All vulnerabilities that were found were fixed by NordVPN’s developers and approved by Cure53.

Based in Panama

One of the great things about NordVPN is its location. It’s owned by Tefincom S.A and its headquarters are in Panama which is based outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. This Alliance is an organization of countries and governments that have intrusive data retention policies, and it includes countries like the US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc. Since Panama is not a part of it, it doesn’t have to share your information with others.

The privacy policy also verifies that it would only react to a request from a court in Panama.

As a bonus, NordVPN publishes a warrant canary on a daily basis. This means that it shares any requests for user information it gets from governments and companies, such as gag orders, warrants, etc.

Does NordVPN Work in China? It Might

NordVPN might be able to work in China, but it may take some configurations to do so. It didn’t use to work in China in the past, but its support team confirmed it can work — although, this is not guaranteed.

The live chat agent informed me that I needed to set up a manual IKEv2 connection to use the VPN in China and sent me a comprehensive guide on the topic. Plus, they sent me a list of servers that work best for China. I also learned that this method doesn’t currently work on Windows devices, but its team is currently working on a solution to fix this.

NordVPN’s support agent gave me a few troubleshooting tips on how to use the VPN in China

China has one of the toughest internet restrictions of any country, so it’s a huge plus that NordVPN is now able to get around them.

NordVPN doesn’t currently have any servers in China, so you can’t get a China IP address if you need one.

Please bear in mind that most VPNs are banned in China and other countries with strict censorship. The vpnMentor team and I don’t condone using VPNs illegally, so you should always read up on your local law and use VPNs responsibly.

NordVPN doesn’t allow torrenting on all its servers, but it has dedicated servers for P2P sharing that are built for fast speeds and strong security. These servers are easily accessible from the Specialty Servers section in the main interface. They are located in 50+ countries worldwide, so you have a lot of options to choose from to torrent safely and anonymously.

Plus, the VPN will automatically connect you to one of these servers if it detects P2P traffic, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally using a regular server while torrenting.

To test how these servers perform, I first connected to the fasted P2P server for my location. Then, I started downloading Carnival of Souls (copyright-free) on qBittorrent. The 1.16 GB file took less than 12 minutes to download. This is impressive, and no different from the time it usually takes for me to download a 1 GB file without a VPN connection.

Next, I connected to a P2P-optimized server in Serbia, as I wanted to see how the VPN holds up when torrenting over long distances. It didn’t take more than 5 minutes to download It’s a Wonderful Life (700MB).

NordVPN will automatically find the fastest P2P server for you based on your location

NordVPN also offers several features that ensure your personal data will stay safe and private while torrenting. These include an advanced kill switch that will protect you from any accidental leaks. Plus, it has strong IP/DNS leak protection and is based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction.

The only thing I didn’t like is that NordVPN doesn’t support port forwarding. This feature can help your torrenting client get the necessary data packets to connect directly to incoming connections from other clients, which can otherwise get blocked by your router. This can greatly improve speeds, but it’s not considered safe, so it’s not offered by many VPNs.

My team and I don’t condone any illegal activities. Remember that most content that’s available to torrent is protected by copyright, so it’s illegal to download. You should always check the laws and regulations of your country before using NordVPN for torrenting, and make sure the content you want to download is in the public domain.