Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN are mid-priced digital non-public community providers that conceal your IP deal with and web looking exercise from exterior observers. Each merchandise goal people, households and small companies with 10 customers or fewer. Whereas they appear related, their differing capabilities and logging insurance policies make NordVPN the clear selection for any privacy-conscious consumer.
Beneath, I evaluate Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN primarily based on necessary components like connection pace, server choices, privateness insurance policies and buyer assist. I additionally clarify why I belief NordVPN over Norton on the subject of web privateness.
- Norton Safe VPN: Finest for current Norton 360 customers who aren’t significantly involved about torrenting or privateness.
- NordVPN: Finest for any privacy-conscious customers who want a quick, safe connection for torrenting and streaming.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Comparability desk
| Beginning worth | ||
| Server pool | ||
| Supported gadgets | ||
| Streaming providers | ||
| Simultaneous connections | ||
| VPN options | ||
| Further security measures | Plus and Final plans, password supervisor, information breach scanner, encrypted cloud storage and cyber safety insurance coverage |
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| Privateness insurance policies | ||
| Buyer assist | ||
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Pricing
Norton Safe VPN pricing
Norton doesn’t supply a free trial of its standalone VPN product, however you may get a seven-day free trial of its Norton 360 safety platform that features the VPN service.
Pricing for Norton Safe VPN is damaged down into three plans relying on the variety of gadgets you wish to defend. There is no such thing as a month-to-month subscription choice — you need to decide to at the least one yr. If you would like further security measures, you should purchase certainly one of two Norton 360 plans. Norton 360 Normal consists of menace safety, 2GB cloud backup storage (for Home windows solely), darkish net monitoring and a password supervisor for as much as three gadgets. Norton 360 Deluxe will increase the quantity of cloud backup storage to 50GB and provides parental controls (not obtainable for Mac) and privateness monitoring for as much as 5 gadgets.
SEE: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which VPN Is Finest? (TechRepublic)
Norton is at the moment providing promotional pricing for the primary yr of service, however then the worth jumps considerably even for a standalone VPN plan.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for 1 gadget: $29.99 for the primary yr, then $49.99 per yr.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for five gadgets: $39.99 for the primary yr, then $79.99 per yr.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for 10 gadgets: $59.99 for the primary yr, then $99.99 per yr.
- Norton 360 Normal + VPN for 3 gadgets: $39.99 for the primary yr, then $94.99 per yr.
- Norton 360 Deluxe + VPN for five gadgets: $49.99 for the primary yr, then $119.99 per yr.
NordVPN pricing
NordVPN presents a free trial (with a bank card) should you join on an Android gadget. Its service is damaged down into three plans, with pricing reductions should you decide to a yr or extra. The Primary plan consists of the complete VPN service. Plus consists of all the pieces within the Primary plan in addition to menace safety, a password supervisor and an information breach scanner. Final consists of all the pieces in Plus and 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. The Plus plan presents the perfect worth to your buck, particularly should you’re going to decide to a two-year subscription.
- NordVPN Primary: $3.39 monthly for two years, $4.99 monthly for 1 yr, $12.99 monthly for month-to-month.
- NordVPN Plus: $4.39 monthly for two years, $5.99 monthly for 1 yr, $13.99 monthly for month-to-month.
- NordVPN Final: $6.39 monthly for two years, $7.99 monthly for 1 yr, $15.99 monthly for month-to-month.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Function comparability
Pace
Winner: Tie
Regardless of a smaller server pool, Norton Safe VPN offered a surprisingly seamless looking and streaming expertise with none noticeable drops in pace or efficiency in comparison with my baseline web connection. NordVPN is thought for having among the finest VPN speeds in its worth vary, so I wasn’t anticipating Norton to be a severe contender on this class.
With that stated, I stay close to a serious regional hub with an optimum server close by. Since Norton’s world unfold is proscribed in comparison with NordVPN, I might anticipate customers in some areas won’t have the identical expertise.
SEE: Is a VPN Actually Price It in 2024? (TechRepublic)
I’ve used NordVPN a number of instances in recent times, and regardless of the place I’m, I’ve discovered an optimum server that delivers speeds corresponding to my baseline web connection.
Server pool
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN presents servers in 29 nations (28 on cell). Norton doesn’t disclose the precise variety of servers in its server pool, and you’ll’t see a full checklist of servers — or select a particular metropolis to connect with — from inside the VPN app. Norton’s lack of disclosure makes it troublesome to make sure you’ll have a close-by server to connect with before you purchase or that you simply’ll have entry to servers in a particular area to unlock streaming content material.
SEE: Surfshark vs NordVPN: Which VPN Is Higher in 2024? (TechRepublic)
NordVPN proudly advertises a big pool of over 5,800 in additional than 110 nations. There are devoted P2P servers optimized for torrenting and file sharing, double VPN servers that route your site visitors by way of two places, and “obfuscated” servers to assist bypass content material filters and community firewalls. You can even select particular cities to connect with and consider an entire checklist of servers on NordVPN’s web site earlier than signing up.
Determine A
Supported gadgets
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN has apps for Home windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Nonetheless, it’s value noting that not all options are supported on all platforms — the VPN kill swap and P2P optimization aren’t obtainable on iOS, and break up tunneling isn’t obtainable on iOS or Mac.
SEE: Surfshark vs Norton Safe VPN (2024): Which VPN Is Higher? (TechRepublic)
NordVPN helps principally any sort of gadget, together with gaming techniques, media streaming sticks, Raspberry Pi and Oculus Quest. So far as I may inform, each NordVPN function is offered in each model of the app.
Privateness insurance policies
Winner: NordVPN
Norton claims to have a no-logs coverage for its VPN service, however that appears solely to use to looking historical past, particular site visitors data and IP addresses. Digging into Norton’s World Privateness Assertion for Safe VPN, I discovered the corporate collects and shops details about customers’ gadgets, bandwidth utilization and connection occasions. Much more crucially, Norton displays and shops site visitors information to detect and block torrenting, which it considers an abuse of service. These insurance policies make me severely query how non-public my web exercise actually is whereas utilizing Norton Safe VPN.
Determine B
In the meantime, NordVPN has a strict no-logs coverage that’s been verified by 4 unbiased audits. The corporate is clear about its authorized obligations to show over information in a legal investigation, however it’s by no means been required to take action earlier than. I really feel very assured that each one my community site visitors is totally non-public whereas related to NordVPN, even when I had been torrenting information or looking from a rustic with heavy censorship.
Buyer assist
Winner: Norton Safe VPN
Norton’s assist middle offers a strong collection of assist choices, together with guided self-troubleshooting, neighborhood boards and information base articles. Clients can even attain Norton’s assist staff by way of social media, a stay chat or over the telephone. Total, connecting to an actual human for assist was a lot simpler with Norton than with different equally priced VPN distributors.
Determine C
NordVPN’s buyer assist expertise is kind of normal within the trade, providing on-line tutorials, an electronic mail ticketing system and a chatbot.
Further options
Winner: NordVPN
Each Norton and NordVPN supply a wide range of further security measures should you select an upgraded plan, however for the needs of this comparability, I solely seemed on the capabilities included in Norton’s standalone Safe VPN product and NordVPN’s Primary subscription.
SEE: 4 Finest Free VPNs for 2024 (TechRepublic)
Norton Safe VPN consists of break up tunneling for Home windows and Android gadgets, so you may enable sure protected apps to bypass the VPN connection. It additionally features a kill swap (for Home windows, Android and Mac) that mechanically disconnects your gadget from the web if the VPN connection drops, so that you by no means unintentionally browse unprotected. One other function obtainable to everybody besides iOS customers is one-click P2P entry, although, as I discussed above, Norton doesn’t enable any torrenting site visitors. Total, Norton presents a reasonably primary VPN function set, and it’s restricted primarily to Home windows and Android customers.
SEE: Begin a Profession in Cybersecurity (TechRepublic Premium)
NordVPN presents each kill swap and break up tunneling for all app variations, in addition to double VPN and personal DNS. An extra safety functionality included in all plans is Meshnet, which lets you create an encrypted native space community with as much as 60 gadgets.
Determine D
NordVPN additionally has an Onion Over VPN function, which lets you browse .onion web sites with out utilizing a Tor browser.
Norton Safe VPN execs and cons
Professionals of Norton Safe VPN
- Extremely aggressive VPN speeds and efficiency.
- Quite a few stay assist choices.
- Contains VPN service free with Norton 360 plans.
Cons of Norton Safe VPN
- Screens connection site visitors for torrenting exercise and blocks it.
- Unverified no-logs coverage that contradicts its World Privateness Assertion.
- Excessive yearly value after the promotional interval ends.
- Undisclosed quantity and site of servers.
- Comparatively primary set of VPN options.
- Most options are solely obtainable on Home windows and Android.
NordVPN execs and cons
Professionals of NordVPN
- Constantly excessive speeds and efficiency.
- Massive server pool with a formidable geographic unfold.
- Works on practically any gadget with out function limitations.
- Strict no-logs coverage has been independently verified 4 instances.
- Contains further options like Meshnet and Onion Over VPN.
Cons of NordVPN
- Solely presents a 7-day free trial for Android customers.
- May be troublesome to achieve a human for assist.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN on Reddit
The final opinion of Norton merchandise on Reddit (and elsewhere) is overwhelmingly unfavourable as a consequence of components like how notoriously troublesome it’s to take away its software program out of your pc and the controversy over together with cryptominers in its antivirus. Its torrenting coverage, specifically, had a few Reddit customers particularly suggest NordVPN instead.
Within the r/Roms subreddit, consumer TheIronRed requested, “Is Norton VPN going to keep my ISP from knowing I torrent and sending me a letter?”
Whole_Temperature104 replied, “You won’t be caught by your ISP, but Norton will definitely cancel your subscription if they get a notice.”
SonofaSlumlord stated, “My former ISP ‘grounded’ me for 24 hours when they were notified I was torrenting movies. I switched providers and got a deal for 3 years of NordVPN for $100 from microcenter and haven’t had any issues since.”
Salava91 summed it up with “NordVPN is top notch. Use that one.”
Ought to your online business use Norton Safe VPN or NordVPN?
Select Norton Safe VPN if:
- You might be solely barely involved about privateness and don’t intend on torrenting or conducting some other doubtlessly unlawful (or surveilled) actions.
- You have already got Norton 360 and wish to check out a VPN with out paying further.
Select NordVPN if:
- You wish to torrent with out risking service termination.
- You’re a political activist, journalist or in any other case want full privateness.
- You wish to go to .onion web sites on the Tor community and not using a separate browser.
- That you must hook up with servers in a particular location the place you reside, journey or wish to unblock localized streaming content material.
Methodology
I used a buddy’s account to attempt Norton Safe VPN on a Home windows laptop computer and signed up for a free trial copy of NordVPN on my Android telephone. I evaluated each merchandise primarily based on their pricing, core options, usability, pace and buyer assist. I additionally totally reviewed the function descriptions and privateness insurance policies printed on the supplier web sites and in contrast these with actual buyer experiences as described on Reddit and public assessment websites.
Be taught extra about TechRepublic’s assessment methodology for VPNs.
