Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN are mid-priced digital personal community companies that disguise 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 comparable, their differing capabilities and logging insurance policies make NordVPN the clear alternative for any privacy-conscious person.
Under, I examine Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN based mostly on essential components like connection pace, server choices, privateness insurance policies and buyer help. I additionally clarify why I belief NordVPN over Norton relating to web privateness.
- Norton Secure VPN: Greatest for present Norton 360 customers who aren’t significantly involved about torrenting or privateness.
- NordVPN: Greatest for any privacy-conscious customers who want a quick, safe connection for torrenting and streaming.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Comparability desk
| Beginning value | ||
| Server pool | ||
| Supported gadgets | ||
| Streaming companies | ||
| 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 help | ||
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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 shield. There isn’t any month-to-month subscription possibility — you should decide to at the very least one yr. In order for you further security measures, you should buy one among two Norton 360 plans. Norton 360 Commonplace contains risk safety, 2GB cloud backup storage (for Home windows solely), darkish internet 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 out there for Mac) and privateness monitoring for as much as 5 gadgets.
SEE: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which VPN Is Best? (TechRepublic)
Norton is at the moment providing promotional pricing for the primary yr of service, however then the value jumps considerably even for a standalone VPN plan.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for 1 system: $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 Commonplace + 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 affords a free trial (with a bank card) when you join on an Android system. Its service is damaged down into three plans, with pricing reductions when you decide to a yr or extra. The Fundamental plan contains the complete VPN service. Plus contains all the things within the Fundamental plan in addition to risk safety, a password supervisor and a knowledge breach scanner. Final contains all the things in Plus and 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. The Plus plan affords the very best worth to your buck, particularly when you’re going to decide to a two-year subscription.
- NordVPN Fundamental: $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: Characteristic comparability
Pace
Winner: Tie
Regardless of a smaller server pool, Norton Safe VPN supplied 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 greatest VPN speeds in its value 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 international unfold is restricted in comparison with NordVPN, I’d anticipate customers in some areas may not have the identical expertise.
SEE: Is a VPN Really Worth It in 2024? (TechRepublic)
I’ve used NordVPN a number of occasions lately, and regardless of the place I’m, I’ve discovered an optimum server that delivers speeds akin to my baseline web connection.
Server pool
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN affords servers in 29 nations (28 on cellular). Norton doesn’t disclose the precise variety of servers in its server pool, and you may’t see a full record of servers — or select a selected metropolis to hook up with — from inside the VPN app. Norton’s lack of disclosure makes it tough to make sure you’ll have a close-by server to hook up with before you purchase or that you just’ll have entry to servers in a selected area to unlock streaming content material.
SEE: Surfshark vs NordVPN: Which VPN Is Better 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 means of two areas, and “obfuscated” servers to assist bypass content material filters and community firewalls. You can even select particular cities to hook up with and look at a whole record of servers on NordVPN’s website earlier than signing up.
Determine A
Supported gadgets
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN has apps for Home windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Nevertheless, it’s price noting that not all options are supported on all platforms — the VPN kill switch and P2P optimization aren’t out there on iOS, and cut up tunneling isn’t out there on iOS or Mac.
SEE: Surfshark vs Norton Secure VPN (2024): Which VPN Is Better? (TechRepublic)
NordVPN helps principally any sort of system, together with gaming techniques, media streaming sticks, Raspberry Pi and Oculus Quest. So far as I may inform, each NordVPN characteristic is obtainable 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 Global Privacy Statement for Safe VPN, I discovered the corporate collects and shops details about customers’ gadgets, bandwidth utilization and connection occasions. Much more crucially, Norton screens and shops site visitors information to detect and block torrenting, which it considers an abuse of service. These insurance policies make me significantly query how personal 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 impartial audits. The corporate is clear about its authorized obligations to show over information in a felony investigation, nevertheless 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 personal whereas related to NordVPN, even when I have been torrenting recordsdata or looking from a rustic with heavy censorship.
Buyer help
Winner: Norton Safe VPN
Norton’s assist middle supplies a sturdy collection of help choices, together with guided self-troubleshooting, neighborhood boards and data base articles. Prospects also can attain Norton’s help group by means of social media, a stay chat or over the cellphone. Total, connecting to an actual human for help was a lot simpler with Norton than with different equally priced VPN distributors.
Determine C
NordVPN’s buyer help expertise is kind of normal within the business, providing on-line tutorials, an electronic mail ticketing system and a chatbot.
Further options
Winner: NordVPN
Each Norton and NordVPN supply quite a lot of additional security measures when you select an upgraded plan, however for the needs of this comparability, I solely regarded on the capabilities included in Norton’s standalone Safe VPN product and NordVPN’s Fundamental subscription.
SEE: 4 Best Free VPNs for 2024 (TechRepublic)
Norton Safe VPN contains cut 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 change (for Home windows, Android and Mac) that routinely disconnects your system from the web if the VPN connection drops, so that you by no means unintentionally browse unprotected. One other characteristic out there 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 affords a reasonably primary VPN characteristic set, and it’s restricted primarily to Home windows and Android customers.
SEE: How to Start a Career in Cybersecurity (TechRepublic Premium)
NordVPN affords each kill change and cut up tunneling for all app variations, in addition to double VPN and personal DNS. A further 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 characteristic, which lets you browse .onion web sites with out utilizing a Tor browser.
Norton Safe VPN professionals and cons
Execs of Norton Safe VPN
- Extremely aggressive VPN speeds and efficiency.
- Quite a few stay help choices.
- Consists of 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 International 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 out there on Home windows and Android.
NordVPN professionals and cons
Execs of NordVPN
- Constantly excessive speeds and efficiency.
- Massive server pool with a formidable geographic unfold.
- Works on almost any system with out characteristic limitations.
- Strict no-logs coverage has been independently verified 4 occasions.
- Consists of additional options like Meshnet and Onion Over VPN.
Cons of NordVPN
- Solely affords a 7-day free trial for Android customers.
- May be tough to achieve a human for help.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN on Reddit
The overall opinion of Norton merchandise on Reddit (and elsewhere) is overwhelmingly unfavourable resulting from components like how notoriously tough it’s to take away its software program out of your laptop and the controversy over including cryptominers in its antivirus. Its torrenting coverage, particularly, had a few Reddit customers particularly suggest NordVPN instead.
Within the r/Roms subreddit, person TheIronRed asked, “Is Norton VPN going to maintain my ISP from understanding I torrent and sending me a letter?”
Whole_Temperature104 replied, “You gained’t be caught by your ISP, however Norton will certainly cancel your subscription in the event that they get a discover.”
SonofaSlumlord stated, “My former ISP ‘grounded’ me for twenty-four hours once they have been notified I used to be torrenting films. I switched suppliers and acquired a deal for 3 years of NordVPN for $100 from microcenter and haven’t had any points since.”
Salava91 summed it up with “NordVPN is prime notch. Use that one.”
Ought to your enterprise use Norton Safe VPN or NordVPN?
Select Norton Safe VPN if:
- You’re 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 additional.
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 with out a separate browser.
- It is advisable connect with servers in a selected location the place you reside, journey or wish to unblock localized streaming content material.
Methodology
I used a buddy’s account to strive Norton Safe VPN on a Home windows laptop computer and signed up for a free trial copy of NordVPN on my Android cellphone. I evaluated each merchandise based mostly on their pricing, core options, usability, pace and buyer help. I additionally completely reviewed the characteristic descriptions and privateness insurance policies revealed on the supplier web sites and in contrast these with actual buyer experiences as described on Reddit and public evaluate websites.
Study extra about TechRepublic’s review methodology for VPNs.
