NordVPN vs. Norton Secure VPN

We’re noticing more antivirus brands dipping their toes into the VPN market, like Avast and McAfee. One brand that should stand out though is Norton. It has one of the best antivirus software, with which you can readily bundle the Norton Secure VPN. It might seem like a good deal to get an all-in-one digital security solution, but can Norton Secure VPN hang with the best VPNs on the market?

We decided to find out. So we bought a subscription to NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN and put them head-to-head. After three months of testing, we learned NordVPN is the better option. You can install NordVPN’s apps on more devices, and security features like its kill switch work on systems other than Android. Let’s go through our findings to see the other reasons why NordVPN came out on top.

Why You Should Choose NordVPN

The truth is that NordVPN will probably work better for most people. Don’t get us wrong; Norton Secure VPN is a solid VPN that is smack dab in the middle of our top 10 list of the best VPNs, but on that same list, NordVPN is the name you’ll find at the top.

Keep in mind we have a methodology in place to grade each VPN. NordVPN scored a 9.7 out of 10. There were things we didn’t like about NordVPN, of course, like its pricier monthly plans and slightly confusing tiered subscription. Overall though, here are the things we noted about NordVPN that led to its high ratings.

• Based in a non-member country: NordVPN is based in Panama, a non-member country to the surveillance alliances Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes. That means that our information won’t be shared with any government. Norton Secure VPN, on the other hand, is based in the U.S. – a founding Five Eyes member. That means that they could be forced to hand the government our personal information, which we’d prefer they not.
• No logging of IP addresses: NordVPN has a super-strict logging policy. They didn’t keep track of our IP addresses or anything we did online, for that matter. On the other hand, Norton Secure VPN logged a ton of our information, such as IP addresses and location (both anonymized). For that reason, we prefer NordVPN’s logging policy.

• More servers in more places: Norton Secure VPN has a healthy number of servers, over 1,500 in 31 different regions. NordVPN, though, has a whopping 6,700 servers in 111 countries.
• Kill switch on all devices: While Norton Secure VPN only had a kill switch on its Android app, all of NordVPN’s apps came with a kill switch. This meant that if the VPN disconnected, our web browsers and apps would have shut down with it to protect our data. We go into more detail in our NordVPN review or our Norton Secure VPN review.
• Torrenting access: When we needed a VPN for torrenting, we had only NordVPN as an option, as Norton isn’t compatible. All the Norton servers we tested didn’t support peer-to-peer connections needed to download torrent using a VPN.
• More Netflix access: Sure, Netflix worked on some of Norton’s servers, but it wasn’t consistent. So when it was time to watch that final episode of The Office that we’ve been dreading, we chose NordVPN instead, as Netflix works more consistently on its over 6,000 servers. In fact, NordVPN is one of the best VPNs for Netflix in general.
• Faster speeds: We found NordVPN the faster of the two VPNs. It ranked third overall when we compared the speed of our 12 favorite VPNs. NordVPN reduced our download speed by less than six-percent, and our upload speed by a little over four-percent. Norton, on the other hand, finished last. The download speed remained fast (down by only 10-percent, but we lost nearly 90-percent of our download speed.

• Compatible with Linux, Proxy, routers, and NAS: Norton Secure is pretty limited in terms of device compatibility. It only works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. NordVPN adds compatibility for proxy servers, another way to change your IP address, routers, NAS, and Linux.

• Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox: If you only need a VPN for browsing activities, you’re better off installing a browser extension instead of downloading an app. In this case, NordVPN is a better VPN for Chrome and Firefox, as it has an extension for each browser.
• More affordable for two years: Although Norton comes out cheaper in its one month or one-year packages, NordVPN’s pricing really becomes affordable at the two-year commitment level. It costs only $96.93, which breaks down to $3.59 a month.
• Better iOS app: Let us be clear that the Norton Secure VPN & Proxy VPN iOS app isn’t bad at all, according to both our testing and its 4.4 rating. But at 4.7 out of five stars, the NordVPN iOS app takes the cake.

Why You Should Choose Norton Secure VPN

So, we’ve made it clear that NordVPN is better than Norton Secure. But that doesn’t mean NordVPN is the best VPN for everyone. There are some scenarios where Norton Secure VPN bests NordVPN. Here are some of the upsides we noticed when we were comparing these VPNs.

• More affordable for one month or one year: Unlike Norton, NordVPN is one of the major companies increasing the VPN market overall, according to the numbers from Big Market Research.1 Unfortunately, that name recognition comes with higher prices than most (and the same is true for NordVPN’s biggest competitor, ExpressVPN). While we could get away with paying only $9.99 a month with Norton for up to 10 devices, with Nord, that costs $12.99. Unless you want to make a two-year commitment, Norton is cheaper than NordVPN.

• Support through Facebook, Twitter and phone: Unlike NordVPN, which only offers an online help center, live chat and 24/7 email, Norton let us contact their support team over the phone or even through Facebook or X (formerly Twitter). We’re always on social media anyway, so getting help from Norton was super convenient for us, personally.
• Longer money-back guarantee: We had 30 days to return NordVPN for a full refund, which is pretty typical of VPN companies. But Norton took that several steps further, doubling our money-back guarantee to a full 60 days. This was for the annual plans, though. The monthly plans offer only 14 days, which is still pretty lengthy. No rush testing the limits of your VPN.

Commonalities

Of course, there were some things that were similar between NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN, but to be honest, this list is the shortest of them all.

• No DNS or WebRTC leaks: If you’ve ever read our VPN guide, then you probably already know the importance of checking for DNS and WebRTC leaks. While DNS leaks would mean that our Internet Service Provider (ISP) could see our web activities, WebRTC leaks would mean that they could see our private IP address. Using tools from ExpressVPN and DNSLeakTest.com, we put NordVPN and Norton VPN head to head. However, there were no leaks to speak of with either VPN, so it ended up being a toss-up.
• 10 devices secured at once: NordVPN and Norton VPN let you run their apps on 10 devices simultaneously. Yes, there’s a limit on the devices you can connect at once, unlike with subscriptions from Surfshark that allow unlimited devices. But in our opinion, 10 devices is just right for a single user or even a two- or three-person family.
• Encryption: Both NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN use AES-256, military-grade encryption by default using the OpenVPN protocol. Both VPN also offer WireGuard; NordVPN offers NordLynx, which is an improved version of the said protocol. WireGuard uses ChaCha20 by default, which we know is secure just like 256-bit AES.
• Apps for Windows, Android, macOS and iOS: These are the basic operating systems that we expect every VPN to be compatible with, so it wasn’t a big shock that Nord and Norton checked this box.
• Good Android apps: Both the NordVPN and the Norton Secure VPN— Security & Privacy WiFi Proxy Android apps had positive ratings in the Google Play store. Personally, we agreed with this consensus, as the apps worked without a hitch.

Recap

As we mentioned earlier, Norton Secure VPN is a good option in specific scenarios. For example, if you only plan on using it bundled with antivirus software or prefer paying month to month for a VPN.

But NordVPN is the better VPN overall. From its privacy policy to kill switch availability as well as its selection of browser extensions, NordVPN does a better job securing your data whenever you’re online.