NordVPN vs ProtonVPN: Which VPN Is Better in 2026?

Our verdict rule: free or privacy-first needs point to Proton VPN; the price rows go to whichever is cheaper on the check date. Ticks mark a measurably cheaper price or a feature the other lacks.

NordVPN vs ProtonVPN price (2026)

Proton VPN is cheaper on the monthly plan and at every renewal, while the two cost the same per month on their promotional two-year plans once NordVPN’s 3 bonus months are counted.

NordVPN’s 1-year and 2-year prices included a Black Friday offer of 3 extra months on the check date; both vendors change promotions often. The renewal gap is our subtraction of the published prices.

NordVPN Basic covers the VPN plus scam and phishing protection and Dark Web Monitor for up to 5 email addresses. NordVPN’s Complete and Prime plans add an ad and tracker blocker, a password manager, cloud storage and identity features at higher prices. Proton’s Unlimited plan bundles Proton Mail, Pass, Drive and Calendar with the VPN.

Privacy and audits: which VPN keeps fewer logs?

Both VPNs have independent no-logs audits from the past year: Deloitte Lithuania checked NordVPN from November 10 to December 12, 2025, and Securitum audited Proton VPN for a report dated May 2026.

Company and jurisdiction. NordVPN’s privacy policy names nordvpn S.A. in Panama City as the data controller. NordVPN belongs to Nord Security, which merged with Surfshark in February 2022. Proton VPN is run by Swiss-based Proton.

Incident history. NordVPN disclosed in October 2019 that one server at a third-party datacenter in Finland was accessed in March 2018 through a management account the datacenter had left open. NordVPN says no user credentials were affected and that the server held no user activity logs; the attacker obtained TLS keys that NordVPN says could not decrypt VPN traffic.

Speed and protocols

We didn’t run speed tests, and we found no independent, current study that compares both, so the honest comparison is the protocols each one uses. NordVPN’s default is NordLynx, its own protocol built on WireGuard, with NordWhisper for networks that block VPNs and OpenVPN as a fallback. Proton VPN uses WireGuard on most apps, its Stealth protocol to get past blocks, OpenVPN on the Linux app and IKEv2 on macOS, with Smart Protocol picking one automatically. Proton rates its free plan’s speed as “medium” against “highest” on paid plans.

Streaming, torrenting and port forwarding

Proton VPN is the better fit for torrenting, because it offers port forwarding on all paid plans, while NordVPN offers port forwarding only with its paid Dedicated Server add-on. Proton lists streaming and P2P on its paid plans, not on Free. NordVPN runs dedicated P2P servers, which were part of Deloitte’s 2024 audit scope. Neither vendor’s claims about unblocking a particular streaming service were checked by us.

Apps and devices

Both NordVPN and Proton VPN cover 10 devices at once on paid plans and offer apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. Proton says all its apps are open source; NordVPN publishes the source code of its Linux app on GitHub. If the VPN is for an iPhone, our guide to iPhone security apps compared explains what a phone VPN does and doesn’t protect.

Proton VPN Free vs NordVPN

Proton VPN Free is the only free option of the two: no data cap, no time limit and no ads, on 1 device, with servers in 10 countries that Proton picks for you. NordVPN has no free plan; its closest offer is the 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.

Which should you choose?

Proton VPN is the pick for most people, and NordVPN wins for specific extras.

• Choose Proton VPN if you want a free plan, the lower renewal price, port forwarding for torrenting, open-source apps or a Swiss company.
• Choose NordVPN if you want Double VPN, Onion Over VPN or Meshnet, a longer run of no-logs reports (six, against Proton’s five), or the scam and identity features in its higher plans.
• Look at a password manager first if your worry is hacked accounts rather than network privacy: a VPN doesn’t stop password reuse, which our Bitwarden vs 1Password comparison covers.

More VPN pages are on our VPN hub.