NordVPN vs Proton VPN: which wins?

Three verified numbers settle most of this comparison. Renewal price: once the intro term ends, NordVPN Basic renews at $139.08 a year while Proton VPN Plus renews at $83.88 — that is $55.20 more for NordVPN every year you stay. Proof: Proton VPN publishes all five of its Securitum no-logs audit reports in full, while NordVPN keeps its latest Deloitte report behind a Nord Account login. Speed: the one category NordVPN wins, with third-party comparisons from Cybernews and CyberInsider consistently reporting it faster than Proton VPN.

Weigh those three and the split is clear. Proton VPN is the better buy for most people, on cost and on public audits. NordVPN is the pick when reported speed matters more than either. To see how both stack up against six other providers, start with our full VPN rankings.

NordVPN vs Proton VPN at a glance

Figures are from the two vendors’ own pages, as of 23 Jul 2026.

NordVPN vs Proton VPN, as of 23 Jul 2026

	NordVPN	Proton VPN
Monthly price	$14.99 (Basic)	$9.99 (VPN Plus)
Best intro rate	$3.49/mo — $94.23 for 27 months	$2.99/mo — $71.76 for 24 months
Renewal after intro term	$139.08/yr (about $11.59/mo)	$83.88/yr ($6.99/mo)
Money-back window	30 days	30 days
Simultaneous devices	10	10
Server countries	149	148
Server count	9,259	20,677
Protocols	NordLynx (WireGuard-based), OpenVPN	WireGuard, OpenVPN, Stealth
RAM-only servers	Yes	No — encrypted disks by design
Latest no-logs audit	Deloitte, Dec 2025 (6th audit)	Securitum, 2026 (5th audit)
Audit report public	No — requires a Nord Account	Yes — published in full
Free plan	No	Yes — 1 device, unlimited data
Jurisdiction	Panama	Switzerland

One footnote on the near-tie in countries: NordVPN’s 149-country figure mixes physical and virtual locations, per its servers page. For the full single-service teardowns, see our NordVPN review and Proton VPN review.

Which costs less?

Proton VPN, at every billing term. The rolling monthly plan is $9.99 against NordVPN’s $14.99. The advertised two-year rates look close — $2.99 versus $3.49 a month — but the upfront totals and the renewals pull apart:

Cost	NordVPN Basic	Proton VPN Plus
Monthly plan	$14.99	$9.99
Two-year deal, billed upfront	$94.23 (27 months)	$71.76 (24 months)
Effective intro rate	$3.49 a month	$2.99 a month
Renewal after the intro term	$139.08 a year	$83.88 a year
Renewal, per month	about $11.59	$6.99

Both companies advertise the intro rate loudly and renew higher, so on that habit they tie. The scale of the jump does not. Proton VPN’s renewal lands a little over double its advertised rate. NordVPN’s lands at more than triple — about $11.59 a month, which costs more than Proton VPN’s no-commitment monthly plan.

NordVPN’s pricing page also lists Complete ($19.99 a month) and Prime ($29.99) tiers, which bundle antivirus, a password manager, 1 TB of cloud storage, dark web monitoring, and identity-theft insurance. Those extras are real, but if you only want a VPN, Basic against VPN Plus is the comparison that matters.

Refunds tie exactly: both back every paid plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and both cap you at 10 simultaneous devices.

Who proves its no-logs policy better?

Both providers hold current, independent no-logs audits. The difference is what you are allowed to read.

NordVPN completed its sixth no-logs verification in December 2025 — an ISAE 3000 assurance engagement by Deloitte, run 10 Nov–12 Dec 2025, after earlier reviews by PwC (2018, 2020) and Deloitte (2022, 2023, 2024). That cadence is genuinely strong. The catch: the full report is only readable after logging in to a Nord Account, so a prospective customer cannot inspect it before paying.

Proton VPN’s 2026 Securitum audit is its fifth consecutive annual check, and the full report is published openly alongside the 2022–2025 reports. Every Proton app is open source. Proton also states its no-logs policy has been tested in more than 400 legal cases without logs to hand over.

Jurisdiction is a wash. NordVPN operates from Panama, Proton AG from Geneva, Switzerland, and each states that its home country imposes no data-retention duty on it.

Server hardware splits on philosophy rather than quality. NordVPN runs every server diskless, from RAM, so a reboot wipes it clean. Proton VPN deliberately does not: it argues RAM-only adds no real protection and instead runs bare-metal servers with LUKS AES-256 full-disk encryption and keys stored off-site. Neither design has publicly failed; they are two defensible answers to the same server-seizure threat. For how to weigh audit claims like these, see our guide to how no-log VPN audits work.

Which is faster?

The third-party record: comparisons from Cybernews and CyberInsider consistently report NordVPN delivering higher speeds than Proton VPN. Treat that as reported consensus rather than settled fact — VPN speed shifts with server load, distance, and time of day.

The protocol stacks explain no large gap either way. NordVPN runs NordLynx, its WireGuard-based protocol with a custom double-NAT system, which added post-quantum encryption in 2025; OpenVPN remains available as the fallback. Proton VPN offers standard WireGuard and OpenVPN plus Stealth, its own obfuscation protocol for networks that block ordinary VPN traffic.

What does the free plan change?

Everything, if you refuse to pay. Proton VPN’s free plan is permanent and honest: one device, servers in 10 randomly selected countries, unlimited data, no ads, at medium speed. NordVPN has no free plan — its FAQ points to a 3-day Android trial and the 30-day guarantee instead. If cost is the whole decision, weigh Proton’s free tier against the field in our best free VPN picks.

Choose NordVPN if

• Reported speed decides it. Cybernews and CyberInsider both put NordVPN ahead, and nothing in the spec sheets argues otherwise.
• RAM-only servers matter to you. Every NordVPN server runs diskless, so nothing survives a reboot.
• You want the wider bundle. Complete ($19.99 a month) and Prime ($29.99) add antivirus, a password manager, 1 TB of cloud storage, dark web monitoring, and identity-theft insurance.
• You accept the renewal math. The $94.23 intro term gives way to $139.08 a year.

Try NordVPN — every plan carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Choose Proton VPN if

• You plan to keep the subscription. Renewal costs $83.88 a year against NordVPN’s $139.08, and that gap repeats every year.
• You want proof you can read. Five published Securitum reports and fully open-source apps beat a login-gated audit.
• You want to start free. The free plan carries no data cap, so the trial lasts as long as you need.
• You need obfuscation. Stealth is built for networks that block standard VPN protocols.

Try Proton VPN — paid plans carry the same 30-day money-back guarantee.

Frequently asked questions

Is NordVPN faster than Proton VPN?

Third-party comparisons, including Cybernews and CyberInsider, consistently report higher speeds from NordVPN. Treat that as reported consensus rather than settled fact. Both services run modern WireGuard-based protocols, so everyday browsing is fast on either.

Which is cheaper, NordVPN or Proton VPN?

Proton VPN, at every term. Its monthly plan is $9.99 against NordVPN's $14.99, its two-year intro rate is $2.99 a month against $3.49, and it renews at $83.88 a year against NordVPN's $139.08, per both vendors' pricing pages on 23 Jul 2026.

Does Proton VPN have a free version, and does NordVPN?

Proton VPN has a permanent free plan: one device, servers in 10 randomly selected countries, unlimited data, and no ads. NordVPN has no free plan — only a 3-day trial on Android plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.

Which has more servers, NordVPN or Proton VPN?

Proton VPN listed 20,677 servers in 148 countries on its live server page on 23 Jul 2026; NordVPN's servers page listed 9,259 servers in 149 countries the same day. Proton VPN runs the larger fleet, while country coverage is effectively tied.

Is Proton VPN safer or more private than NordVPN?

Both hold current independent no-logs audits and sit in privacy-friendly jurisdictions — Switzerland and Panama. Proton VPN publishes its Securitum reports in full and open-sources every app, while NordVPN's Deloitte report requires a Nord Account login. If independent verifiability is your bar, Proton VPN is easier to check.

Which is better for streaming, NordVPN or Proton VPN?

Third-party reviewers usually pick NordVPN for streaming, citing higher speeds and reliable access to regional libraries. Neither provider publishes reproducible unblocking data, so that call rests on reviewer consensus.