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Rank 2 of 4 · Updated August 13, 2026

NordVPN review: 84.0/100

Is NordVPN any good?

NordVPN scores 84.0 out of 100 on the KotoVPN rubric, ranking 2 of 4 providers we cover. Its no-logs claim has been examined 5 times, most recently by Deloitte in 2025, alongside 1 audit of its applications. It operates from Panama. Pricing starts at $3.39 per month on its longest term. The most complete all-round package here, provided you accept closed-source clients and a renewal price above the introductory rate.

Rubric total
84.0Strong, out of 100
From
$3.39per month, longest term
Based in
PanamaOutside the Fourteen Eyes
Audits
6Deloitte 2025
Devices
10simultaneous connections
Refund
30days

Panama-based, repeatedly audited, and the widest platform coverage here — including Apple TV and Android TV.

Rubric total

84.0/100
Strong

Verdict. The most complete all-round package here, provided you accept closed-source clients and a renewal price above the introductory rate.

Best for. Households covering a mix of phones, laptops and TV devices on one subscription.

Visit NordVPN

We earn a commission if you subscribe through this link. It does not change NordVPN’s score.

What holds up and what does not

Holds up

  • Audited no-logs policy re-tested by Deloitte rather than a single one-off report
  • Widest platform coverage of the four, including Apple TV and Android TV
  • RAM-only server fleet, so nothing survives a reboot
  • Panama jurisdiction outside the Fourteen Eyes agreement

Counts against it

  • Client applications are closed source and cannot be independently inspected
  • The advertised price requires a two-year commitment paid up front
  • Renewal price is substantially higher than the first term
  • No port forwarding, which rules it out for peer-to-peer transfer

Do not buy this if: You need open-source clients, port forwarding, or want to pay month to month. At $12.99 monthly it is the most expensive short-term option here.

How the score was reached

NordVPN scores 84.0 out of 100. The table below shows every criterion, its weight, the raw score and the fact that produced it. Nothing here is adjusted after the fact, and commission is not an input. The full rubric is published.

Rubric total

84.0/100
Strong

The weighted sum of the seven criteria below. Nothing is adjusted afterwards, and commission is not an input.

Score breakdown for NordVPN
CriterionWeightScoreWhy
Independent audit2018.0 (9/10)Six no-logs assurance engagements since 2018, the most recent by Deloitte in December 2025 under ISAE 3000 (Revised), plus a Cure53 audit of the applications.
Jurisdiction and ownership1513.5 (9/10)Incorporated in Panama, outside the Fourteen Eyes agreement, with disclosed parent ownership under Nord Security.
Protocol and crypto stack1512.0 (8/10)OpenVPN, NordLynx (a WireGuard implementation) and NordWhisper for censored networks; the double-NAT layer on top of WireGuard is not open to inspection.
Leak protection1513.5 (9/10)Kill switch on all desktop and mobile apps, with DNS resolved inside the tunnel and a RAM-only server fleet.
Transparency159.0 (6/10)The Linux client and core libraries are open source but the Windows, macOS, iOS and Android apps are not, and signup requires an email; offset by a published transparency report and warrant canary.
Price and refund terms108.0 (8/10)Effective $3.39/month on a 2-year term with a full 30-day refund, but the monthly rate is $12.99 and renewals price above the intro term.
Platform coverage1010.0 (10/10)Native apps across desktop, mobile, Apple TV, Android TV and routers, with 10 simultaneous connections.

The evidence

Each row links to the page the claim was read from and the date it was read. If a source has changed since, tell us and we will re-check it.

NordVPN — sourced facts
FieldValueEvidence
HeadquartersPanamaSource
checked August 13, 2026
OwnershipNord Security (Nordsec Ltd)Source
checked August 13, 2026
Server countries118
Not confirmed. NordVPN blocks automated requests, and its own pages give figures ranging from 118 to 167 depending on where you look, because country counts include virtual locations. Treat this as indicative.
Source
checked August 13, 2026
Simultaneous devices10Source
checked August 13, 2026
Refund window (days)30Source
checked August 13, 2026
Independent audits
  • Deloitte 2025 — No-logs statement: standard, Double VPN, Onion over VPN and obfuscated servers
  • Deloitte 2024 — No-logs statement
  • Deloitte 2023 — No-logs statement
  • Cure53 2022 — Applications and browser extensions
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers AG 2020 — No-logs policy
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers AG 2018 — No-logs policy
Protocols
  • NordLynx (WireGuard)
  • NordWhisper
  • OpenVPN
  • IKEv2
Provider documentation

Features

  • Kill switch
  • RAM-only servers
  • Open-source apps
  • Split tunnelling
  • Port forwarding
  • Ad and tracker blocking
  • Dedicated IP available
  • Signup without email
  • Accepts cash
  • Accepts cryptocurrency

Pricing

NordVPN pricing, as published by the provider
TermEffective monthlyBilled up frontChecked
Monthly$12.99—August 13, 2026 not re-read
2-year plan$3.39$81.36August 13, 2026 not re-read

Rows marked not re-read could not be confirmed against the live page — NordVPN serves pricing in a way that blocks automated checks. They were compiled from provider documentation and have not been read back since. Treat the provider’s own checkout as the authority.

Refund window: 30 days.

Ownership

NordVPN is operated by Nord Security (Nordsec Ltd), from Panama. Ownership decides who can be compelled and under whose law, and it is the fact about a VPN least likely to change between now and when you renew — how the four compare on ownership and jurisdiction.

Audit history

Not whether an audit exists, but how many, how recently, by whom, over what window, and what the auditor actually found. Those five things are the difference between evidence and a badge.

6 published audits, the most recent in 2025 by Deloitte. The no-logs claim has been re-examined 5 times, which constrains NordVPN in a way a single report cannot.

  1. 2025DeloitteFull report published

    No-logs statement: standard, Double VPN, Onion over VPN and obfuscated servers

    Fieldwork: 10 November – 12 December 2025, under ISAE 3000 (Revised)

    What it found. Concluded that NordVPN’s IT systems and supporting operations are designed and implemented in line with its no-logs statement, and that the architecture omits collection of user-identifying metadata such as IP addresses or timestamps.

    Source →

  2. 2024DeloitteFull report published

    No-logs statement

    Fieldwork: Fifth engagement, ISAE 3000 (Revised)

    Source →

  3. 2023DeloitteFull report published

    No-logs statement

    Fieldwork: 30 November – 7 December 2023, ISAE 3000 (Revised)

    Source →

  4. 2022Cure53Full report published

    Applications and browser extensions

    Source →

  5. 2020PricewaterhouseCoopers AGFull report published

    No-logs policy

    Source →

  6. 2018PricewaterhouseCoopers AGFull report published

    No-logs policy

    Source →

What independent testers measured

Results published by third-party laboratories, with the sample size and the funding source stated. None of these are our measurements.

September–October 2024

AV-TEST (Magdeburg, Germany)

Commissioned
Measured
Blocking of malicious and phishing URLs by the bundled threat-protection feature
Result
83.42% of malicious URLs blocked. By category: 88.10% executable-malware URLs, 84.38% other malicious files, 78.19% phishing. False positives 0.48%.
Standing
Highest of the five tested. The next best, IPVanish, reached 46.96%; ExpressVPN, Mullvad and Proton VPN all scored under 5%.
Sample
3,209 malicious samples and 2,298 clean test cases
Paid for by
NordSec, NordVPN’s parent company — weigh the result accordingly. AV-TEST states the commissioning party supplied no samples and had no advance sight of them.

Read the full report →

These are not our measurements. We have run none. See the lab for what we will measure and the method we will publish it under.

Lab status

We have not run our own speed or leak tests against NordVPN yet. Rather than print an estimate, this section stays empty until a measurement exists. The method we will use is published in advance.

Common questions

Is NordVPN any good?
NordVPN scores 84.0 out of 100 on the KotoVPN rubric, ranking 2 of 4 providers we cover. Its no-logs claim has been examined 5 times, most recently by Deloitte in 2025, alongside 1 audit of its applications. It operates from Panama. Pricing starts at $3.39 per month on its longest term. The most complete all-round package here, provided you accept closed-source clients and a renewal price above the introductory rate.
Has NordVPN been independently audited?
Yes. The most recent published audit is by Deloitte in 2025, covering no-logs statement: standard, double vpn, onion over vpn and obfuscated servers. NordVPN has 6 published audits in total.
Where is NordVPN based, and does it matter?
NordVPN operates from Panama under Nord Security (Nordsec Ltd). That jurisdiction is outside the Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement, which limits routine legal compulsion from member states.
How much does NordVPN cost?
The lowest effective rate we recorded is $3.39 per month, which requires the 2-year plan. Prices were checked on August 13, 2026 and change often, so confirm on the provider’s own page.
How many devices can I use with NordVPN?
One subscription covers 10 devices. Native apps are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Apple TV and Router.
Who should not buy NordVPN?
You need open-source clients, port forwarding, or want to pay month to month. At $12.99 monthly it is the most expensive short-term option here.

Compare NordVPN directly

Audit criterion raw score: 9/10. Transparency: 6/10.