NordVPN Review 2023

In this NordVPN Review, I’m gonna show you everything that you need to know about NordVPN before deciding if you should get started with it.

I will give you a quick demo of the software and point out the main unique features of NordVPN.

I will also conduct a speed test to find out how fast this VPN really is.

Next, I will reveal to you which streaming services NordVPN are able to successfully connect to.

I will also conduct numerous privacy tests to see how safe and secure NordVPN is, and I will also share with you my experience when I tried their customer service channels.

Lastly, I will break down the pricing structure and help you decide which plan is best suited for you. So make sure to check out my special discount link in the description below where you will receive the best deal currently available.

1. Setup & Features (8/10)

NordVPN is one of the most popular VPN providers out there with more than 15 million users around the world. Established in 2012, it now has more than 5,000 servers in 59 countries.

NordVPN is very easy to install and use and it doesn’t eat up much of your time. In fact, you can finish the process in less than five minutes. Just go to their website where you can select the app that you want to download based on your device.

You can download NordVPN on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPhone, iPad, Android TV, Linux, and even using your browser like Firefox or Chrome.

While you have a lot of options of where to download NordVPN, it doesn’t support unlimited use of devices simultaneously. In fact, it only allows up to six devices using the same account, a lesser number compared to providers like CyberGhost which can handle seven devices and SurfShark which doesn’t have any limitations. Still, six devices at once isn’t bad and this feature still makes your payment worthy.

Unfortunately, NordVPN doesn’t offer a free trial, what you can do is sign-up to any plan of your choice and get a refund within the first 30 days if you’re not satisfied using it. We’ll talk more about plans and pricing as we go along the video.

You can start trying NordVPN’s features using its desktop app that you can download hassle-free. Once you open it, you will see a “quick connect” option to get connected to the fastest server based on your location, though you can still select the server you want from the list on the left side. 

If you want to get NordVPN on your mobile phone, all you have to do is download it from Google Play for Android users or the App Store for iOS users. Once you are logged in, you can connect instantly to the fastest server through the Quick Connect feature where you can start running apps through encrypted VPN connection.

If you want to disable VPN on certain apps, you can do so with split tunneling. It is a common feature to all VPN providers as you can assign certain apps that will use or bypass the VPN every time you’re connected. This feature is available for both the desktop client and the Android app.

For its setup and features, I have given NordVPN a rating of 8 out of 10. Its lack of free tria and lesser number of devices that you can use simultaneously are the reasons why this VPN didn’t bag a higher score. No doubt that it is still user-friendly, but its competitors have the edge when it comes to complete basic features.

2. Speed (9/10)

Now, to check if NordVPN really has what it takes to take you on a fast Internet ride, I used Ookla to test the speed of four VPN servers from different countries but before that, I recorded my original Internet speed first which was 18.4 mbps. Next, I ran the speed test three times for each server to get the average mbps and here are the results. 

First, I tested one server in Australia and got an average speed of 8.8 mbps. This is already a good speed for gaming, web surfing experience and for streaming HD videos. You can also download videos very fast with this speed. I got a faster speed though of 9.4 mbps when I connected to a server in the United States. The server in the UK recorded a speed of 10.5 mbps and out of the four servers, the Canada server has the fastest speed which is at 12 mbps. 

While none of these results are really close to my original speed of 18.4 mbps, the speed of these servers are still not that slow to ruin your web surfing experience in general. Compared to my original speed, the percentage reduction of speed for Australia is 52.2 percent, 48.9 percent in the US, 42.9 percent in the UK, and 34.8 percent in Canada.

From my speed test reviews with other VPN providers, which you can also watch in my channel, I can say that NordVPN is probably one strong competitor in terms of speed. The average percentage reduction of the speed tests is at 44.7 percent which is actually impressive. Therefore, I have given it an average, passing rating of 9 out of 10.

3. Streaming & Torrenting (10/10)

NordVPN can also unblock Netflix and other streaming platforms. You can just easily connect to any of their servers to access Netflix, though they highly suggest connecting to the closest server to your location to enjoy the best connection speed and stability.

Aside from Netflix, you can also successfully unblock and stream on certain platforms such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, HBO, Disney Plus, DAZN.

NordVPN also supports P2P-optimized servers that you can use in torrenting or watching peer-to-peer based sites. In any case that you are connected to a regular server while using P2P traffic, NordVPN will reroute you to the dedicated P2P servers to secure your data and that’s pretty amazing especially for busy people who tend to forget small details of the app.

Since NordVPN can unblock Netflix and other popular streaming platforms, and given the fact that it has automatic, optimized P2P servers, it definitely deserves a rating of 10 out of 10. One thing that could have made it a perfect rating is if it has optimized servers for streaming like some of its successful competitors. But still, what NordVPN provides is an absolute experience for you to stream and torrent.

4. Jurisdiction, Security & Privacy (9/10)

As a VPN provider, NordVPN obviously promises full protection of your identity with them. But in March 2018, NordVPN has actually confirmed that one of their data centers in Finland has been accessed without authorization.

The hacker has gained access to the server for a month but since NordVPN truly commits to their “no log policy”, which means they do not keep record of any of its users credentials and online whereabouts, all user information connected to that server was secured.

Additionally, NordVPN is based and operating under the Panama jurisdiction which isn’t a member of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes or Fourteen Eyes alliances. In short, they don’t have any mandatory law for data retention, keeping you confident that none of your Internet activities and data are being stored.

To ensure your full security, NordVPN also uses a 256-bit encryption to protect your traffic, the standard and currently the longest encryption for website security.

It also has a selection of protocols that helps VPN safely send your data through the Internet. It offers IKEv2 or IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard. Each protocol varies in speed and you can also let NordVPN automatically choose the best protocol for you depending on your location.

Now, in cases where your VPN connection drops unexpectedly due to unstable internet connection or unexpected server and networking failure, NordVPN will save you with its automatic kill switch feature. It has two versions of this feature, one for Windows and the other for Android, iOS, and macOS. While both versions work to pause all Internet activities during a drop-out session to protect you from all possible leaks until the VPN connection is reestablished, the Windows version has more advanced configuration where you can just specify which applications should be blocked when a server connection drops. 

Moving on, if you want a level of extra security while using the NordVPN for whatever purpose, you can take advantage of their Double VPN. This security feature routes your Internet traffic to two servers, which means that your data is encrypted twice. Not all VPN providers offer a Double VPN security feature so NordVPN is something to consider if you want to use Double VPN. 

Speaking of taking your privacy and security to the next level, NordVPN also introduces its ad blocker feature called CyberSec. This feature is a triple threat to scammers as it automatically blocks dangerous websites, avoids botnet controls, and hides phishing ads.

If you’re still not convinced with how NordVPN can secure your privacy, there are still add-ons that you can purchase to add up another layer of protection. First off will be the Dedicated IP. Unlike a shared IP, a dedicated IP can only be used by no one else but you which means your Internet footprints are solely private and aren’t hidden among other users of the shared IP. A dedicated IP also lets you avoid annoying CAPTCHAs and it makes online payments easy. Not all VPN providers offer the option for a dedicated IP, but you can absolutely avail it with NordVPN for $70 a year. However, the minimum requirement of this add-on is a one-year plan which I will discuss later on.

Another couple of security features that you might consider are the NordPass and NordLocker. NordPass is software that remembers and auto-saves all of your passwords, automatically fills online forms, and allows you to save your private notes. It generates strong passwords on the spot and lets you share them securely while NordLocker is an easy-to-use file encryption tool that lets you store and share your data securely. With a simple drag-and-drop to a Locker folder, NordLocker secures your files with powerful encryption.You can avail these add-ons regardless of your subscription. The initial price for each feature is $4.99 per month but you can get a discounted price if you opt to subscribe to longer plans. 

Now, I will do some testing to check if NordVPN is really secure. Let’s start off with the IP Leak Test. Here, I used an IP leak test tool from ip leak dot org and as you can see, it will show your IP address first and the result of the IP leak test. We got a positive result here as it shows no leak detected, even on the second try.

Next, the DNS Leak Test. I will use a simple DNS leak tester in Google. Now, I’m connected to a US server. You will see that the DNS leak tester already identified our VPN location. I clicked on the standard test and it showed my IP address. Only our Seattle VPN showed up here, that means that we don’t have a DNS leak. If the results showed other servers not provided by NordVPN, then we’re in trouble. NordVPN passed this test then with no DNS leaks.

Moving on, we will check the exposure of my browser to WebRTC leaks while using NordVPN. You will see this box with red warning texts that say WebRTC is not protected and my IP address is exposed to sites that I visit. I can conclude from here that NordVPN app alone doesn’t make the cut to secure me from WebRTC leaks. Instead, what they suggest is installing plugins or extensions to prevent WebRTC leaks depending on your browser.

For example, you can install a free plugin called WebRTC Network Limiter when using Google Chrome, it will prevent any WebRTC or Chrome Extension leaks.

In this category, I have given NordVPN a rating of 9 out of 10. Even when they have admitted to being hacked in the past, the breaching didn’t cause that much of trouble due to their commitment with “no log policy”. They also have everything that a VPN should have in terms of security and privacy features such as Double VPN, Dedicated IP, ad blocker and the automatic kill switch.

5. Support & Reliability (8/10)

It is important to commit to a provider that can ensure support to you whenever you need it. Unfortunately, NordVPN doesn’t have phone support but it has a 24/7 email and live chat channels that I have both tried first hand. Let me share my experience with you. NordVPN’s live chat support is great but it can be rigorous. First, you will have to pass through a robot first which provides you certain help pages according to your concern. If the bot can’t answer your follow-up questions, that is the only time that you can request to get transferred to a live agent for specific inquiries. In my experience, I was second in line but it didn’t take too long before Allan assisted me. He was straight to the point when answering and he also proactively offered where I can see the total value when purchasing add-ons.

I also tried their email support and I got a very detailed response with references on it after roughly 14 hours, which I consider as an average revert speed. So, if your concern is urgent, might as well opt with the live chat support to get immediate answers.

In general for its support and reliability, I have given NordVPN a rating of 8 out of 10. The live chat feature could be more user-friendly without having to type a bunch of responses before getting an agent and I believe they can still work on responding to email inquiries faster than my experience.

6. Pricing (7/10)

Now, let’s talk about the pricing plans. NordVPN offers a one-month subscription for $11.95. The monthly price will be heavily discounted if you choose to subscribe for a longer period. If you pick up a one-year plan, you will only pay $59. Technically, the monthly fee has now reduced to only $4.92. If you choose the two-year plan plus three months, you will have to pay $89. Now, this really decreased the monthly price down even further to just $3.71. So if you have the budget and are happy with the performance within 30 days of testing out NordVPN, I always recommend you to buy the longest plan as this will save you so much money.

Currently, you can pay via credit card, Google Pay, Grab Pay, Amazon Pay, Union Pay, or bitcoin if you prefer the cryptocurrency method of payment to become even more anonymous.

But if you don’t think NordVPN is for you, you are liable for their 30-day money-back guarantee. Regardless of your subscription, you can get a full refund within 30 days if you’re not satisfied with NordVPN. All you have to do is contact them through chat or email and request a refund.

Among its competitors like CyberGhost and SurfShark, NordVPN emerges as the most expensive. Remarkably, it has the lowest monthly price but it turns out to offer the least discounted prices on a long-term basis. On that note, I have given it a rating of 7 out of 10. With its features and benefits, its price ranges are not that bad but there are still other VPNs as equally good as NordVPN with lower pricing or similar price range but better performance.

Summary (8.5/10)

As a summary, I gave NordVPN a rating of 8.5 out of 10. NordVPN has advantages over their competitors for having a fast and reliable speed and a complete set of security and privacy features. However, NordVPN is left behind in some key features such as split-tunneling which they only offer on Android and Android TV devices, and they have lesser capacity of handling simultaneous use of multiple devices compared to other VPNs like Ivacy and SurfShark. They also don’t offer a free trial. So, if you are looking for a VPN with fast speed that can offer you excellent streaming experience most especially with Netflix, then NordVPN will be a perfect match to you.

In general, I recommend ExpressVPN as the best overall VPN software because of its top-tier features and benefits that you can check on my other article review. You can check the description below for more information. If you want to begin with the cheapest VPN and get the most bang for your buck, then SurfShark will be your best choice.

If you are already confident in starting today, feel free to click the link in the description to select your NordVPN package with the best discount. However, if you would like a step-by-step guide on how to set up and use NordVPN, then this next article is for you. But if after watching this review and you think NordVPN is not right for you, then this VPN alternative would definitely be the one I recommend you strongly consider. I’ll see you over in that next article.