NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN: which VPN is better?

NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN are both widely-known VPN providers yet they have some key differences that make them suitable for different needs. Both Norton VPN and NordVPN ensure strong data security online as well as privacy measures. But which one is more powerful – NordVPN or Norton Secure VPN? And which one should you choose for torrenting or bypassing geo-restrictions?

NordVPN offers much better value for your money than Norton Secure VPN, with prices coming as low as $3.19/month with the 68% OFF deal. NordVPN guarantees faster speed, more advanced security features, more servers, and better privacy measures than Norton Secure VPN. That being said, Norton Secure VPN is still a secure and solid service with good customer support options.

In this NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN comparison, we researched the server networks, features, and interfaces of each product. We also tested each provider and their average speed retention rates in different countries, unblocking capabilities of streaming services, torrenting performance, and more.

NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN

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Streaming and Netflix performance

Our research team performed tests with various streaming services to see which ones each VPN can unblock. With NordVPN, the process was simple and successful with almost all streaming sites. Meanwhile, Norton Secure VPN struggled with such platforms as Netflix and Hulu.

When unblocking Netflix libraries with NordVPN, we experienced no buffering issues. Our team effortlessly accessed the US, the UK, Canadian, Japanese, German, Spanish, and more libraries.

As for Norton Secure VPN, it failed to unblock any Netflix library whatsoever. During our tests, it couldn’t unblock the UK, US, Japan, Canadian, and Australian libraries at all. In fact, with Norton Secure VPN, the Netflix page couldn’t even load properly.

In terms of other streaming sites, we managed to access BBC iPlayer, YouTube, and HBO Max with both NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN. However, only NordVPN was capable of bypassing Hulu’s restrictions.

We found that one of NordVPN’s advantages is its SmartPlay feature. It lets you unblock content on streaming devices that don’t support VPN services. So you can enjoy your favorite shows on your Smart TV, gaming console, or anywhere else.

It’s also worth noting that Norton VPN does not have apps for most streaming devices, such as Kodi, Amazon Fire Stick, or Android TV. In some cases, like with Fire TV devices, you can try to sideload it.

Wrapping up

NordVPN is better for streaming than Norton Secure VPN. It unblocks more streaming platforms, ensures greater compatibility, and has a SmartPlay feature for using a VPN on devices that don’t support it.

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Plans and pricing

The monthly plan of NordVPN costs from $12.99 per month for 6 devices depending on the plan you pick (Standard, Plus, or Complete). Meanwhile, Norton VPN monthly subscription rate depends on the number of devices you’ll want to use it on, starting from $4.99 (1 device).

Here are the full pricing options of NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN:

If you want to snatch the best prices possible, it’s better to opt for long-term subscriptions. NordVPN offers a 2-year plan for just $3.19/month and you get a full-on VPN service together with the Threat Protection feature to prevent ads and malware.

Meanwhile, the longest plan of Norton Secure VPN is one year ($2.50/month). Prices increase after the first year, so you won’t enjoy the cheap VPN cost as long as you would with NordVPN. But you do get an excellent malware removal tool that comes in the Standard package of the Norton 360 antivirus.

You can try NordVPN out with its 7-day free trial for Android devices and a 30-day money-back guarantee. If Norton Secure VPN is what caught your eye, there’s a 60-day money-back guarantee available as well.

Overall, to get the best value for your money, we’d advise looking into the 2-year plan of NordVPN. You can get it for a similar price to Norton VPN’s one-year subscription and with more freebies included.

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NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN: which is more secure?

If there’s anything that a VPN must have, it’s top-notch security. And in terms of Norton Secure VPN vs NordVPN, the latter offers better protection.

What they have in common is the market-leading AES-256 encryption which is what makes your traffic unreachable for prying eyes. Both providers also offer strict no-logs policies.

However, what’s different is that NordVPN’s no-logs policy is audited, while Norton’s isn’t. On top of that, the country in which Norton is headquartered is the US, which isn’t considered a privacy-friendly location. NordVPN is based in Panama which doesn’t have strict data retention laws.

Wrapping up

It’s clear that both VPN services come with great encryption and don’t keep logs, but Norton comes with a few flaws. They include not being audited and being based in a country where privacy isn’t the main concern. Since these factors are crucial for excellent security, NordVPN takes the win once again.

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Privacy

Both providers use the widely praised and one of the strongest encryptions on the market – AES-256. And it's a market-leading solution for a reason – it’s difficult to hack, protecting your data from third-party peeks.

However, only NordVPN uses RAM-only servers, meaning your data is instantly wiped out with each reboot. This also makes it less likely to encounter data breaches.

What’s different about these providers is their locations. NordVPN is headquartered in Panama, which doesn’t have any strict data retention laws. This makes the location very convenient for a VPN service.

As for Norton Secure VPN, it’s based in a less privacy-friendly location – the US. In fact, the country belongs to the 5-Eyes alliance, which makes it far from an ideal location for a VPN. However, Norton still ensures that it doesn’t keep logs of your online activity.

Logging

NordVPN’s policy indicates that the provider does not monitor or store your internet activities. And since the provider is located in Panama, the country's laws don’t obligate anyone to keep logs of your data. On top of that, the policy has been audited by the independent agency PricewaterhouseCoopers twice already. This shows that their privacy policy is completely credible.

Norton Secure VPN also provides its users with a no-logs policy. While the company is registered in the US, it promises that they don’t monitor or store your data. Yet, they collect subscriber information for communication purposes and data regarding what device you use. In addition, Norton’s policy hasn’t been audited either, so the company’s privacy promises leave some questionable gaps.

Speed performance: NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN

Norton Secure VPN doesn’t have WireGuard and uses OpenVPN, while NordVPN offers their own speedy version of this protocol called NordLynx. We put these protocols against each other to see how well these providers perform in terms of download and upload speeds.

We tested the speeds in 6 countries – the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan. The performance of each server greatly depended on the distance of the testing place.

• Baseline: 1 ms ping/500 Mbps download/518 Mbps upload

The results make it clear that NordVPN is faster than Norton Secure VPN. With the NordLynx protocol, the average download speed retention rate turned out to be 88% of initial connection speed. Meanwhile, Norton Secure VPN managed to retain 79% of baseline speed.

In terms of upload speed, NordVPN also came back with better results. NordVPN retained an average of 76% initial speed, while Norton Secure VPN – 69%.

Of course, speed results depend on your location, your internet connection, and other factors. So your results may differ from ours.

Aside from speed, we also compared the ping of both providers. Here are the results:

NordVPN’s ping results were better than those of Norton Secure VPN. This VPN provided the best results in all three tested locations. This means you’re less likely to experience buffering or lagging while gaming or doing other activities.

Wrapping up

NordVPN is much speedier than Norton Secure VPN, with the download speed retention rates averaging at 88% and 79% respectively. Plus, NordVPN has more tunneling protocols to choose from and ensures lower ping.

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Features overview

Overviewing the features of NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN demonstrated that NordVPN is just more comprehensive. While both providers offer the split tunneling feature and an ad blocker, NordVPN has many more additionalities that are useful.

All that Norton Secure VPN gives you (despite the mutual features of both providers) is Wi-Fi Security. Meanwhile, with NordVPN, you get the best of both worlds – crucial security features and handy extras. They include dark web monitoring, SmartPlay, Threat Protection, specialty servers, auto-connect, and pausing features.

Overall, it’s clear that NordVPN surpasses Norton Secure VPN by offering more valuable assets.

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Split tunneling

Both providers offer the split tunneling feature. And if you don’t know what split tunneling is, to put it simply, it’s a tool that lets you choose which apps should use a VPN connection and which shouldn’t. The apps that will use a VPN will go through an encrypted tunnel from the moment you open them.

With NordVPN, you get this feature on Windows and Android. Yet, they are slightly different. On Windows, you can choose whether you want to “disable VPN for selected apps” or “enable VPN for selected apps”. This makes customizing easy when you want to change settings for one app only.

Meanwhile, on Android, you can make use of inverse split tunneling which means that you can only disable the VPN on specific apps. Unfortunately, this NordVPN feature is not yet available on such popular operating systems as macOS, iOS, or Linux.

Moving on, with Norton Secure VPN, you can also configure which apps you want to use a VPN connection. You can exclude individual apps from connecting to a VPN. This provider also offers split tunneling only on Windows and Android platforms.

Ad blocker

Another feature that both providers ensure with their VPN services is an ad blocker. The one NordVPN offers is called CyberSec. It uses proprietary DNS servers to filter out not only online ads but dangerous websites as well.

Norton has a similar feature as well, helping you eliminate pop-up ads, banners, and redirects which can make your browsing experience obtrusive. It also protects you from websites that can contain malware or other cyber infections.

Additional features

Both NordVPN and Norton offer fundamental features that each VPN should include, however, NordVPN is more versatile.

NordVPN offers the unusual SmartPlay technology that is created to unblock geo-restricted content. You also get various specialty servers, such as P2P for torrenting, obfuscated servers to bypass censorship, and more.

You also get an auto-connect feature so that you don’t need to manually turn on your VPN each time you start your device. With it, there’s a pause button that allows you to set a time when you want the VPN to resume. Another benefit of NordVPN is that in case your data gets leaked on the dark web, it will alert you so that you can start taking security measures.

As for Norton Secure VPN, despite split tunneling and an ad blocker, you also get the Wi-Fi Security feature. If you connect to a network that isn’t secure, you’ll automatically be connected to the VPN.

Servers and locations

In terms of servers, both NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN have decent server fleets, with NordVPN offering many more server locations than Norton Secure VPN.

NordVPN offers 5,800 servers in 60 countries which is a lot compared to other VPN providers. Regions like Europe and the Asia Pacific have the best coverage. In addition, the Americas and Middle East & Africa include a few server locations as well, making NordVPN’s fleet very inclusive.

Moving forward, Norton Secure VPN offers 1,000 servers in 29 locations, including the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, and others. Differently from NordVPN, you can’t choose a specific server with Norton Secure VPN. You can only pick a specific country and it will automatically connect you to the fastest server.

Plus, with NordVPN, you get to make use of specialized servers, such as Double VPN or obfuscated for extra security as well as P2P servers for torrenting.

Wrapping up

So when it comes to servers, NordVPN takes the lead. It has twice as many server locations as Norton Secure VPN, allows you to choose a specific server yourself, and includes specialty servers for security and torrenting.

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Torrenting

When it comes to Norton Secure VPN vs NordVPN in terms of torrenting, the latter is faster and more reliable. Let us explain why.

You see, with NordVPN, torrenting is not rocket science. You don’t have to manually look for the right servers for torrenting as you can find the P2P servers under the specialty servers section on the app. We’ve tested them, and let us tell you – they’re rewardingly fast. If you’re from a country that prohibits such activities, NordVPN won’t disappoint you.

As for Norton Secure VPN, while there are a few P2P servers available, they’re sadly very slow. We managed to download files much faster without this VPN than with it.

Wrapping up

Norton Secure VPN sure isn’t the best choice for torrenting, so if that’s your main reason for getting a VPN, we’d recommend looking at NordVPN or other providers.

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Platforms, interface, and ease of use

Whichever provider you end up picking between, both of them offer apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. The only difference is that Norton Secure VPN isn’t available for Linux users.

Despite that, the installation process of both NordVPN and Norton VPN is very quick and simple. Each VPN can be set up in minutes even by complete newbies. All you have to do is purchase the product, sign up, and install your VPN.

Because NordVPN offers the SmartPlay technology feature that helps you stream your favorite shows, you can set it up on various streaming devices. This includes Kodi, Android TV, and Fire TV devices. Sadly, Norton Secure VPN doesn’t provide you with such pleasure.

A similar situation is with browser extensions. NordVPN offers add-ons on Chrome and Firefox. Meanwhile, Norton Secure VPN doesn’t have any extensions. That is, unless you buy its antivirus suite.

The only benefit that Norton Secure VPN has over NordVPN is that you can have up to 10 simultaneous connections depending on the plan you pick. With NordVPN, you can have 10, which is still a decent amount.

However, the number of simultaneous connections doesn’t mean much as NordVPN proved to offer immense value in many other spheres, including its SmartPlay technology, browser extensions, and other great freebies.

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Desktop apps

Starting from desktop apps, the NordVPN Windows app is very simple to navigate. Once you launch the app, you can see all available servers on the left side of the screen. Even P2P, Double VPN, and other specialty servers are organized for you to find them easily. The Windows app users also get a kill switch, invisibility on LAN, split tunneling, auto-connect, and pausing.

The macOS version of NordVPN is a bit lighter and doesn’t involve as many features. Of course, rarely is a VPN for macOS inclusive because of Apple’s restrictions. While the split tunneling feature is missing, there’s still a kill switch. Yet, it only works on specific apps and there’s no option to disable it.

There are two desktop versions of Norton Secure VPN – a separate VPN app and one included in the antivirus suite. The Windows app includes the split tunneling feature and a kill switch. You can find all of the freebies by pressing the gear icon on the top left side of the screen.

As for the servers, you can find them in the dropdown menu straight on the main dashboard. The design is very minimalistic and we're a fan of it – it’s super simple to find everything you need.

The macOS app is very similar to the one on Windows, yet it only offers an ad blocker. You guessed it – no kill switch, no split tunneling, nada. If you care about your online anonymity and want to be connected to a VPN at all times, the absence of a kill switch can be a huge drawback.

Mobile apps

Moving on to the mobile version, NordVPN has apps for Android and iOS. What’s interesting is that they are almost identical in terms of design. You can disconnect or pause the VPN, choose a server, or make use of the features in the settings.

Surprisingly, the iOS app has quite a few freebies included which isn’t common for VPNs on this platform. There’s a kill switch but it’s not customizable, meaning you can’t turn it off. On top of that, you get the Dark Web monitoring feature that checks for data leaks. The Threat Protection feature blocks malicious sites and ads.

The Android version, however, has better features, including a customizable kill switch and the split tunneling feature. What the Android app lacks and could make use of is dark web monitoring.

Norton Secure VPN has Android and iOS versions as well. The latter doesn’t have a kill switch or the split tunneling feature but does offer an auto-connect button. It automatically selects a server with the fastest speed.

As for the Android version, the interface is very similar to the iOS app. Yet, unlike with iOS, you get a variety of features, including the necessary kill switch and split tunneling. On top of that, you get to enjoy Norton VPN’s ad blocker and Wi-Fi Security feature.

Customer support

If there’s any aspect that NordVPN and Norton Secure VPN can really compete against each other, it’s certainly customer service. Both of them offer extensive support options.

We have to clap for both VPNs for providing a 24/7 live chat which is one of the most convenient ways to solve issues fast. While Norton doesn’t offer email support, it does have a phone number you can use which is what NordVPN lacks.

And if you like solving problems yourself, there are multiple guides, articles, and FAQs of both providers that include answers to various questions.

In this round of NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN, we can’t pick one winner as both providers have many support options to choose from. So this time we have to declare a tie.

NordVPN vs Norton Secure VPN – which one wins?

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NordVPN is the ultimate winner of this comparison – it’s a better VPN than Norton Secure VPN. It guarantees much faster speeds, more security features, and better privacy measures, such as an audited privacy policy. It even has a much bigger server network and unblocks many more streaming services.

Meanwhile, Norton Secure VPN has basic security features as well as a clear privacy policy. While the server fleet is modest, it’s possible to access some streaming services such as BBC iPlayer or HBO Max.

Overall, if you’re in it for the buffering-free streaming experience or all-rounded protection, NordVPN is your best bet. It effortlessly beats Norton Secure VPN in various spheres, including speed, security, privacy, streaming, and more.

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