If you want a VPN mainly for privacy, Proton VPN is probably the name you’ve heard most. If you mostly want to stream and browse without slowdowns, NordVPN tends to come up first. They cost about the same, so many people end up stuck between the two, wondering whether to pick the privacy specialist or the all-rounder.
I put both through the same tests on the same PC, phones, and Fire TV Stick, from streaming shows abroad to staying private on public Wi-Fi. They’re closer than their reputations suggest, and each one beat the other in an area you might not expect. You’ll find my pick in the box below, then the round-by-round results.
Proton VPN vs NordVPN at a Glance
My pick is NordVPN. It lost less speed on every device I tested, unblocked more streaming services, and adds post-quantum encryption and Smart DNS for TVs.
- Pick NordVPN if you stream a lot, watch on a smart TV, or want the fastest connection.
- Pick Proton VPN if privacy comes first, you want open-source apps, or you’d like a lower renewal price and a free plan to try first.
- Proton VPN is also better for torrenting on private sites and on networks that block VPNs.
- Skip Proton VPN for Hulu, ITVX, or Pluto TV. It couldn’t unblock them.
Proton VPN vs NordVPN Side by Side
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
| Our current ranking | #1 | #2 |
| Starting price | $3.49 a month | $2.99 a month |
| Renewal | $139.08 a year | $83.88 a year |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days, full refund | 30 days, unused time only |
| Free version/free trial | No / 3 days on Android | Yes / No |
| Logging/jurisdiction | No logs / Panama | No logs / Switzerland |
| No-log audits | Six since 2018, PwC and Deloitte | Every year since 2022, Securitum |
| Protocols | NordLynx, NordWhisper, OpenVPN, IKEv2 | WireGuard, Stealth, OpenVPN |
| Servers | 9,000+ in 152 countries | 20,798 in 149 countries |
| Specialty servers | Double VPN, Onion Over VPN, obfuscated, dedicated IP | Secure Core, Tor over VPN, P2P with port forwarding |
| Post-quantum encryption | Yes | No |
| Ad blocking on d3ward | 76% | 93% |
| RAM-only servers | Yes | No, full-disk encryption |
| Streaming services unblocked | 14 of 14 | 10 of 14 |
| Smart DNS | Yes | No |
| Simultaneous devices | 10 | 10 |
How I Tested Proton VPN and NordVPN
I did my October tests on a Windows 11 PC wired to a home connection in Europe. With no VPN, it tested at 190.36 Mbps down, 19.37 Mbps up, and a 10 ms ping. I tested UK, US, and Japanese servers three times a day for three days, with NordVPN on NordLynx and Proton VPN on WireGuard. Proton VPN also had VPN Accelerator enabled, its feature for improving long-distance connections.
I then repeated the tests on a Galaxy S26 Ultra and an iPhone 17 Pro over 54.7 Mbps home Wi-Fi. I also tested a Fire TV Stick 4K Plus wired to the router. Leak checks used ipleak.net and browserleaks.com, and ad blocking used d3ward’s test of 135 domains. For streaming, I tried 14 services, clearing cookies and cache before each session, plus Netflix libraries in 15 countries.
Speed: NordVPN Kept More of the Connection
| Server | NordVPN (NordLynx) | Proton VPN (WireGuard) |
| UK | 184.73 Mbps | 178.89 Mbps |
| US | 181.50 Mbps | 173.68 Mbps |
| Japan | 160.47 Mbps | 159.99 Mbps |
| Average download | 175.57 Mbps | 170.85 Mbps |
| Download loss | 7.8% | 10.2% |
| Upload loss | 5.5% | 2.7% |
NordVPN was faster on the UK and US servers, though both stayed above 170 Mbps, so you wouldn’t notice the difference while browsing or streaming. Japan was almost a tie, at 160.47 Mbps on NordVPN and 159.99 Mbps on Proton VPN. Proton VPN kept more upload speed, losing 2.7% compared to NordVPN’s 5.5%, which helps when you send large files or seed torrents.
Ping, the delay you’d feel in games and video calls, was close too: 41, 134, and 215 ms on NordVPN, and 45, 135, and 218 ms on Proton VPN. VPN Accelerator, enabled by default, made Proton VPN’s US server 4.9% faster, so leave it on.
On Phones and a Fire TV Stick: The Same Order
| Device | NordVPN | Proton VPN |
| Galaxy S26 Ultra, download loss | 20.3% | 27.0% |
| iPhone 17 Pro, download loss | 13.6% | 17.5% |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, download loss | 3.0% | 5.3% |
| Battery used, Android | 5% | 4% |
| Battery used, iPhone | 4% | 4% |
The phone figures come from the same UK, US, and Japanese servers on 54.7 Mbps Wi-Fi, so the losses are larger than on the wired PC. NordVPN still lost less on both phones and on the Fire TV Stick, where neither VPN lost more than 6%, far too little to affect a 4K stream. Battery figures come from a 20-minute 1440p YouTube video at full brightness. Proton VPN used a little less battery on Android, and the two tied on the iPhone.
Winner: NordVPN
NordVPN lost less download speed on the PC, both phones, and the Fire TV Stick. Proton VPN still kept the edge on upload.
Security: Post-Quantum Encryption on NordVPN, a Stronger Blocker on Proton VPN
Neither VPN leaked an IP address, DNS request, or WebRTC connection in my tests. Both use strong, standard encryption: AES-256 on OpenVPN and ChaCha20 on their WireGuard-based protocols. Only NordVPN adds post-quantum encryption, built into NordLynx and designed to protect today’s traffic from future quantum computers.
Proton VPN still lists it as roadmap work tied to its 2026 app rebuild. I expected a company built around encryption to add it first. Instead, it’s the weakest point in Proton VPN’s security record.
Kill Switch: Both Passed
A kill switch cuts your internet if the VPN drops, so your traffic never goes out unprotected. I pulled the Ethernet cable and ended each VPN process in Task Manager, with a continuous ping active. No packets escaped on either VPN. NordVPN’s Internet Kill Switch also passed a full PC restart, and its app-level kill switch closes the apps you choose, like a torrent client, when the connection drops.
Proton VPN passed the restart test with its Advanced Kill Switch, which blocks all traffic until the VPN connects, including after a reboot. Its standard kill switch let traffic out while the PC restarted, so if privacy is why you chose Proton VPN, enable the advanced setting.
Ad and Malware Blocking: Proton VPN Blocked More, NordVPN Scans Downloads
Proton VPN’s NetShield blocked 93% of d3ward’s domains, compared to 76% for NordVPN’s next-gen antivirus. On an ad-heavy news site, you’d see noticeably fewer ads with Proton VPN, and for a tool NordVPN calls next-gen antivirus, 76% is a letdown.
Still, NordVPN’s tool does a different job. It scans downloaded files for malware and keeps working when the VPN is disconnected, on the Complete and Prime plans.
NetShield filters at the DNS level, the system your device uses to look up websites, and it works only while you’re connected.
Multi-Hop: Double VPN Costs Less Speed, Secure Core Uses Servers Proton Owns
Multi-hop sends your traffic through two VPN servers instead of one, which makes it much harder to trace back to you. NordVPN’s Double VPN was 2.9% slower than a direct UK connection and added 4 ms of ping, too little to notice. Proton VPN’s Secure Core, entering through Switzerland and connecting out in the US, was 12.1% slower and added 84 ms, still fine for browsing and streaming.
Even so, Secure Core passes traffic through servers Proton VPN owns in Switzerland, Iceland, or Sweden. It also lets you choose the destination country, while Double VPN uses preset country pairs.
Features Only One of Them Offers
NordVPN has Meshnet, which links your own devices as if they were on one home network. You could play a LAN game with a friend over the internet, or open files on your home PC from your laptop.
NordVPN also sells dedicated IP addresses and includes Onion Over VPN servers and Dark Web Monitor, which alerts you if your account details appear on the dark web.
Proton VPN has Tor over VPN servers, which Proton says work with .onion sites without Tor Browser, and port forwarding on paid plans.
Winner: NordVPN
Post-quantum encryption, download scanning, and a faster multi-hop put NordVPN ahead. NetShield still blocks more ad and tracker domains.
Privacy: Annual Audits and Open Code, or Six Audits and RAM-Only Servers
Neither keeps a record of browsing activity, DNS queries, or the IP address you connect from. Proton VPN is based in Switzerland, outside the Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances. It publishes the source code of every app, so outside experts can check what the apps do. Securitum has audited its no-log policy every year since 2022. In a 2019 Swiss court case, Proton provided a user’s recovery email address.
However, it had no VPN connection records to provide. Proton VPN encrypts its server disks instead of using RAM-only servers. NordVPN is registered in Panama, which has no data retention law.
Since 2018, NordVPN has completed six no-log audits, two by PwC and four by Deloitte, and the latest report was issued in December 2025. Its servers operate from RAM, so a reboot wipes them.
It does store the time of your last session for about 15 minutes, though, to count devices toward the ten-device limit.
Winner: Tie
Proton VPN has open code and a court record, while NordVPN has a longer audit history and RAM-only servers.
Streaming and Torrenting: NordVPN Unblocked Four More Services
| Streaming service | NordVPN | Proton VPN |
| Netflix US | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Netflix Canada | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Netflix Japan | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| BBC iPlayer | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Channel 4 | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| ITVX | Unblocked | Blocked |
| Now TV | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Pluto TV | Unblocked, occasional blocks | Blocked |
| Peacock | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Hulu | Unblocked | Blocked |
| HBO Max | Unblocked | Unblocked |
| Prime Video | Unblocked, occasional blocks | Unblocked |
| JioHotstar | Unblocked | Unblocked |
Proton VPN couldn’t unblock Hulu, ITVX, or Pluto TV, so if those are your main services, it’s the wrong pick. NordVPN unblocked every service in the table. Pluto TV and Prime Video detected it now and then, but both played on the next attempt.
A 14th service detected both desktop apps: NordVPN’s Chrome extension unblocked it, and Proton VPN had no working method.
Netflix showed an even bigger difference. Across my country tests, NordVPN unblocked Netflix in all 15 countries, Taiwan through its Chrome extension. Proton VPN unblocked 8, including Korea, the Netherlands, and Argentina, but it couldn’t unblock Netflix Brazil, Turkey, or Indonesia. If you watch Netflix from different countries, that’s a big point for NordVPN.
NordVPN’s Smart DNS also unblocked Netflix US on an Apple TV without the app. Smart DNS changes the location your TV reports without a VPN, which helps on Samsung and LG TVs and game consoles without VPN app support. Proton VPN offers no Smart DNS, so those devices require a router setup.
Torrenting: Proton VPN Has Port Forwarding
Proton VPN marks its P2P servers and includes port forwarding on paid plans. Port forwarding lets other users in a torrent connect to you directly, and private trackers, the invite-only torrent sites, reward that with a better upload ratio.
Proton VPN’s small upload speed loss helps seeding too. NordVPN dropped its P2P category in 2026 and allows torrents on every server.
It also has a SOCKS5 proxy that most torrent clients accept, including uTorrent, but no port forwarding on its standard servers.
Winner: NordVPN
NordVPN unblocked Hulu, ITVX, and Pluto TV, and Netflix in nearly twice as many countries. Proton VPN is still the better choice for private trackers.
Restricted Networks: Stealth Costs Less Speed
Some networks block VPNs on purpose, like school or office Wi-Fi. Obfuscation disguises VPN traffic so those blocks are less likely to catch it. Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol makes it look like ordinary HTTPS traffic, and on the UK server, it was only 1.9% slower than plain WireGuard.
That impressed me, and Stealth is available on every plan, including the free one. NordVPN offers two methods, and its obfuscated servers tested 11.9% below a direct UK connection. NordWhisper, NordVPN’s protocol for networks that block VPNs, cost 12.8% and pushed ping to 808 ms while uploading, enough to make a video call lag.
I haven’t tested either VPN in China, and Proton VPN says on its own site that it’s unreliable there, so check which VPNs work in China before a trip.
Winner: Proton VPN
Stealth lost a fraction of the speed NordVPN’s obfuscation did, on every plan.
Servers: More Servers on Proton VPN, More Countries on NordVPN
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
| Countries | 152 | 149 |
| Server count | 9,000+ | 20,798 |
| Multi-hop servers | Double VPN pairs | 125 Secure Core servers in 68 countries |
| Dedicated IP locations | 51 in 32 countries | None for individual plans |
Proton VPN operates about twice as many servers, which spreads the load on popular locations in the evening, when streaming peaks. NordVPN, on the other hand, covers three more countries.
It also sells dedicated IP addresses, an IP address only you use, so sites don’t see one shared by many VPN users. That reduces captchas and streaming blocks.
Winner: Tie
Proton VPN has the denser network, while NordVPN has more countries and dedicated IPs.
Apps, Devices, and Extensions
NordVPN and Proton VPN have apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV. They also support routers and allow ten devices at once. NordVPN’s app opens on a clickable map with a server search, and it connected in 2 seconds on NordLynx.
On Windows, though, it sometimes wouldn’t connect while another VPN was open in the background, and that annoyed me.
Closing the other VPN didn’t help. I had to reset NordVPN’s app, wait a minute or two for it to finish, then sign in and connect again. It cost me time on several tests, and a few times a day, it becomes tiresome.
Proton VPN connected in 2 seconds on WireGuard, and it worked normally with other VPNs installed. Its layout is denser than NordVPN’s, with tabs for Secure Core, P2P, and Tor servers, and on Linux, it has a full graphical interface.
In Chrome, NordVPN’s extension adds location spoofing, which makes your browser report the VPN server’s location, and it blocked 52% of d3ward’s domains. Proton VPN’s extension has no ad blocker or spoofing, but it brings Secure Core to the browser.
Winner: Tie
NordVPN has the more capable extension, but Proton VPN’s Windows app had no conflicts with other VPNs.
Price: Proton VPN Is Cheaper
| Plan | NordVPN | Proton VPN |
| Longest term | $3.49 a month for 27 months ($94.23) | $2.99 a month for 24 months ($71.76) |
| Renewal | $139.08 a year | $83.88 a year |
| One year | $5.49 a month | $3.99 a month |
| Monthly | $14.99 | $9.99 |
| Higher tiers | Complete $4.49, Prime $7.49 | Proton Unlimited $7.99 |
| Free plan | No | Yes, no data cap |
NordVPN’s Basic plan is the VPN alone. The Complete plan adds next-gen antivirus, the NordPass password manager, and 1 TB of cloud storage, and the Prime plan adds identity protection for US subscribers. NordVPN’s only free option is a 3-day trial in its Android app, and the Android VPN ranking covers how to start it. Proton Unlimited bundles Proton Mail, Drive, Pass, and Calendar with the VPN.
Proton VPN also keeps a free plan with no data cap. It assigns one of 10 countries at random, with no streaming or P2P, so it’s fine for private browsing on public Wi-Fi. The catch is the refund: Proton VPN refunds only the unused part of a term, while NordVPN returns the full amount within 30 days. If you’re unsure about Proton VPN, try the free plan before paying.
Winner: Proton VPN
Lower prices at signup, at renewal, and month to month, plus a free plan NordVPN doesn’t offer.
Proton VPN vs NordVPN: Round-by-Round Results
| Round | Winner |
| Speed | NordVPN |
| Security | NordVPN |
| Privacy | Tie |
| Streaming and torrenting | NordVPN |
| Restricted networks | Proton VPN |
| Servers | Tie |
| Apps, devices, and extensions | Tie |
| Price | Proton VPN |
NordVPN vs Proton VPN: Final Verdict
Privacy specialist or all-rounder? For most people, the all-rounder. NordVPN lost less speed on every device I tested, unblocked Hulu, ITVX, and Pluto TV, and works on a smart TV through Smart DNS. It also has the post-quantum encryption Proton VPN still lacks. My NordVPN review has the full results.
Proton VPN is still the one I’d choose if privacy comes first, you torrent on private trackers, or you often connect from networks that block VPNs. Its apps are open source, Stealth costs almost no speed, and it renews for much less. If you’re torn, try Proton VPN’s free plan first. It won’t unblock streaming, but it’ll show you whether you like the app before you pay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Proton VPN better than NordVPN?
No, not for most people. NordVPN is faster and unblocks more streaming services. Proton VPN is still the better choice for open-source apps, a free plan, and lower prices.
Which is better for streaming, NordVPN or Proton VPN?
NordVPN is better for streaming. It unblocks Hulu, ITVX, and Pluto TV, which Proton VPN can’t unblock, and its Smart DNS covers smart TVs without VPN apps.
Is NordVPN or Proton VPN better for torrenting?
Proton VPN has the edge for private trackers, with port forwarding on paid plans. Still, NordVPN allows P2P on every server and includes a SOCKS5 proxy for torrent clients.
Does NordVPN have a free plan like Proton VPN?
No. NordVPN offers only a short free trial through its Android app. Proton VPN's free plan, on the other hand, has no data cap and no time limit.
Which is more private, NordVPN or Proton VPN?
Neither keeps activity logs. Proton VPN publishes its app code and owns its Secure Core servers. NordVPN instead uses RAM-only servers and has its no-log policy audited regularly.
Which is cheaper, NordVPN or Proton VPN?
Proton VPN is cheaper at signup, at renewal, and month to month. It also has a free plan with no data cap, while NordVPN has none.