PureVPN has been around for quite a while. Balancing security advancements with the shadows of its past security scandals, the VPN’s track record is still, somehow, impressive. Many of you are seeking a PureVPN vs NordVPN comparison—and rightfully so.
On paper, NordVPN and PureVPN share a lot. Both bring new features to the table, constantly evolving and improving in the process. However, NordVPN’s stellar reputation sets it apart, and this time, it’s interesting to see if PureVPN can compete.
We know you have plenty of questions. Is PureVPN better than NordVPN for security? Which provider is faster? How many simultaneous connections can I have? Rest assured, we’ll answer them in today’s head-to-head comparison. Let the battle commence and see who will win.
PureVPN vs NordVPN: All You Need To Know
The takeaway from this evaluation is that NordVPN is a better choice than PureVPN in general.
It’s the most advantageous in security, speed, streaming, and server count. Here’s an overview of their notable features for a quick comparison if you’re too lazy to read everything.
Though, we advise reading it through for more intricate details.
| PureVPN | NordVPN | |
| Our Current Ranking | #9 | #1 |
| Prices | Starting at $1.99/mo | Starting at $2.99/mo |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 Days | 30 Days |
| Free Version/Free Trial | No/7-Day Trial at $0.99 | No/7-Day Trial on Android |
| Logging/Jurisdiction | No/British Virgin Islands | No/Panama |
| Protocols | OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard | OpenVPN, NordLynx |
| Servers | 6,000+ in 65+ countries | 6,500+ servers in 111 countries |
| Specialty Servers | Port Forwarding, P2P, Quantum-Resistant | Double VPN, P2P, Obfuscation, Onion Over VPN |
| RAM-Only Servers | Yes | Yes |
| Working With Netflix | Yes (5-6 catalogs) | Yes (20+ catalogs) |
| P2P Allowance | Yes (not on all servers) | Yes (all servers) |
| Simultaneous Connections | 10 | 10 |
Applications & Ease of Use
If you’re looking for a VPN that works on all platforms and devices, both will suffice. Both NordVPN and PureVPN offer plenty of apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Better yet, NordVPN and PureVPN don’t shy away from Firestick, Apple TV, and Smart TV devices; awesome!
We love how simple both are to set up. You go to their sites, subscribe, install the apps you want, and voila. One thing to note is that both providers have browser extensions, making them quite popular VPNs for Google Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge, and other browsers.
Simultaneous connections are also identical. PureVPN and NordVPN offer 10, which is far above the standard imposed by ExpressVPN’s 8, CyberGhost’s 7, Mullvad’s 5, and so on.
Now, let’s talk about ease of use. PureVPN is the first and its stunning-looking apps on mobile/desktop systems.
The desktop app is the best, as it’s the most feature-rich. You’ll find all the stuff you need on the left, such as the server list, Settings, and bonus security features. Our experience with PureVPN is positive, as all of its apps are fast, snappy, and responsive, which is always top.
Still, compared to NordVPN, we felt a small “lag” when navigating the apps. NordVPN’s apps, by the way, look a tad better, with the gigantic world map and a slightly more “cutting-edge” feeling. The same trend translates to mobile devices where NordVPN is phenomenal.
While we prefer NordVPN’s app design, all other aspects in this round are equal. However, because NordVPN is a speck easier to use and gives out a more premium “atmosphere” than PureVPN, we’d give a slight edge to it. Henceforth, NordVPN wins the 1st round by a hair.
Try NordVPN’s Apps on Your Devices
NordVPN vs PureVPN Price Comparison
Our PureVPN vs NordVPN analysis continues with the pricing segment.
We found both providers very flexible and trigger-happy when it came to optional add-ons to put their best foot forward. Some of these add-ons are mentioned in our PureVPN examination, as well.
The provider offers 5-year, 2-year, 1-year, and monthly plans. Of course, the cheapest are the first ones and you can get PureVPN at $1.99/mo in this case. Plus and Max plans at $2.99/mo and $3.29/mo respectively are also – seemingly – a great value. Or are they?
Well, they seemingly are. The 2-year plans are the best-selling ones, yet, they start at $2.15/mo for the Standard plan. Plus and Max plans are now $3.15/mo and $4.15/mo, offering a password manager, file encryption, dark web monitoring, and data removal.
NordVPN caps at 2 years, offering the cheapest, Basic plan at $2.99/mo.
If you want more features, the Plus plan is ideal, alas, at $3.89/mo at the time of writing. You’ll also get NordPass, and paying more for the Ultimate plan brings in NordLocker (1 TB) and the same data deletion for users in specific regions.
Get the Best Price on NordVPN’s Plans
Both VPNs’ 2-year plans offer 3 extra months and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Optional extras on NordVPN’s side are dedicated IP addresses and basically the features from more expensive plans. PureVPN has more; dedicated IPs, port forwarding, and dedicated servers.
We also found interesting PureVPN’s residential IP addresses in the US, along with multi-login that lets you get up to 50+ simultaneous connections. No doubt, both are pretty affordable but we’d give this one to PureVPN because of its slightly cheaper, more flexible plans.
PureVPN vs NordVPN: Features Analysis
We’ve established that PureVPN is more affordable and NordVPN is a more enjoyable VPN to use.
But how do they stack up in terms of features? The following NordVPN vs PureVPN 2026 comparison will answer that.
Shared Features
We have to review their shared features first. You get standard stuff in both, such as a kill switch, split tunneling, 256-bit AES encryption, and DNS/IP leak protection.
In the case of a kill switch, NordVPN lets you activate it whenever you’re not using a VPN.
This prevents internet access UNLESS you connect to NordVPN’s servers. PureVPN also offers some customization freedom to make it work the way you want. Both providers can block trackers as well. This is simple to enable in PureVPN and see the results immediately.
NordVPN’s tracker blocker is more than that. It’s Threat Protection Pro that can also block ads, malicious sites, and dangerous downloads. Albeit, it’s locked to the Plus/Complete plans. In terms of protocols, both offer WireGuard, which is great for speed and privacy.
NordVPN’s NordLynx is a speck better because it’s faster and more reliable, as a stark improvement to WireGuard’s vanilla formula. Finally, there’s dark web monitoring, which informs you of security breaches. You’ll find this feature in both providers and it works well if you’re okay with the VPN monitoring your email constantly.
Unique Features
Whether you pick PureVPN or NordVPN, you’ll find some great security features you won’t find elsewhere. For example, PureVPN offers Quantum-Resistant encryption keys. It’s a way to future-proof your security by preventing quantum computer attacks.
According to PureVPN, standard encryption is insufficient to protect from these threats. That’s where Quantum-Resistant encryption comes in to shield you from harm from all angles. We found this feature on about 20 PureVPN servers; not all of them have it.
NordVPN, on the other hand, has much more to offer. Double VPN makes its appearance in all plans, ensuring you can double your encryption and make yourself untraceable – we explained how a Double VPN functions here. It’s a pretty neat feature.
What about Threat Protection?
Well, it’s called “Pro” now and blocks not only trackers but ads, malicious sites, and potentially harmful downloads! Another unique feature of NordVPN is Meshnet. It’s made for secure IP routing, remote file sharing, and remote device access.
Meshnet can bypass Netflix password-sharing bans, for instance. It can also ease file sharing and supports 60 devices – 10 of yours and 50 external. Another point for the Blue Team is because of its Tor Over VPN servers that can be used to go on the dark web.
While PureVPN has port-forwarding servers, they’re not exactly made for privacy. Port forwarding is often used by gamers and torrent users. We’re sure both will impress you in terms of features.
Still, NordVPN is a tad better than PureVPN because of built-in Double VPN servers, Threat Protection Pro, and Meshnet.
Protect Yourself With NordVPN’s Advanced Security
Do PureVPN and NordVPN Store Logs?
After PureVPN’s defeat, the comparison rages on, as it tries to redeem itself. Perhaps its no-logging policy will suffice? PureVPN’s logging practices are minimal, as the company is now based in the British Virgin Islands. Such a nice change from Hong Kong back in the day.
Examining its no-log policy, we can see some great news. The provider stores basic information used to maintain its services. For example, it stores logs of your bandwidth usage and connection timestamps without exact times. Both are vital for the service.
The first bit of data is for server performance monitoring, while the second is… well, unexplained on the site. PureVPN’s avoidance of storing your IP address, DNS requests, VPN-given IP, and online activities is commendable. However, its past rears its ugly head.
2017 was a bad year for PureVPN’s reputation which took a punch to the belly when the company cooperated with the FBI to catch a cyberstalker. NordVPN had no such incidents and was always a VPN that kept no logs, which was proven during its 2018 server breach.
Despite the breach, no user information was stolen and the company patched everything up promptly. Rest assured, NordVPN’s logging is even more minimalistic, and thanks to RAM-only servers, no residue will remain. Besides, the company is stationed in Panama.
As another privacy-friendly country, Panama’s laws don’t interfere with NordVPN’s politics. Both companies have third-party audits from firms like KPMG, Altius IT, Deloitte, and PwC. Surprisingly, this round is a tie.
Who thought PureVPN could catch up with NordVPN privacy-wise?!
Which VPN Is Faster: NordVPN or PureVPN?
So far, we have a score of 3:2 for NordVPN against PureVPN.
Well, it’s time to see who is a bigger slouch; PureVPN or NordVPN. Before divulging our speed test results, perhaps we can divert you to our review of NordVPN where we talked more about its performance.
That review concluded with the claim that the provider is the fastest. Still, let’s see how PureVPN fares. We’ve tested both 3 times a day, 3 days in a row, using 3 server locations. We were in Belgrade. This time, we opted for the UK, the US, and Japan to insert a bit of variety.
To ensure total equality, we used their fastest protocols; NordLynx and WireGuard. It’s good to mention that we tested them on our Windows 11 desktop computer with the latest version of the network driver and VPN apps, making the tests more valid.
| Download Speed Loss | Upload Speed Loss | |
| PureVPN | 32% | 5% |
| NordVPN | 18% | 7% |
The table above displays the average speed loss percentages for download and upload. As you can see, NordVPN swam out on top and was quite a bit faster. This was noticeable in latency, which was constantly higher with PureVPN; it was a tad sluggish.
| UK (Download/Upload) | US (Download/Upload) | Japan (Download/Upload) | |
| PureVPN | 304.9/18.96 Mbps | 243.24/18.07 Mbps | 147.31/19.05 Mbps |
| NordVPN | 324.25/18.68 Mbps | 292.75/18.31 Mbps | 223.54/17.85 Mbps |
In the table above, we can see the exact speed test results from all three locations. Again, NordVPN’s superiority is accentuated even more, especially on long-distance servers where PureVPN is all but a record breaker. Things are clear. NordVPN is a better performer.
Enjoy Blazing-Fast Speed With NordVPN
Streaming & Torrenting Comparison
During our NordVPN vs PureVPN evaluation, we discovered startling similarities. For one, both perform exquisitely on streaming platforms and two, both are P2P-friendly. While both have P2P-dedicated servers, PureVPN’s lack of support for torrenting on other servers is baffling.
For example, American, British, and Canadian VPN servers won’t work for P2P. Why? We’re not sure. You have to switch to dedicated P2P servers, choose one, and initiate the download. NordVPN offers them too but again, you can use other “normal” servers if you want.
Now, what about streaming?
Good news – you can use NordVPN and PureVPN to watch Netflix. In fact, both will happily unblock Pluto TV abroad for you and allow for swift content access no matter your location. Though it’s worth pointing out a few dissimilarities.
NordVPN works with more Netflix catalogs and can unblock around 20+. PureVPN’s servers work with only a few, on top of which, buffering is a tad longer. When running videos at 4K, PureVPN was a bit reluctant to kick in and provide that razor-sharp experience right away.
Its competitor was quicker and made it look like we weren’t using a VPN. Everything was snappy and lag-free, which made us laugh in satisfaction. To conclude, both sides are respectable but NordVPN takes the edge by being more P2P-friendly and better at unblocking different Netflix libraries.
That can also be attributed to its capable browser extension with location spoofing.
Stream and Torrent Safely With NordVPN
Server Locations: NordVPN vs PureVPN
Earlier in this PureVPN vs NordVPN duel, we pointed out that both have dedicated servers.
While the former has P2P, Port Forwarding, and Quantum-Resistant servers, the latter offers P2P, Double VPN, Obfuscated, and Onion Over VPN. Quite a diverse portfolio.
Their server counts are vastly different, though.
NordVPN offers over 6,500 servers in 111 countries. PureVPN has 6,000+ servers in 65+ countries. On paper and in practice, NordVPN’s server variety and distribution are out of PureVPN’s league. The server quality is similar but on NordVPN’s side in our book.
Both providers employ 10 Gbps RAM-only servers, for example. Both also have virtual servers in specific locations. We don’t understand PureVPN’s virtual servers in locations like Serbia, Greece, and Latvia. These aren’t censored countries with data-retention laws.
NordVPN, on the other hand, includes virtual servers almost exclusively in censored regions. It’s, for example, a great VPN for India thanks to virtual servers that simulate Indian IP addresses while being located somewhere else because of Indian anti-privacy laws.
We don’t have to go into all the intricacies to conclude that NordVPN offers more servers and locations than PureVPN. As a result, it swiftly wins the round.
Bypassing Censorship: Which VPN Does It Better?
When we tested NordVPN and PureVPN in China, we were surprised at their performances.
The Panamanian provider is expected to work well. Besides, it has state-of-the-art obfuscated servers that use OpenVPN TCP to get over the crafty Great Firewall.
It does so successfully 99% of the time, and when it’s not, it’s usually a matter of using a different server. PureVPN, at first, has no obfuscation. However, you have to be Sherlock Holmes at least for a second and disable “Automatic Protocol Selection.”
Now, when you select TCP or UDP, you’re switched to OpenVPN. This allows you to use obfuscation and benefit from the protection of a VPN in China.
So, how does it work? Pretty well. Obfuscation is a well-known recipe for circumventing the Great Firewall and censorship in general.
Our tests have displayed minor inconveniences – seldom – that could be resolved with a bit of tweaking. If you need Quantum-Resistant encryption in China, it won’t work. But obfuscation is enough to make you appear as an “ordinary” citizen and prevent detection.
Strong performances on both sides result in a tie between NordVPN and PureVPN; no winner here!
Conclusion: NordVPN Wins Against PureVPN
If math is your strong suit, you already have everything sorted out. We’re confident that the score of 6:4 for NordVPN means it’s a clear winner over PureVPN.
After this PureVPN vs NordVPN comparison for 2026, we can’t say the former is significantly worse. That wasn’t the case before.
With recent security audits, server park increase, and quantum-resistant encryption tunnel, PureVPN stepped up and isn’t an underdog like before. Best of all, its privacy concerns are no more, as it now resides in the British Virgin Islands, with one of the best no-log policies.
Unfortunately for PureVPN, NordVPN is a tough nut to crack. It offers a superior user experience, more security features, faster speeds, smoother streaming, and more servers. All of this is marginally more expensive than PureVPN, yet, very noticeable in practice.
As a result, it’s hard not to opt for NordVPN when faced with this decision.