The Surfshark vs NordVPN debate is one of the hardest comparisons most people face. Both rank among the top affordable VPNs, with strong security, fast speeds, solid privacy, and reliable streaming. When we last pitted them against each other in 2026, NordVPN came out ahead, but only just.
This comparison runs through 8 head-to-head tests. We declare a winner in each one, tally the score, and name an overall champion. NordVPN takes the title, though the margin is thin enough that the details really do matter.
Surfshark vs NordVPN 2026: Overview
After testing both VPNs, we concluded that NordVPN is better than Surfshark and should be your go-to option. Here’s a brief overview of their features if you don’t have time to read the entire NordVPN vs Surfshark comparison.
| NordVPN 🏆 | Surfshark VPN | |
| 📋 Our Current Ranking | #1 | #5 |
| 🔖 Starting Prices | $3.49 monthly | $2.49 monthly |
| 💸 Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days for all plans | 30 days for all plans |
| 🆓 Free Version/Free Trial | No/3 days | No/7 days |
| 📓 Logging/Jurisdiction | No logging/Panama | No logging/Netherlands |
| 🔐 Protocols | NordLynx, NordWhisper, IKEv2, OpenVPN | WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN, Dausos (macOS) |
| 🌐 Servers | 9,400+ in 137 countries | 4,500+ in 100 countries |
| 🔝 Specialty Servers | Dedicated IP, Onion Over VPN, Obfuscated, Double VPN | Static IP, Dedicated IP, MultiHop |
| ⛔ Ad Blocking | Yes | Yes |
| 💾 RAM-Only Servers | Yes | Yes |
| 📺 Working With Netflix | Yes (25+ catalogs) | Yes (30+ catalogs) |
| 🔽 P2P Allowance | Yes | Yes |
| 📱 Concurrent Connections | 10 | Unlimited |
Apps and Ease of Use: Surfshark vs NordVPN
This comparison starts with their apps and compatibility. Both VPNs excel in this department, offering applications for all platforms. This makes them great for desktop, mobile, tablet, and laptop users. Supported platforms are:
- Windows, Linux, and macOS computers and laptops
- Android and iOS smartphones and tablets
- Routers (Tomato, DD-WRT, Asus, TP-Link, and others)
- Smart TV, Apple TV, Fire TV Stick, and other streaming devices
Their native Fire TV Stick VPN apps are ideal for streaming geo-blocked content. On top of that, both VPNs work on many router models, so you can use them to protect all devices. Surfshark is better than NordVPN in terms of allowed simultaneous connections: unlimited vs only 10 in NordVPN. While not impressive by any means, it’s ahead of CyberGhost, which offers only 7. Here are their apps.
Surfshark’s desktop app looks professional and is easy to navigate. I just noticed it takes a bit of time to connect on Windows and macOS; about three to four seconds. Its mobile apps are a bit better for me. Snappier, more responsive, and generally very easy to navigate despite the large feature set.
NordVPN looks better and more professional, especially with the new interface introduced in mid-2026.. This applies to all platforms. NordVPN takes up to two seconds to connect and rarely experiences longer connection times. Based on our long experience, NordVPN’s apps are a bit more polished.
Winner: Tie ⚖️
During our Surfshark vs NordVPN evaluation, we thoroughly enjoyed both providers’ apps. While Surfshark beats its rival in simultaneous connections, NordVPN’s overall functionality is slightly better. This makes the initial round of the comparison a tie.
Surfshark vs NordVPN: Price Comparison
We praised Surfshark’s affordable plans in our detailed review. However, we drew the same conclusion for NordVPN. Starting with Surfshark, its price is $2.49 per month for the 2-year Starter plan. There are 3 tiers – Starter, One, and One+. The Starter plan isn’t attractive features-wise because it lacks many.
The One plan is extremely good, and for $2.79 monthly with 3 extra months, you get the antivirus for all systems. Surfshark’s 12-month plans are ridiculously affordable. The One plan, again, shines at $3.59 a month with 3 extra months. Its monthly plans start at $16.45, which we found to be expensive compared to other VPNs. NordVPN’s 2-year plans are pricier, but they’re very valuable.
The Basic 2-year plan starts at $3.49 per month and includes many features of NordVPN, but not the advanced ones. The Complete plan is the one you want, with malware and tracker protection, an ad blocker, and other premium features for $4.49 monthly. NordVPN will also throw in 3 free months.
Quick Sidenote:
Prices are accurate at the time of writing. Both VPNs occasionally change their prices and introduce new discounts. We’ll do our best to update their prices regularly and keep you in the loop on their latest promotions.
Discounts on annual plans are available, but the annual plan costs are way higher than Surfshark’s. Across the board, NordVPN is considerably more expensive, particularly in its high-tier plans and in renewal prices, where NordVPN is one of the most expensive VPNs you can now get. We actually criticize this often because after 2 years, some people simply leave NordVPN for another, cheaper VPN.
Surfshark tops out at $4.49 for the most expensive plan. Meanwhile, NordVPN’s Prime offer is $7.49 monthly. In this NordVPN vs Surfshark duel, it’s good to mention a 30-day money-back guarantee and free trials on both sides. NordVPN has a 3-day trial on Android, and Surfshark has a 7-day trial on Android and iOS, so it’s more convenient.
Winner: Surfshark 🏆
While NordVPN is undoubtedly affordable, Surfshark swiftly takes this round with its record-low prices that start at $2.49 monthly. Both introductory and renewal costs are lower in Surfshark, making it a clear-cut winner of this round.
NordVPN vs Surfshark Features: Which VPN is Safer?
Our Surfshark vs NordVPN price comparison might be enough for you to decide. Well, we wouldn’t rush to conclusions just yet. These providers are brimming with features waiting for you to explore them. We’ll help you a bit by explaining how they work.
🟢 Shared Features
Given the buddies’ status of these services, they share an awful lot of security features, and we tested and examined them in our in-depth comparison.
- Post-quantum encryption. It’s a standard in premium VPNs that specialize in privacy and security. Being impenetrable and, in this case, amplified by Forward Secrecy, it’s easy to see why popular options like these use it.
- Double VPN/MultiHop. It doubles your encryption by routing traffic through two servers in different countries. As a result, the speed is slightly slower, but the level of security increases.
- Ad Blocker. Both VPNs can block ads, trackers, and malicious sites. NordVPN’s ad blocker is part of its Advanced Protection Pro, while Surfshark has CleanWeb and a Web Content Blocker for Parental Control and in-depth blocking.
- Kill Switch. NordVPN’s kill switch historically works better because its rival struggled with its malfunctions in the past. NordVPN also includes an App Kill Switch, which Surfshark lacks.
- Obfuscation/NoBorders. Great for avoiding censorship and getting around firewalls. NordVPN’s obfuscated servers are in all apps, and Surfshark’s NoBorders mode is always turned on out of precaution.
- Dark Web Monitor/Alerts. It’s great for getting alerted about leaked credentials. You can react immediately and resolve the problem to avoid data theft. Both features are available in these VPNs’ mid- to high-tier plans.
- Split Tunneling. Handy when you want to exclude apps from using a VPN tunnel. Or perhaps include only specific apps. Not unique but very useful.
- Dedicated IP. Both providers offer dedicated IPs for purchase in multiple locations. Surfshark’s dedicated IPs are slightly cheaper than NordVPN’s.
- RAM Servers. RAM servers lose their data with each reboot, so no information stays on the server.
🔴 Unique Features
Despite all the similarities, they have their own personality and offer something unique. NordVPN has the NordLynx protocol, an improved version of WireGuard. Surfshark went with WireGuard, and Dausos, a new macOS-exclusive protocol built for performance, speed, and security. Other protocols include OpenVPN and IKEv2 on both sides, though I rarely use them, as they’re now dated.
NordVPN also introduces an in-house NordWhisper protocol that combats network filtering. Its Threat Protection Pro has real-time protection against malicious files, viruses, and trackers. Surfshark has an antivirus that works well on all devices. It’s even better than NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro in terms of real-time virus detection across all devices and platforms.
Surfshark includes the Search browser, a bespoke incognito mode for browsing without ISP monitoring. This feature is in the One and One+ plans. Surfshark has the IP Rotation tool to rotate your IP periodically while keeping your connection intact. This means you can’t be tracked even by NSA-level hackers.
We should also mention Surfshark’s Web Content Blocker, a parental control that blocks adult sites (gambling, weapons, tobacco, etc.) NordVPN punches back with Meshnet, used for remote control, remote access, and file sharing. Meshnet also lets you make secure LAN parties when gaming with a VPN.
We love that Surfshark includes Static IPs, but security-wise, they don’t do a whole lot. In this aspect, it’s hard to tell who is the winner because they offer amazing features not found in many other pricier VPN providers.
Winner: NordVPN (By a Notch) 🏆
In our tests, NordVPN was only slightly better than Surfshark. We gave NordVPN an advantage because of a few extras, particularly Meshnet, which seals the deal for many users looking to expand upon basic VPN functions, and NordWhisper, which prevents network filtering.
Do NordVPN and Surfshark Store Logs?
Storing logs is an unattractive characteristic of many free VPNs. Thankfully, neither of them is free, which sort of implies that none of them keep logs. Examining the privacy policies of NordVPN and Surfshark, we can clearly see minimal logging practices. These VPNs won’t store information like:
- Your IP address
- DNS requests
- Connection logs
- Geolocation
- Traffic metadata, and so on.
We must say we’re impressed with the level of privacy both display. After examining the part about logging, both providers do well with very few bits of information. They’re limited to troubleshooting data and things like your payment info and email. Now, both offer some extras that might require some more information.
In particular, both contain anti-malware and antivirus software, so scanning your computer for threats is naturally going to be privacy-unfriendly. This issue is resolved by anonymizing your data. Even if something arrives at the servers, this data is anonymized, plus it’s wiped after 15 minutes after your session ends.
Besides, both providers have RAM-exclusive servers, so they can easily restart them and wipe all information. Jurisdictions are quite different. NordVPN is in Panama, which is better than Surfshark’s Netherlands. NordVPN also has six audits on its no-log policy from Deloitte, with one in February 2026. Surfshark has been audited by Deloitte in 2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026 by Deloitte and SecuRing.
Winner: Tie ⚖️
So, which provider to choose for privacy and no logging, NordVPN or Surfshark? Both are amazing and adhere to the strictest privacy-friendly practices. With third-party audits and verified no-logging claims, we have no other option but to give points to both sides.
Surfshark vs NordVPN: Speed Tests for 2026
If we exclude security and privacy, speed may be one of the essential aspects of a VPN service. Today’s Surfshark vs NordVPN comparison for 2026 takes us to another vital face-off, which is all about performance. Before we proceed, we’ll mention a few things. The first thing is our location at the time of testing.
We were in Serba, using a fast internet connection with download and upload speeds of over 345 Mbps and 20 Mbps, respectively. Here are our results:
After performing this test without using a VPN, we tested both providers for three days in a row, three times a day, using three locations – the UK, the US, and Japan. Since both offer very fast protocols, we used them for our test: WireGuard in Surfshark and NordLynx in NordVPN.
We also performed our tests on our Windows 11 computer, as these VPNs work very well on Windows, and it was also easier to perform our tests on this platform. Here’s the average speed reduction of both providers based on our tests:
| 📥 Download Speed Loss | 📤 Upload Speed Loss | |
| Surfshark | 27% | 32% |
| NordVPN | 18% | 7% |
The table above favors NordVPN as the faster of the two. It was quite faster in both download and upload performance; however, the difference is even larger in the latter case. Surfshark’s 32% drop in upload performance was indeed alarming. NordVPN, on the other hand, stayed composed, with its average speed reduction never going over 20%. Even in practice, the Panamanian VPN performed much better thanks to not only faster overall speeds but also lower latency.
Here are their complete speed test results across all three locations, where you can see how they performed during our three-day testing.
| UK (DL/UL) | US (DL/UL) | Japan (DL/UL) | |
| Surfshark | 306.48/16.97 Mbps | 253.79/12.47 Mbps | 191.07/10.90 Mbps |
| NordVPN | 324.25/18.68 Mbps | 292.75/18.31 Mbps | 223.54/17.85 Mbps |
Winner: NordVPN 🏆
Our tests have shown that NordVPN was faster, with lower latency, and better overall performance for day-to-day tasks. Surfshark performs well, but still has miles to go before it catches up with NordVPN.
NordVPN vs Surfshark for Streaming and P2P
After the performance evaluation, our Surfshark vs NordVPN duel moves in another direction. In two, to be precise – streaming and torrenting. As they’re respectable premium providers, you’d expect awesome performance from both. Here’s how they perform for some of the most popular online activities.
Streaming Tests
NordVPN performs well, unblocking over 25 Netflix catalogs, BBC iPlayer, Hotstar, and other streaming platforms. It also works with TV channels abroad – ITV is one of them. NordVPN’s unblocking abilities are consistent.
Having tested it on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, its apps are capable of dodging geo-blocks. If your device doesn’t support VPNs natively, NordVPN also includes SmartDNS with an easy setup, but it’s limited to US-based streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and ESPN+. Surfshark removed SmartDNS recently, so its setup on non-VPN-friendly devices is now impossible.
We mentioned one surprise: Surfshark’s strong streaming performance that overshadows NordVPN. Surfshark works with 30 Netflix catalogs, unblocking Netflix US, Australia, UK, Japan, and even hard-to-access Turkey.
Interestingly, these VPNs don’t have dedicated streaming servers, and they work with all the popular streamers out of the box. While both are impressive, Surfshark has a slight edge because it unblocks more Netflix libraries.
| Surfshark | NordVPN | |
| Netflix US | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| Prime Video US | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| BBC iPlayer | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| Sky Sports | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| HBO Max | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| Paramount+ | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
| YouTube TV | ✅ Works | ✅ Works |
Torrenting Tests
Torrenting and P2P are enjoyable regardless of the provider. NordVPN’s P2P servers are excellent, offering impressive speeds and stability for daily downloads. After testing them, we found that speed reductions are nonexistent. We used nearby servers in Europe to download torrents without hassle.
NordVPN even has the SOCKS5 proxy that you can combine with torrent clients for better performance. Surfshark also works for torrenting on all servers. There’s no port forwarding or other extras. In our experience, this extra is unnecessary if you’re already using a fast P2P VPN such as these two.
NordVPN and Surfshark are P2P-friendly, but the former is slightly faster, as expected. That’s why NordVPN is a tad better than Surfshark for P2P downloads.
Download Torrents With NordVPN
Winner: Tie ⚖️
Surfshark holds the title in the streaming sub-round. Meanwhile, NordVPN was quicker for torrenting. Given the final result, the round is a tie, as both VPNs provide sufficient performance for these popular activities.
Surfshark vs NordVPN: Server Locations
Having a large server park isn’t necessarily better if the server quality is lacking. Luckily, this isn’t the case here. NordVPN and Surfshark have 10 Gbps RAM-only servers, with a few VPN locations with 40-100 Gbps server ports. NordVPN has 9,400+ servers in 137 countries, with:
- Onion over VPN servers
- Dedicated IP servers
- Obfuscated servers
- Double VPN servers
We praise this server network, which excels in security, privacy, and speed. Its servers are distributed well, so it’s another plus. It even has Indian VPN servers that work with Hotstar and other India-locked content. We appreciate its Onion over VPN servers, mostly used to visit the dark web through Tor.
Surfshark offers 4,500 servers in 100 countries, with:
- MultiHop servers
- Static IP servers
- Dedicated IP servers
It has half as many servers as its rival, so it’s at a disadvantage. However, this number isn’t critically small and won’t produce overcrowding, nor will it prevent you from finding the server you need. Like its rival, Surfshark has dedicated IP addresses and static IPs. Static IP addresses are unique to it.
Surfshark has nearly 37 fewer countries than NordVPN, not too alarming considering its amazing server distribution across every continent.
Winner: NordVPN 🏆
NordVPN takes the round with its larger, more spread-out server fleet. It also offers a fair number of dedicated servers for P2P, Double VPN, Onion over VPN, and obfuscation. In short, NordVPN beats Surfshark in numbers and variety.
Bypassing Censorship: Which VPN Does It Better?
Avoiding censorship is never easy, especially in China. The Great Firewall trumps even some of the best providers, one of which is CyberGhost. If you’re using it, switch to NordVPN, which uses obfuscated servers. Having tested them in China, we concluded that obfuscated servers can get over the firewall. There’s a minor speed drop because of the encryption in the background. It’s normal, don’t fret.
However, the performance is more than sufficient, including for gaming. Surfshark uses Camouflage Mode to achieve the same. It’s obfuscation applied to your connection, which masks it and makes it look like a regular connection. To enable Camouflage Mode, you must use OpenVPN TCP. This lets you get over the Great Firewall and use it in China. It’s efficient in practice; I can’t complain.
But we noticed that it’s slightly less reliable than NordVPN, with a few connection problems here and there. The main thing is that both can be used in China. NordVPN is a bit better and faster, and I confirmed this again in July during my travel to Shenzhen for 3 days. Other countries like Iran, the UAE, Turkey, and Russia aren’t problematic. Their censorship means aren’t as strong as China’s, so both can work without connection issues. No wonder they’re some of our favorites for the UAE.
Winner: NordVPN 🏆
NordVPN slightly edges out Surfshark in this round, but really, both are pretty competent for sidestepping censorship. We advise NordVPN for China, but you can use Surfshark in other countries as a more cost-effective option.
Conclusion: NordVPN is Better Than Surfshark in July 2026
If we do the math, we see that NordVPN won the majority of this duel’s rounds. NordVPN is faster, offers more servers, and is better at bypassing censorship in China in 2026. Surfshark is cheaper, offers unlimited connections, and is slightly better for Netflix. Other aspects, such as P2P, security, privacy, and compatibility, are a tie, making the VPNs some of the best VPNs around.
In the end, our choice is NordVPN. It’s better and only slightly pricier than Surfshark. Having more servers and being faster is important to us. If you’re more value-inclined and want to save as much money as you can, it’s okay. In that case, opt for Surfshark, and you’ll get the best VPN for under $2.5 a month.