Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN are mid-priced digital personal community providers that disguise your IP handle and web looking exercise from exterior observers. Each merchandise goal people, households and small companies with 10 customers or fewer. Whereas they appear comparable, their differing capabilities and logging insurance policies make NordVPN the clear alternative for any privacy-conscious consumer.
Under, I examine Norton Safe VPN and NordVPN based mostly on essential components like connection velocity, server choices, privateness insurance policies and buyer assist. I additionally clarify why I belief NordVPN over Norton in terms of web privateness.
- Norton Safe VPN: Finest for present Norton 360 customers who aren’t significantly involved about torrenting or privateness.
- NordVPN: Finest for any privacy-conscious customers who want a quick, safe connection for torrenting and streaming.
1
Semperis
Semperis
Workers per Firm Measurement
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Giant (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Enterprise (5,000+ Workers), Giant (1,000-4,999 Workers)
Enterprise, Giant
Options
Superior Assaults Detection, Superior Automation, Wherever Restoration, and extra
2
ESET PROTECT Superior
ESET PROTECT Superior
Workers per Firm Measurement
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Giant (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Any Firm Measurement
Any Firm Measurement
Options
Superior Risk Protection, Full Disk Encryption , Trendy Endpoint Safety, and extra
3
ManageEngine Log360
ManageEngine Log360
Workers per Firm Measurement
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Giant (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Micro (0-49 Workers), Medium (250-999 Workers), Enterprise (5,000+ Workers), Giant (1,000-4,999 Workers), Small (50-249 Workers)
Micro, Medium, Enterprise, Giant, Small
Options
Exercise Dashboard, Superior Risk Analytics, Analytics/Reporting, and extra
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Comparability desk
| Beginning worth | ||
| Server pool | ||
| Supported gadgets | ||
| Streaming providers | ||
| Simultaneous connections | ||
| VPN options | ||
| Extra safety features | Plus and Final plans, password supervisor, knowledge breach scanner, encrypted cloud storage and cyber safety insurance coverage |
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| Privateness insurance policies | ||
| Buyer assist | ||
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Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Pricing
Norton Safe VPN pricing
Norton doesn’t supply a free trial of its standalone VPN product, however you will get a seven-day free trial of its Norton 360 safety platform that features the VPN service.
Pricing for Norton Safe VPN is damaged down into three plans relying on the variety of gadgets you wish to shield. There is no such thing as a month-to-month subscription choice — you will need to decide to at the least one yr. In order for you further safety features, you should purchase one in every of two Norton 360 plans. Norton 360 Commonplace consists of risk safety, 2GB cloud backup storage (for Home windows solely), darkish internet monitoring and a password supervisor for as much as three gadgets. Norton 360 Deluxe will increase the quantity of cloud backup storage to 50GB and provides parental controls (not accessible for Mac) and privateness monitoring for as much as 5 gadgets.
SEE: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which VPN Is Finest? (TechRepublic)
Norton is at the moment providing promotional pricing for the primary yr of service, however then the worth jumps considerably even for a standalone VPN plan.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for 1 gadget: $29.99 for the primary yr, then $49.99 per yr.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for five gadgets: $39.99 for the primary yr, then $79.99 per yr.
- Norton Safe VPN (standalone) for 10 gadgets: $59.99 for the primary yr, then $99.99 per yr.
- Norton 360 Commonplace + VPN for 3 gadgets: $39.99 for the primary yr, then $94.99 per yr.
- Norton 360 Deluxe + VPN for five gadgets: $49.99 for the primary yr, then $119.99 per yr.
NordVPN pricing
NordVPN provides a free trial (with a bank card) if you happen to enroll on an Android gadget. Its service is damaged down into three plans, with pricing reductions if you happen to decide to a yr or extra. The Fundamental plan consists of the total VPN service. Plus consists of every thing within the Fundamental plan in addition to risk safety, a password supervisor and an information breach scanner. Final consists of every thing in Plus and 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. The Plus plan provides the perfect worth to your buck, particularly if you happen to’re going to decide to a two-year subscription.
- NordVPN Fundamental: $3.39 per 30 days for two years, $4.99 per 30 days for 1 yr, $12.99 per 30 days for month-to-month.
- NordVPN Plus: $4.39 per 30 days for two years, $5.99 per 30 days for 1 yr, $13.99 per 30 days for month-to-month.
- NordVPN Final: $6.39 per 30 days for two years, $7.99 per 30 days for 1 yr, $15.99 per 30 days for month-to-month.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN: Function comparability
Velocity
Winner: Tie
Regardless of a smaller server pool, Norton Safe VPN offered a surprisingly seamless looking and streaming expertise with none noticeable drops in velocity or efficiency in comparison with my baseline web connection. NordVPN is understood for having a few of the greatest VPN speeds in its worth vary, so I wasn’t anticipating Norton to be a severe contender on this class.
With that mentioned, I reside close to a significant regional hub with an optimum server close by. Since Norton’s international unfold is restricted in comparison with NordVPN, I’d anticipate customers in some areas won’t have the identical expertise.
SEE: Is a VPN Actually Value It in 2024? (TechRepublic)
I’ve used NordVPN a number of instances in recent times, and irrespective of the place I’m, I’ve discovered an optimum server that delivers speeds corresponding to my baseline web connection.
Server pool
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN provides servers in 29 nations (28 on cell). Norton doesn’t disclose the precise variety of servers in its server pool, and you may’t see a full record of servers — or select a selected metropolis to connect with — from throughout the VPN app. Norton’s lack of disclosure makes it tough to make sure you’ll have a close-by server to connect with before you purchase or that you just’ll have entry to servers in a selected area to unlock streaming content material.
SEE: Surfshark vs NordVPN: Which VPN Is Higher in 2024? (TechRepublic)
NordVPN proudly advertises a big pool of over 5,800 in additional than 110 nations. There are devoted P2P servers optimized for torrenting and file sharing, double VPN servers that route your visitors by way of two areas, and “obfuscated” servers to assist bypass content material filters and community firewalls. You may as well select particular cities to connect with and look at a whole record of servers on NordVPN’s web site earlier than signing up.
Determine A
Supported gadgets
Winner: NordVPN
Norton Safe VPN has apps for Home windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Nevertheless, it’s value noting that not all options are supported on all platforms — the VPN kill change and P2P optimization aren’t accessible on iOS, and break up tunneling isn’t accessible on iOS or Mac.
SEE: Surfshark vs Norton Safe VPN (2024): Which VPN Is Higher? (TechRepublic)
NordVPN helps mainly any kind of gadget, together with gaming techniques, media streaming sticks, Raspberry Pi and Oculus Quest. So far as I may inform, each NordVPN function is out there in each model of the app.
Privateness insurance policies
Winner: NordVPN
Norton claims to have a no-logs coverage for its VPN service, however that appears solely to use to looking historical past, particular visitors data and IP addresses. Digging into Norton’s World Privateness Assertion for Safe VPN, I discovered the corporate collects and shops details about customers’ gadgets, bandwidth utilization and connection occasions. Much more crucially, Norton displays and shops visitors knowledge to detect and block torrenting, which it considers an abuse of service. These insurance policies make me critically query how personal my web exercise actually is whereas utilizing Norton Safe VPN.
Determine B
In the meantime, NordVPN has a strict no-logs coverage that’s been verified by 4 impartial audits. The corporate is clear about its authorized obligations to show over knowledge in a prison investigation, however it’s by no means been required to take action earlier than. I really feel very assured that every one my community visitors is totally personal whereas linked to NordVPN, even when I have been torrenting recordsdata or looking from a rustic with heavy censorship.
Buyer assist
Winner: Norton Safe VPN
Norton’s assist heart offers a strong choice of assist choices, together with guided self-troubleshooting, group boards and data base articles. Clients also can attain Norton’s assist crew by way of social media, a reside chat or over the cellphone. Total, connecting to an actual human for assist was a lot simpler with Norton than with different equally priced VPN distributors.
Determine C
NordVPN’s buyer assist expertise is kind of customary within the business, providing on-line tutorials, an electronic mail ticketing system and a chatbot.
Extra options
Winner: NordVPN
Each Norton and NordVPN supply a wide range of further safety features if you happen to select an upgraded plan, however for the needs of this comparability, I solely appeared on the capabilities included in Norton’s standalone Safe VPN product and NordVPN’s Fundamental subscription.
SEE: 4 Finest Free VPNs for 2024 (TechRepublic)
Norton Safe VPN consists of break up tunneling for Home windows and Android gadgets, so you may enable sure protected apps to bypass the VPN connection. It additionally features a kill change (for Home windows, Android and Mac) that routinely disconnects your gadget from the web if the VPN connection drops, so that you by no means unintentionally browse unprotected. One other function accessible to everybody besides iOS customers is one-click P2P entry, although, as I discussed above, Norton doesn’t enable any torrenting visitors. Total, Norton provides a reasonably fundamental VPN function set, and it’s restricted primarily to Home windows and Android customers.
SEE: The right way to Begin a Profession in Cybersecurity (TechRepublic Premium)
NordVPN provides each kill change and break up tunneling for all app variations, in addition to double VPN and personal DNS. A further safety functionality included in all plans is Meshnet, which lets you create an encrypted native space community with as much as 60 gadgets.
Determine D
NordVPN additionally has an Onion Over VPN function, which lets you browse .onion web sites with out utilizing a Tor browser.
Norton Safe VPN execs and cons
Execs of Norton Safe VPN
- Extremely aggressive VPN speeds and efficiency.
- Quite a few reside assist choices.
- Contains VPN service free with Norton 360 plans.
Cons of Norton Safe VPN
- Displays connection visitors for torrenting exercise and blocks it.
- Unverified no-logs coverage that contradicts its World Privateness Assertion.
- Excessive yearly value after the promotional interval ends.
- Undisclosed quantity and placement of servers.
- Comparatively fundamental set of VPN options.
- Most options are solely accessible on Home windows and Android.
NordVPN execs and cons
Execs of NordVPN
- Constantly excessive speeds and efficiency.
- Giant server pool with a powerful geographic unfold.
- Works on practically any gadget with out function limitations.
- Strict no-logs coverage has been independently verified 4 instances.
- Contains further options like Meshnet and Onion Over VPN.
Cons of NordVPN
- Solely provides a 7-day free trial for Android customers.
- May be tough to succeed in a human for assist.
Norton Safe VPN vs NordVPN on Reddit
The final opinion of Norton merchandise on Reddit (and elsewhere) is overwhelmingly unfavourable as a result of components like how notoriously tough it’s to take away its software program out of your pc and the controversy over together with cryptominers in its antivirus. Its torrenting coverage, particularly, had a few Reddit customers particularly suggest NordVPN in its place.
Within the r/Roms subreddit, consumer TheIronRed requested, “Is Norton VPN going to keep my ISP from knowing I torrent and sending me a letter?”
Whole_Temperature104 replied, “You won’t be caught by your ISP, but Norton will definitely cancel your subscription if they get a notice.”
SonofaSlumlord mentioned, “My former ISP ‘grounded’ me for 24 hours when they were notified I was torrenting movies. I switched providers and got a deal for 3 years of NordVPN for $100 from microcenter and haven’t had any issues since.”
Salava91 summed it up with “NordVPN is top notch. Use that one.”
Ought to your corporation use Norton Safe VPN or NordVPN?
Select Norton Safe VPN if:
- You might be solely barely involved about privateness and don’t intend on torrenting or conducting another doubtlessly unlawful (or surveilled) actions.
- You have already got Norton 360 and wish to check out a VPN with out paying further.
Select NordVPN if:
- You wish to torrent with out risking service termination.
- You’re a political activist, journalist or in any other case want full privateness.
- You wish to go to .onion web sites on the Tor community with out a separate browser.
- It’s essential hook up with servers in a selected location the place you reside, journey or wish to unblock localized streaming content material.
Methodology
I used a good friend’s account to attempt Norton Safe VPN on a Home windows laptop computer and signed up for a free trial copy of NordVPN on my Android cellphone. I evaluated each merchandise based mostly on their pricing, core options, usability, velocity and buyer assist. I additionally completely reviewed the function descriptions and privateness insurance policies revealed on the supplier web sites and in contrast these with actual buyer experiences as described on Reddit and public assessment websites.
Study extra about TechRepublic’s assessment methodology for VPNs.