Norton Safe VPN vs Surfshark (2024): Which VPN Is Higher? – Uplaza

Surfshark has made a reputation for itself as a prime digital non-public community possibility out there right this moment. It affords reasonably priced pricing throughout all its plans, gives quick and dependable speeds and doesn’t skimp out on consumer safety and performance.

Norton Safe VPN, alternatively, is a VPN from in style safety and antivirus supplier Norton. Whereas it affords good VPN speeds, it has a small server community and doesn’t embrace any standout options to set it aside from opponents.

• Surfshark VPN: Greatest for many companies in search of a high-quality VPN with quick speeds, sturdy safety and reasonably priced pricing.
• Norton Safe VPN: Greatest for Norton 360 product customers who want primary safety and a simple-to-use VPN utility.

Surfshark vs. Norton Safe VPN: Comparability

	Surfshark VPN	Norton Safe VPN
Our score	4.6 / 5	3.0 / 5
Safety protocols	OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2	OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec
No. of servers	$3,200	1,000–2,000 (reportedly)
VPN server places	100 nations	28 nations
Information breach monitoring	Sure (Surfshark Starter)	Sure (by way of Norton 360)
Simultaneous machine places	Limitless	As much as 10 gadgets
Free trial or free model	Cell free trial	None
Beginning value	$2.79 monthly (annual)	$2.49 monthly (annual)

Surfshark vs. Norton Safe VPN: Pricing

Surfshark’s subscriptions revolve round their fundamental VPN service, with add-ons as you go up with every paid plan. All premium Surfshark plans enable limitless simultaneous machine connections, whereas Norton solely permits as much as 10 gadgets linked abruptly — relying on the plan you buy.

SEE: Learn how to Use Norton Safe VPN (A Step-by-Step Information) (TechRepublic)

Norton Safe VPN will also be bought with different Norton merchandise as a part of its Norton 360 bundle of companies. Should you’re not eager on its different software program, you may as well buy the VPN as a standalone product.

For extra on Surfshark and Norton Safe VPN, take a look at our full Surfshark evaluate and full Norton Safe VPN evaluate.

Surfshark pricing

Surfshark affords three subscription tiers: Surfshark Starter, One and One+. Starter gives primary VPN performance, an advert blocker and a masked e mail generator. In the meantime, One provides onto that with real-time e mail breach alerts, an antivirus and webcam safety.

	Surfshark Starter	Surfshark One	Surfshark One+
1 month	$15.45 monthly	$15.95 monthly	$17.95 monthly
1 yr	$2.79 monthly	$3.19 monthly	$5.09 monthly
2 years	$2.19 monthly	$2.69 monthly	$4.29 monthly

Lastly, One+ consists of all options plus information elimination from firm databases and from folks search websites. Whereas I want Surfshark provided a free model, it does have a free trial of its cellular app and a 30-day money-back assure for all its functions.

Norton Safe VPN pricing

Norton is exclusive in that it bases its VPN pricing in your desired variety of machine connections. That is against most VPNs, which categorize their costs relying on contract size.

1 machine	$29.99 first yr or $2.49 monthly
5 gadgets	39.99 first yr or $3.33 monthly
10 gadgets	$59.99 first yr or $4.99 monthly

One nitpick I’ve with Norton Safe VPN’s subscriptions is that their costs are for the primary yr solely, with a attainable enhance after the primary yr upon renewal. I might’ve most popular it if Norton provided the identical value previous the primary yr of subscription — particularly since this isn’t unusual amongst different suppliers.

Thankfully, Norton has a 60-day money-back assure, which provides customers ample time to check their software program and request for a refund throughout the allotted time.

Surfshark vs. Norton Safe VPN: Characteristic comparability

Safety protocols and encryption

Winner: Surfshark

Each Surfshark and Norton Safe VPN make the most of AES-256 encryption algorithm for his or her VPN companies — which is sweet to see, particularly since AES-256 is taken into account the business normal and arguably probably the most safe encryption algorithm right this moment.

SEE: Learn how to Use Surfshark VPN (A Step-by-Step Information) (TechRepublic)

The deciding issue is that Surfshark consists of OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2 safety protocols, which, for my cash, are the three finest protocols we wish in a contemporary VPN. That is compared to Norton, which lacks the fashionable and speed-oriented WireGuard safety protocol.

To Norton’s credit score, its Safe VPN additionally affords each OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec. However for customers who need a mixture of each safety and pace in tunneling protocols, Surfshark is finest for you.

VPN server community and places

 Winner: Surfshark

Within the server division, Surfshark comes out on prime with its 3,200 servers throughout 100 nations. However, Norton Safe VPN has a a lot smaller 28-country server community, with a reported server depend amounting to solely 1,000 to 2,000 servers.

Server infrastructure is one among Norton’s fundamental downsides, as its 2,000-server depend is far smaller than the common 3,000–4,000 server networks we see on common with fashionable VPNs. Its nation unfold can be miniscule in comparison with Surfshark, proscribing customers’ capacity to entry geographically various areas worldwide.

In case your fundamental purpose with a VPN is to entry geo-restricted content material, I like to recommend Surfshark given its far bigger server depend and site unfold.

Third-party audits and unbiased testing

Winner: Surfshark

Whereas each VPNs supply no-logs insurance policies claiming they don’t document consumer information, solely Surfshark has undergone a third-party audit, which has confirmed that it’s really no-logs. Surfshark’s unbiased audit was carried out by Deloitte in 2023, the place it was discovered that the VPN supplier had correctly configured its inside programs “in accordance with Surfshark’s description of its no-logs policy.”

SEE: Is a VPN Actually Value It in 2024? (TechRepublic)

However, Norton Safe VPN is but to bear any third social gathering audit or unbiased testing presently. Regardless of being a well-liked safety supplier, I extremely encourage selecting a VPN that may supply verifiable information regarding its no-logs coverage.

Efficiency and pace

Winner: Tie

Surprisingly, I discovered each Surfshark and Norton Safe VPN carried out effectively by way of pace and stability. The 2 VPNs carried out equally in day-to-day use of normal looking, researching and streaming content material, in addition to after I carried out add and obtain checks.

One caveat I’ve to say is that Norton Safe VPN’s smaller server community could hinder its capacity to supply customers constant speeds throughout completely different places. As a result of server pace relies on how shut you’re to a server’s location, you’ll have a better likelihood of getting good speeds with Surfshark, given its extra various location depend.

For instance, if you happen to use Norton Safe VPN and are in a rustic that’s not provided on its server community, you’ll doubtless expertise slower speeds or a much less dependable connection.

Regardless of this, my testing confirmed each VPNs can present persistently quick and steady speeds — offered your location is accommodated by the VPN’s server community.

Standout security measures

Winner: Surfshark

Other than its base VPN performance, Surfshark boasts quite a lot of extra options geared in the direction of elevated safety. With its Starter plan, you might have entry to an antivirus, real-time breach alerts and a non-public search instrument.

The nifty factor right here is that they’re all accessible throughout the Surfshark VPN app itself, permitting customers to make use of Surfshark as a form of safety hub in a single desktop utility. However, Norton affords comparable options like antivirus software program and darkish internet monitoring, however these are all separate companies that aren’t built-in throughout the VPN itself.

With Norton Safe VPN, you get an advert and tracker blocker, cut up tunneling and a kill swap, and that’s it. Whereas these are good options, Surfshark affords these identical options in its app as effectively.

Ease of use

Winner: Tie

When it comes to consumer expertise, Surfshark and Norton Safe VPN each include desktop functions which are simple to make use of and nice to take a look at. Surfshark does an incredible job of organizing its utility and categorizing its security measures intuitively.

However, Norton Safe VPN can be user-friendly and takes a extra minimalist strategy in comparison with Surfshark. This can be a product of its extra primary VPN software program with a scarcity of extra options, nevertheless it’s plain that the app can present a seamless expertise nonetheless.

Surfshark execs and cons

Execs

• 100-country server community.
• Constantly quick speeds.
• Has WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2.
• Reasonably priced pricing throughout plans.

Cons

Norton Safe VPN execs and cons

Execs

• Quick and steady VPN pace.
• Consumer-friendly utility.
• May be bundled with different Norton merchandise.

Cons

• Miniscule server community.
• Hasn’t undergone a third-party safety audit.
• Lacks standout security measures.

Ought to your group use Surfshark or Norton Safe VPN?

For my part, it’s clear-cut that most organizations ought to choose to make use of Surfshark over Norton Safe VPN. Whereas Norton Safe VPN performs effectively, it merely lacks many options we count on in a contemporary VPN.

Particularly, Norton Safe VPN’s server community spanning solely 28 nations is simply too small in comparison with Surfshark’s 100-country and three,200-server community and infrastructure. Surfshark additionally consists of extra standout security measures, comparable to a built-in antivirus and actual time breach alerts, in comparison with Norton’s extra primary VPN providing.

SEE: 10 Myths about Cybersecurity You Shouldn’t Consider (TechRepublic Premium)

I additionally give the win to Surfshark by way of third-party testing, as its safety audit affords a far safer wager to shoppers and companies. I’m hopeful that Norton decides to have their VPN examined by unbiased safety specialists sooner or later, however for now, Surfshark is the smarter alternative.

To not point out Surfshark’s reasonably priced pricing, easy-to-use utility and persistently quick efficiency — making Surfshark our winner for this head-to-head VPN comparability.

I solely suggest Norton Safe VPN to companies which are already invested in Norton’s safety merchandise and simply need extra VPN performance with their present suite of options. In any other case, Surfshark must be your decide between the 2.

Methodology

My comparability of Surfshark and Norton Safe VPN concerned hands-on time with each VPNs and an in depth evaluation of every service’s options, price and real-world efficiency.

To guage every product, each VPNs have been scored on the whole lot from their pricing to their safety protocols. Particularly, we took into consideration 5 fundamental pillars with their corresponding weights:

• Pricing (20%).
• Core VPN options (30%).
• Ease of use (15%).
• Buyer help (30%).
• Professional evaluation (5%).

I additionally supplemented my findings with real-world consumer suggestions and respected opinions to spherical out my evaluation of each merchandise.

For pace and efficiency, I examined each VPNs on a Home windows laptop and ran them via Ookla’s public Speedtest. Lastly, I additionally thought of how every VPN may finest cater to various kinds of customers, use circumstances and organizations.