ProtonVPN vs NordVPN (2026)
Last reviewed September 28, 2026 · NordVPN pricing snapshot 2026-09-26 (dataset) · ProtonVPN pricing 2026-09-28 (tracked)
Evidence base: both sides evaluated on the published audits, jurisdiction records, and cited pricing below — NordVPN rows dataset-verified, ProtonVPN rows third-party-tracked with retrieval dates. No in-house lab testing. How we evaluate
Two no-logs VPNs with serious audit trails — and opposite philosophies about how you verify them. NordVPN is the budget-heavyweight: a published Deloitte no-logs audit trail (ISAE 3000, fieldwork Nov 18–Dec 20, 2024 and Nov 10–Dec 12, 2025), Cure53 app pentests, and a 2-year Basic band of $3.25–$3.49/mo — with a documented incident record (2018 breach, 2022 lawful-requests disclosure) and a Panama-registered / Netherlands-parented jurisdiction. ProtonVPN is the transparency play: 100% open-source clients, public audit reports (Securitum annual no-logs audits; Cure53 engagements), Swiss jurisdiction outside the 5/9/14-Eyes alliances, and a free tier — with pricing that undercuts NordVPN's promo at the 2-year term ($2.99/mo promo vs NordVPN's $3.25+) and a different set of trade-offs (1 device on the free tier, 10 on Plus, a company-published 20,000+ server count).
The short verdict: NordVPN wins on audit volume and specificity (two recent Deloitte engagements with published fieldwork windows) and on bundled feature tiers; ProtonVPN wins on verifiability by inspection (open source + publicly hosted audit PDFs), jurisdiction (Switzerland, outside the Eyes alliances), and a cheaper 2-year promo — if you trust a company-published server count and accept the smaller free tier. Both are evaluated on published audits and data — not hands-on tests.
Head to head
| NordVPN | ProtonVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| 2-year promo | Basic $3.25–$3.49/mo (~$80–85 upfront) — dataset row | $2.99/mo promo ($71.76 upfront); standard $3.49/mo ($83.76) — third-party-tracked 2026-09-28 |
| 1-year / monthly | monthly list $12.99–$14.99 (dataset) | 1-yr $3.99/mo ($47.88); monthly $9.99 (tracked) |
| Renewal reality | Intro first-term only; standard rates +40–70%; auto-billing 7–14 days pre-expiry | auto-renews; tracked renewal ~$83.88/yr (verify on official page) |
| Money-back | 30-day MBG | 30-day MBG |
| No-logs audit evidence | Deloitte ISAE 3000 5th (2024) + 6th (2025); PDFs via Nord Account | Securitum annual no-logs audits (public reports); Cure53 engagements (public) — audit PDFs hosted publicly |
| Open source | [NEEDS SOURCE] (not in fact pack) | 100% open-source clients (company-stated) |
| Jurisdiction | Panama (NordVPN S.A.); parent Nord Security, Netherlands; ops Vilnius, Lithuania | Proton AG, Geneva, Switzerland — outside 5/9/14-Eyes |
| Device count | [NEEDS SOURCE] (not in fact pack) | Free: 1 device · Plus/Unlimited: 10 devices |
| Server count | [NEEDS SOURCE] (not in fact pack) | 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries (company-published) |
| Program status | APPROVED (40% first-year + 30% recurring, CJ 30d) | PENDING approval — slot marked, no link |
Sources for every row are in the Sources section: NordVPN rows are dataset-verified, ProtonVPN rows are cited to their trackers with retrieval dates (2026-09-28). Speed is deliberately absent from this table: Proton's “VPN Accelerator up to 400%” is a company claim with no independent speed test in our sources, so this page makes no speed claim for either product.
The audit evidence, side by side
NordVPN. The no-logs claim carries Deloitte Audit Lithuania ISAE 3000 assessments: a 5th with fieldwork Nov 18–Dec 20, 2024, and a 6th with fieldwork Nov 10–Dec 12, 2025; full PDFs are distributed via Nord Account (no public URL — a transparency gap stated plainly here). App and extension security: Cure53 (Berlin) pentests, no critical findings, high/medium issues patched and re-verified (report PDF publicly linked).
ProtonVPN. Securitum annual no-logs audits plus Cure53 engagements, with reports published publicly. The annual Securitum no-logs audit inspects production server configurations and code; reports are hosted publicly — the visibility is the differentiator. Cure53 engagements cover client apps and the ecosystem (a Cure53 Proton Pass report is publicly hosted too).
Open source. ProtonVPN's clients are 100% open source (company-stated; inspectable on GitHub) — verifiability by inspection. NordVPN's open-source status is not in our fact pack — marked [NEEDS SOURCE], not claimed either way.
Honesty note carried from the fact-pack conventions: audit facts are company-published claims unless the underlying auditor PDF is linked. NordVPN's Cure53 report is publicly linked; its Deloitte PDFs sit behind Nord Account. ProtonVPN hosts its audit reports publicly — the citation chain is shorter.
Where each falls short
NordVPN
- 2018 server breach. A third-party rented server with an expired key (Finland); disclosed and remediated, still on the record.
- 2022 lawful-requests disclosure. A 2017 blog post quietly edited to say NordVPN would comply with lawful requests; no-logs stance maintained, community backlash focused on the NL/EU parent.
- Deloitte PDFs are not public. Distributed via Nord Account — a transparency gap the reader should weigh.
- Feature gating. Threat Protection Pro and add-ons sit in Plus/Complete/Prime, not Basic.
- Renewal step-up. Intro vs standard rates (+40–70%) is a documented cost complaint.
ProtonVPN
- Server count is company-published. 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries appears on Proton's own page; it is not independently verified in our sources ([NEEDS SOURCE] on independent verification).
- Free tier is 1 device and servers are randomly selected in 10 countries — a real limitation vs a paid multi-device plan.
- Dollar prices are JS-rendered on the official page. Our price rows are third-party-tracked (2026-09-28) and carry re-verify-on-official-page notes; the 2-year promo's renewal (~$83.88/yr) is tracked, not Proton-published.
- Speed claims are company claims. “VPN Accelerator up to 400%” is Proton's own marketing; no independent speed test is cited here.
- Younger track record at this scale. The audit volume is real but the multi-year Deloitte-style no-logs engagement history NordVPN has accumulated is longer; weigh the two evidence styles, not just the count.
Who should pick which
Pick NordVPN if you weight audit depth and recency (two Deloitte ISAE 3000 engagements with published fieldwork windows), want the bundled Threat Protection tiers, and accept a Panama-registered / Netherlands-parented jurisdiction with its documented 2018/2022 record — at a slightly higher promo price than ProtonVPN's 2-year.
Pick ProtonVPN if verifiability-by-inspection matters most: open-source clients, publicly hosted audit reports, Swiss jurisdiction outside the Eyes alliances — and the cheaper 2-year promo ($2.99/mo) and free tier, accepting the company-published server count and the 1-device free limitation.
Neither is “untraceable”; both are evaluated on published audits and documented pricing — not hands-on tests.
Prices change frequently — verify on the official pricing page before you commit. 30-day money-back guarantee on covered plans.
Tracker: pending affiliate registration — this link is the vendor's direct page until the IncomeGenius CJ property goes live.
ProtonVPN — pending approval
Our ProtonVPN affiliate application is not approved yet, so this is a plain reference link, not a commission link: check ProtonVPN pricing. When the approval lands, this slot becomes a disclosed affiliate CTA under the same standard as the NordVPN one.
Related guides
- NordVPN review — the standalone audit deep-dive
- NordVPN vs Surfshark — the dual-approved comparison
- NordVPN vs ExpressVPN — the architecture-first comparison
- Surfshark review — the unlimited-device budget pick
Sources
NordVPN (dataset-verified)
- Nord Security press — NordVPN no-logs assurance (5th assessment)
- NordVPN blog — no-logs assurance engagement 2025 (6th)
- Cure53 — pentest report, NordVPN apps & add-ons (PDF)
- NordVPN support — where is NordVPN based
- TechRadar — NordVPN lawful-requests coverage
- NordVPN official pricing (verify on publish day)
ProtonVPN (third-party-tracked, 2026-09-28)
NordVPN rows: IG service-pricing dataset (2026-09-26) + fact pack §1 (Deloitte fieldwork dates, Cure53 report URL, jurisdiction, 2018/2022 negatives). ProtonVPN rows: VPNOverview tracked pricing (2026-09-28) with the official page confirming tiers/structure and the open-source, Swiss-jurisdiction, and no-logs claims (dollar prices JS-rendered — re-verify in browser at review-build). Audit evidence: Securitum public report PDF + Cure53 reports. Affiliate terms per the terms-verification report: NordVPN APPROVED (40%+30% recurring, CJ, 30-day cookie); ProtonVPN not in the approved set — slot marked, no link. Pricing is a snapshot on both sides; re-verify on official pages before publishing. [NEEDS SOURCE] markers flag the two absent cells (NordVPN device/server counts) and the company-published ProtonVPN server-count claims rather than estimating them.