NordVPN Review 2023
NordVPN is cheap, so can it compete with pricier rivals like ExpressVPN?
When it comes to security, cheap products worry me. It’s not an area I advise skimping on.
Substandard cheap VPNs have been caught with flawed technology, however, Nord seems to rank highly in the VPN industry. We explore if NordVPN really can offer a low price as well as a high-quality VPN.
So what are the biggest issues with cheap VPN providers? DNS and IP leaks are a particular blight of many VPN services (I’ll share my findings from leak tests I ran on NordVPN later in this review).
‘Low-cost’ VPNs are often slow or won’t work with your favorite streaming services such as Netflix.
I could go on about the dangers of cutting corners with a VPN, but you get the picture. It costs money to run a good VPN service, which makes me suspicious about services costing as little as NordVPN. App stores are full of cheap and free VPNs making big claims about their speed and privacy, but most of them fail to deliver. No VPN should take chances with your cybersecurity, and you shouldn’t settle for a sub-par experience.
And yet NordVPN scores highly on many review websites. It’s grown to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest name in VPNs. You’ve probably seen or heard it advertised on your favorite website, podcast, or Youtube channel.
I wanted to see for myself if NordVPN was too good to be true.
In my 2022 NordVPN review, I put the service through its paces on both desktop and mobile to find out:
Can NordVPN securely access websites (Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC and others)?
Is NordVPN fast enough to stream video?
How good is NordVPN’s security and what data does it log on users?
Does it allow torrenting on its network?
How would NordVPN stand up to the barrage of tests I put it through.
How does NordVPN compare with its more expensive rivals such as ExpressVPN?
nordvpn homepage protect all your devices
And pretty much everything else you’d want to know. My time with NordVPN ranged from rigorous performance testing to day-to-day usage to find out how it stacks up against the crowded field of competitors.
I’ve summarized my thoughts on NordVPN but you’ll need to read the whole review to see the full extent of what I uncovered during the testing process.
Do I recommend NordVPN?
I recommend NordVPN to people who value both privacy and speed, need something inexpensive, and want something that can unblock websites and apps like Netflix. NordVPN works in China and it’s easy for beginners to pick up in a few minutes. NordVPN’s apps include a handful of specialty services including double VPN, P2P, and dedicated IP addresses.
NordVPN operates more than 5,100 servers in 60 countries, and that number will probably have gone up by the time you read this. NordVPN employs military-grade 256-bit AES encryption. The apps use the NordLynx protocol by default. Torrenting is allowed, and the service doesn’t store any identifying logs.
