NordVPN Vs Surfshark: How Do The VPN Services Compare In Price & Privacy?

A VPN is the most basic way to remain anonymous and hide your online activity when browsing the internet. Currently, NordVPN and Surfshark are two of the best VPN services, competing neck and neck in terms of features, speed, performance, server availability, and more.

That said, it is important to note that these companies merged back in 2022. Does that mean Surfshark and NordVPN are the same products marketed under different labels? The similarity in their features might make you believe so, however, according to Surfshark the merger took place to share knowledge and offer better products to the end consumer. The companies act autonomously with separate management, employees, and product development.

Both VPNs offer a variety of privacy-centric features that mostly coincide, but with a few key differences. They differ substantially on the pricing front, though. Let's compare the two VPNs on their privacy, speed, and pricing and see if the compromises on the features justify the varied pricing.

Protecting online privacy is the key reason to opt for a VPN service, but both NordVPN and Surfshark go the extra mile to integrate multiple quality-of-life features for additional security. First up, both VPNs use only RAM-based servers, which makes it extremely difficult for malicious agents to steal user data from the servers. Unlike HDD servers that can hold data for much longer, RAM-based servers lose all their data when turned off or rebooted.

The no-log policy on both VPNs is another important privacy feature, which is lacking in numerous free VPNs (another reason why you should not trust a free VPN service). When you connect to a VPN, it reroutes all your internet traffic through the VPN server to keep you anonymous on the internet. However, the VPN service has unrestricted access to all your browsing activity and may store it. Both NordVPN and Surfshark pledge to a no-log policy, meaning they don't log your online activity including browsing history, data transfers, and more. The policy has been audited by independent auditors for both VPNs, however, NordVPN has been audited significantly more times than Surfshark.

VPN providers need to follow the country's data regulations in which they are based. NordVPN is based in Panama, while Surfshark is based in the Netherlands. While both the nations don't force companies to retain user data, the Netherlands is part of the Nine Eyes, which might be a dealbreaker for some privacy enthusiasts. The Nine Eyes is an alliance between the intelligence services of nations like the U.S., Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and more to share intelligence with each other.

Moreover, NordVPN offers around 7,100 servers in 118 countries in comparison to Surfshark's 3,200 servers in 100 countries, giving NordVPN an edge in privacy features.

As VPNs reroute your internet traffic via a server, the downgrade in internet speed is an inevitable tradeoff while using a VPN. The degree to which your connection speed drops depends on your VPN provider and is measured in terms of percentage retention of the original speed. The more the retention, the closer your VPN speeds will be to your connection speed. While both VPNs offer great download speeds, NordVPN beats Surfshark by a slight margin – NordVPN has a 94% retention compared to the 93% retention on Surfshark. The difference, however, grows significantly when comparing upload speeds – NordVPN has a 76% retention compared to the 65% retention on Surfshark.

The difference in performance gives NordVPN an advantage while streaming content (apart from unlocking geo-blocked content) or gaming online. That said, Surfshark's retention rates might feel low when compared to NordVPN, but are in no way slow by VPN standards. Surfshark should also comfortably let you perform most internet activities without breaking a sweat.

The two VPNs differ vastly in pricing, with Surfshark being the cheaper alternative in most cases, except when billed monthly. Surfshark's most feature packed plan (Surfshark One+) is priced at $20.65 per month when billed monthly, which is significantly more than NordVPN's $14.69 per month, considering NordVPN outperforms Surfshark on most fronts. That said, Surfshark's two-year plan price of $3.99 per month for the One+ plan is much more fairly priced when compared to NordVPN's $4.89 a month two-year pricing. Also, Surfshark offers three months of free VPN when billed for the one- and two-year plans. However, NordVPN only offers the extra months for the two-year plan.

For most users, the second-best plans make the most sense, as they offer only the most important features while eliminating the gimmicky stuff. The Surfshark One is priced at $2.49 a month on a two-year plan vs. NordVPN's $3.89, offering an affordable VPN with most boxes ticked, including great privacy and decent performance.

Another deal breaking difference is the number of devices you can sign in using a single subscription. While NordVPN restricts users to a maximum of 10 devices, Surfshark doesn't cap the maximum number of devices you can protect using a single subscription. That said, the extra privacy features, more servers, and better performance might justify NordVPN's pricing, especially for enthusiasts.