Raven Wu
Updated on: December 3, 2024
Fact-checked by Eric Goldstein
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VPN pricing pages don’t always give you the full picture of how much a subscription will cost. This is why you may sometimes notice a discrepancy between the cost on the pricing and billing pages, which is why users are frequently surprised by what they have to pay to renew their subscription.
This article will tell you how much a NordVPN subscription will really cost you, including the initial purchase and renewal costs. It’ll also analyze whether NordVPN is worth the price, help you pick the best plan for your particular needs, provide you with information on the latest NordVPN deals and discounts, and more.
NordVPN Cost: Quick Overview
NordVPN is a competitively priced VPN with a 4-tiered subscription model. Its Basic plan only includes the VPN and is the most suitable for the average user. Still, you can opt for its higher-tier plans if you want access to extra features, like an ad blocker, anti-malware capabilities, and a password manager.
You can also select a monthly or yearly plan. Its monthly plans offer more flexibility, while the long-term plans provide better value.
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NordVPN Plans & Pricing Options
NordVPN has 4 tier-based subscriptions, a Basic tier, a Plus tier, an Ultimate tier (the Ultimate tier is sometimes referred to as Ultra or Complete), and a Prime tier. For each tier, you can also choose to subscribe to its monthly plan or one of its yearly plans.
Additionally, you can add a dedicated IP address or Incogni to any tier for a small extra cost. A dedicated IP address is assigned only to you and not shared with any other NordVPN users, while Incogni (for US, Canada, UK, Swiss, and EU customers) is a third-party tool that removes your personal data from commercial databases to increase your privacy.
Here’s an overview of the differences between NordVPN’s 4 tiers:
- Basic. This tier gets you the VPN plus a basic ad, tracker, and unsafe website blocker (Threat Protection). Choose this if you don’t want to pay for any extra features.
- Plus. This tier includes everything in the Basic tier plus Threat Protection Pro (an upgraded version of Threat Protection that includes a malware scanner), a password manager, and a data breach monitor.
- Ultimate or Complete. This tier includes everything in the Plus tier but adds 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. Customers from the UK and select countries in the EU also get scam and fraud protection benefits at no extra cost.
- Prime. This tier is only available to US customers. It includes everything in the Ultimate besides scam and fraud protection and adds NordProtect, an identity theft protection service.
Here’s some advice for choosing between NordVPN’s monthly and yearly plans:
- Monthly plan. This plan is the most expensive option on a cost-per-month basis. However, it’s the best option if you only plan on using NordVPN in the short term or are reluctant to pay for an entire year (or 2) upfront.
- 1-year plan. This plan is a good compromise between its monthly plan and its 2-year plan. It’s not quite as big of a commitment as the 2-year plan but provides better overall value than its monthly plan. Its 1-year plan (and 2-year plan) often comes with free months.
- 2-year plan. This plan offers the best value overall, but you’re committing to NordVPN long-term.
Here’s a quick breakdown of NordVPN’s pricing:
NordVPN Features: What Do You Get for the Cost?
NordVPN is one of the top VPNs on the market. All of its plans provide servers in 111 countries and industry-standard VPN security features, including bank-grade 256-bit AES encryption, a strict no-logs policy, meaning NordVPN keeps no records of what you do while using it, and a kill switch (shuts down your internet or just selected apps if your VPN connection is interrupted to prevent accidental data leaks).
This provider has great streaming support. It works with 10+ popular streaming sites, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer. It’s also very P2P friendly — allowing torrenting on dedicated P2P servers in 95+ countries and has SOCKS5 proxy servers, which change your IP address without encrypting your data for faster download speeds.
In terms of extra features, its Basic plan gets you split-tunneling (lets you choose which traffic goes through the VPN tunnel and which uses your regular internet connection), obfuscation, which disguises your VPN activity as regular internet traffic to bypass VPN blocks and government censorship, Threat Protection, and more.
Upgrading to its Plus plan gets you Threat Protection Pro, which can be used without being connected to the VPN and has anti-malware capabilities. It also gets you a good password manager (NordPass) and a data breach scanner, which alerts you if your email has been compromised in a data breach.
Opting for its Ultimate plan adds 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage on top of what you get from its Plus plan. Customers from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden will also get insurance for cyber scams and fraud.
The Prime plan (available in the US except in New York and Washington) adds NordProtect. This gives you access to professional assistance and financial support if you’re the victim of identity theft or cyber extortion. It will also continuously scan the dark web and alert you if any personal information has been exposed, monitor your credit for suspicious activity, provide insight into the factors that may affect your credit score, and help freeze your credit file in the event of identity theft or fraud.
Check out our full review of NordVPN to learn more about it.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the features you get with each NordVPN tier:
Is NordVPN a Good Value?
NordVPN strikes a solid balance between cost and features. It falls short of our #1 VPN in 2024, ExpressVPN, when it comes to overall value and performance — for example, NordVPN only works with 10+ streaming platforms while ExpressVPN works with over 100, and NordVPN only allows torrenting on dedicated servers whereas ExpressVPN allows P2P traffic on all of its servers. But NordVPN is the more affordable option at £2.67 / month (ExpressVPN starts at £3.94 / month).
If price is a significant concern though, you may also want to consider other top VPNs, like Private Internet Access (PIA) and CyberGhost VPN, which start at £1.57 / month and £1.78 / month, respectively. PIA is a particularly good choice if you have a large household since it allows unlimited simultaneous connections.
However, NordVPN comes with some features that are absent from PIA and CyberGhost, such as Meshnet, which allows you to create a secure, private network for up to 60 devices. This can be used to host virtual Local Area Network (LAN) parties for gaming, remotely access files from linked devices, browse the internet using the IP address of another device, and more.
Overall, NordVPN is a well-rounded VPN that provides good value for users looking to balance cost and premium functionality.
Can I Try NordVPN for Free?
Yes, NordVPN offers a 7-day free trial on Android devices (it’s not available on iOS, Windows, or macOS). It’s a great way to try out all of NordVPN’s features. You need to enter payment details to start the free trial, but you can cancel your free trial before the 7 days are up to avoid being charged.
NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee offers another risk-free way to try the service. You can sign up for a subscription and, if you’re not fully satisfied, cancel within 30 days to receive a full refund. The cancelation and refund process is very straightforward, so you have nothing to worry about. In my test, I was able to cancel my subscription and request a refund in less than 5 minutes, and the money was back in my bank account in just 2 business days.
Note that NordVPN’s money-back guarantee doesn’t apply to every payment method. Notably, subscriptions purchased via the Apple App Store aren’t eligible because refunds for App Store purchases are issued solely at the discretion of Apple Support.
NordVPN Payment Methods
NordVPN provides several payment options for your convenience, but not all methods support auto-renewal or are eligible for its 30-day money-back guarantee. Here’s a quick overview of every payment method NordVPN accepts:
- Credit/Debit cards. This includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and UnionPay.
- PayPal. If you have a PayPal account, this is a safe and convenient option.
- Cryptocurrencies. NordVPN accepts BitCoin, Ethereum, and XRP. This is a good choice if you want an extra layer of anonymity. Note that this method doesn’t support automatic recurring payments.
- Retailers. You can buy a NordVPN box at your local retail store if you live in one of the supported regions (the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, or Japan). If you buy NordVPN this way, you aren’t eligible for NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee — you’ll have to contact the retailer directly regarding the refund.
- Other payment options. NordVPN also accepts payment via Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc.
NordVPN Renewal Costs
Your NordVPN subscription will renew automatically when your subscription expires, so long as your payment method supports automatic recurring payments. This also applies to NordVPN’s 7-day free trial on Android devices, so make sure you turn off auto-renewal in your account settings if you don’t want to be charged.
Here’s a quick guide to turning off auto-renewal:
- Visit NordVPN’s official website and log into your account.
- In your account dashboard, click Billing.
- Click on Subscriptions and then Manage to turn off auto-renewal.
If you didn’t purchase NordVPN through its website, the process is slightly different (but still very easy). Here’s a quick guide:
- Apple App Store. Go to Settings on your iOS device, tap on your Apple ID, and choose Subscriptions. Then find NordVPN on the list and tap Cancel Subscription.
- Google Play Store. Open the Google Play Store app, tap on your profile icon, and then choose Payments & Subscriptions. Next, tap Subscriptions, find NordVPN on the list, and then tap Cancel Subscription.
NordVPN’s renewal prices are higher than what’s displayed on the website. This is because the order page shows the subscription price for the first payment period, including any initial discounts. To find out what you’d have to pay when renewing beforehand, visit NordVPN’s subscription renewal pricing page or contact its support team.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does NordVPN actually cost?
You can get NordVPN for as little as £2.67 / month. However, the actual cost depends on the length of your subscription and your subscription tier. NordVPN has a monthly, yearly, and bi-yearly plan and offers 4 tier-based subscriptions.
What’s the difference between NordVPN Basic and Plus?
NordVPN Basic gets you all of its core VPN features, so it’s the best plan for your average VPN user who doesn’t want to pay for any extra features. Upgrading to NordVPN Plus gets you a better ad, tracker, and malicious website blocker, a malware scanner, a password manager, and a data breach monitor.
Does NordVPN have a free plan?
No, but it offers a 7-day free trial on Android devices that gives you access to all of its features with zero restrictions. Additionally, you can take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee to test out NordVPN. If you sign up for a subscription and aren’t satisfied with it, you can cancel within the first 30 days to receive a full refund.
Is NordVPN worth it?
Yes, NordVPN is one of the top VPNs on the market. There are cheaper VPNs and VPNs with better performance or more features. That being said, it strikes a good balance between the two. It has fast speeds, strong security, great streaming and torrenting support, and comes with unique features, like a malware scanner and Meshnet, which lets you create a secure, private network for up to 60 devices.
