The decision to use a Virtual Private Network should never go wrong in this world where privacy is rare. Let it be your ISP provider or the websites you visit, they are constantly tracking you and using your own data to feed advertisements to you.
This can make you conscious about what you surf online but there is a better alternative to your crusades on the internet going unnoticed to you and this alternative is a Virtual Private Network. Now, I am sure that you have done your research on them but are stuck at choosing the right one.
Among the first few search results on Google when you search VPN are ProtonVPN and NordVPN. Both of these are quite good at providing a great deal of privacy but when it's a question of your hard-earned money, you should get the best at the most affordable rates.
So, let's dig into it, shall we?NordVPN and ProtonVPN can help you mask what you do online and even help you get access to a wider range of content online through their own Virtual Private Networks, but they are quite different at how they do it.
Even their pricing differs a bit and thus the decision becomes even more crucial to find the right one. Today I'll be talking about my experience with both of them and help you figure out what could work the best for you.
Read on till the end to figure out which is the best for you.
What You Should Know About the CompaniesFirstly, we look at the companies themselves since you are going to be using their networks and they can even view your data so it is essential that you make the right choice.
ProtonVPN OverviewIf you look at the global rankings for VPNs, ProtonVPN would rank around the 18 th place on the list. They are a relatively small company when it comes to VPNs but the idea has been spun by ProtonMail which offers incredibly secure mails for users. This encryption that they offered made it an instant hit among the people who valued their privacy.
On the backbone of this hit, the company started off with the VPN services. They offer fairly competitive services which we would be analyzing in this blog.
NordVPN OverviewWhen you look at the global rankings of NordvPN, you'll see that they are much ahead in the VPN race at a ranking of 5 th place. This ranking of the company has been built over the years and they have only grown better with time and the ranking is proof of it. They offer great security through their network which is considerably larger than that of ProtonVPN.
They have continuously been expanding which has their benefits that you can reap.
My SayPersonally, I have come to trust NordVPN more due to the simple fact that they have been around for a long time now and due to the vast number of users that they have. This does not mean that ProtonVPN isn't as good but personally, when it comes to secure mail, I would go to ProtonMail but for VPN, I tend to lean towards NordVPN.
Now let's see how they work since it is the foundation that will finally lead to a good network for you.
ProtonVPN Working ModuleProtonVPN uses a military-grade AES 256 encryption which is arguably the world's best and used by armies across the world. This encryption is hard and consumes a lot of data as well. But the level of encryption has helped the company earn its name among the VPN users.
ProtonVPN offers you 112 servers across 14 countries. While this might sound a lot to you at first but it seems quite measly when you look at the numbers on the other side of the fence. To make up for this shortcoming, ProtonVPN offers you access to the network through 10 devices simultaneously which is almost double what NordVPN is offering.
NordVPN Working ModuleNordVPN is not different when it comes to the standard of encryption. NordVPN also offers military-grade AES 256 encryption. This is mainly because it is the best that anyone in the world has to offer. If NordVPN could do any better, they would definitely. This attitude has helped them when it comes to customer service in the past and they have stuck to the formula through the years.
NordVPN offers a humongous force of over 4000 servers that are spread across 112 countries to its users. This network is many times over what ProtonVPN has to offer to its users. The downside of this, however, is that you can use your VPN connection from NordVPN across only 6 devices at a time on a single license.
My SayPersonally, I prefer the larger network of NordVPN over ProtonVPN's wider device connectivity. This is mainly because I stick to four devices and rarely exceed it and in that case, the cap of six devices of NordVPN is more than sufficient for me. For some people, the idea of using the VPN across 10 devices might be more appealing but I am quite satisfied with a cap of 6.
In exchange for using only 6 devices, I get access to content from over 112 countries which are highly important to me. I can surf the content from any of these countries at any time without any issues and that is a higher priority for me than being able to use my VPN across 10 devices.
ProtonVPN vs NordVPN: Compatibility
Now that we know how many devices can be used simultaneously on these Virtual Private Networks, let us also have a look at which software the networks can be used on. It is after all vital that the network works on the software that you are running or its money down the drain.
ProtonVPNProtonVPN can be used across 10 devices and comes with its own application which you can download to access the Virtual Private Network on the device. You can download these apps for Windows, Android, macOS, and even iOS. These cover all the majorly used platforms across the globe.
These apps are quite simple as well. They offer quite minimalistic design with quite a few features that come in handy when you are surfing halfway across the world. Setting your Virtual location on these apps is also quite easy.
All you have to do is pin the location among all the countries available on the network and you are good to go from that location. This entire process is effortless and thus makes the browsing experience much smoother.
You can also customize your settings on the app to a certain extent like favoriting a location that you repeatedly use so that you do not need to reset it again and again. This is a small feature but comes in quite handy in the long run.
NordVPNNordVPN offers access to its network on 6 devices at a time as I have mentioned before. NordVPN also has its own app that can be used on the same platforms as ProtonVPN can be - Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS.
The design of NordVPN's app is quite simple as well and offers the same features as the ProtonVPN's app. There is not much difference in how you set the virtual location for browsing either. You set a pin on the locations available on the globe and voila, it is done.
The experience on NordVPN is much better due to the long list of countries that it offers on its virtual network. The main benefit of this is that you get access to a lot more of the country's restricted access on websites like Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
NordVPN also offers a great extent of customization options like ProtonVPN and thus is at par with it.
My SayAgain, I prefer NordVPN here due to the long list of countries. I am someone who likes to surf country-specific content quite a bit and NordVPN gives me access to more countries. Apart from that, there are no changes in the app or in the features and thus, it's a point that shouldn't really sway your choice.
In case something goes wrong, well, it's a world of tech so it really could, Customer Support is something that is crucial. The Customer Support needs to be up to the mark for these Virtual Private Networks since they charge you on a monthly basis so let us see how they fare.
ProtonVPNProtonVPN offers basic customer support to its users in the form of email support. Apart from that, users can also fill out a form with their complaint, issue and the company gets back to them.
ProtonVPN offers extensive literature and guides to help solve basic issues but for complex issues or something absent in the literature, it is a pain to go through the customer service. The mail service is too slow and is one of the main things that bog them down.
They take hours to reply to the mails and until you hear back from them, you are stuck without the VPN and if you are used to using VPN, this can be quite a nightmare for you.
NordVPNNordVPN, on the other hand, offers regular literature like ProtonVPN. However, in a situation where it is not enough, it goes one step ahead of everyone by offering 24/7 live chat support to the users.
Live Chat support is a boon because the team is there at any time you need and they can solve your issue within minutes and get back on your browsing spree. This quick response by NordVPN raises the user experience to the next level and a boon.
The team behind the Live Chat support is well trained to help you out of any issue that you might be stuck in.
Which One Offers Reliable & Fast Customer Support?In the world of tech, I have frequently encountered issues and I am sure that others do too. In a scenario where you get stuck, the idea of NordVPN's Live Support being there is something that soothes my anxiety. It comforts me because I need my internet when I need it and if I have to wait for a few hours before the company can get back to me about my issue, it is going to create some real problems.
And even when they do get back to me, it is not like the issue is going to get resolved in the first mail itself and it might take a lot longer which can be a big let-down.
Because NordVPN is so prompt about this thing, they take this round hands down because not being able to surf online sounds like a nightmare to me.
When you are using a VPN, there is encryption involved so that no one can track your actual location to steal your data. This encryption process is tedious and can take up bandwidth thus making your connection slow. It is crucial that it doesn't take up too much bandwidth or otherwise, it could lead to the VPN being useless because you can't connect to the internet.
Since both the VPN companies use the same level of encryption, the bandwidth used for both of them needs to be equal but is that the case? Let's find out.
This is one of the most crucial aspects and something that you need to keep in mind while making your choice.
ProtonVPN Speed TestWhen you are using ProtonVPN as compared to not using any VPN, ProtonVPN can reduce the download speed of your internet connection by up to 42%. 42% is almost half the speed that you would generally get on your normal internet.
42% is a huge reduction as compared to the standard reduction that VPNs offer and can really spoil your browsing experience due to the slow internet.
When it comes to uploading speed, it can go down by almost 24% which is also quite high as compared to average reductions. The upload speed reduction of 24% is all the more disastrous because the upload speeds are already slow as compared to download speeds.
ProtonVPN reduces both the upload and download speeds by quite a bit and that is not a good thing for your browsing time.
NordVPN Speed TestWhen I ran the same test that I did with ProtonVPN to check speed reduction, it found the results to be more acceptable. When it comes to downloading speed reduction, the speed went down by almost 20% which is good news because your Netflix or any other site would not buffer as much as it would on ProtonVPN.
When it comes to uploading speed, they go down by approximately 17% which is still lower than that of ProtonVPN in this comparison.
These lower speed reductions offer a better experience and also take up less bandwidth while you are browsing.
Which One Is The Fastest?I am someone who gets irritated by slow internet very easily because I spend limited time on it during my schedule and I do not like it being spoiled by the slow internet and hence speed is as much of a priority for me as privacy is so you must have guessed what my pick is here.
I would go with NordVPN hands down.
Now coming to the thing that can sway your decision, either way, the pricing of these products. Both of them offer monthly and annual subscriptions. The annual subscriptions cost you less per month as compared to monthly subscriptions like it is with all things.
ProtonVPN PricingProtonVPN offers four plans for its user - Free, Basic, Plus, and Visionary. These plans cost $0, $4, $8, and $24 respectively when bought for a year. The monthly subscriptions for the same are $0, $5, $10 and $30 per month for the plans.
I personally think that plus version is sufficient for any typical user in terms of the features available and using the Basic plan would not get you enough features and getting the Visionary plan would mean that you are overspending a lot. Very few people actually need the Visionary plan and if you are one of them, you should definitely get it but if you are not, the Plus plan is going to work great for you.
NordVPN PricingNordVPN offers three kinds of subscriptions that get all the features. There are no plans per se. The three subscriptions are Monthly, Annually and 3 Year Subscription. If you take the costs and divide by the tenure, the monthly plan costs you $11.95, the yearly subscription costs you $6.99 per month, and the 3 Year plan costs you $3.49 per month.
The features on these plans are as good as the Visionary plan of ProtonVPN but come at much more affordable rates. NordVPN also has a lot of promotional offers going on at most times and thus you can pick up these plans at prices less than this as well.
Save Upto 70% Off Which One Is Value For Money?The prices that NordVPN offers simply blow ProtonVPN out of the water and thus if you are looking for a greatly priced product, NordVPN is the one you should pick.
ProtonVPN Vs NordVPN: Customer Reviews & Testimonials?
NordVPN Reviews
FAQs
Quick Links:I feel glad that you chose to use a VPN because it is the one true thing that is stopping people from stealing your data. NordVPN and ProtonVPN are two of the best VPNs that you can find and they are definitely comparable but there is a clear winner here and I think you might have already guessed it.
It is NordVPN. It offers all the features that ProtonVPN offers and still goes a mile ahead for its customers. They offer great features and customer service and when you include the pricing aspect in it as well, NordVPN just blows ProtonVPN out of the water, straight up.
It is not just the features or the pricing but the way NordVPN treats its customers is what makes the biggest change here.
But this does not mean that ProtonVPN is any bad. They offer good services but they just cannot match up in this comparison.
ProtonVPN has a long way to go and I am confident that they will get there someday but until they get there, I would stick to NordVPN.
What about you? What do you choose in this comparison?
Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section below.
