NordVPN vs IPVanish

NordVPN and IPVanish are well-known providers with a lot in common. Today, we’ll scratch beneath the surface to see how these two VPNs compare on security, speed, streaming ability, customer support, and more. This way, you’ll have a better idea of what you’re paying for and whether NordVPN or IPVanish is better for your needs.

To provide the fairest possible comparison, we’ve spent hours testing these VPNs for ourselves and noting down every feature they had to offer. Here are a few of NordVPN and IPVanish’s major strengths:

Summary: NordVPN vs IPVanish

NordVPN vs IPVanish: VPN price comparison

NordVPN and IPVanish are fairly close in terms of price. This is true regardless of how long you sign up for; they each cost $12.99 USD per month and IPVanish’s two year subscription is just a few cents cheaper than its rival’s. Annual subscribers will notice the biggest difference, with NordVPN costing around $8 more.

Both services come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, NordPVN offers this on all plans whereas IPVanish only offers it on annual and two-year subscriptions. This gives you time to test either service out on all of your devices and decide whether you’d like to continue using it or not. If not, just cancel for a full refund.

Best Deal for NordVPN: Save 67% on a two-year subscription.

Best Deal for IPVanish: Get a 75% discount with a two-year plan.

NordVPN vs IPVanish features

Both IPVanish and NordVPN have strong multi-platform support but there are a couple of differences between the two. NordVPN, for instance, offers a command line-based installer for Linux. IPVanish, on the other hand, has to manually configured.

That said, IPVanish allows users to connect any number of devices at once (compared to NordVPN’s six-connection limit). This means it might be the better choice for people looking to share their account with family, or simply for those with lots of devices to protect. You can even choose to allow certain applications through the VPN, which lets you conserve bandwidth by only encrypting potentially-sensitive traffic.

NordVPN includes a few extra features that give it the edge here, however. For instance, it can block ads and scan for malware automatically. IPVanish recently introduced similar functionality but it’s only available on Firestick at the time of writing. Additionally, NordVPN has specific servers designed for accessing Tor. There are also browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox (IPVanish lacks Firefox support) though it’s worth noting that these only encrypt your browser traffic and don’t allow protect P2P networks or other internet-facing apps on your device.

Finally, NordVPN has a particularly interesting feature called MeshNet. This allows users to securely connect to other networks or devices running NordVPN. You could use it to host virtual LAN parties, grab files from remote storage, or simply check to see if you have a specific file on your computer at home.

Streaming and Netflix comparison

Most streaming services include some form of geo-restriction or VPN-detection these days, meaning it can be difficult to watch your favorite shows securely. However, as the table above shows, NordVPN and IPVanish both performed quite well.

NordVPN was able to securely access every streaming platform we tried, which is already an extremely rare feat. Additionally, it worked flawlessly with Netflix. If NordVPN can’t access the library you’d like to browse, it’ll simply redirect you to the US version of the site. In other words, you can use any of its 5,000+ servers to stream Netflix securely.

IPVanish has made huge strides on streaming lately. Previously, it worked with small and mid-sized apps but struggled against platforms like Netflix. This time around, however, it was able to match NordVPN service-for-service.

China

China poses a particular problem to VPN providers. Recent updates to the country’s Great Firewall have made it especially difficult to browse privately, and IPVanish admits that its service is unlikely to work in China. It does, however, offer installation guides for users willing to try regardless.

NordVPN is one of the few providers that still works in China. While it does experience periodic issues when the Great Firewall is updated, the developers are very good at finding solutions to any problems . The service is usually get back up and running in hours or days, as opposed to weeks.

It’s important to note that most VPN websites (including NordVPN’s) are blocked by China’s firewall, so you should plan to install and setup the service before you actually arrive in China.

Setup and interface

Both of these VPNs have clean, easy-to-use desktop apps with a map view and server list. NordVPN has a tabbed interface, making it easy to find whatever you need. There’s even a Threat Protection tab that walks users through multiple ways to protect their device.

IPVanish’s desktop app gives you slightly more control, but still doesn’t overwhelm the user. It recently revamped its main page, and now features a handy information panel that displays details like your public IP address and how long you’ve been connected for. There aren’t as many advanced options, but this does mean that IPVanish is easier for novices to use.

These services both offer exceptional mobile apps. NordVPN allows you to access your favorite servers, as well as those designed for Tor over VPN and file-sharing, right on the home screen. There are fewer options to choose from than in the desktop app, but the ability to obfuscate your traffic, protect wifi, and connect automatically remains.

IPVanish’s mobile app is similarly easy to use. Its home screen is simplistic, with a large quick-connect button and server selection menus, while its settings page maintains most of the functionality present in the desktop app. This includes split tunneling, LAN blocking, and automatic connection abilities.

Servers and performance

NordVPN has a significant advantage here. It boasts a very large network, with over 6,000 servers globally. This ensures that users can obtain a fast, low-latency connection regardless of where they are in the world. Notably, NordVPN has a presence in a few more countries than its rival, including places like Vietnam, Georgia, and Indonesia.

IPVanish has a lot of locations to choose from, with servers in more than a dozen US cities. That said, it covers fewer countries overall — around 53 total. That’s still a respectable amount, though, and with 2,200 servers worldwide, you shouldn’t have any issues finding one nearby.

Take a look at the table below to see where each of these VPNs have servers:

It might surprise you to learn that IPVanish is, on average, quite a bit faster than its rival. More surprising, it’s managed to maintain this lead for quite a long time! In our latest tests, IPVanish delivered average speeds of around 280 Mbps, while NordVPN averaged closer to 200 Mbps.

To be clear, neither of these VPNs is slow. You only need around 25 Mbps to stream 4K video, and far less to play online games. In other words, even the busiest households should be fine, provided their base internet connection is fast enough. Here’s a closer look at the speed test results for each service:

Security comparison

IPVanish enables users to connect via the WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. NordVPN, on the other hand, only permits OpenVPN and its own Wireguard-based NordLynx protocol (IKEv2 connections must be manually configured). Unfortunately, you can’t configure NordLynx connections on routers, so IPVanish might be the better option for securing an entire network.

On the plus side, both services use 256-bit AES encryption. This is effectively uncrackable, but since NordVPN’s RSA keys are twice the length of IPVanish’s, it’s slightly more secure. Both offer a kill switch (in their respective desktop apps) which stops all data transfer should you disconnect from the VPN unexpectedly. They each use their own DNS servers too: this ensures that no third party has access to your traffic at any point.

NordVPN has a selection of obfuscated servers designed for use in countries with strict online censorship. These servers use obfsproxy to reshape your traffic, preventing organizations that use deep-packet inspection from realizing that you’re using a VPN at all. IPVanish has a similar feature which allows you to scramble OpenVPN traffic, but this isn’t as effective in countries like the United Arab Emirates.

Privacy

NordVPN is based in Panama, a country with no mandatory data retention laws, while IPVanish operates out of the United States. As the US is one of the Five Eyes countries, theoretically, details of your activities could be shared between the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. However, if your VPN provider doesn’t keep any logs, this shouldn’t matter since your activities can’t be traced back to you in the first place.

NordVPN keeps no logs whatsoever. Some VPNs log things like your source IP address, timestamps, data volume, sites visited, or the server used, but NordVPN won’t. It even allows you to sign up anonymously, provided you use a throwaway email address and pay via cryptocurrency. It has repeatedly been audited to prove that it doesn’t log any data which could identify you. That said, it does store advertising IDs on mobile devices, which could lead back to you if you don’t clear them regularly. Luckily, this is quick and easy, and NordVPN even explains how to do this in the help section of its website.

IPVanish has long claimed to be a zero-logs provider, but previously provided information as part of a Homeland Security investigation. The company has since changed ownership, however, and underwent an independent audit to prove that it no longer keeps any logs. Currently, this VPN does not accept any form of cryptocurrency.

Customer service

NordVPN and IPVanish both provide customer support over 24/7 live chat, although NordVPNs service is run by in-house staff while IPVanish’s is outsourced. We messaged both teams at varying times of day and found that both replied promptly and were knowledgeable about the service and capable of answering fairly technical questions.

Each service has a ticket support system and a searchable knowledge base. While tutorials are usually illustrated with screenshots, short video walkthroughs for solving some of the more common problems are available on the NordVPN and IPVanish YouTube channels.

The winner: NordVPN

To be clear, NordVPN and IPVanish are both excellent services. IPVanish, for instance, is privacy-conscious, highly secure and very fast, meaning it’s excellent for torrenting. Further, its apps are lightweight and easy to install across a huge range of platforms including the Amazon Fire TV; this is part of the reason this VPN is so popular with Kodi users. However, IPVanish doesn’t have as many advanced features, which is why, in a one-on-one contest, we believe NordVPN comes out on top.

NordVPN’s massive network, high speeds, and excellent streaming capabilities make it a strong choice for those looking to maintain their privacy abroad. This service goes the extra mile where anonymity is concerned: users can pay with cryptocurrency, choose enhanced-privacy servers, and block trackers automatically. Additionally, NordVPN logs no personally identifiable information at all (though you will want to clear advertising IDs periodically).

Finally, NordVPN is highly versatile. It has a wide selection of security tools, allows you to obtain a dedicated IP address, and even works flawlessly in countries like China, where a huge number of websites entirely unavailable. With apps for all major operating systems and in-house support available at any time, day or night, NordVPN proves it’s a reliable, easy-to-use service with a lot to offer.

Methodology: How we compared NordVPN and IPVanish

It’s always difficult to compare VPNs because every service is radically different from its competitors. For us to create the fairest, most balanced comparison possible, we had to personally test NordVPN and IPVanish and see what they had to offer in each of the categories below:

• Network scale: Server count isn’t everything, but the number of locations available is pretty important. After all, you’ll find that a VPN’s performance gets worse the further away your chosen server is. Paid VPNs tend to offer around 60 locations, though some have as many as 100.
• Speed: We regularly speed test providers and have seen real improvement in this area over the last few years. As encrypting and rerouting data takes time, your speeds will always be lower when connected. Still, with so many providers offering lightning-quick speeds, sluggish VPNs are no longer acceptable.
• Security: VPNs must use uncrackable encryption and back this up with a kill switch, leak protection, and a no-logs policy. Of course, that’s simply a starting point — we’d much rather see stealth modes, anti-tracking features, and multi-hop servers included as well.
• Unblocking: Lots of websites use regional blocking these days, which can cause frustration as users keep having to disconnect from the VPN. We tested these providers against popular platforms such as Disney Plus, Max, and ESPN+ to see which was better at flying beneath the radar.
• Ease of use: Can a complete novice use this VPN? What steps has the provider taken to make things as simple as possible? We strongly value user-first features like 24/7 live chat, task-specific servers, and descriptive settings menys
• Value for money: The most important question we have to answer is “is this VPN worth what it’s charging?”. Even then, we strongly prefer providers that offer free trials, money-back guarantees, or periodic discounts, since this lowers the bar to entry and allows you to try the service out with minimal risk.

Still have questions? We break down our full process in the complete VPN testing methodology post.

Other VPN comparisons:

• NordVPN vs ExpressVPN
• NordVPN vs CyberGhost
• NordVPN vs Surfshark

NordVPN vs IPVanish: FAQs