NordVPN vs PrivateVPN

Struggling to decide which Virtual Private Network (VPN) to use? That’s understandable: there are hundreds out there and they’re all different in terms of speed, security, and streaming ability. Don’t worry, though; our team of experts has done the hard part for you by extensively testing two leading providers (NordVPN and PrivateVPN) to see which is best for the average user.

Below, we’ll be listing everything NordVPN and PrivateVPN have offer in an easy-to-read format. We’ll also explain exactly what each feature does since we know how easy it is to get lost in the jargon when comparing VPNs. This should give you a better understanding of what you’re paying for and the impact your chosen service will have on your day-to-day internet usage.

After personally testing both services for hours, we put together a side-by-side comparison of all their main features and noted down any strengths, shortcomings, or interesting features we found. Here are the results:

Summary: NordVPN vs PrivateVPN

NordVPN vs PrivateVPN pricing

Straight off the bat, we can see that PrivateVPN is the cheaper of these two services, both over short and long terms. However, it’s worth noting that while NordVPN’s one-month price is relatively high, it offers steep discounts on longer plans. Further, if it weren’t for PrivateVPN’s extremely generous special offer, NordVPN would actually be the less expensive option for annual plans.

Both providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Essentially, you can just sign up and pay like you normally would before trying either service out risk-free for a month. If it fails to meet your expectations, just cancel to claim a full refund. The whole cancellation process takes a few minutes, and you don’t even have to provide a reason if you don’t want to.

Best Deal for NordVPN:Save 63% with a two-year NordVPN plan.

Best Deal for PrivateVPN:Cut the cost by more than 80% by getting two years free with your annual PrivateVPN subscription.

NordVPN vs PrivateVPN features

Whichever of these services you choose, you’ll have access to a wide range of user-friendly apps. In fact, as well as catering to the most popular platforms, NordVPN and PrivateVPN both offer command-line installers for Linux systems and official apps for Amazon Fire TV devices. We have to give NordVPN a slight advantage here, though, since it offers Chrome and Firefox extensions that let you switch locations on the fly directly in your browser.

PrivateVPN has a stealth mode designed to bypass deep packet inspection and regional blocking. NordVPN, on the other hand, uses special obfuscated servers that allow you to bypass censorship in countries like China and the UAE. It also offers a built-in ad-blocker and malware scanner, as well as a setting that connects automatically whenever you use a public wifi network.

NordVPN provides full split tunneling functionality (the ability to let certain apps or websites pass through the VPN without having their data encrypted or rerouted) whereas PrivateVPN doesn’t. Additionally, NordVPN recently introduced MeshNet, a feature that lets you securely connect to your other devices across any distance.

For torrenters, PrivateVPN boasts one key advantage over NordVPN: port forwarding. Although NordVPN allows peer-to-peer connections throughout its network and does not block torrenting on any of its servers, it doesn’t support port forwarding. With PrivateVPN, you can forward a random port number from the app. Port forwarding allows you to seed torrents more efficiently and connect to more peers.

On the other hand, NordVPN has split tunneling, which lets you choose which apps use the VPN and which don’t. NordVPN can conceal your torrenting activities inside of the VPN while your web browser uses your regular IP address. This feature is not currently available with PrivateVPN.

NordVPN has a few other features that PrivateVPN does not. Multi-hop connections allow you to route your data through two servers in a row for added protection, and it throws in a free Smart DNS service that you can use to access US streaming services on devices like consoles and Smart TVs.

Netflix and streaming comparison

These services are both known for their strong streaming ability. In fact, NordVPN has actually improved since the last time we tested it, and was able to access CBS, which had previously given it trouble. PrivateVPN put up a good fight but was unable to access ABC, which isn’t really a surprise given how strong this platform’s VPN-detection system is.

NordVPN works with more regional Netflix libraries than its rival. PrivateVPN can still access more than a dozen Netflix regions, which is above average.

PrivateVPN is considerably slower than NordVPN, but both can stream in HD without any buffering. If raw power and plenty of headroom is your preference, opt for NordVPN.

China

It’s no secret that the Chinese government censors huge sections of the internet using a collection of web-filtering tools known as the Great Firewall. This stops travelers from being able to communicate with people back home and severely limits your sources of unbiased information. To make matters worse, most VPNs simply won’t work in China.

NordVPN and PrivateVPN stand out from the crowd though. Our latest testing shows that these services both work perfectly in mainland China, although you’ll have to enable a setting in each of the apps first. Additionally, NordVPN users on iOS will have to configure their connection manually instead of relying on the app. Here’s how to unblock the internet in China with both of these services:

• NordVPN: Click the gear icon on the main screen, then Advanced > Obfuscated servers. Return to the homepage and connect to one of the obfuscated servers.
• PrivateVPN: Enter the Stealth VPN tab and enable the Stealth VPN option. Now, simply connect as normal.

Setup and interface

Both providers offer uncluttered, easy-to-use apps for desktop computers. NordVPN has recently had a redesign, and now boasts a much cleaner interface than before. Its main screen lets you choose a server from the map or a list, and settings are separated into various tabs on the left-hand side.

PrivateVPN uses a tabbed approach instead, showing just a few options per page to keep things as simple as possible. Its server list is broken down into categories, with favorited and dedicated IP servers (more on these later) listed separately. There’s also a simpler view, which essentially hides everything apart from the quick-connect button and server selection option.

There aren’t many differences in NordVPN’s mobile app except the server list is below the connect button. All of the security settings remain intact, and what’s more, there’s even one that isn’t present in the desktop apps: tapjacking protection. This lets you know when an app is trying to trick you into clicking on something different than what is shown onscreen.

PrivateVPN’s mobile app is essentially just the simple view from the desktop apps. The tabbed interface is gone, and all of the settings are shown on a single page. There are very few differences other than that the kill switch is missing (although its effect can be replicated using tools built into the operating system).

Servers and performance

Although they cover similar numbers of countries, NordVPN has a far larger network. In our experience PrivateVPN works perfectly during peak times despite having fewer servers to help share the load.

These are two of the fastest providers around. However, NordVPN’s speeds have slipped recently, averaging 196 Mbps in our latest testing. PrivateVPN, meanwhile, averages roughly 70 Mbps — quick enough for any day-to-day task (including HD streaming) but undeniably a step below NordVPN.

Here’s a list of server locations for each VPN:

These VPNs are evenly matched in terms of network coverage. The most in-demand locations are accounted for, although NordVPN has a larger presence in Europe while PrivateVPN supports less commonly-seen locations like Panama and Nigeria.

NordVPN VS PrivateVPN for gaming

NordVPN is significantly faster than PrivateVPN. But most games don’t require a lot of bandwidth. PrivateVPN’s speeds should be more than sufficient to play most games.

NordVPN has a much larger number of servers to pick from, which helps users avoid server congestion, connect to more international servers, and improve ping. Private VPN operates servers in more than 60 countries, so there’s still plenty to pick from.

Both VPNs can bypass gaming blocks at work or on campus without exposing your online activities to admin.

Security

As you might expect, both services allow you to connect using the OpenVPN protocol. However, NordVPN also has its own proprietary protocol, NordLynx. This is based on Wireguard, which is significantly faster and more efficient than OpenVPN, and widely considered the next big thing for VPN security. It also supports IKEv2 connections (though these have to be setup manually).

Other than OpenVPN, PrivateVPN only supports PPTP and L2TP connections. These are far older protocols, and PPTP is no longer considered safe to use due to a long list of vulnerabilities. As a result, we strongly recommend that PrivateVPN users stick with OpenVPN and would like to see WireGuard support in the apps in the future (currently, users have to manually configure WireGuard connections, which is out of the ordinary to say the least).

From a security perspective, NordVPN and PrivateVPN aren’t too different. They both use 256-bit AES encryption, although PrivateVPN gives you the option to use 128-bit encryption instead, which should provide a small speed boost. NordVPN’s RSA keys are longer, in theory, making them more difficult to crack. That said, 2048-bit keys are considered good enough, so the benefits of longer keys are debatable. Both services provide a customizable kill switch that lets you choose which apps stop sending data when your connection drops. However, this feature isn’t available in PrivateVPN’s mobile apps.

Privacy

Each of these providers is based in a privacy-friendly country. NordVPN, for instance, operates out of Panama, which doesn’t require VPNs to log any identifiable data. PrivateVPN, on the other hand, is based in Sweden, a country that has enshrined its citizens’ right to privacy in its constitution. Accordingly, neither service keeps logs of any kind.

NordVPN has had its apps independently audited to prove that they’re as secure as possible. Further, it has had its no-logs policy audited three times, by two of the Big Four auditing firms. PrivateVPN hasn’t publically mentioned any audits, but it did spend a lot of resources becoming its own ISP and server host, which helps reduce the chance of third-party access to user data.

NordVPN and PrivateVPN both allow you to sign up and pay anonymously with Bitcoin. However, NordVPN also accepts two other popular cryptocurrencies: Ripple and Ethereum.

Customer service

These VPNs both offer a fantastic level of support, with live chat help desks, searchable knowledge bases that answer all of the most common questions, and video guides available on their respective YouTube channels. NordVPN’s support staff are available 24/7, while PrivateVPN’s live chat goes offline for a few hours each day.

We wanted to see how responsive each service was to email queries. This way, we could judge how easy it is to get help if you’re somewhere where live chat isn’t available (China, for instance). Here are the results

Despite being the underdog, PrivateVPN’s customer service team knocked it out of the park, with an average email response time of just 10 minutes. NordVPN averaged just under nine hours per reply. Note that NordVPN runs its own support team, so in theory, it can provide more detailed responses to technical questions.

The winner: NordVPN

There’s no doubt that these services are both strong contenders. PrivateVPN boasts some of the fastest speeds around, works with a huge range of streaming platforms, and comes packed with security features. However, the winner this time is NordVPN, and here’s why.

NordVPN is, on average, much faster than PrivateVPN. It’s also slightly stronger on security, showing commitment to the Wireguard protocol and offering a kill switch in all versions of its app. Its network is far larger too, with over 5,600 servers to choose from. Whether you want to browse freely in China, live stream UHD video, or just enhance your digital privacy, you can’t go wrong with NordVPN.

Best Deal for NordVPN:Save 63% with a two-year NordVPN plan.

Best Deal for PrivateVPN:Cut the cost by more than 80% by getting an extra two years free with your annual PrivateVPN subscription.

Methodology: How we compared NordVPN and PrivateVPN

NordVPN and PrivateVPN are both well-respected providers, so choosing one was never going to be easy. To be as fair as possible, we really tried to dive deep into the functionality, reliability, and versatility of each service. Here are a few key features we considered:

• Server availability: Distance from your chosen server impacts speeds, so it’s important to have a good distribution around the world. Additionally, we looked into whether either VPN offered servers in a location that the other didn’t.
• Performance: Nobody wants a VPN that ‘s too slow to use. Still, it’s tricky to compare download speeds due to the randomess of the internet. Our team runs multiple tests and averages the results to get the most accurate reading.
• Security and privacy: We made sure each service used secure encryption methods and protocols. Then, we look at safeguards such as a kill switch, no-logs policy, anti-tracking features, and leak protection.
• Streaming ability: Modern streaming services are great at spotting telltale signs of VPN usage. However, if you have to keep turning your VPN off, you’ll eventually forget to turn it back on, which is a real privacy risk. We tested each provider against platforms like Netflix, Max, and BBC iPlayer to see which was best at going undetected.
• Ease of use: We’re big fans of anything that makes VPN technology more accessible. This might be 24/7 live chat, unlimited connections, or just novice-friendly, jargon-free apps.
• Price: Like it or not, price is an important factor for a lot of people. We can spot a VPN that’s charging too much from a mile away, but we also look into long-term discounts, free trials, and money-back guarantees.

Want to learn more about how we put VPNs through their paces? Our testing methodology post breaks down our entire process.

NordVPN vs PrivateVPN FAQs

See also:

• NordVPN vs Surfshark
• ExpressVPN vs NordVPN
• Private Internet Access vs PrivateVPN