Surfshark vs. NordVPN: Which VPN is better in 2024?

VPNs can be an invaluable tool for anyone who regularly uses the internet. Not only do they help keep your online activities private, but they can also get around region blocks to stream your favorite content. When searching for a good VPN provider, two names are sure to come up: Surfshark and NordVPN. 

Both VPNs are top-quality services that have made it on to my list of best VPNs due to their excellent feature sets. Each has its own unique way of optimizing your privacy and security. Below I’ll compare each of these two industry titans and show which wins in a standoff between Surfshark vs. NordVPN.

If you’re looking for all of my top picks for VPNs be sure to check out my best VPNs article for more great options.

Surfshark vs. NordVPN: Overview

Surfshark is a more budget-friendly VPN with unlimited simultaneous device connections and good additional features, but it’s based in a 14 Eyes data sharing member country. NordVPN on the other hand is a bit more expensive, but comes with more servers, better speeds, and it’s based in a privacy-neutral country.

Speed: NordVPN

While Surfshark is no slouch when it comes to speed and performance, NordVPN easily takes the win here. NordVPN has the best download and upload speeds of any VPN I’ve ever tested, easily garnering the top spot in my list of fastest VPNs.

During my testing, Surfshark performed admirably with an average download speed of 61 percent of my base and 70 percent of my base upload speed. That’s pretty good, but Nord blows by it with an average download speed of 72 percent of the base and a thoroughly impressive 80 percent of the base upload speeds. Simply put, NordVPN can’t be matched when it comes to VPN speed.

Cost: Surfshark

Determining the winner in regards to cost requires a bit more of a nuanced approach. Both services come with different subscription tiers providing different features and extras. Both VPNs also come with monthly, yearly, and bi-yearly subscriptions plans. In order to most closely compare apples to apples, I’ll stick with discussing the cost for NordVPN’s Plus plan and Surfshark’s One plan tiers.

NordVPN’s Plus plan will set you back $12.99 monthly, $82.35 for the first year, or $126.63 for the first two years. Both NordVPN’s 1-year and 2-year plans rise to $99.48 annually after their respective renewal periods.

Further reading: ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN

On the other hand, Surfshark’s One plan goes for a steep $15.95 monthly, $47.85 for the first year, or $72.63 for the first two years. Similarly, Surfshark’s 1- and 2-year plans rise to about $60 per year after their renewal periods.

While Surfshark’s month-to-month plan is more costly, if you opt for a longer-term subscription plan, you’ll end up saving a significant amount of money — it’s about half the price of NordVPN. For this reason, Surfshark takes the win for cost — unless you want to pay by the month, then go for NordVPN.

Privacy and security: NordVPN

Privacy is the ultimate goal of a VPN user and not many do it better than NordVPN. Not only does it regularly go through independent security audits of its servers to ensure no user data is stored, but it’s also based out of privacy-friendly Panama.

Surfshark isn’t too far behind, however. It also goes through regular independent security audits and sticks to a no-logs policy. However, it is based in the Netherlands which is currently a member country of the 14 Eyes data sharing alliance. The Netherlands itself is a fairly privacy-friendly country, but as a member, it could potentially be asked to share data on companies within its borders therefore subjecting users to privacy violations. Surfshark, for its part, promises to not keep any user data logs so it claims there would be nothing to share anyways.

Both services provide top-notch security features including military-grade AES-256 encryption and access to the most secure protocols such as WireGuard and OpenVPN. They both also offer ad- and tracker-blocking plus built-in antivirus (with certain subscription tiers). And each will seemingly continue to add more and more security features as the years go on.

Still, the fact that NordVPN is located in a non-member country gives it the slight nod in this category.

Streaming: Tie

While settling on a tie for any category feels like a bit of a cop-out, I’ll admit, the capability to unblock streaming services with both Surfshark and NordVPN was practically identical in my testing. Both services were able to unblock all major streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, and BBC iPlayer. Every server I tested with both services, across multiple countries around the world, worked without a hitch. Therefore, I can’t rightly say that one is better than the other in this category. Both would be great options if using a VPN to stream is what you’re after.

Bottom line

Surfshark and NordVPN are both excellent VPNs overall. Surfshark wins out when it comes to value due to its extremely affordable long-term plans. However, NordVPN snags wins in speed where it’s noticeably faster and privacy due to the fact that it’s headquartered in privacy-friendly Panama. Streaming capabilities were a draw as both services easily won the war on unblocking with every major streaming site.

Ultimately, which VPN you pick will depend on your own personal needs. If you want to save money then go with Surfshark. If speed and server network are your biggest concerns, then you should opt for NordVPN. Either way, the differences between them are minor and probably won’t make a difference for the average user. Both of these are stellar VPN services, but in the features that matter most, NordVPN narrowly edges out the win.

Author: Sam Singleton, Assistant Editor, PCWorld