Surfshark vs NordVPN

We’ve been testing VPN services for 8 years. In all of this time, Surfshark and NordVPN have always been amongst the very best VPNs on the market.

While the two services are very similar, we’ve found some marginal differences between them that may influence your buying decision in one way or another.

Summary: Surfshark vs NordVPN

Here’s an overview of how Surfshark and NordVPN compare in 10 key testing categories:

Category	Surfshark Rating	NordVPN Rating	Winner
Speed	9.1	9.7	NordVPN
Streaming	9.7	9.8	NordVPN
Security & Features	9.7	9.9	NordVPN
Privacy & Logging Policy	8.7	8.8	NordVPN
Torrenting	8.6	9.0	NordVPN
Ease of Use	9.7	9.5	Surfshark
Server Locations	9.9	9.9	Tie
Price & Value	9.4	8.5	Surfshark
Bypassing Censorship	7.5	6.5	Surfshark
Customer Support	8.5	9.7	NordVPN

In our tests, NordVPN performed better than Surfshark in six out of 10 categories. Most notably, it achieved a slightly better rating for streaming, security, and speed.

However, Surfshark still performs incredibly well compared to most VPN services. It’s got an outstanding rating of 9.2 overall, and it even outperforms NordVPN when it comes to ease of use and bypassing censorship.

You can use the chart below to quickly compare Surfshark and NordVPN in different areas:

Both VPNs use industry-standard encryption, work to unblock international Netflix regions, and deliver fast connection speeds on average. Even their privacy policies and additional security features are similar. So which one should you use?

Choose NordVPN if You Need:

• A versatile all-round VPN, regardless of the cost. NordVPN is slightly more expensive than Surfshark ($3.29 per month on its cheapest plan), but it’s technically better than Surfshark in most testing categories.
• Fast international connection speeds. Using the NordLynx (WireGuard) protocol, we saw an average international download speed loss of just 14% when connecting internationally from the US.
• Access to multiple Netflix regions. NordVPN and Surfshark both work to unblock almost every international streaming service, but NordVPN unblocks 8 more Netflix regions.

Choose Surfshark if You Need:

• A great VPN for a cheaper price. Surfshark costs just $2.29 on its lowest-price subscription plan, and it’s not far behind NordVPN in any category.
• Easy-to-use apps. All of Surfshark’s apps use a consistent, friendly design that looks great. We love the way it feels, and it’s simple enough for first-time VPN users.
• To bypass web censorship. Surfshark can access blocked websites and apps in China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the UAE (unlike NordVPN).

In this guide, we’ve compared our test results from using both VPN services over several years, so you can see which VPN is best for you.

To compare more VPN services side-by-side, you can also use our VPN comparison tool.

Here’s a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s speed test performance:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Speed Rating	9.1	9.7
Local Download Speed	95Mbps	95Mbps
Average International Download Speed	83Mbps	86Mbps
Local Upload Speed	92Mbps	94Mbps
Ping	9ms	8ms
Time to Connect	3.4 seconds	8.4 seconds
Fastest VPN Protocol	WireGuard	WireGuard (NordLynx)

On local connections to servers in the US, both VPNs are incredibly fast, with speed losses of just 2% and 15% for NordVPN and Surfshark respectively.

However, NordVPN has the edge internationally — just. Its average international speed loss was 13% less than Surfshark. It’s not a big difference, but if you’re planning on connecting to far away servers often, it could add up over time.

As you might expect, this difference is greater over longer distances. Connecting from the US to Australia, we measured average download speeds of 87Mbps with NordVPN and 85Mbps with Surfshark, which are both impressively fast results.

Both VPNs also delivered ping speeds of under 100ms between the US East Coast and the US West Coast, Canada, Germany, and UK. With latency times like this, you can expect a smooth, responsive experience with either VPN.

Put simply: both VPNs are optimized for speed. They both use protocols based on WireGuard, which can be twice as fast as OpenVPN thanks to more efficient data transmission.

They’ve taken measures to avoid congested servers, too. Surfshark caps its server load at 40% to prevent slowdowns, while NordVPN automatically connects you to the least-congested server.

If speed is your priority, you won’t have any issues with either VPN.

Here’s a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s streaming capabilities:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Streaming Rating	9.7	9.8
US Netflix	Yes	Yes
No. of Netflix Libraries	9	17
BBC iPlayer	Yes	Yes
Max	Yes	Yes
Smart DNS	Yes	Unreliable

Surfshark and NordVPN both rank amongst our five recommended VPNs for streaming. They’re both far above average when it comes to unblocking regional restrictions, and they work with every major streaming service we tested:

Streaming Service	Surfshark	NordVPN
Amazon Prime Video	Yes	Yes
BBC iPlayer	Yes	Yes
Channel 4	Yes	Yes
Disney+	Yes	Yes
Hulu	Yes	Yes
ITVX	Yes	Yes
Max	Yes	Yes
Netflix US	Yes	Yes

NordVPN is slightly superior because it unblocks 8 more international Netflix libraries than Surfshark, including Japan, Brazil, France, South Korea, and Switzerland.

You can see which Netflix libraries Surfshark and NordVPN unblock in the table below:

Netflix Libraries	Surfshark	NordVPN
Australia	Yes	Yes
Brazil	No	Yes
France	No	Yes
Germany	Yes	Yes
India	Yes	No
Ireland	Yes	No
Italy	Yes	Yes
Japan	No	Yes
Mexico	Yes	Yes
Netherlands	Yes	Yes
South Korea	No	Yes
Switzerland	No	Yes
Turkey	Yes	No
UK	Yes	Yes
US	Yes	Yes

NordVPN tends to perform more consistently, too — especially when it comes to UK streaming services and US Netflix. You might need to cycle through a few servers with Surfshark, whereas NordVPN tends to work on the first try.

There are some edge cases, though. We recommend Surfshark as the best VPN for Disney Plus, as it’s been particularly consistent in our testing. It also unblocks Hotstar India, which NordVPN cannot, making it the top choice for fans of Indian cinema.

NordVPN just about wins thanks to its consistency and Netflix capabilities, but it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed with the streaming performance of either VPN.

The table below shows a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s encryption and security features:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Encryption & Security Rating	9.7	9.9
VPN Protocols	WireGuard & OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec	WireGuard & OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec
Encryption Cipher	AES-256 & ChaCha20	AES-256 & ChaCha20
Kill Switch	Unreliable	Yes
Leak Protection	Yes	Yes
First-Party DNS	Yes	Yes
Colocated Servers	No	Yes
Diskless servers	Yes	Yes
GPS Spoofing on Android	Yes	No
Rotating IP	Yes	No
Ads and trackers blocked	77%	79%

Of the 50 VPNs we’ve tested, NordVPN achieves the highest rating for security and technical features, while Surfshark takes second place. You can trust both VPNs to protect your data, but they do differ slightly in the exact features they offer.

When it comes to the basics of security, the two VPNs are very similar. Both VPNs offer WireGuard and OpenVPN protocol equivalents, and IKEv2/IPSec for mobile devices. They also use ChaCha20 or AES-256 for encryption, which is the industry standard.

Both VPNs use diskless servers, too, which means no data is stored on removable media. If someone were to steal a server, there would be no storage in it to hack, and no data available to read.

Importantly, NordVPN has a better kill switch than Surfshark. Surfshark’s kill switch is not enabled by default, and we found it leaked our IP address when changing servers on macOS devices.

Here’s a quick overview of each VPN’s unique security features:

Surfshark’s Advanced Security Features:

• GPS spoofing. Available on Android, this enables you to bypass geographic restrictions in apps. We used it to watch blackout NHL games on ESPN+, amongst other things.
• IP rotation. This changes your IP address every 5-10 minutes automatically, making it extremely difficult for someone to profile your activities.
• Multi-Hop servers. This setting routes your data through two VPN servers, encrypting it twice.

NordVPN’s Advanced Security Features:

• Two kill switches. If your VPN connection drops, you can choose to drop your entire internet connection or to only block traffic on selected apps.
• Multi-hop servers. Like Surfshark, this feature routes your traffic through two different VPN servers.
• Wholly-owned colocated servers. NordVPN is working towards owning and having exclusive access to all of its servers, rather than renting them from third parties.
• Regular independent security audits. Combined with the bug bounty program, these offer great reassurance regarding NordVPN’s security claims.
• Meshnet. This enables you to connect to the internet via your home PC when you’re away, so you get a residential IP address for free.

Though very similar, NordVPN’s advanced features give it the advantage for security.

Although it doesn’t support GPS spoofing or IP rotation like Surfshark, NordVPN’s commitment to colocated servers, regular security audits, and reliable kill switch makes it the better choice for the most security-conscious users.

The table below shows a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s torrenting performance:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Torrenting Rating	8.6	9.0
Average Download Bitrate	8.7MiB/s	9.8MiB/s
No. of P2P Servers	3,200	4,771
Logging Policy	No Identifying Data	No Identifying Data
Time to download a 20GB torrent	37 minutes	34 minutes
Kill Switch	Yes	Yes
Port Forwarding	No	No

Both Surfshark and NordVPN work well to hide your identity and activity when torrenting. They conceal your true IP address, use AES-256-bit or ChaCha20 encryption, and store no logs of your activities.

Both VPNs have a kill switch, but you need to enable it manually in Surfshark, which is disappointing and adds room for error while file-sharing. We can’t recommend Surfshark for torrenting on macOS either, because its kill switch leaks your data when changing servers.

We found that NordVPN is faster for torrenting, too: it delivered an average download bitrate of 9.8MiB/s in our tests, compared to 8.7MiB/s using Surfshark. Neither VPN supports port forwarding, which often enables faster torrenting speeds.

Surfshark allows torrenting on all of its servers, while NordVPN limits torrenting activity to 85% of its server network. This might seem like a limitation, but NordVPN still has more torrenting servers to choose from simply because its server network is so large.

Torrenting is not allowed in 14 countries, including Argentina, Israel, and South Korea. If you try to torrent using servers in an unsupported country, NordVPN will automatically route your traffic through dedicated P2P servers in Canada and the Netherlands.

We don’t rule out either VPN for torrenting, as they both work well. However, NordVPN performs better overall: it causes minimal speed loss, and the experience is almost seamless.

The table below shows a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s server networks:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Server Locations Rating	9.9	9.9
Countries	100	111
Countries with City-Level Choice	12	7
Total Number of Cities	142	90+
Servers	3,200	6,328

NordVPN has a larger server network than Surshark, with 3128 more individual servers, and IP addresses available from 11 more countries.

That said, Surfshark has more city-level server choices than NordVPN, particularly useful for bypassing regional blackouts on content such as NFL or MLB games. You can compare these in the table below:

Surfshark	NordVPN
Australia Belgium Canada France Germany India Italy Poland Portugal Spain UK US	Australia Canada France Germany Italy UK US

Both VPNs use virtual server locations to simulate IPs from countries without physical servers. Surfshark marks these virtual servers with a “v” in its apps, while NordVPN labels them as “Virtual,” helping you make more informed choices.

Both VPNs offer multi-hop servers and static IP addresses, with minimal differences between the two.

Here’s a quick summary of NordVPN and Surfshark’s price and payment options:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Price & Value Rating	9.4	8.5
Best Price	$2.29/mo over 27 months	$3.29/mo over 2 years
Credit Card	Yes	Yes
Cryptocurrency	Yes	Yes
Money-Back Guarantee	2x 30 Days	30 Days
Free Trial	7 days (iOS & Android)	7 days (Android)

NordVPN isn’t expensive by any means, but Surfshark is one of the cheapest VPNs you can get, with a minimum monthly price of $2.29 per month if you pay for 27 months in advance. NordVPN costs slightly more, at $3.29 per month for two years.

After the initial offer period, Surfshark renews at $59.76 per year, but NordVPN costs a much higher $99.48.

Surfshark also has several generous options when it comes to refunds and free trials. There is a seven-day free trial of Surfshark on mobile devices, and you can also claim two 30-day money-back guarantees (with six months between each refund).

NordVPN only offers a seven-day trial if you sign up on the Android app. You can then use that trial on any device, but you can’t sign up for the trial on iOS, unlike many other VPNs. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, too.

Both VPNs support cryptocurrency payments for greater privacy, but neither accept cash.

The numbers speak for themselves, here. Surfshark offers phenomenal value and achieves a higher rating in this category.

The table below shows how well NordVPN and Surfshark work for bypassing censorship:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
Bypassing Censorship Rating	7.5	6.5
Reliability in China (past 12 months)	35%	0%
Reliability in China (past 3 months)	50%	0%

Neither Surfshark nor NordVPN should be your first choice for bypassing censorship. There are better VPNs to bypass firewalls in China, Russia, and the UAE.

China and Russia have the harshest censorship regimes, and so are the biggest test of a VPN’s ability to bypass censorship.

Despite its NoBorders mode, we found that Surfshark only works in China 35% of the time. The VPN is not banned in Russia, though, so you can use it effectively there, and it also works in Turkey, Iran, and the UAE.

While your choice might depend on where in the world you are, we’re awarding this category to Surfshark for the better user experience in multiple countries.

Here’s a comparison of NordVPN and Surfshark’s customer support options:

	Surfshark	NordVPN
24/7 Live Chat	Yes	Yes
Initial Contact	Chatbot	Chatbot
Email Support	Yes	Yes
Phone Support	No	No
Online Resources	Yes	Yes
Video Tutorials	Yes	Yes
Setup Guides	Yes	Yes
Forum	No	No
Average Time to Respond	5 seconds	38 seconds

Surfshark and NordVPN offer similar customer support options. There are online guides, tutorial videos, chatbots, live chat support and email support.

The chatbots can be frustrating to deal with in both cases, but if they don’t work you can request human help.

Surfshark’s human agents reply quickly and are helpful, especially if you need tips for servers that will unblock streaming sites. However, the agents sometimes struggle with more technical queries. We recommend you email those types of queries instead.

NordVPN has excellent self-help guides for most technical queries, and their support team has better technical knowledge than we see from most other VPNs. In fact, it’s amongst the best customer support we’ve ever tested.

Given they share a parent company, it’s perhaps not surprising that these two VPNs are so similar in so many categories.

NordVPN and Surfshark both offer best-in-class security features. They’re effective for protecting your privacy, unblocking streaming services, gaming, and torrenting. Frankly, the differences between them are fairly minimal.

However, NordVPN won in six of our tests, and Surfshark won in four.

We’re happy to recommend both VPNs, but the better choice is technically NordVPN. It’s faster, more reliable for streaming, and has better privacy credentials. Its jurisdiction means it is not subject to any data retention laws, and its plan to wholly own all its servers is admirable.

There are some circumstances in which Surfshark is the better choice. Its apps are slightly more approachable for beginners, it’s cheaper, and it offers IP addresses in more countries — so it’s the better choice for users on a strict budget.

If you’re struggling to choose, both VPNs offer a seven-day free trial on mobile and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test them for yourself.