Proton VPN vs NordVPN

The short answer

Proton VPN and NordVPN are both well-documented paid VPNs, and both have had outside firms check their no-logs claims for years. Either is a reasonable choice on the evidence. The differences are about openness, ownership and what each app offers.

Proton publishes more. Its apps are open source, its five yearly audit reports are linked from a public page, and it has a free plan. NordVPN has the longer audit history, starting in 2018, but keeps the full reports for logged-in customers. NordVPN's record also includes one serious incident, a 2018 server breach that it disclosed in 2019. Proton's best-known case involved its email service, not the VPN.

Tunnelcheck hasn't tested either service. The fact table above comes from our provider files. This page explains what the differences mean, and every claim links to a source at the bottom. Read how we review for the method.

Who owns Proton VPN and NordVPN?

Proton VPN belongs to Proton AG in Geneva, Switzerland. Since June 2024 its primary shareholder has been the Proton Foundation, a Swiss non-profit that Proton says can veto any change of control.

NordVPN belongs to Nord Security. Its apps are sold on Apple's App Store by Nordvpn S.A., a Panama company. Since 2022 Nord Security and Surfshark have shared one holding company, though the two brands say they run separately. That matters if you planned to keep Surfshark as an independent backup. Our NordVPN vs Surfshark page covers that link.

The two set-ups differ in what protects you from a change of owner. Proton's foundation is designed to block a sale. We found no comparable safeguard on record for Nord Security. Panama has no law that forces VPN companies to keep user data, and Switzerland has its own rules outside the EU. As always, what a company stores matters more than the country on its paperwork. See who owns your VPN.

Logging and audits

Both say they don't log what you do on the VPN. Both have paid outsiders to check.

• Proton has had Securitum audit its no-logs setup every year from 2022 to 2026. Proton says the auditors spend days on site, review server configuration, check procedures and interview staff. All five reports are linked from Proton's audit page.
• NordVPN had no-logs assurance engagements from PwC Switzerland in 2018 and 2020, then from Deloitte Lithuania every year from 2022 to 2025, under ISAE 3000, the international standard for checking non-financial claims. The 2025 round was a reasonable assurance engagement, the stronger of the two levels. NordVPN also had a VerSprite app assessment in 2021 and a Cure53 server test in 2022. The full reports are available only to logged-in customers.

On count and length, NordVPN leads: six no-logs engagements over eight years. On openness, Proton leads: anyone can read its reports without buying first. Each audit is a snapshot of a few days or weeks, so a run of yearly checks says more than any single one. Our VPN audits page explains how to read them.

Track record: breaches and legal cases

NordVPN. In March 2018 an attacker got into one server NordVPN rented in a Finnish data center, through a remote-management tool the host had left on it. An expired internal key was exposed. NordVPN said the server held no activity logs. It disclosed the breach on October 21, 2019, and was criticized for the delay. Separately, in 2019 about 2,000 NordVPN account logins circulated online through credential stuffing, where attackers reuse passwords leaked from other sites.

Proton. We found no reported breach of Proton VPN's servers. In 2021, under a Swiss legal order, Proton logged and handed over the IP address used to reach a French activist's Proton Mail account, as TechCrunch reported. Proton's CEO said Swiss law gave no legal basis for logging VPN users. It's a reminder that a Swiss company still answers to Swiss courts.

Neither event shows a VPN user's activity being handed over. How much NordVPN's slow disclosure should weigh is a judgment call; it has added outside tests since. Our guide to no-logs policies covers how real cases compare with audits.

Features and protocols

A protocol is the rule set an app uses to build its encrypted tunnel. Both offer WireGuard-based connections. See WireGuard vs OpenVPN.

• Proton offers WireGuard, OpenVPN and Stealth, which wraps WireGuard in TLS so networks that block VPNs struggle to spot it. Secure Core routes traffic through a server in Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden before a second country. Its apps are open source on every platform, and it has a kill switch in all of them.
• NordVPN offers NordLynx, its WireGuard build with post-quantum key exchange in all apps since May 2025, plus NordWhisper for restrictive networks and OpenVPN. Its audits covered Double VPN, Onion Over VPN (traffic routed into the Tor network) and obfuscated servers. Our provider file has no confirmed kill-switch details, because NordVPN's feature pages refused our reader. Check the app settings and run a leak test.

Both allow ten devices on paid plans. One difference sits outside the VPN tunnel: Apple's privacy label for NordVPN's iOS app says it collects your email address and a user ID linked to you, and lists marketing and analytics among the uses. That's account data, separate from the browsing activity the no-logs policy covers.

Free plan

Proton has one. Proton Free covers one device, has no data limit according to Proton, and leaves out streaming and P2P. Our NordVPN file records no free plan, so treat NordVPN as a paid service. If you want to try before paying, Proton's free tier is the obvious route; NordVPN's refund terms weren't readable when we checked. See free vs paid VPN.

Streaming and torrenting policies

Torrenting. Proton allows P2P (peer-to-peer) traffic only on paid plans and dedicated P2P servers, and offers port forwarding, which helps a torrent client accept incoming connections, on Windows and Linux, with macOS in early access. NordVPN's iOS release notes for version 9.6.0 say all its regular servers now support P2P. We have no record of port forwarding at NordVPN. A VPN hides your downloads from your internet provider. It doesn't make copyright infringement legal. See is torrenting illegal.

Streaming. Proton lists streaming as a paid-plan feature, and NordVPN doesn't control what streaming services do. Watching another country's catalog usually breaks the streaming service's terms of use, and services block IP addresses they link to VPNs, so results change. We don't promise that either one unblocks anything. See why streaming services block VPNs.

Price (checked 2026-11-13)

Proton's pricing page showed VPN Plus at $2.99 a month on the 1-year plan, billed $35.88 for the first year and then $83.88 a year. Month to month, it was $9.99. Proton offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all subscriptions. Its page also lists 2-year terms and regional prices.

NordVPN's pricing page refused our reader on 2026-11-13, so we haven't printed a price or refund term. See the official pricing page. With either provider, compare the renewal price as well as the first term. Our checked VPN prices page lists what we could verify.

Which should you pick?

• Pick Proton VPN if you want audit reports you can read before you buy, open-source apps, a free plan, port forwarding, or an owner structure built to resist a sale.
• Pick NordVPN if you want the longest run of accountant-led no-logs checks, specialty servers such as Double VPN and Onion Over VPN, or post-quantum protection built into its main protocol.
• Think about the group if you already use Surfshark. NordVPN shares a parent with it, so Proton is the more independent second provider.
• Compare further: Proton VPN review, NordVPN review and Proton VPN vs Mullvad.