Is NordVPN Legit and Safe to Use?

NordVPN is the most popular VPN service on the internet. It is promoted by almost every major YouTube channel and podcast. It offers dozens of amazing features and can easily hold its own against its competition. But is NordVPN legit and safe to use?

By the end of this article, you’ll know for sure whether this VPN service is worth your money or not.

What is NordVPN?

NordVPN is a VPN service that has blown up in popularity in the last couple of years. It’s a name that almost everyone who doesn’t live under a rock is familiar with.

It helps protect your privacy online. It allows you to connect to one of their own web servers and browse the internet through that connection. They also encrypt all the data that is sent and received between your computer and its servers. This way, your ISP has no way of identifying what websites you use.

NordVPN also helps unlock region-locked content that is only available in certain countries. For example, there are TV shows that are only available to watch on Netflix if you live in the United States.

If you don’t live in the US, you can use NordVPN to connect to a server in the US. Then, when you open Netflix, it will think you are browsing from the US where the content is available to watch.

NordVPN Features

Here are some of the best NordVPN features at a glance:

Apps For All Your Devices

NordVPN is one of the only VPN services that have apps for all devices where you might want to use a VPN.

They have apps for all desktop operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. They also have apps for both Android and iOS. And of course, they have extensions for all popular browsers.

You can also use NordVPN on Playstation, Firestick, Xbox, Chromebook, Raspberry Pi, Chromecast, Nintendo Switch, and Kindle Fire.

You can even configure your router to use NordVPN for all connections. This way, all your devices are protected by default without needing to install the app on all of them.

If there’s a platform that NordVPN doesn’t have an app for, you can configure OpenVPN to use NordVPN’s servers. It might be a little cumbersome but it’s there if you need it.

Protects Your Privacy When You Browse The Internet

Companies big and small are always trying to collect information about you just so they can sell you their products. They collect all kinds of information about you. They know what website you might visit later. They know what type of music you like.

And they can even figure out what job you could be working. It’s scary how much information these companies collect without us ever finding out.

If you care about your privacy, you need a VPN service like Nord. It protects your identity by connecting to websites using their servers. For a business to collect information about you, they need all the requests to come from the same device.

But because a VPN connects to random servers, there’s little to no chance these companies can gather any meaningful amounts of data about you.

If you don’t know already, you should know that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) collects information about what websites you are visiting all the time. Your country’s government can get its hands on this information whenever they want.

But when you use NordVPN, your connection to servers is encrypted with the AES-256 encryption protocol. Your ISP might find out that you are using NordVPN, but there’s no way for them to find out what websites you are visiting.

Another great privacy feature that Nord offers is that they don’t keep a lot of your browsing activity on their servers.

A lot of VPN providers are based in jurisdictions where they are legally required to collect information about who uses their service to browse the internet.

These VPN providers lie about not keeping a log, but they keep one without you knowing. But because NordVPN is based in Panama, they don’t have to do this. There’s no legal need for them to keep a log of your web browsing activity.

Kill Switch

When you are looking for a good VPN provider, you should look for this feature. A VPN can only protect your privacy and keep your identity hidden as long as it is connected to its servers.

In case the connection drops for one reason or another, you are out in the open, and your ISP can see and log your web browsing activity again.

A Kill Switch mechanism simply disconnects your device’s internet connection as soon as the connection to the VPN server breaks. This way, there’s no chance that your ISP will be able to capture data about what websites you have open on your device.

This is a big deal. Most VPN services don’t have this feature. And even if they do, it doesn’t work half the time. NordVPN’s kill switch works every time.

NordVPN Pros and Cons

Here’s a quick list of pros and cons to give you a better idea of whether or not NordVPN is suitable for your needs:

Pros:

• Lots of servers around the world to choose from.
• Reliably unlocks Netflix and other streaming services. If you want to watch region-locked content on Netflix that is only available in certain countries, you can connect to a country where that content is available using NordVPN, and watch it.
• NordVPN only logs information that is required for them to run the service such as your payment information, invoices, your email address, etc. They don’t log any data about the websites that you visit.
• Because NordVPN is located in Panama, they don’t have to comply with governments around the world or surrender your browsing data to them.
• One of the only VPN services that support torrenting, and allows it.
• NordVPN comes with a Killswitch to protect your privacy in case there’s a drop in connection between your device and NordVPN’s servers.
• First-class customer support and a generous refund policy if you decide to cancel your NordVPN subscription.

Cons:

• Configuring OpenVPN with NordVPN is somewhat difficult and not very user-friendly.
• Torrenting doesn’t always work. Some NordVPN servers don’t allow torrenting. You might have to change servers a couple of times before you land on one that allows torrenting.

If you still aren’t sure about NordVPN, you should read my in-depth review of NordVPN. It goes over every NordVPN feature and compares it to the competition.

Is NordVPN Safe To Use?

NordVPN is one of the safest VPN services on the market. They AES-256 encryption between your devices and their servers.

This makes sure that no one can know what websites you’re visiting including your ISP or the government.

Does NordVPN Protect My Privacy?

First off, NordVPN is based in Panama. That means, they don’t have to comply with governments or give them your data if asked.

A lot of VPN services might advertise that they don’t log any data, but they might be doing it behind the scenes anyway just to comply with their country’s government. NordVPN doesn’t have to comply with the government because it’s based in Panama.

Another great privacy feature that NordVPN offers is a Killswitch. When using a VPN service, if your connection to the VPN server drops, your ISP might figure out what websites you are visiting. This is because browsers make requests in the background.

A Killswitch mechanism kills your internet connection entirely in case there’s a drop in connection. This way, there’s no way a browser can send or receive identifying data.

When the killswitch goes into effect, you just have to reconnect to the internet on your device to resume browsing the internet. It just disconnects your internet. That’s all it does! It’s not as dangerous as it sounds.

NordVPN is a no-logging VPN service. They don’t keep a log of any of your web browsing activity on their servers. If law enforcement officers ask them to hand over your web browsing activity data, NordVPN has no way of doing that.

Now, it’s important to remember that they do keep some of your information such as your email address, your payment history, your payment methods, etc. This information might be identifying but it doesn’t link you to any web browsing activity.

The Bottom Line

Although NordVPN is the most popular VPN service, it’s not without its flaws. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad in any way.

It has the best security and privacy features that you could ask for. It’s easy to set up; it easily unblocks Netflix and other streaming sites that region-lock their content. For most users, it’s the best option available.

This industry is filled with VPN providers that offer low prices but don’t hide your identity at all. Some of these do these out of pure incompetence, but others lie to you about privacy even though they operate in a country where it’s not possible.

NordVPN on the other hand is trusted by IT security professionals and has made a name for itself as a safe and secure VPN provider. You can’t go wrong with NordVPN.

If I have convinced you that NordVPN might be worth your money, be sure to read my guide to NordVPN’s pricing plans before making a final decision. That article will help you decide which NordVPN plan is best for you.

How We Review VPNs: Our Methodology

In our mission to find and recommend the best VPN services, we follow a detailed and rigorous review process. Here’s what we focus on to ensure we provide the most reliable and relevant insights:

1. Features and Unique Qualities: We explore each VPN’s features, asking: What does the provider offer? What sets it apart from others, such as proprietary encryption protocols or ad and malware blocking?
2. Unblocking and Global Reach: We assess the VPN’s ability to unblock sites and streaming services and explore its global presence by asking: How many countries does the provider operate in? How many servers does it have?
3. Platform Support and User Experience: We examine the supported platforms and the ease of the sign-up and setup process. Questions include: What platforms does the VPN support? How straightforward is the user experience from start to finish?
4. Performance Metrics: Speed is key for streaming and torrenting. We check the connection, upload, and download speeds and encourage users to verify these on our VPN speed test page.
5. Security and Privacy: We delve into the technical security and privacy policy of each VPN. Questions include: What encryption protocols are used, and how secure are they? Can you trust the provider’s privacy policy?
6. Customer Support Evaluation: Understanding the quality of customer service is crucial. We ask: How responsive and knowledgeable is the customer support team? Do they genuinely assist, or just push sales?
7. Pricing, Trials, and Value for Money: We consider the cost, available payment options, free plans/trials, and money-back guarantees. We ask: Is the VPN worth its price compared to what’s available in the market?
8. Additional Considerations: We also look at self-service options for users, such as knowledge bases and setup guides, and the ease of cancellation.

Learn more about our review methodology.