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Buying a prebuilt PC usually comes down to deciding how much performance you actually need and how much you're prepared to spend getting it. Two top-end MSI desktops are discounted for Amazon Prime Day, but there's a substantial $870 difference between them.

• Best for: The Codex Z2 is our choice for most buyers, while the Aegis R2 makes more sense if you want the faster graphics card, more memory, and twice the storage.

• The deal: The MSI Codex Z2 is priced at $1399 (was $1599), while the higher-spec MSI Aegis R2 is $2269 (was $2469), both at Amazon.

• Why it matters: The Codex Z2 and Aegis R2 target different budgets, but spending more doesn't necessarily mean you're getting better value. The key question is whether the Aegis R2 offers enough extra to justify the considerable additional expense.

Codex Z2: was $1599 now $1399
This desktop combines a Ryzen 7 8700F processor, RTX 5060 Ti 8GB graphics, 16GB DDR5 memory, 1TB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, USB-C connectivity, four cooling fans, and Windows 11 Home.View Deal

Aegis R2: was $2469 now $2269
This desktop features a Core Ultra 7 265 processor, RTX 5070 12GB graphics, 32GB DDR5 memory, 2TB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, USB-C connectivity, four cooling fans, and Windows 11 Home.View Deal

Which one we'd recommend

Of the two MSI beasts, the Aegis R2 is unquestionably the more powerful, but I'd recommend the Codex Z2 for most buyers. Priced at $1,399, it combines an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F processor with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB graphics card. There's 16GB of DDR5-4800 memory and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, providing a well-balanced specification.

At $2,269, the Aegis R2 steps up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and GeForce RTX 5070 with 12GB of GDDR7. It also doubles both the system memory and storage, giving you 32GB of DDR5 and a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD.

Both systems use air cooling with four case fans — three at the front and one at the rear — and customizable RGB lighting. They also provide USB-C, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, Ethernet, HDMI, and multiple USB connections. MSI includes a keyboard and mouse with both.

Which MSI desktop should you buy?

✅ Buy the MSI Codex Z2 if...

You want the better-value desktop PC of the two. Its Ryzen 7 8700F, RTX 5060 Ti, 16GB of DDR5, and 1TB SSD provide a balanced specification without pushing the price beyond $1,400.

✅ Buy the MSI Aegis R2 instead if...

You're prepared to spend another $870 for the higher-tier RTX 5070, Core Ultra 7 265, 32GB of memory, and 2TB SSD. It's the clear performance winner and gives you more headroom for gaming and demanding creative tasks.

• Shop all desktop PC deals at Amazon

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, October 6 (game #1213).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - today's words

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MUSICAL
• CINNAMON
• TRIDENT
• HOT DOG
• STICKY
• SQUIRREL
• MONOLOGUE
• PLAY
• BANK
• DICHOTOMY
• HAMBURGER
• STORE
• CHOREOGRAPHY
• STASH
• ORCHESTRATIONS
• TETRACYCLINE

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Hide it away for later
• GREEN: Types of bread roll
• BLUE: Ancient numerals
• PURPLE: Stage honors

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SAVE FOR LATER
• GREEN: KINDS OF BUNS
• BLUE: GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES
• PURPLE: BEST _____ TONY AWARDS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1214, are…

• YELLOW: SAVE FOR LATER: BANK, SQUIRREL, STASH, STORE
• GREEN: KINDS OF BUNS: CINNAMON, HAMBURGER, HOT DOG, STICKY
• BLUE: GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES: DICHOTOMY, MONOLOGUE, TETRACYCLINE, TRIDENT
• PURPLE: BEST _____ TONY AWARDS: CHOREOGRAPHY, MUSICAL, ORCHESTRATIONS, PLAY

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I decided to play this game a little differently from normal and instead of roaring headlong into guessing groups, I took it slowly and made some notes for each tile.

I am not entirely sure it helped me to achieve a better result — for TRIDENT, I wrote “chewing gum, weapon, mythology", which missed the fact that it was one of the four tiles featuring GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES.

I did get close with the four purple tiles; my note was “something to do with stages”, but I lacked the conviction to connect them and claim a Purple First. If only I'd saved the yellow group for later.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, October 6, 2026, game #1213)

• YELLOW: FINANCIAL FIRMS, FOR SHORT: BERKSHIRE, CITI, GOLDMAN, MERRILL
• GREEN: KINDS OF CHAIRS: ADIRONDACK, EAMES, WINDSOR, WINGBACK
• BLUE: INN HOTELS: COMFORT, DAYS, HAMPTON, HOLIDAY
• PURPLE: ENDING IN TALENTS: CATSKILL, KNICKKNACK, PIANOFORTE, STABILITY

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, October 6 (game #1213).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - today's words

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MUSICAL
• CINNAMON
• TRIDENT
• HOT DOG
• STICKY
• SQUIRREL
• MONOLOGUE
• PLAY
• BANK
• DICHOTOMY
• HAMBURGER
• STORE
• CHOREOGRAPHY
• STASH
• ORCHESTRATIONS
• TETRACYCLINE

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Hide it away for later
• GREEN: Types of bread roll
• BLUE: Ancient numerals
• PURPLE: Stage honors

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SAVE FOR LATER
• GREEN: KINDS OF BUNS
• BLUE: GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES
• PURPLE: BEST _____ TONY AWARDS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1214) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1214, are…

• YELLOW: SAVE FOR LATER: BANK, SQUIRREL, STASH, STORE
• GREEN: KINDS OF BUNS: CINNAMON, HAMBURGER, HOT DOG, STICKY
• BLUE: GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES: DICHOTOMY, MONOLOGUE, TETRACYCLINE, TRIDENT
• PURPLE: BEST _____ TONY AWARDS: CHOREOGRAPHY, MUSICAL, ORCHESTRATIONS, PLAY

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I decided to play this game a little differently from normal and instead of roaring headlong into guessing groups, I took it slowly and made some notes for each tile.

I am not entirely sure it helped me to achieve a better result — for TRIDENT, I wrote “chewing gum, weapon, mythology", which missed the fact that it was one of the four tiles featuring GREEK NUMERICAL PREFIXES.

I did get close with the four purple tiles; my note was “something to do with stages”, but I lacked the conviction to connect them and claim a Purple First. If only I'd saved the yellow group for later.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, October 6, 2026, game #1213)

• YELLOW: FINANCIAL FIRMS, FOR SHORT: BERKSHIRE, CITI, GOLDMAN, MERRILL
• GREEN: KINDS OF CHAIRS: ADIRONDACK, EAMES, WINDSOR, WINGBACK
• BLUE: INN HOTELS: COMFORT, DAYS, HAMPTON, HOLIDAY
• PURPLE: ENDING IN TALENTS: CATSKILL, KNICKKNACK, PIANOFORTE, STABILITY

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, October 6 (game #1716).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1717) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1717) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1717) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1717) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1717) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• P

• F

• D

• E

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1717) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1717, are…

• PALER
• FROTH
• DOZEN
• ERASE

Two rare occurrences popped up for the second time in the past week — another word beginning and ending in E, and another appearance of a rare letter.

However, despite the rarities, this ended up being an oddly easy game for me, with most of the work done for DOZEN and no other letter working at the beginning for ERASE.

Daily Sequence today (game #1717) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1717, are…

• HANDY
• PUREE
• SHOOK
• SATIN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1716, Tuesday, 6 October: FRESH, SKULK, BATCH, ENSUE
• Quordle #1715, Monday, 5 October: SIXTH, SPEAK, SEDAN, HEIST
• Quordle #1714, Sunday, 4 October: INFER, RAINY, THING, ARENA
• Quordle #1713, Saturday, 3 October: CHORE, FLYER, STICK, PURSE
• Quordle #1712, Friday, 2 October: IVORY, SADLY, ANGEL, LLAMA
• Quordle #1711, Thursday, 1 October: NAVEL, SHEER, BIRTH, TACKY
• Quordle #1710, Wednesday, 30 September: CHOKE, BATCH, MOSSY, EAGER
• Quordle #1709, Tuesday, 29 September: BILGE, MEDAL, LODGE, PORCH
• Quordle #1708, Monday, 28 September: BRUNT, TORSO, STONE, HEATH
• Quordle #1707, Sunday, 27 September: VALET, CHEST, VIGIL, PUREE
• Quordle #1706, Saturday, 26 September: SNORT, BIBLE, LAPSE, CRANE
• Quordle #1705, Friday, 25 September: SWEAR, FLOOD, GUPPY, GROAN
• Quordle #1704, Thursday, 24 September: TOPIC, METRO, SCALP, FREED
• Quordle #1703, Wednesday, 23 September: SHEET, BLAND, JOIST, GUAVA
• Quordle #1702, Tuesday, 22 September: COMFY, LOBBY, DRESS, PANEL
• Quordle #1701, Monday, 21 September: WAXEN, HIPPO, PETAL, LEASH
• Quordle #1700, Sunday, 20 September: DERBY, LIMBO, GAWKY, REIGN
• Quordle #1699, Saturday, 19 September: SCOPE, HEIST, PULSE, CHAMP
• Quordle #1698, Friday, 18 September: MUCUS, MIRTH, APPLE, TILDE
• Quordle #1697, Thursday, 17 September: CRIER, CHIRP, NEIGH, FREER

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, October 6 (game #947).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Color for the cure

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• KING
• FLIP
• BARGE
• LINKS
• SOCK
• BULK

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: right, 8th row

• Last side: left, 3rd row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #948) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #948, are…

• BUBBLEGUM
• BARBIE
• SHOCKING
• QUARTZ
• FLAMINGO
• SPANGRAM: TICKLEDPINK

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

In case you were unaware, today’s theme celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the “Wear it pink” campaign of global fundraising.

The pink aspect became apparent early on, and I was thinking of the phrase “in the pink” when looking for the spangram. That was wrong, but it did help me to locate today's all important color and score another Spangram First with TICKLEDPINK.

I really enjoy games like this, where they fool around with the standard Strands palette — and I’m impressed by how many shades of pink they created.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, October 6, game #947)

• FLIP
• UNDO
• REVERSED
• OVERTURN
• BACKPEDAL
• SPANGRAM: THEOLDSWITCHEROO

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, October 6 (game #947).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Color for the cure

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• KING
• FLIP
• BARGE
• LINKS
• SOCK
• BULK

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #948) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: right, 8th row

• Last side: left, 3rd row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #948) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #948, are…

• BUBBLEGUM
• BARBIE
• SHOCKING
• QUARTZ
• FLAMINGO
• SPANGRAM: TICKLEDPINK

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

In case you were unaware, today’s theme celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the “Wear it pink” campaign of global fundraising.

The pink aspect became apparent early on, and I was thinking of the phrase “in the pink” when looking for the spangram. That was wrong, but it did help me to locate today's all important color and score another Spangram First with TICKLEDPINK.

I really enjoy games like this, where they fool around with the standard Strands palette — and I’m impressed by how many shades of pink they created.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, October 6, game #947)

• FLIP
• UNDO
• REVERSED
• OVERTURN
• BACKPEDAL
• SPANGRAM: THEOLDSWITCHEROO

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Upgrading an SSD is usually straightforward once you get inside your PC, but moving everything from the old drive can make the job more complicated. PNY's CS2241 Complete Upgrade Kit addresses that problem by providing the hardware and software needed to transfer your existing data before installing the new drive.

• Best for: Anyone upgrading or replacing an existing laptop/desktop SSD who wants to transfer their files and OS rather than starting over from scratch.

• The deal: The 1TB PNY CS2241 Complete Upgrade Kit is now $136 (was $160) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: Unlike a bare SSD, the package includes a USB 3.2-to-NVMe transfer adapter and Acronis software, giving you the tools required to clone your existing drive before swapping it out.

Today's best internal SSD deal

1TB PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD: was $159.99 now $135.99
This 1TB M.2 2280 SSD uses PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe, delivering sequential reads up to 5,100MB/s and writes up to 3,200MB/s, with a USB adapter, Acronis software, and five-year warranty.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The CS2241 is a PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD capable of sequential read speeds up to 5,100MB/s and sequential writes up to 3,200MB/s. It's designed for compatible laptops and desktop PCs and can also be used in PCIe Gen3 systems. Actual performance will depend on your computer, configuration, operating system, and applications.

PNY backs the drive with a five-year limited warranty or TBW coverage, along with US-based technical support.

Price context & historical value

Amazon's Prime Day price drops the kit from $159.99 to $135.99, knocking $24 off the usual price.

That's around $0.14 per GB before accounting for the additional value of the adapter and cloning software. Those extras are particularly useful if you plan to replace your computer's current system drive rather than simply installing it as additional storage.

For more options, take a look at our roundups of the best SSDs and fastest SSDs.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy PNY's 1TB SSD if...

If you're replacing an existing SSD and want a straightforward way to move your current installation onto the new drive. The included adapter and Acronis software offer everything you'll need for the task.

❌ Skip PNY's 1TB SSD if...

If your computer doesn't have a compatible M.2 NVMe slot, or you already own the equipment and software required to clone a drive. If you're simply adding storage, a bare SSD will make more sense.

Also consider

500GB 2.5" Internal SSD: was $109.99 now $76.49
This 500GB 2.5-inch SATA III SSD delivers sequential read speeds up to 550MB/s and writes up to 500MB/s, with low power consumption and backward compatibility with SATA II systems.View Deal

• Shop all internal SSDS at Amazon

Upgrading an SSD is usually straightforward once you get inside your PC, but moving everything from the old drive can make the job more complicated. PNY's CS2241 Complete Upgrade Kit addresses that problem by providing the hardware and software needed to transfer your existing data before installing the new drive.

• Best for: Anyone upgrading or replacing an existing laptop/desktop SSD who wants to transfer their files and OS rather than starting over from scratch.

• The deal: The 1TB PNY CS2241 Complete Upgrade Kit is now $136 (was $160) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: Unlike a bare SSD, the package includes a USB 3.2-to-NVMe transfer adapter and Acronis software, giving you the tools required to clone your existing drive before swapping it out.

Today's best internal SSD deal

1TB PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD: was $159.99 now $135.99
This 1TB M.2 2280 SSD uses PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe, delivering sequential reads up to 5,100MB/s and writes up to 3,200MB/s, with a USB adapter, Acronis software, and five-year warranty.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The CS2241 is a PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD capable of sequential read speeds up to 5,100MB/s and sequential writes up to 3,200MB/s. It's designed for compatible laptops and desktop PCs and can also be used in PCIe Gen3 systems. Actual performance will depend on your computer, configuration, operating system, and applications.

PNY backs the drive with a five-year limited warranty or TBW coverage, along with US-based technical support.

Price context & historical value

Amazon's Prime Day price drops the kit from $159.99 to $135.99, knocking $24 off the usual price.

That's around $0.14 per GB before accounting for the additional value of the adapter and cloning software. Those extras are particularly useful if you plan to replace your computer's current system drive rather than simply installing it as additional storage.

For more options, take a look at our roundups of the best SSDs and fastest SSDs.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy PNY's 1TB SSD if...

If you're replacing an existing SSD and want a straightforward way to move your current installation onto the new drive. The included adapter and Acronis software offer everything you'll need for the task.

❌ Skip PNY's 1TB SSD if...

If your computer doesn't have a compatible M.2 NVMe slot, or you already own the equipment and software required to clone a drive. If you're simply adding storage, a bare SSD will make more sense.

Also consider

500GB 2.5" Internal SSD: was $109.99 now $76.49
This 500GB 2.5-inch SATA III SSD delivers sequential read speeds up to 550MB/s and writes up to 500MB/s, with low power consumption and backward compatibility with SATA II systems.View Deal

• Shop all internal SSDS at Amazon

Epson's EcoTank ET-4950 is our top pick for a home printer - a cartridge-free unit that excelled throughout our tests, from black and white documents to full color photos. Now, it's $130 off at Amazon for Prime Day.

• Best for: Home offices and busy households that print and scan a lot and want to stop paying for ink cartridges.

• The deal: The Epson EcoTank ET-4950 all-in-one is now $370 (was $500) at Amazon.

• Why we like it: This is the best printer you can get right now. We found it loaded with features, loads of free ink in the box, and cheap to run. We awarded it 4.5 stars in our review. Highlights for us include the automatic two-sided printing and scanning, a 30-sheet document feeder, and fast speeds of up to 35ppm black and 23ppm color.

Today's top EcoTank deal

EcoTank ET-4950: was $499.99 now $369.99
A cartridge-free all-in-one that prints, copies, scans and faxes, with a 250-sheet paper tray, Ethernet, USB and Wi-Fi, and a touchscreen control panel.View Deal

Why we recommend it

Our senior printer editor Jim reviewed the ET-4950 and said, "I can't find another mid-price printer so loaded with features and ink."

He found it pleasant to print with, thanks to the responsive touchscreen and prompt print speeds, and it sits at the top of our best home printer guide.

The bottled ink is cheap enough that, in his words, it won't be beaten on cost per page. The ink in the box is rated for around 15,100 black or 5,500 color pages, which is why the upfront price is even easier to justify.

Price Context & Historical Value

At $369.99, this is $130 off the $499.99 list price, a 26 percent saving. It's a good price but not a record low - it matches the price we saw in June. If you need a printer now, there's no strong reason to wait.

For more printer deals, we've tracking all the best Prime Day home office deals - and that definitely includes this top model.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 if...

You print and scan often enough that ink costs add up, you want automatic two-sided printing and scanning from a document feeder, or you want a reliable all-in-one that should only need ink refills every few years.

❌ Skip the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 if...

You only print a few pages a month, you need a USB host port, NFC or Bluetooth, which this model lacks, or you need to scan heavy paper or print from a multi-purpose tray.

• See more printer deals at Amazon.

Epson's EcoTank ET-4950 is our top pick for a home printer - a cartridge-free unit that excelled throughout our tests, from black and white documents to full color photos. Now, it's $130 off at Amazon for Prime Day.

• Best for: Home offices and busy households that print and scan a lot and want to stop paying for ink cartridges.

• The deal: The Epson EcoTank ET-4950 all-in-one is now $370 (was $500) at Amazon.

• Why we like it: This is the best printer you can get right now. We found it loaded with features, loads of free ink in the box, and cheap to run. We awarded it 4.5 stars in our review. Highlights for us include the automatic two-sided printing and scanning, a 30-sheet document feeder, and fast speeds of up to 35ppm black and 23ppm color.

Today's top EcoTank deal

EcoTank ET-4950: was $499.99 now $369.99
A cartridge-free all-in-one that prints, copies, scans and faxes, with a 250-sheet paper tray, Ethernet, USB and Wi-Fi, and a touchscreen control panel.View Deal

Why we recommend it

Our senior printer editor Jim reviewed the ET-4950 and said, "I can't find another mid-price printer so loaded with features and ink."

He found it pleasant to print with, thanks to the responsive touchscreen and prompt print speeds, and it sits at the top of our best home printer guide.

The bottled ink is cheap enough that, in his words, it won't be beaten on cost per page. The ink in the box is rated for around 15,100 black or 5,500 color pages, which is why the upfront price is even easier to justify.

Price Context & Historical Value

At $369.99, this is $130 off the $499.99 list price, a 26 percent saving. It's a good price but not a record low - it matches the price we saw in June. If you need a printer now, there's no strong reason to wait.

For more printer deals, we've tracking all the best Prime Day home office deals - and that definitely includes this top model.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 if...

You print and scan often enough that ink costs add up, you want automatic two-sided printing and scanning from a document feeder, or you want a reliable all-in-one that should only need ink refills every few years.

❌ Skip the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 if...

You only print a few pages a month, you need a USB host port, NFC or Bluetooth, which this model lacks, or you need to scan heavy paper or print from a multi-purpose tray.

• See more printer deals at Amazon.

On the Waterfront was Eva Marie Saint's first film job after years of theater and TV.'/>

Saint won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edie, a Catholic schoolgirl whose longshoreman brother is murdered. She went on to star in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

(Image credit: Columbia TriStar)

The Geekom A8 Max remains one of the top mini PCs we've tested, packing a fast eight-core Ryzen processor into a small desktop for office work and light video editing. Now, for Prime Day, it's $80 off at Amazon with our promo code.

• Best for: Creators and power users who want a compact desktop that can handle office work, photo editing and light video work.

• The deal: The Geekom A8 Max mini PC is now $719 (was $799) at Amazon with code TRA8XDFB.

• Why it matters: The A8 Max is an exceptionally good Windows 11 mini PC, scoring 4.5 stars and a TechRadar Pro Highly Recommended badge in our review. We called it "extremely powerful," and found it "ploughs through tasks in Microsoft Office and applications from the Adobe Suite without too much issue." It comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS with Radeon 780M graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD that you can expand later.

AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD

In our tests, the A8 Max proved to be ideal for productivity tasks, alongside content creation like editing video, images, and music. Impressive, especially at this price. it's highly suitable suitable for homes, offices, and studios. For the full discount, use code TRA8XDFB at checkout. View Deal

Why we recommend it

This mini PC remains one of our top models - our hardware editor thinks for the cost, it's arguably the best machine out there, especially since you can upgrade the memory and storage to a maximum 128GB / 4TB. We especially like the inclusion of the fast USB4 port, allowing you to hook up an external graphics card. So, there's a lot of future-proofing options here.

The A8 Max scored 4.5 stars in our review, and we found it to be "a stylish machine that will suit any design studio or office where a high-performance mini PC is required."

Price Context & Historical Value

At $719 with the code, this is $80 off the $799 list price, about 10 percent. That's a fair price, but not the cheapest. For comparison, we've seen the 32GB model drop to around $949 at Amazon and $900 at Best Buy (although the Best Buy deal was just as the RAMpocalypse began to bite).

For more mini PC deals, we've included them in our live hub of the best Prime Day home office deals.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Geekom A8 Max if...

You want a compact, fast Windows desktop for office work and creative tasks - especially if you want to upgrade the RAM and SSD for future-proofing.

❌ Skip the Geekom A8 Max if...

You want strong pro-grade video editing or gaming out of the box - you'll want to hook up an eGPU via the USB4 port for more graphics-intensive use.

• See all mini PC deals at Amazon

The Geekom A8 Max remains one of the top mini PCs we've tested, packing a fast eight-core Ryzen processor into a small desktop for office work and light video editing. Now, for Prime Day, it's $80 off at Amazon with our promo code.

• Best for: Creators and power users who want a compact desktop that can handle office work, photo editing and light video work.

• The deal: The Geekom A8 Max mini PC is now $719 (was $799) at Amazon with code TRA8XDFB.

• Why it matters: The A8 Max is an exceptionally good Windows 11 mini PC, scoring 4.5 stars and a TechRadar Pro Highly Recommended badge in our review. We called it "extremely powerful," and found it "ploughs through tasks in Microsoft Office and applications from the Adobe Suite without too much issue." It comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS with Radeon 780M graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD that you can expand later.

AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD

In our tests, the A8 Max proved to be ideal for productivity tasks, alongside content creation like editing video, images, and music. Impressive, especially at this price. it's highly suitable suitable for homes, offices, and studios. For the full discount, use code TRA8XDFB at checkout. View Deal

Why we recommend it

This mini PC remains one of our top models - our hardware editor thinks for the cost, it's arguably the best machine out there, especially since you can upgrade the memory and storage to a maximum 128GB / 4TB. We especially like the inclusion of the fast USB4 port, allowing you to hook up an external graphics card. So, there's a lot of future-proofing options here.

The A8 Max scored 4.5 stars in our review, and we found it to be "a stylish machine that will suit any design studio or office where a high-performance mini PC is required."

Price Context & Historical Value

At $719 with the code, this is $80 off the $799 list price, about 10 percent. That's a fair price, but not the cheapest. For comparison, we've seen the 32GB model drop to around $949 at Amazon and $900 at Best Buy (although the Best Buy deal was just as the RAMpocalypse began to bite).

For more mini PC deals, we've included them in our live hub of the best Prime Day home office deals.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Geekom A8 Max if...

You want a compact, fast Windows desktop for office work and creative tasks - especially if you want to upgrade the RAM and SSD for future-proofing.

❌ Skip the Geekom A8 Max if...

You want strong pro-grade video editing or gaming out of the box - you'll want to hook up an eGPU via the USB4 port for more graphics-intensive use.

• See all mini PC deals at Amazon

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he captures sounds using his iPhone or a field recorder, which he later transforms into harmonies
• He says, "The weirder, the better," but the studio doesn't have an "audio bible" for what it wants
• Alanko adds, "What I’ve noticed in my past: the worse the recording is, the better the outcome"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has explained how he created the eclectic soundtrack for Remedy Entertainment's latest game, revealing that much of what he comes up with is initially captured on a recording device.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko shared that he records "a lot of stuff on a daily basis" using his iPhone or "my tiny, crappy dictaphone," but if he's carrying a bag, he'll have a small field recorder; whatever he records, he explained, he will later manipulate into harmonies that can be used for his professional work.

"Every now and then I go through what I have found, and I start doing the next phase: turning them into something I could use musically, be that rhythm or harmony or melody," Alanko said. "A lot of Control Resonant’s soundtrack is of that origin. The weirder, the better. There’s no 'too weird' for that."

The composer, who also created the soundtrack for the first Control and Alan Wake 2, said since he's been "decorating Remedy’s game universe for ages" he has "a good perspective on what works and what doesn’t," but explained that the studio doesn't have a certain approach.

"We don’t have an exact 'audio bible' for brand usage; it’s just what one might call 'silent knowledge'," he said. "I’d love to create one for Remedy; by the way, I’ve done that for some clients with whom I’ve gone through so-called sonic identity cases, audio branding, in other words. I try to not use that latter expression, as it cheapens the process.

"With Remedy, it’s about philosophy and the emotional layer, and nothing actually is omitted or put aside; everything might work. Emphasis on the word 'might'. It depends, and often one miss would need another miss or two to become an un-miss - and then it works in conjunction with everything else.

"It’s a very meticulous process, actually, but there’s no 'Remedy Game Music And Music Concept For Dummies 1-2-3', really. If it feels right, it is right. I rely on intuition and let it kick my ass with inspiration."

Alanko said that when coming up with Control's atmospheric music fans are familiar with, "sometimes the key to something cool is just slowing down things," or "by stretching or transposing a recorded sound down, a little like slowing the tape," explaining that the slower the sound flows, the lower the pitch, or the higher the frequency, it can reveal "very interesting things."

"Also, what I’ve noticed in my past: the worse the recording is, the better the outcome," he added. "Sometimes I spend ages with iZotope RX to carve out something usable from an intentionally (or unintentionally) flawed recording, then shove that through anything by Zynaptiq and continue from there. Then I gather together some instrument material groups — percussive, tonal, atonal, etc — and assemble something playable through a synth keyboard from them… which is when the first ideas connect with the pictures and the presentation I had seen.

"It’s a very clear 'Hey, NOW I know how things go from here' moment, in other words."

Control Resonant is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he captures sounds using his iPhone or a field recorder, which he later transforms into harmonies
• He says, "The weirder, the better," but the studio doesn't have an "audio bible" for what it wants
• Alanko adds, "What I’ve noticed in my past: the worse the recording is, the better the outcome"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has explained how he created the eclectic soundtrack for Remedy Entertainment's latest game, revealing that much of what he comes up with is initially captured on a recording device.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko shared that he records "a lot of stuff on a daily basis" using his iPhone or "my tiny, crappy dictaphone," but if he's carrying a bag, he'll have a small field recorder; whatever he records, he explained, he will later manipulate into harmonies that can be used for his professional work.

"Every now and then I go through what I have found, and I start doing the next phase: turning them into something I could use musically, be that rhythm or harmony or melody," Alanko said. "A lot of Control Resonant’s soundtrack is of that origin. The weirder, the better. There’s no 'too weird' for that."

The composer, who also created the soundtrack for the first Control and Alan Wake 2, said since he's been "decorating Remedy’s game universe for ages" he has "a good perspective on what works and what doesn’t," but explained that the studio doesn't have a certain approach.

"We don’t have an exact 'audio bible' for brand usage; it’s just what one might call 'silent knowledge'," he said. "I’d love to create one for Remedy; by the way, I’ve done that for some clients with whom I’ve gone through so-called sonic identity cases, audio branding, in other words. I try to not use that latter expression, as it cheapens the process.

"With Remedy, it’s about philosophy and the emotional layer, and nothing actually is omitted or put aside; everything might work. Emphasis on the word 'might'. It depends, and often one miss would need another miss or two to become an un-miss - and then it works in conjunction with everything else.

"It’s a very meticulous process, actually, but there’s no 'Remedy Game Music And Music Concept For Dummies 1-2-3', really. If it feels right, it is right. I rely on intuition and let it kick my ass with inspiration."

Alanko said that when coming up with Control's atmospheric music fans are familiar with, "sometimes the key to something cool is just slowing down things," or "by stretching or transposing a recorded sound down, a little like slowing the tape," explaining that the slower the sound flows, the lower the pitch, or the higher the frequency, it can reveal "very interesting things."

"Also, what I’ve noticed in my past: the worse the recording is, the better the outcome," he added. "Sometimes I spend ages with iZotope RX to carve out something usable from an intentionally (or unintentionally) flawed recording, then shove that through anything by Zynaptiq and continue from there. Then I gather together some instrument material groups — percussive, tonal, atonal, etc — and assemble something playable through a synth keyboard from them… which is when the first ideas connect with the pictures and the presentation I had seen.

"It’s a very clear 'Hey, NOW I know how things go from here' moment, in other words."

Control Resonant is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• NordVPN found 196 Roblox phishing addresses active in a single week in July 2026
• Tailor-made scam services sell cloned Roblox pages, disguised links, and even stolen-account checkers
• Some fake logins ask for 2FA codes, backup codes, and PINs to hijack accounts in real time

Roblox scammers no longer need to build their own fake websites, as research from NordVPN's Threat Intelligence team describes an established trade in ready-made Roblox phishing pages.

Buyers get hosting, disguised links, and tools that check whether stolen logins still work, and can pay via untraceable crypto for essentially turnkey solutions to scam children's accounts.

NordVPN counted 196 different Roblox phishing addresses live online over seven days, with some fake login pages asking for more than a password; they also requested the six-digit two-factor authentication code, backup codes, and account PIN.

A scam industry built for beginners and professionals alike

The most striking finding concerns the supply chain, not any single scam. NordVPN found one service openly selling ready-made Roblox phishing pages, backup sites, and disguised links from the same storefront. The one-stop shop for scammers also offered checker tools that test whether stolen account details still work.

That "service" claims to have processed more than six million "logs," underground speak for records of stolen login data, including usernames, passwords, and more. It also displayed a counter showing more than 239,000 registered users on the scam service's website, a significantly high number that suggests how lucrative the market could be.

NordVPN also saw the counter increase by 547 in the 42 hours it tracked, indicating the website has around ~300 new signups a day, even as a rival service grew by 400 during a 4-day tracking period.

It shows how little skill the scam now demands. NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis said in a statement to TechRadar Pro that these scams "can now be created and deployed by almost anybody."

Enhanced Protection

Many fake sites rely on web addresses that start with the right words. NordVPN found addresses resembling roblox[.]com[.]ug, roblox[.]com[.]py, and roblox[.]com[.]kz, which read as "roblox.com" to anyone skimming the address bar without paying any real attention.

They actually sit on entirely different domains, registered under the country codes for Uganda, Paraguay, and Kazakhstan. NordVPN tested just under 4,000 combinations of Roblox misspellings and country codes and found 123 scam addresses, saying they recorded more than 105,000 page visits. A separate family of at least 521 addresses used names such as "login-roblox" and "roblox-verify" to attempt similar scams.

The pages behind those addresses can be hard to tell from the real thing; NordVPN captured cloned login screens, game pages, and player profiles that copied Roblox's navigation, fonts, and layout. When researchers manually re-checked a random sample, a whopping 22 of 24 addresses were live and visually convincing.

The clones target what children are actually playing: copies included Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden, the two games that set Roblox's concurrent-player records in 2025, along with Blox Fruits and PLS DONATE. Others impersonated RoVer, a legitimate verification bot that Discord servers use to link members' Roblox accounts.

Roblox has its own protections in place, including 2FA codes and an "Enhanced Protection" setting that requires a hardware security key or a mobile passkey, but the former isn't enough here, and the latter isn't frictionless, adding complexity to an application that overwhelmingly caters to children.

Many of these scams never begin on Roblox at all. NordVPN traced the lures to Discord servers, YouTube and TikTok links, and direct messages, often promising free Robux. That puts much of the risk beyond Roblox's own recent safety work. The company made facial age checks mandatory for chat worldwide in January 2026, but that does nothing to protect against a random link in a YouTube comment.

Roblox's hacked-account guidance says to remove suspicious downloads and browser extensions, reset the password, and enable two-step verification. If a reset fails, Roblox asks owners to contact it from the account's first email address or the billing email used for the first payment.

Roblox says it "is under no obligation to assist users whose accounts have been compromised" unless the law requires it. You can recover lost items or currency only in very limited circumstances, and you must contact Roblox within 30 days of an account being compromised, which means you need strict account-security rules or a hardware passkey to secure your account.

• NordVPN found 196 Roblox phishing addresses active in a single week in July 2026
• Tailor-made scam services sell cloned Roblox pages, disguised links, and even stolen-account checkers
• Some fake logins ask for 2FA codes, backup codes, and PINs to hijack accounts in real time

Roblox scammers no longer need to build their own fake websites, as research from NordVPN's Threat Intelligence team describes an established trade in ready-made Roblox phishing pages.

Buyers get hosting, disguised links, and tools that check whether stolen logins still work, and can pay via untraceable crypto for essentially turnkey solutions to scam children's accounts.

NordVPN counted 196 different Roblox phishing addresses live online over seven days, with some fake login pages asking for more than a password; they also requested the six-digit two-factor authentication code, backup codes, and account PIN.

A scam industry built for beginners and professionals alike

The most striking finding concerns the supply chain, not any single scam. NordVPN found one service openly selling ready-made Roblox phishing pages, backup sites, and disguised links from the same storefront. The one-stop shop for scammers also offered checker tools that test whether stolen account details still work.

That "service" claims to have processed more than six million "logs," underground speak for records of stolen login data, including usernames, passwords, and more. It also displayed a counter showing more than 239,000 registered users on the scam service's website, a significantly high number that suggests how lucrative the market could be.

NordVPN also saw the counter increase by 547 in the 42 hours it tracked, indicating the website has around ~300 new signups a day, even as a rival service grew by 400 during a 4-day tracking period.

It shows how little skill the scam now demands. NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis said in a statement to TechRadar Pro that these scams "can now be created and deployed by almost anybody."

Enhanced Protection

Many fake sites rely on web addresses that start with the right words. NordVPN found addresses resembling roblox[.]com[.]ug, roblox[.]com[.]py, and roblox[.]com[.]kz, which read as "roblox.com" to anyone skimming the address bar without paying any real attention.

They actually sit on entirely different domains, registered under the country codes for Uganda, Paraguay, and Kazakhstan. NordVPN tested just under 4,000 combinations of Roblox misspellings and country codes and found 123 scam addresses, saying they recorded more than 105,000 page visits. A separate family of at least 521 addresses used names such as "login-roblox" and "roblox-verify" to attempt similar scams.

The pages behind those addresses can be hard to tell from the real thing; NordVPN captured cloned login screens, game pages, and player profiles that copied Roblox's navigation, fonts, and layout. When researchers manually re-checked a random sample, a whopping 22 of 24 addresses were live and visually convincing.

The clones target what children are actually playing: copies included Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden, the two games that set Roblox's concurrent-player records in 2025, along with Blox Fruits and PLS DONATE. Others impersonated RoVer, a legitimate verification bot that Discord servers use to link members' Roblox accounts.

Roblox has its own protections in place, including 2FA codes and an "Enhanced Protection" setting that requires a hardware security key or a mobile passkey, but the former isn't enough here, and the latter isn't frictionless, adding complexity to an application that overwhelmingly caters to children.

Many of these scams never begin on Roblox at all. NordVPN traced the lures to Discord servers, YouTube and TikTok links, and direct messages, often promising free Robux. That puts much of the risk beyond Roblox's own recent safety work. The company made facial age checks mandatory for chat worldwide in January 2026, but that does nothing to protect against a random link in a YouTube comment.

Roblox's hacked-account guidance says to remove suspicious downloads and browser extensions, reset the password, and enable two-step verification. If a reset fails, Roblox asks owners to contact it from the account's first email address or the billing email used for the first payment.

Roblox says it "is under no obligation to assist users whose accounts have been compromised" unless the law requires it. You can recover lost items or currency only in very limited circumstances, and you must contact Roblox within 30 days of an account being compromised, which means you need strict account-security rules or a hardware passkey to secure your account.

A website allows New Yorkers to submit complaints about hard-to-cancel subscriptions.

How we tested NordVPNNordVPN review scores

Category

Score

Comments

Total

90 / 100

Top notch features, watertight security, and the best streaming performance out there by a distance all solidify NordVPN as the best VPN available right now. Read more ▼

Price plans & value

8 / 10

Despite its hefty price rises, NordVPN's array of plans and features give you more than enough value no matter your choice. Read more ▼

Features

10 / 10

NordVPN is set apart by some of its unique features. Meshnet is something offered by no other VPN, Next Gen Antivirus is the best of any similar product offered, and NordPass is the best password manager out there. Plus, there's a whole bunch more Read more ▼

Server network

10 / 10

NordVPN's server network is unmatched. While some providers offer more locations in specific regions, no-one is as well spread as NordVPN is. Read more ▼

Privacy

10 / 10

Based in Panama, with an airtight, audited no-logs policy, secure, proprietary protocols, and a host of privacy-focused settings, you can't dislike NordVPN in this regard. Read more ▼

Read all of NordVPN's review scores ▼

Security

10 / 10

NordVPN scores top marks here thanks to its commitments both now and in the future. Next Gen Antivirus is top notch, post-quantum encryption is already in place, and it has top-grade encryption for the current generation too. Read more ▼

Speed

9 / 10

Good speeds, superb latency and jitter, a top performer all-around for whatever your needs are. Read more ▼

Unblocking streams

10 / 10

NordVPN performed flawlessly in our unblocking tests. Zero issues, zero blocks, on every service, top marks! Read more ▼

P2P & Torrenting

4 / 5

Despite not offering port-forwarding, NordVPN offers near complete P2P optimization coverage on its servers and offers a suite of guides to help users get going if they need them, Read more ▼

Apps & Compatibility

4 / 5

NordVPN has apps for every platform, which all look great and work flawlessly no matter your device. Its only limitation is its feature imparity across platforms which, while improved in recent years, still has room for improvement. Read more ▼

Usability

5 / 5

Dropping the interactive map and honing in on quick access to tools has made NordVPNs apps easy to use no matter your VPN experience, plus the experience is near identical everywhere. Read more ▼

Accessibility

2 / 5

NordVPN's accessibility is good enough but by no means perfect. It has an average spread of languages, some amount of keyboard support, and some contrast issues. But, for the most part it comfortably among the most accessible VPNs. Read more ▼

Customer support

4 / 5

NordVPN's customer support is among the best available. Several options to find a solution, responsive live chat, and well considered conversations with email agents all help a user greatly. Its only area for improvement is usability in terms of its FAQ navigation. Read more ▼

Track record

4 / 5

NordVPN for the most part has a shiny clean track record to be admired. However a breach in 2019 and its ongoing legal battles surround auto-renewals leaves a level of doubt available for some. Read more ▼

NordVPN price plans

• Prices start from $3.39 per month with NordVPN Basic.
• NordVPN Plus offers the best value balance of features and price.
• Auto-renew fees are eye-watering – remember to opt-out, please.

NordVPN per month price

NordVPN Basic

NordVPN Plus

NordVPN Complete (US-only)

NordVPN Prime (US-only)

1-month

$12.99

$13.99

$14.99

$17.99

1-year

$4.59/month

$5.49/month

$6.49/month

$8.49/month

2-year

$3.39/month

$3.89/month

$4.89/month

$6.89/month

NordVPN is a relatively expensive product – pricier than the like Surfshark and PIA, but similar to ExpressVPN and Proton VPN – but it's very much worth the extra spend.

NordVPN’s price plan structure varies depending on the country you reside in. Most countries get 3 or 4 plans to choose from. Basic and Plus are standard across all nations; it’s the upper-tier plan options that differ.

Read more about NordVPN's price plans ▼

In the US, for example, you can also choose either Complete or Prime. Canadians have the choice of Complete and Ultra. Folks in the UK only get Ultimate, and Australia only gets Complete. It can be quite confusing.

What isn't confusing, however, is the device limit. NordVPN offers 10 simultaneous connections, much like Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, regardless of which region you pick up a plan from.

Thankfully, no matter your region, you can only choose between three plan lengths: 1-month, 12 months, and 24 months. What’s more, no matter the plan, you pay for the total duration upfront, as with any VPN. This means that while NordVPN’s price per month starts from $3.39 a month, you’d pay around $81 upfront rather than a traditional monthly fee.

Something you should consider with NordVPN’s pricing is that, unlike many other VPN companies, NordVPN adds local tax to the advertised pricing. So, it can come off a little more expensive than you think once you get to checkout.

It's also worth noting that NordVPN's pricing will fluctuate throughout the year. NordVPN Basic, for example, can be anywhere between $2.99 – $3.39 per month. Black Friday is usually the best time to buy.

NordVPN total price (pre-tax)

NordVPN Basic

NordVPN Plus

NordVPN Complete (US-only)

NordVPN Prime (US-only)

1-month total price

$12.99

$13.99

$14.99

$17.99

1-year total price

$68.85

$82.35

$97.35

$127.35

2-year total price

$81.36

$105.03

$132.03

$186.03

The total prices you face emphasize the importance of choosing a plan you'll make the most of. The $50-plus jump between the Complete and Prime 2-year plans is a big one. The only difference between the two is the NordProtect cyber-insurance service. So, make sure that's something you really need if you're going for Prime.

The $25 jump from Basic to Plus, however, is arguably among the best value choices available. Basic doesn't offer much beyond the VPN product itself, as we'll cover in the features section, whereas Plus provides some of the most useful additional features of NordVPN such as the excellent Next Gen Antivirus.

And if you really do want that 1 TB of encrypted storage, or NordVPN's new Scam Call Protection, then an extra $27 for NordVPN Complete is a good idea.

Do beware, though, and we cannot stress this enough, that NordVPN enforces some big price hikes after your two-year plan discount runs out. You can avoid it by remembering to cancel your subscription or by resubscribing. Just don't let it automatically renew. It's very easily done given customers are opted-in by default.

NordVPN is currently involved in several legal battles with customers over "deceptive" auto-renewals. These price rises aren't hidden by any means, but they are certainly much steeper many other VPN providers.

NordVPN auto-renewal prices

Basic

Plus

Complete

Prime

1-year (pre-tax)

$139.08

$224.85

$274.35

$464.85

2-year (pre-tax)

$278.16

$404.73

$493.83

$836.73

If these prices prove anything, it's that the first thing you should do after signing up is turn off auto renewals.

Score: 8/10

Features: What can NordVPN do?

• NordVPN Basic and Plus plans are the same across the world.
• Full NordProtect cyber-insurance only available in the US.
• NordPass password manager included with all plans apart from Basic.

NordVPN Basic

The Basic plan from NordVPN does exactly what the name suggests. The main feature is the VPN product itself and not too much more. It's the same full VPN software as available on all NordVPN plans.

All of the best features available with NordVPN can be swiftly accessed via its redesigned home screen. (Image credit: Future)NordVPN Plus

Read more about NordVPN features ▼

The Plus plan is my favorite NordVPN plan. Available in any region, it strikes a good balance between value and power by incorporating what I think are NordVPN’s most essential tools and features.

Most notably, you’re given Next Gen Antivirus. This adds malware protection via file scanning, ad-blocking capabilities (including tracker blocking), and measures to protect against phishing and other malicious websites.

Next Gen Antivirus is an effective protective solution, even if you can only access it on desktop at the time of writing. (Image credit: Future)

Unfortunately, these improvements can only be seen on NordVPN’s desktop apps, which is great if your home PC is the device you’re most concerned about, but leaves you short-changed across all of your mobile devices.

This is especially unfortunate since Surfshark, for example, offers its complete protective toolkit for mobile too – including antivirus on Android, which NordVPN doesn’t have whatsoever.

Something included across almost any device, however, is NordPass. We rate NordPass as the best password manager available right now, so getting it thrown in alongside your VPN package is some serious value.

It’s compatible across all major desktop operating systems, as well as popular web browsers such as Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge, and Opera, and of course, iOS and Android mobile devices.

Compare NordVPN plan availability

Basic Plan

Plus Plan

Complete Plan

Ultimate Plan

Prime Plan

Ultra Plan

US

✅

✅

✅

❌

✅

❌

UK

✅

✅

❌

✅

❌

❌

Canada

✅

✅

✅

❌

❌

✅

Australia

✅

✅

✅

❌

❌

❌

NordPass encrypts your passwords using XChaCha20 but also secures password generation, passkey support, and easy synchronization of data between platforms, so you’re never stuck without the details you need.

What's more, you can use NordPass' data breach scanning – which is traditionally kept for premium NordPass plans. That said, we found it only worked through the NordVPN app, which could be confusing if you're using it alongside NordPass.

NordVPN Complete

Entering the upper echelons of NordVPN is where things get complex since, as mentioned, no one country gets the same premium plans. For the moment, we’ll stick with what the US gets.

NordVPN Complete adds two features to the spread offered by a Plus Plan: firstly, 1 TB of end-to-end encrypted storage. For an extra dollar a month, that may initially seem to be a great deal, but first, consider whether the added storage is actually going to be used.

If, like me, you’ve already pushed the limits of your free storage allowances on systems like Google and iCloud, then maybe it will, but will the added storage outweigh the convenience these services offer? The value for money for that 1 TB of storage is good, but, if you won’t use it, why pay more?

In terms of the value, it’s definitely worth mentioning that among the top VPN providers, only Proton VPN currently offers encrypted storage with any of its packages.

Though to get 500 GB of storage with Proton, you pay $3 per month more than you’d pay for a NordVPN Complete plan. And that makes NordVPN Complete comparatively better value if storage with your VPN is a priority.

Next up is Scam Call Protection. This is NordVPN's latest feature addition, offering potential scam detection, caller identification, and caller categorization (such as telemarketers). For now, this is an Android-only feature, NordVPN has confirmed it's planning to bring the functionality to iPhone users soon.

NordVPN Prime

Prime only brings one new thing to the party, though this time it’s a biggie – NordProtect.

NordProtect is an all-in-one package aimed at protecting your identity at all costs. Firstly, Dark Web Monitoring searches for your social security number, phone number, and email on the dark web 24/7, with immediate notifications should anything be found.

Your credit card also gets similar protection. 1-Bureau credit monitoring notifies you about changes, including inquiries into your credit file, new accounts, and unauthorized use. You can also make use of VantageScore credit scoring, should you wish for insights into how to improve your credit.

TransUnion, the company behind VantageScore, also provides credit freeze assistance as part of NordProtect. This not only helps to prevent credit card fraud, but also ensures your credit score isn’t impacted if you fall victim to it.

If that wasn’t enough, you’re also provided with identity theft insurance up to $1M in coverage, and cyber extortion insurance up to $100K in coverage.

All this protection does come at a hefty cost, however, as Prime Plans start from $6.99 per month on the two-year plan.

That takes your total payment to $50 more than Complete, and your cost on renewal rises to around $340 before tax. So, make sure you really need NordProtect before signing up.

Compare NordVPN features

Basic Plan

Plus

Complete

Ultimate

Ultra

Prime

VPN

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

Next Gen Antivirus

❌

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

Ad and tracker blocker

❌

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

Password manager

❌

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

Data breach scanning

❌

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

1TB encrypted cloud storage

❌

❌

✅

✅

✅

✅

Cyber insurance (up to £5,000)

❌

❌

❌

✅

❌

❌

Identity theft insurance (up to $1M)

❌

❌

❌

❌

❌

✅

Cyber extortion insurance (up to $100k)

❌

❌

❌

❌

❌

✅

Incogni personal data removal

❌

❌

❌

❌

✅

❌

A surprising omission from almost all NordVPN plans worldwide is Incogni. Developed by Nord Security, NordVPN and Surfshark’s parent company, Incogni is a data removal tool that removes your personal information from company databases and people search sites, helping reduce the risk of scams, fraud, and identity theft.

Only Canada’s Ultra plan includes Incogni. Though, much like the US Prime plan, you’ll be forking out a fair sum for it, with prices starting from CA$8.19 per month.

If there’s one constant piece of advice we can give about picking a NordVPN plan, it’s this: know what you want. They all offer value, but only if you actually use the features you're buying.

Score: 10/10

Server network and locations

• Most countries covered of any tested VPN (150).
• Most locations overall with 225
• Approximately 8,000-strong network of RAM-only servers.

NordVPN offers the largest selection of server locations of any VPN we test. Nobody beats NordVPN's 225 locations, while only Proton VPN's 149 countries come close to NordVPN's chart-topping 150

The spread of these locations also earns it top marks. 77 locations in North America is the most of any VPN, 54 locations in Europe are only usurped by NymVPN, ExpressVPN, and Proton VPN, and 30 locations in Africa are only topped by Proton’s 33.

NordVPN also remains top for locations in South America and Oceania, while its 43 Asian locations keep it second to Proton VPN's 51.

The provider offers around 79 virtual locations in regions where physical servers are not possible. This is perfect if you're travelling to regions with tight internet restrictions and require a stable, secure connection. However, you can't see in-app which locations are virtual when on Windows, which is unfortunate.

Much like other top VPNs, NordVPN’s network runs on RAM-only servers. This is now reasonably standard practice, since RAM-only servers not only ensure no user data is accidentally stored (since they wipe on reboot) but they are also more efficient in terms of speed, latency, and power consumption.

Read more about NordVPN's server network ▼

This ensures the servers are capable of handling NordVPN’s various server uses, be that P2P, multi-hop, or Meshnet, without noticeable drops in performance.

Handily, NordVPN also recently made all of its servers P2P compatible. That means you no longer need to select a dedicated P2P server from the dedicated 'Speciality Servers' list, instead, you can use whichever NordVPN server works best for your needs.

Earlier in 2025, NordVPN threw a challenge to the VPN industry, claiming that the exact number of servers across its locations isn’t important. This means we no longer have a precise figure to use to compare NordVPN with its competitors.

NordVPN

Surfshark

ExpressVPN

Proton VPN

North America

77

34

71

39

South America

12

10

9

10

Europe

54

54

58

53

Asia

43

32

36

48

Oceania

9

6

8

7

Africa

30

6

6

31

Surfshark, a VPN also owned by Nord Security, uses around 4,500 servers currently, while Proton VPN uses over 15,000. Our latest research suggests NordVPN's figure is somewhere over 8,000 servers, which is above average, but by no means the most.

Realistically, however, we rarely see VPN servers reach absolute maximum load, and, frankly, with the spread of locations NordVPN has, you'll never be short of another place to connect to. There's really nothing we can complain about here, loads of locations, RAM-only servers, top marks!

Score: 10/10

Privacy

• Strong, privacy-focused protocol choices – NordLynx and NordWhisper
• Double VPN and Onion over VPN boost privacy and anonymity
• Tapjacking protection is a handy bonus for Android users

NordVPN’s privacy is founded on its no-logs policy. Not only is the policy in depth, but it has been audited six times, most recently by Deloitte at the end of 2025.

That depth doesn't make for good casual reading but it does successfully cover every important topic, and in enough detail that we’re comfortable with saying that nothing is amiss.

The closest NordVPN comes to recording data is its enforcement of the 10 device limit. As it explains, username and timestamp information is “used to limit the amount of concurrent active user sessions and is automatically deleted within 15 minutes after a session is terminated”.

Read more about NordVPN's privacy measures ▼

In-app, NordVPN’s primary privacy focal point is its NordWhisper protocol.

Introduced in January 2025, the protocol is based on the Tor Project’s WebTunnel technology. It wraps your encrypted VPN traffic in a standard HTTPS connection to hide it from detection. This disguises it as standard web traffic and makes NordWhisper especially effective in regions of high internet censorship and places where people found to be using VPNs can be punished.

For everyday connectivity, you’re not short of options either. OpenVPN is available in both its TCP and UDP forms. The former provides a more stable, reliable connection for emailing, browsing, and the like. The latter is more focused towards speed for gaming, streaming, or similar.

Alongside this, you also get NordVPN’s other proprietary protocol, NordLynx. NordLynx uses a ‘double NAT’ system to remove privacy vulnerabilities you’d be at risk of by using traditional WireGuard.

By combining double NAT technology and WireGuard, NordLynx allows you to experience the speed benefits of WireGuard, without any identifiable information being stored, even temporarily, in a server.

NordVPN's privacy and no-logs policies can be easily accessed via the NordVPN website. (Image credit: Future)

NordLynx is also NordVPN’s first post-quantum encrypted VPN protocol. It ensures that your data remains secure even once quantum computing arrives with its enormous boost in code-cracking, number crunching power.

NordVPN has chosen to use ML-KEM, an approved quantum-resistant cryptographic standard, with NordLynx.

NordVPN’s use of RAM-only servers helps too. Since RAM-only servers don’t store any data permanently. That means you’re never at risk of being personally identifiable should Nord’s servers be seized, since there’s no data to be found.

Connecting to NordVPN offers several privacy-centric options. Double VPN works as the name suggests, routing your connection through two VPN servers rather than one. In other words, your data is encrypted twice.

That makes your connection twice as difficult for cybercriminals to crack, your IP address is further protected (since the second server doesn’t have any information about it), and your ISP knows nothing about where you end up on the web.

This makes Double VPN perfect for those needing greater protection in regions where governments attempt to intercept messages or surveil online activities.

NordVPN currently offers 12 Double VPN locations, including 2 locations in the US and Canada. This is far fewer than the likes of Proton VPN and Surfshark.

Proton VPN offers 64 locations that utilize its Secure Core technology, while Surfshark’s Nexus network allows you to make any two server connections you want from its entire server network.

NordVPN's selection of server types can be quickly accessed whether you're on mobile or desktop. (Image credit: Future)

Another option for concealing your VPN connection is NordVPN’s obfuscated servers. These servers now use NordVPN's NordWhisper protocol in addition to extra protections to ensure your VPN connection isn't detected. The shift to using NordWhisper also means you can now connect to obfuscated servers in almost all of NordVPN's locations.

If you’re looking to access the darker corners of the web securely, NordVPN also offers Onion Over VPN connections. Available via its Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Zurich server locations. This connection routes your traffic through both a VPN server and the Tor Network.

As a result, since the Tor Network’s servers are volunteer-operated, you are secured by a VPN before entering it in case a bad actor has planted servers intent on tracking your online activity and stealing your data. This added security when using Tor is something only offered by a few top VPNs, the most notable of which are NordVPN and Proton VPN.

Depending on the platform you’re using, NordVPN also offers several handy privacy settings you can use to further affirm your privacy. Android users get arguably the biggest spread. Notably, NordVPN’s ‘Tapjacking protection’ is something you won’t find on any other NordVPN platform, or offered by any other VPN for that matter.

The system aims to protect users against malicious overlays and is as simple to use as toggling on and forgetting about it. Having had the protection turned on for a matter of months now, I can comfortably say I've never found an instance where an overlay has slipped through the net, and I've never noticed it adding unwanted strain to my phone’s performance either.

Score: 10/10

Security

• Strong encryption and post-quantum encryption standards already live.
• Next Gen Antivirus performs well against malware and phishing sites
• Lots of options for granular security customization.

NordVPN’s security is top-notch.

We tested its claims of strong AES-256-GCM encryption on OpenVPN using a 4096-bit Diffie-Hellman key, and we saw exactly that. Our tests registered AES-256-GCM-SHA384 encryption with 4096-bit certification using TLS 1.3. This makes NordVPN’s OpenVPN protocol as secure as possible, ensuring you needn’t worry about your connection, no matter your location.

On NordLynx, you’re similarly protected. Since the protocol is based on WireGuard, it uses the same ChaCha20 encryption you’d expect to see, using Poly1305 for authentication. This means you’re using the latest and greatest encryption capabilities across both of NordVPN’s primary protocols.

Post-quantum encryption has also already reached NordVPN. While providers such as Proton VPN and Surfshark are yet to implement it or are in the early stages, NordLynx is already post-quantum ready, with the future-proof encryption method available at the switch of a toggle.

While that might seem superfluous right now, it's a key differentiator given the existence of harvest now, decrypt later attacks.

Read more about NordVPN's security features ▼

OpenVPN and NordWhisper aren’t post-quantum-equipped quite yet. It's worth knowing that if you turn on post-quantum encryption, it'll turn itself off if your automatically selected protocol isn't NordLynx. This can be fixed in a matter of clicks by turning automatic protocol choosing off, instead selecting to always use NordLynx

You also won’t be post-quantum-protected when using Meshnet or NordVPN’s obfuscated server connection; the same goes if you add a dedicated IP to your plan.

If you’ve turned on post-quantum encryption before using Meshnet, beware that this automatically turns Meshnet off, making you choose between your secure local network and a super-secure VPN connection.

Meshnet is a superb, unique NordVPN feature, though it doesn't benefit from post-quantum encryption as yet. (Image credit: Future)

NordVPN also, of course, a more standard suite or security options in place.

Auto-connect jumps straight to mind, since you can fully customize exactly when and how NordVPN auto-connects you to a server.

It covers both the server type, and the instances in which it connects. This includes options for Double VPN, Obfuscated, Onion-Over, and P2P servers, and connecting when on Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or mobile networks. You can even create lists of trusted networks that are excluded from auto-connect parameters.

I use this kind of customization to make sure that I'm always protected and I particularly like it to my ensure my connection on-the-go.

If you want to continue the granular levels of security tailoring, you can also control the DNS server address you connect to, your visibility over LAN, and, on desktops, whether your computer can still be accessed remotely when connected. It’s worth noting, with LAN invisibility especially, toggling these settings can impact performance.

For example, with LAN invisibility turned on, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users won’t be able to use AirDrop. You may also experience significant performance impacts due to how Apple integrates the relevant API parameters in its hardware. If you want to know more, NordVPN released a complete breakdown you can read here.

Something that continues to impress is NordVPN’s kill switch. It's often the downfall of less secure VPN providers. In our security testing, a kill switch is key to ensuring your connection is never inadvertently exposed to bad actors, governments and the like.

We tried to break NordVPN’s kill switch in various ways, including uninstalling NordVPN’s network adapter driver while connected. Not only did NordVPN disconnect us successfully without any IP leaks, but it recognized the issue, reinstalled and activated the driver, and reconnected us, all within seconds.

NordVPN has an array of effective security settings, which can all be found in one place whether you're on desktop or mobile. (Image credit: Future)

If we could wish for one thing to improve NordVPN’s kill switch, it would be moving away from the native kill switch system on Android devices.

Across all platforms aside from Android, you can turn the kill switch on and off as you please. On Android, the native kill switch forces you to use the VPN at all times and disconnects you completely from the internet should the connection fail.

While this is super-secure, it’s frustrating should you only require a VPN connection in certain situations.

Something we’ll cover in more depth in the compatibility section is NordVPN’s feature parity across platforms. Split tunneling, another of NordVPN’s security capabilities, is a notable victim of some of NordVPN’s variations by device.

Windows users can create either a list of apps that must use the VPN or a list of apps that must not. Android users can only choose which apps won't use the VPN, and Mac and iOS users don’t get split tunneling at all – though this is reasonably common among VPNs owing to the security systems in place on Apple devices.

Our testing showed no reason to doubt NordVPN’s split tunneling capabilities, though it would be great to see its Android apps gain the same capabilities as Windows. Lacking the choice in this way puts NordVPN behind the likes of Surfshark and Proton VPN, which offer both choices on their Android apps.

We’ve mentioned NordWhisper already, but NordVPN also offers traditional obfuscated servers too. This is helpful since, at the time of writing, NordWhisper isn’t quite available on all platforms as yet – though Windows, Android, Linux, Mac, and iOS all have it already.

These servers, however, have one big problem: accessibility. Not only does NordVPN only offer obfuscated servers in 16 of its 127 countries, but also, depending on the app and protocol you’re using, you may not even see the option. NordVPN’s obfuscated servers only work over OpenVPN, which is understandable given the added security it brings, even if at a huge speed deficit, but if you’ve not manually selected OpenVPN as your protocol choice, your app may not show them.

Our testing on Apple devices showed the option simply doesn’t exist in the app unless you go into your settings and change to OpenVPN.

Windows and Android users don’t face the same issue. The option appears in the ‘Specialty Server’ section, no matter the protocol chosen, which makes much more sense and begs the question of why it isn’t this simple across all devices.

What’s more, the lack of locations means those in regions distant from a server will face even greater performance drops than you’d expect anyway from obfuscated servers.

Another feature lacking in locations is NordVPN’s Onion-over VPN capabilities, though in this instance, this is less of a problem since many providers don’t offer this at all. Onion-over VPN allows you to connect to sites on the Tor Network while secured by a VPN connection, something only offered by Proton VPN among other top VPN providers. In NordVPN’s case, it offers three countries to connect to: the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

By comparison, Proton’s six locations include Sweden and Switzerland, but the additions of France, Germany, Hong Kong, and the US give the VPN provider not only wider EU coverage but broader coverage worldwide.

As with any VPN connection, reduced locations often mean worse speeds, either due to distance to the server or the load the server is under, and NordVPN’s Onion-over VPN servers prove no different.

Onion-over VPN connections (otherwise called Tor-over VPN) always require greater processing. That makes a dent on performance straight away, no matter the location, but the 741 Kbps download speeds we saw in testing demonstrate just how limited you can be, yes, that was Kbps by the way!

Finally, Double VPN. This is NordVPN’s version of a multi-hop connection, though its simpler than some competitor alternatives. This is because NordVPN doesn’t allow you to choose your entry and exit server, unlike Surfshark.

Even Proton, whose Secure Core Technology limits the choices you have, gives users a few choices. We won’t directly compare NordVPN and Surfshark here, since Surfshark’s Nexus technology gives users complete freedom to multi-hop between every Surfshark server, something no other VPN provider offers.

Outside of the VPN itself, NordVPN also offers Next Gen Antivirus. This works at a deeper level, protecting your desktop devices from phishing and malicious URLs, as well as ads and trackers. It can even scan for and block malicious downloads.

While this is nice, there are several downsides. Firstly, Next Gen Antivirus, oddly, isn’t actually an antivirus. It can’t scan files already on your computer for malware, nor can it remove them. Secondly, the full Next Gen Antivirus suite is only available on desktop devices, while mobile users only get Threat Protection.

That limitation puts NordVPN behind Surfshark here. Surfshark includes a full antivirus with its Surfshark One plan – and it works on mobile as well as desktop.

That said, you can hardly fault Next Gen Antivirus’s results.

Phishing Sites Blocked

Malware Sites Blocked

Ads blocked

NordVPN (Next Gen Antivirus)

92%

80%

21%

Proton VPN

88%

0%

88%

ExpressVPN

76%

0%

86%

Surfshark

48%

28%

44%

We tested Next Gen Antivirus against 50 brand-new malware-hosting and phishing pages, and it was the top-performing software of anything similar we tested among VPNs. It blocked 92% of phishing sites and 80% of malware sites.

By comparison, Surfshark Antivirus achieved only 48% and 28% in these same tests, putting a stretch ahead.

While these results do impress when compared to VPNs, a dedicated antivirus software performs far better than even Next Gen Antivirus.

The likes of Avast, Norton, and ESET achieved equal or greater success in phishing protection tests carried out by AV-Comparatives in 2025. This is why we normally recommend picking up one of the best antivirus software in addition to your VPN of choice.

It's also worth mentioning that Next Gen Antivirus's remit is constantly expanding. In recent months, Email Protection, hijacked session and double extension alerts, search result safety indicators, and crypto wallet checks have all joined the mix. While many of these are niche solutions, they're a handy addition should they fit your everyday needs.

Score: 10/10

Speed

• NordVPN is still among the fastest VPNs using WireGuard.
• Minimal latency and jitter make the best VPN for gamers.
• Struggled over OpenVPN in latest speed tests.

We recently completed our second round of testing using a 10 Gbps line with an increased number of data points.

This time around, NordVPN's NordLynx speeds saw a slight improvement, recording 1427 Mbps, having previously achieved 1249 Mbps. Despite this, NordVPN remains slower than Proton VPN and Surfshark using WireGuard and ExpressVPN’s Lightway Turbo protocol.

Take ExpressVPN’s results with a pinch of salt, though, since Lightway Turbo is only available on its Windows app, and ExpressVPN has warned that it might cause issues with some websites and games.

None of that is true for NordLynx and, although Lightway Turbo’s 1479 Mbps speeds put it a margin ahead of NordLynx on paper, most users won’t see this difference in day-to-day usage.

Instead, you’ll likely benefit more from the added compatibility of NordLynx.

Read more about NordVPN's performance ▼

NordLynx’s results do, however, put it among the best VPN protocols for gamers, since in our testing, it recorded only 7 ms latency and 2.2 ms jitter when connected to our nearest server.

High latency results in laggy gameplay, and high jitter can lead to unstable gameplay and stuttering, so recording latency and jitter at low result is key when choosing the best gaming VPN.

Connecting to US NordVPN servers from the UK proved less effective, though still improved over last time around. NordLynx achieved 939 Mbps connecting over the pond this time, having only managed 688 Mbps last time.

This is still slower than many other VPNs over the same distance. That said, you'll rarely struggle with these results no matter what streaming or gaming you test it with.

NordVPN did still hold up well for latency and jitter over long distance, proving, again, that it's a great gaming VPN choice – perfect, in this instance for avoiding unwanted lag while connecting to servers abroad for gaming, streaming, or other high-intensity tasks.

Unfortunately, NordVPN's OpenVPN performance has yet again dropped off. Previously registering 688 Mbps, it now only achieved 633 Mbps, much lower than several other top VPNs.

Score: 9/10

Unblocking streaming services

• Only struggled with two streaming services we tested.
• Never encountered unwanted CAPTCHAs, or dropouts.
• All servers are streaming optimized.

NordVPN was the clear winner in our latest unblocking testing. It struggled with the fewest streaming services of every VPN we've tested.

We test Netflix, across the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan, Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube. We also tested NordVPN at unblocking local free streaming services, including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, C4, 9Now, and 10Play.

Only YouTube US and Prime Video Australia proved inaccessible. Aside from these, we never encountered VPN detection, unwanted CAPTCHAs during login, or any dreadful lag, buffering or connection dropouts to ruin our streaming experience. This was the same whether we were attempting to watch something live or catching up on demand.

So, while there are now some small blips on NordVPN's record, most won't be heavily impacted.

Read more about NordVPN's unblocking capabilities ▼

Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark all equally struggled with US YouTube. Proton also struggled with Disney+ USA alongside ITVX and Channel 4 in the UK. Surfshark suffered a spread of issues across platforms worldwide, a big change from a near-flawless performance last time out.

What was even more impressive was the lack of impact of NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro ad-blocker. Normally, we find that the ad-blockers of VPN services disrupted the streaming capabilities of local, ad-based services like Channel 4 and ITV, but we saw no such issues with NordVPN. The same cannot be said of Proton VPM and Surfshark.

NordVPN never found itself unable to load services due to their advert reel requirements, even when connecting to ad-based services abroad, such as Peacock. Top marks.

Something certainly playing into this success is that all of NordVPN’s servers are streaming-optimized. This move not only means you never have to scroll through to find those with the correct optimization, but it also means you’re never short of another server to connect to if one struggles to connect to the streaming service you’re trying to access.

Score: 10/10

P2P and torrenting

• Most servers are P2P optimized.
• Lots of guides to help beginners get started.
• No port forwarding support.

Nothing summarizes NordVPN’s torrenting capabilities more than the fact that all but four of its countries offer P2P-optimized servers – sorry to those looking to torrent connected to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and North Macedonia!

What’s more, finding the server you need is super simple. NordVPN’s P2P-optimized locations can be found in its Specialized Servers section on any app, and you even get the option to quickly connect to the fastest server if you’re not after somewhere specific and would rather sheer performance.

Thankfully, NordVPN’s speed capabilities mean your torrenting experience is likely to be more limited by your peers than your VPN. What’s more, its security measures meant we never found ourselves receiving warnings from our ISP when testing its capabilities with uTorrent, no matter if we were using NordLynx or OpenVPN.

As is standard among top VPNs, NordVPN doesn’t support port forwarding due to the security risks posed. A full blog article outlines their reasons for this, which you can read here.

If you’re new to torrenting, it’s also great to see NordVPN has a whole variety of guides for setting up proxies with popular torrenting services, including BitTorrent, uTorrent, and qBittorrent. They’re easy to digest and come with all the information you need packed in, too.

Score: 4/5

Compatibility

• Apps for every platform – including Linux GUI and routers.
• A similar look across almost every app.
• No Threat Protection Pro on mobile.

NordVPN has apps across every platform out there, including a GUI Linux VPN and router VPN capabilities, alongside the expected web extensions and smart TV apps.

The majority of NordVPN's apps share a similar feel and consequently enough regularity that the features you can access will be found where you’d expect them. Smart TVs are, as expected with most VPNs, the platform with the most differentiation in layout, but that change brings added simplicity and makes it easy to use.

Windows

Mac

iOS

Android

Protocols

NordLynx, NordWhisper, OpenVPN (TCP and UDP)

NordLynx, NordWhisper, OpenVPN (TCP and UDP)

NordLynx, NordWhisper, OpenVPN (TCP and UDP)

NordLynx, NordWhisper, OpenVPN (TCP and UDP)

Kill switch

3-mode kill switch including VPN and application specific settings

Application-level kill switch

VPN connection failure killswitch

Android-native kill switch only

Split tunnelling

Disable or Enable based split tunnelling

❌

❌

Disable only

Auto-connect

WiFi, ethernet, or mobile network settings. Plus custom or fastest location choice

Can be set to auto connect when using untrusted WiFi networks. Plus location choice

Can be set up for all networks, no networks, or WiFi only. Plus location choice

All networks, Wifi, or mobile networks settings. Plus location choice

Threat Protection Pro

✅

✅

Basic Threat Protection only

Basic Threat Protection only

Read more about NordVPN's compatibility ▼

I mentioned already that NordVPN isn’t stellar in terms of its feature-parity across platforms, but for the most part, NordVPN’s compatibility is nothing to be concerned about.

As you can see, in the table below, like most VPNs, Windows gets everything, and iOS users get the least. In amongst this, though, are several key differentiators.

NordVPN users on iOS and Mac don't get to enjoy split tunneling. In the past, that proved difficult for all VPN providers on iOS and Mac due to Apple's security infrastructure, but now the likes of IPVanish and Surfshark are beginning to roll the feature out. NordVPN users have no such luck.

It’s not often that we see Android users facing big feature shortfalls as well but, most frustrating, of the absentees is that there's no Threat Protection Pro on any mobile devices. That's a real loss.

Threat Protection Pro is the best-performing VPN security add-on we've tested, and is a notable step up from the results we saw basic Threat Protection, which mobile users do get.

By comparison, Surfshark's full antivirus capabilities are available across any platform, including the regular file scanning feature – something not offered by NordVPN.

Score: 4/5

Usability

• Simple set up – but ensure you disable auto-renewals.
• Similar user experience across most apps.
• Reducing the use of the map has improved functionality hugely.

Set up

Setting up NordVPN is simple enough. Once you’re signed up, you can download the VPN directly from the website (unless you’ve signed up within the iOS or Android app, in which case you’ll have already installed it to do so). From there, you’re almost on your own.

Loading the installer gives you the option of also adding NordPass and the NordVPN browser extension to your device. Both are great tools and super handy to have – and then you’re straight into the NordVPN app.

Something we recommend doing as soon as you’re in is stopping your auto-renewals. This will stop you getting a nasty and very expensive surprise when your initial NordVPN agreement runs out.

Stop auto-renewal by heading to the Account section of your Settings menu. It takes almost no time at all.

Read more about NordVPN's usability ▼

You can find the quickest ways to download each of NordVPN's apps via its website, including web extensions. (Image credit: Future)User Experience

NordVPN is as close to identical as it can be across the majority of its apps nowadays, which is only a good thing for sure.

The only times you’ll see anything especially different is on smart TVs, as is expected with most VPNs, and streaming devices such as Fire TV Sticks.

Older Fire TV Sticks, especially, will be in for a shock, as, depending on your device generation, you can be hit with a much older-appearing UI than anywhere else.

Even NordVPN's Chrome extension shares a similar feel. While you can't use it to access VPN protocols or specialist servers, you're never left wondering where anything is.

What's more, you're still equipped with everything from the kill switch, auto-connect, and split tunneling, to otherwise hidden features such as location spoofing, which is only available via the web extension and sets your browser to the location and time zone of your VPN server. It's by no means perfect, but you have all the essential tools in a familiar package.

One of NordVPN’s quirky inclusions in its desktop and mobile apps used to be an interactive map interface you could use to select your server. While this did look rather pleasing, we’ve never found ourselves using it in all the years it’s been there, nor did it ever do anything to make the connection process quicker. So, we’re glad to see it getting phased out on desktop devices in favor of more screen space for features such as Threat Protection Pro.

This change makes it supremely quick and easy access to almost every tool, whether on mobile or desktop.

The home screen brings quick access to every VPN country available, each of NordVPN’s specialty server types, Meshnet, Dark Web Monitoring, and the three key aspects of Threat Protection Pro – anti-malware, advanced browser protection, and ad and tracker blocking.

Accessing these features in more detail is as simple as clicking the corresponding icon on the side-nav, and once you’re where you want to be, you’re greeted by explainer after explainer giving you everything you need to know to understand the tool and how it’ll benefit either your VPN connection or your online security.

I do have two gripes with the desktop version however:

Firstly, the search bar isn’t the most advanced. While some VPN providers will allow you to search for a location and choose between its specific capabilities, for example, P2P or obfuscated, Nord’s shows you the location as though you were connecting normally.

If you’re after, say, a P2P server, you’d have to search P2P, and then choose a server from the icon that appears – a method slower than simply choosing P2P in the specialty servers section you’re greeted with on the home screen.

Secondly, the desktop app no longer offers both choices of pausing your connection or disconnecting entirely. Instead, you now get a pause button which, once clicked, becomes a dropdown with a series of pause durations alongside a disconnect button.

While I understand adding steps to the disconnection process reduces the chance someone will, thus improving their security, for those of us who know when we do and don’t want to be connected, it’s an unnecessary added step. Still, it's a pretty minor beef.

Mobile users get a similarly efficient experience, which we love. While it retains the interactive map, you can access every country, Meshnet, and all of Nord’s Specialty Servers from your home screen – though, understandably given screen restraints, there’s no room for Threat Protection or Dark Web Monitoring this time round.

You still get the same detailed explanations of each feature and setting throughout the app, though you’re still stuck with the same limited search capabilities and pause button that the desktop app uses.

Oddly, something omitted from the main screen across desktop and mobile is any reference to key features, such as protocols or the kill switch. To set up or change these, you need to head into the settings instead. What’s more, while on desktop you can click one button to set the server you’re connected to as your auto-connect, you’re given no such convenience on mobile – though for many this won’t be so useful.

Aside from the minor gripes, NordVPN’s apps are the best they’ve been in years – efficient, clean to look at, and easy for beginners.

The few issues we’ve found, and their minor impact show just how much thought has gone into NordVPN's usability across the board.

Score: 5/5

Accessibility

• NordVPN's website is among the most accessible VPN websites.
• Not a huge amount of language support.
• Keyboard-only navigation could be better.

We put NordVPN.com through an AccessibilityChecker audit, and its score of 83% puts it among the most accessible VPN websites out there. It scores higher than Proton VPN (35%), Surfshark (41%), and ExpressVPN (21%) and PIA (10%). This makes it the most accessible VPN website of all our best VPNs.

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max-width: 60px !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt.mobile-view .fv-carousel-nav-btn { padding: 6px 8px !important; font-size: 11px !important; } @media (max-width: 500px) { #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-pie-container { flex-direction: column !important; gap: 1rem !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper { padding-left: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-bar-row, #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-stacked-product { flex-direction: column !important; align-items: flex-start !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title) { width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-bar-container { width: 100% !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-x-axis-wrapper:not(.fv-grouped-x-axis) { margin-left: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-x-axis-label-space:not(.fv-grouped-x-axis .fv-x-axis-label-space) { display: none !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-x-axis-chart-space { padding-right: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-benchmark-title { font-size: 16px !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-logo { width: 60px !important; max-width: 60px !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-carousel-nav-btn { padding: 6px 8px !important; font-size: 11px !important; } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt .fv-y-axis-title { padding-left: 5% !important; /* (30/600) for mobile view */ } #fv-chart-1765993020521-aorml67bt.fv-contains-line-chart .fv-footer-content { margin-left: -1rem !important; margin-right: -1rem !important; } } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Dataset", "name": "Website Accessibility Scores", "description": "AccessibilityChecker audit of the home pages of each VPN website", "creator": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "TechRadar", "logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png" }, "isAccessibleForFree": true, "dateCreated": "2025-12-17T17:37:00.522Z", "citation": "NordVPN offers a very easy to navigate website for those with visual accessibility needs. The apps could have better keyboard-only support, though.", "keywords": [ "NordVPN", "Surfshark", "ExpressVPN", "Proton VPN", "PureVPN", "Mullvad", "IPVanish", "CyberGhost", "AdGuard VPN", "PrivadoVPN", "Hotspot Shield", "TunnelBear", "Accessibility score", "benchmark", "comparison", "performance", "review", "TechRadar" ], "measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking", "variableMeasured": [ { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "NordVPN – Accessibility score", "value": 83, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Surfshark – Accessibility score", "value": 41, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "ExpressVPN – Accessibility score", "value": 23, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Proton VPN – Accessibility score", "value": 35, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "PureVPN – Accessibility score", "value": 35, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Mullvad – Accessibility score", "value": 89, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "IPVanish – Accessibility score", "value": 71, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "CyberGhost – Accessibility score", "value": 17, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "AdGuard VPN – Accessibility score", "value": 17, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "PrivadoVPN – Accessibility score", "value": 10, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Hotspot Shield – Accessibility score", "value": 23, "unitText": "%" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "TunnelBear – Accessibility score", "value": 74, "unitText": "%" } ]} Website Accessibility Scores

AccessibilityChecker audit of the home pages of each VPN website

Accessibility score NordVPN 83 Surfshark 41 ExpressVPN 23 Proton VPN 35 PureVPN 35 Mullvad 89 IPVanish 71 CyberGhost 17 AdGuard VPN 17 PrivadoVPN 10 Hotspot Shield 23 TunnelBear 74 Accessibility score Data ProductValue (Percent) NordVPN 83 Surfshark 41 ExpressVPN 23 Proton VPN 35 PureVPN 35 Mullvad 89 IPVanish 71 CyberGhost 17 AdGuard VPN 17 PrivadoVPN 10 Hotspot Shield 23 TunnelBear 74 NordVPN offers a very easy to navigate website for those with visual accessibility needs. The apps could have better keyboard-only support, though. 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The site passed all interaction and navigational checks. One element failed a screenreader test due to a prohibited ARIA attribute, and 36 elements failed visual and structural accessibility tests because of poor contrast between foreground and background.

Read more about NordVPN's accessibility ▼

On investigating the contrast issue, it turned out it referred to text that became clearer when scrolled over.

Looking at NordVPN on desktop, we found it supports 13 languages, including options including English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional.)

However, much like Surfshark, it lacked others, including Arabic, Turkish, and Swedish. This seems a simple enough area both NordVPN and Surfshark can improve on, especially since providers such as Norton VPN and Proton VPN have 26 and 28 languages supported, respectively.

Keyboard support on NordVPN is also not the best. Disconnecting our mouse for a second, it quickly became apparent that doing anything other than actually connecting to a VPN server wasn't easy enough.

Unless you’d happened to connect to where you wanted to recently – so it’d appear in your ‘Recent Connections’ list – it was nearly impossible to get a connection going. Using Meshnet, Threat Protection Pro, or anything else, however, was simple.

An easy comparison to make here is with PIA, whose app allows you to scroll its country list, highlight a country, and connect within a few taps of the keyboard – it really should be this simple.

Score: 2/5

Customer support

• 24/7 live chat and email support available alongside a support site
• Easy access to support via the apps
• Excellent online user guides.

NordVPN offers several customer support options, including a support site, 24/7 live chat, and a 24/7 email ticketing system.

Usefully, the app gives you easy access to raising a ticket or accessing the support site if you need help.

We found running diagnostic testing from within the app when you encounter a problem helps speed up the support process, as it reduces the number of additional questions agents need to ask. You can even include a list of apps installed on the impacted device in case any of them may be a contributing factor that the support agent can identify.

Putting its Live Chat service to the test, we found it sufficiently responsive, with an agent responding typically after 2-3 minutes. Its email service wasn’t so hasty. We had to wait around 18 hours before receiving a response to our test question.

Despite its sluggishness, the email system was effective. Our agent solved our test issue by asking a selection of relevant questions at once, collecting our responses, and using them to diagnose the problems.

Read more about NordVPN's customer support ▼

It was also refreshing to avoid the typical customer support responses of “have you reinstalled the app?” or “have you cleared your cookies?” since the questions we were asked required detailed enough responses that there was no need. This also reduced the amount of back-and-forth required to resolve our test issues.

NordVPN’s customer support page is also very helpful. It doesn't bombarded the reader with category options to click between straight away, as is expected nowadays. Instead, you’re greeted by five overarching categories, one of which is about exploring other Nord Security products. So, in reality, four categories, and a search bar.

There is a trade-off for usability, though. For example, entering any of the categories removes the search bar from your screen, forcing you instead to use the breadcrumb trail at the top of the page to return to the main screen and search from there.

This leaves you doing a lot of unnecessary navigation if you’re merely looking for a quick fix, especially if you’ve clicked through several options in the categories already to try and find your answers that way.

To NordVPN's credit, once you find the article you need, it's usually extremely helpful.

For example, Nord’s proxy setup guide for uTorrent not only gives you the super-clear steps you need, but it also tells you how to then check that what you’ve done is working.

This is great for any kind of VPN user and typically of how strong NordVPN is on customer support.

Score: 4/5

User reviews

Although all review sites should be approached with a level of skepticism, they do offer a good enough gauge of how trustworthy a VPN is and how well it performs if you’re looking at a quick glance.

Across Google Play and the App Store, NordVPN has ratings equal to the very top VPNs. Its rating on TrustPilot is lower than most at only 4.2 out of 5, with 12% of the 44,000+ reviews being 1-star too.

Google Play

App Store

Trustpilot

NordVPN

4.6

4.7

4.2

Windscribe

4.6

4.6

4.7

Surfshark

4.5

4.7

4.5

PIA

4.6

4.7

4.3

ExpressVPN

4.4

4.7

4.2

The majority of negative reviews on Trustpilot surround NordVPN’s auto-renewals, which, should you be worried about it, can be turned off in a matter of clicks. We recommend doing this early on in your subscription to ensure you’re not stung down the line.

Track record: can you trust NordVPN?

• Reasonably spotless reputation throughout its history.
• 2018 breach is only notable blot on its record.
• Currently facing some lawsuits around its auto-renewal practices.

NordVPN’s history is, for the most part, positive, though 2018 proved to be a tricky year.

A breach in March 2018 saw NordVPN’s reputation tarnished, in part due to the obvious security concerns, but mainly since it didn’t admit to the breach for another 18 months, with the announcement coming only in October 2019.

The breach was only to one VPN server in Finland, and NordVPN explained in the belated announcement that none of NordVPN’s own servers were compromised, claiming the breach “was made possible by poor configuration on a third-party data center’s part”.

NordVPN was supposedly only made aware of the issue in April 2019, prompting a review and the consequent delay in announcing the breach to customers.

It’s not thought that any identifiable data was stolen in the breach, due to its small scale and the fact that it didn’t breach Nord’s central infrastructure, and all 5,000 servers NordVPN used at the time were audited on the breach’s discovery to remove further vulnerabilities.

Read more about NordVPN's track record ▼

NIST’s vulnerability database also has three weaknesses on record from that same year, though thankfully, none in the seven years since, suggesting that there’s little to worry about now.

In 2019, NordVPN would become one of the founding members of the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), an industry-led consortium focused on “improving digital safety for consumers by building understanding, strengthening trust, and mitigating risk for VPN users”.

This consortium also consists of ExpressVPN, StrongVPN, Surfshark, and encrypt.me, and aims to improve public trust in VPNs and help users make informed decisions.

While this bears no direct impact on its reputation, it’s a clear sign of good intent from NordVPN that has shown little reason to be doubted since.

NordVPN would go on to experience around five years with its reputation out of the spotlight, but a lawsuit against its auto-renewal practices would abruptly end this.

Wittels McInturff Palikovic (WMP) filed a $100m lawsuit against the VPN provider, alleging that it "uses deceptive and illegal auto-renewal practices" in August 2024. In May 2025, a second action was filed on similar grounds.

While this case remains ongoing, the topic of auto-renewals remains on the lips of almost all VPN users, with many of the best VPNs adopting similar practices.

This has lead to similar instances across the industry of users facing unexpected payments for subscriptions and getting pretty upset about it.

If you’re concerned about getting stung, we recommend turning off auto-renewal once you’re logged into NordVPN. You can do that as soon as you've installed it in a matter of a few clicks.

NordVPN's latest headache came in January 2026, when a hacker claimed to have breached a NordVPN development server. No sensitive user information was compromised in the alleged breach, and NordVPN has continuously denied its success.

Score: 4/5

Final verdict

(Image credit: Future / Gemini)

NordVPN is the best VPN for most people. While it’s more expensive than Surfshark, it has superior streaming performance, comparable speeds, and a suite of features, including the best password manager available, depending on the plan you choose.

We recommend a NordVPN Plus plan over its other alternatives. It provides tools, including premium password management and ad and tracker protection, as well as malware blocking and data breach alerts, all alongside its full VPN capabilities.

Who should use NordVPN?

✅ Those looking for top streaming performance: NordVPN performed near-flawlessly across our streaming tests. It had no issue unblocking any provider we threw at it aside YouTube US and Prime Video Australia. It never struggles with buffering or unexpected dropouts. Plus, it has apps for almost any platform you might wish to stream on.

✅ Those wanting a top password manager alongside the VPN: Included in Plus plans and above, NordPass ranks as our top password manager right now. It offers passkey support, features including secure password sharing and strength detection, and is compatible with almost any platform.

✅ Those wanting effective ad and malware blocking: NordVPN Threat Protection Pro performed the best in our latest testing for protection against malware and blocking ads.

Try NordVPN from $3.39 per month

If you’re looking for the best value NordVPN plan, you should pick up a Plus plan. Available in every region, you can find NordVPN, the Plus plan, which gives you a strong mix of security features in addition to the VPN. These include NordPass, Threat Protection Pro, and data breach alerts. All NordVPN plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you don't like it. We've tried the guarantee for ourselves and it works.View Deal

Who should try a different VPN instead?

❌ Those wanting full antivirus protection included: While Threat Protection Pro offers solid security capabilities, it is by no means a fully-fledged antivirus. Providers such as Surfshark offer true antivirus protection in their more premium plans, alongside features included with NordVPN such as ad and malware protection.

Surfshark: from $1.99 per month
The best cheap VPN
Surfshark is the second-best VPN we’ve tested overall, offers P2P optimization on all its servers, and even offers full antivirus protection on its One and One+ plans. What’s more, it’s over $1/month cheaper than NordVPN, and comes with unique features including Alternative ID, which enables you to spoof your name, address, and email – you can even spoof your phone number if you’re located in the US!View Deal

NordVPN FAQsDoes NordVPN have a free trial?

NordVPN does offer a free trial; however, it’s only available on its Android and iOS apps. Signing up to NordVPN from anywhere other than Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store will only give you access to NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Does NordVPN work in China?

Yes, our latest testing indicates that NordVPN not only works in China, but is also among the best VPNs for China.

Is NordVPN blocked by Netflix?

No, our testing indicates that NordVPN works perfectly with Netflix. In fact, we rate it among the best VPNs for Netflix

NordVPN testing methodology

Throughout this review, I'll refer to things either 'I' or 'we' have seen. Whenever I say 'I' have seen something, this means it is something I, Rob Dunne, and I've seen it in hands-on testing of NordVPN.

When talking about things that 'we' have seen, this refers to anything uncovered during our technical lab testing. This is performed by VPN Technical Editor, Mike Williams.

We test each VPN every six months. These tests cover speed, ad-blocking, anti-phishing and malware, streaming service unblocking, and local IP address leaks. Plus, the server networks are spot-checked to confirm that the VPN server locations are accurate. We also check through each VPN provider's security credentials, privacy policy, and executable files.

You can take a look at our VPN testing methodology to see the full measures we put each VPN through.

The TechRadar VPN team fact-checks every VPN review we write, using our own research and knowledge alongside information provided by NordVPN. We update this review regularly to include any new features or information about the product, ensuring that what you’re reading is 100% up to date and as you would find the product if you downloaded and used it today.

If you notice anything while using NordVPN that doesn't match what you read on this page, please let us know in the comments or by emailing us. We will then do our best to offer product support information or include corrections and warnings to other users, depending on which is appropriate.

How we tested Surfshark

There are two parts to our Surfshark review testing: lab testing and real world user experience. We do this to combine objectivity and subjectivity in our VPN reviews.

When I talk about “we” in this review, I’m referring to how Surfshark has performed in our VPN lab testing, as undertaken by TechRadar’s VPN Technical Editor, Mike Williams.

When I say that “I” did something in this review, I’m referring to me, Dan Sung, Editor in Chief of VPN at TechRadar, and I’m offering real world examples and insights from what I’ve learned using this product over many months.

Read more about our Surfshark testing methodology below▼

Surfshark review scores

Below is a breakdown of our Surfshark review scores for each category of testing. Click on the links in the Comments column for a deeper read on our thoughts.

Category

Score

Comments

Total

85 / 100

Excellent value with plenty of feature choice. One of the best value VPNs available. Read more ▼

Price plans & value

10 / 10

Surfshark is the best cheap VPN available. Choose the Surfshark One tier, which includes a full antivirus product, for the best value price plan. Read more ▼

Features

10 / 10

Surfshark’s Alternative ID fake profile feature is one of many useful in-app products in this very well put together VPN. Read more ▼

Server network

9 / 10

Surfshark is slightly lower on server locations than some but its global reach is excellent and the Nexus infrastructure brings huge network benefits. Read more ▼

Read all of Surfshark's review scores ▼

Privacy

9 / 10

Surfshark has very high standards of privacy and extensive privacy features. This is only slightly tarnished by its choice of jurisdiction. Read more ▼

Security

9 / 10

Surfshark scores well for security thanks to its built-in antivirus and its near-flawless kill switch. Its PQE could be more developed though. Read more ▼

Speed

8 / 10

Still the fastest VPN at full tilt but the connection is less consistent than others, and speeds are more average using distant servers. Read more ▼

Unblocking streams

7 / 10

Surfshark unblocks Netflix libraries, Disney Plus, Prime Video and BBC iPlayer but it struggles with some niche streaming services where rival VPNs don't. Read more ▼

P2P & Torrenting

4 / 5

Torrenting is solid and seamless with Surfshark but there's no help from the company itself on how to do it. There's no port forwarding either. Read more ▼

Apps & Compatibility

5 / 5

Surfshark has excellent apps covering all modern platforms. Its iOS app is uncommonly good; iPhone users should definitely consider Surfshark. Read more ▼

Usability

4 / 5

Surfshark is easy on the eye and a pleasure to use. Any quibbles we have on the kill switch toggle are really very minor. Read more ▼

Accessibility

2 / 5

Surfshark is a reasonable choice for partially sighted users but there are better VPNs for accessibility. Language support is average and keyboard-only access is poor. Read more ▼

Customer support

4 / 5

Surfshark has excellent customer service. Its support site is one of the best out there its live chat and email channels bring timely solutions. Read more ▼

Track record

4 / 5

Surfshark has a clean record for data breaches. It passed a no-logs audit in 2025 but that ought to be repeated annually, and we'd like apps and infrastructure audits, too. Read more ▼

Surfshark price plans

• Surfshark starts at $2.49 per month and is the best cheap VPN.
• Surfshark One is the best value of the three plans.
• Surfshark is the only premium VPN company with a 7-day free trial.

Surfshark normally starts at $2.49 per month, which is an excellent price for a top VPN, but there are actually three different Surfshark plans to choose from – Starter, One and One+.

You can sign up for just 1 month, 1 year or 2 years. Obviously, the longer you commit to, the cheaper the price you can get.

Whichever you choose, you get unlimited device connections, i.e. you can install a Surfshark app on as many different devices as you like on a single Surfshark account. There is a fair usage policy you can read on this but you'll be fine with 10-15, or even more devices, unless they’re all on, constantly, and downloading all the time.

Read more about Surfshark's price plans ▼

Even so, this unlimited connections policy is rare among the top VPNs and, for many, a good reason to choose it if you find the 10 device connections of NordVPN, ExpressVPN and Proton VPN, for example, not enough for your needs.

Like all VPNs, though, you do have to pay the total price for the entire length of and Surfshark plan upfront. The graph below is a good comparison of the total cost of each of the best VPN services we recommend at TechRadar.

Do be warned that unlike all other VPN companies (apart from NordVPN) Surfshark adds local tax to its advertised prices at checkout. So, if you’re in the UK, for example, you’ll have to pay VAT on top. And, of course, remember that these prices will fluctuate over the year.

Surfshark is cheaper than its biggest rivals. NordVPN’s cheapest 2-year plan is about 50% more expensive than Surfshark's. ExpressVPN Basic is nearly twice the price!

The table above shows the total prices for each Surfshark tier and plan length.

What sticks out to us from these totals are two things. First, the 1-month prices are terrible. Given Surfshark has a 7-day free trial, we’d advise you to sign up for a week instead and decide in that time if you want to commit for longer. Then, either go for the one or two-year plan.

The second, and more obvious, point on value is that the two-year plans are pretty tempting. You get the second year of Surfshark Starter, for example, for less than $10. That’s pretty compelling at that band, but arguably, it’s not quite as good for Surfshark One with the extra year only effectively half-price.

In other words, there's little point in going for 1-year Starter plan when the 2-year version isn't much more, but there's a decent argument for only shelling out for 12 months of Surfshark One.

If you’re looking for a real value proposition, though, it’s in the difference between Surfshark Starter and Surfshark One on the 1-year contract – just a couple of bucks, really which feels like a real no-brainer. There’s no point in going for the 1-year Starter when you can pick up Surfshark’s antivirus and ID breach alerts with the One plan instead.

Above is a table of the price per month for each Surfshark plan which is a slightly easier way to appreciate the value offer of each one.

There are cheaper VPNs out there – PrivadoVPN ($1.11) is a good option – but Surshark is an undeniable pound-for-pound sweet spot for price and features.

Score: 10/10

Features: What can Surfshark do?

• Alternative ID is a superb email and postal address protection tool.
• Surfshark is one of very few VPNs with a full antivirus included.
• ID breach alerts didn't spot my leaked credit card information.

Don’t be fooled by the price. Surfshark Starter is a very well stocked bundle.

Alongside the VPN product itself, the most significant feature is CleanWeb. It’s a catch-all name for Surfshark’s advert and cookie consent pop-up blocking system which aims to allow you to surf the web in relative peace.

I've used similar systems from competitors, like NordVPN’s Next Gen Antivirus and Proton VPN’s NetShield. You can read more about CleanWeb in the Privacy section of this review.

Margarito Philip Leland – my Surfshark Alternative ID profile. Easy to edit. Ready to copy and paste. Available on all Surfshark plans. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

Alternative ID is an important feature to pay attention to. Other VPN providers, such as Proton VPN, offer fake email addresses that will front for your own while still allowing emails to get through.

Read more about Surfshark's features ▼

You get a randomly generated email address – to use to fill out online forms, or give to people you don’t like, or whatever your need – and it automatically forwards any mail it receives to your real email address. You then cut it off and generate another email alias when you’re done with receiving whatever marketing mail it’s now attracted.

Proton offers this too but Surfshark takes it further.

Alternative ID is, in fact, a broader ID. It’s a name, postal address, email and even phone number (US only) to plug in online and stop scammers, spammers, and everyone else seeing your real details.

Right now, for example, I’m Margarito Philip Leland of 21 North 28th Ave East, Duluth, Minnesota, DOB 07/26/2005. Don’t bother trying to contact me because I’ll have ditched this ID by the time you're reading this article.

Surfshark Starter

Surfshark One

Surfshark One+

VPN

✅

✅

✅

Ad blocker

✅

✅

✅

Cookie pop-up blocker

✅

✅

✅

Alternative ID

✅

✅

✅

Web content blocker

❌

✅

✅

ID breach alerts

❌

✅

✅

Antivirus

❌

✅

✅

Email scam checker

❌

✅

✅

Scam text protection

❌

✅

✅

Incogni data removal

❌

❌

✅

Identity theft coverage

❌

❌

✅

I had a go at manually editing my Alternative ID persona. There are 10 email domains to choose from with options from the US, France, South Korea and Armenia, but I found I could write anything I wanted as the first part of the address.

For postal mail, the options I got were Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Germany Portugal and the US. Name and DOB can both be anything you want.

It's a great feature for signing up to services, giving to online stores and registering with news websites without having to worry about the spam. There's a handy quick-copy area on the homepage of the Surfshark app too which made filling in online forms all the faster. There's really very little not to love about it.

The only sad part is that the Alt number part is only in beta right now. It’s also only available in the States and you can’t use it to receive SMS verification codes, sadly, either. Still, I look forward to testing it out once it arrives in Europe.

Surfshark One

If you’re after antivirus too, then it’s time to step up to Surfshark One. PIA and Norton are the only other VPNs we recommend to have a full antivirus built-in along with the VPN.

NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro does have some AV features but it won't scan any apps and files you download, install, and use in real-time – and put a halt to any funny business before it’s too late – like Surfshark will.

The Surfshark antivirus ran daily scans of my entire device when I enabled it, and you can set to have it done at any time of day of your choosing. For obvious reasons, I opted for the dead of night.

You can toggle off either of these scans, and you can even opt out of scans of your storage drives, too.

None of these put our mobile battery life under any particular noticeable stress. With the real-time protection only kicking in when we installed apps and our daily scan set to nighttime when the phone was plugged in anyway, the extra processes were never a burden.

The menu of content you can prevent access to with Surfshark's new web content blocker tool. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

You can select to exclude certain apps if they keep pulling up false positives but it wasn't something I found I needed to do.

Surfshark One allows you to take the CleanWeb theme a little further with the Web Content Blocker tool, launched in October 2025. Still in beta, it still worked like a charm when I tried it.

It's very similar to Windscribe's content blocker. You choose from a list of eight different kinds of questionable content and decide what you don't want to be accessible through your browser. That includes adult sites, gambling, tobacco and vaping, hate and profanity, and others, as well as sites hosting phishing, scams, and malware.

What's really nice is that I was able to use it as a way of blocking access to these sites on my kids' phones without having to get involved with the often expensive and generally not particularly parental control apps.

That works because Web Content Blocker can be set up differently for each device you have and because you get unlimited devices connected to a single Surfshark account. I also really like that you don't have to have the VPN on to have Web Content Blocker activated, because I don't want the VPN masking my kids' browsing habits from me either.

Surfshark also launched Email Scam Checking for One (and One+) plans at a similar time. The tool uses AI to scan your emails for signs of a scam and flags any concerns found. Right now, it's only available for Gmail, but Surfshark is planning to extend support for the tool in future.

Surfshark has also now replaced its old Surfshark Search secure browser with a new tool, scam text protection. The browser was likely removed due to limited use by users, thankfully, the new scam text protection's toggle-and-forget nature should make it far more usable for most. Messages are securely held in the Surfshark app, meaning you're never at risk, and you can manage them safely from its dedicated section.

ID breach alerts

Alerts is a section unto itself in the Surfshark app. It's available in Surfshark One and One+ but I wanted to draw special attention to it because of something that happened while I was writing this review. More on that in a moment

Alerts (or 'ID breach alerts' as you'll find it called in the literature) scans the internet for any data breaches featuring your email addresses, credit card numbers and ID numbers too. It felt a bit strange handing over my info to Surfshark so that it could run those checks but the company promises that it doesn’t retain it.

Now, here's the interesting thing: chance had it that I was the victim of an attempted scam as I was writing this very section. I got a phone call from someone very convincingly pretending to be my credit card provider. They knew my card details, my name, my home address and clearly my phone number too.

They knew my card details, my name, my home address and clearly my phone number too.

They claimed to be from the fraud department and were questioning two transactions apparently made on my card in the UAE for around 27,000 Dirhams, and was I aware of them? Clearly I was not. So, the well spoken operator said they would then refund the amount to my account.

He asked me to open the app where I'd see a request for the refund. I opened the app. There was a request. But it was not for a refund. It was to make a payment of 27,000 Dirhams, about £5000.

"Press Confirm," they said.

"This is asking me to confirm a payment," I replied.

"No, this is the refund. Press confirm."

"No. It says 'payment'. I don't trust you."

They hung up.

I froze my card. I contacted my issuer and, I'm still shaking a bit at how close I just came to being defrauded. With stories about different UK retail stores getting hacked popping up every week, perhaps it's of little surprise.

My compromised credit card showing as 'no leaks found' according to the Surfshark Alert credit card monitoring system. Not a feature that's worked for me. Available with Surfshark One and One+. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

I'm also a little bit scared about my details too, and I'm pretty glad I'm writing reviews about products like Surfshark and that I've got the tools to help deal with this.

So, with that in mind, I put this particular bank card's details into Surfshark's credit card monitoring system. Sadly, Surfshark Alerts said No Leaks Found after scanning for a breach of this information. Hopefully, it will register it as exposed in the coming months but it's been a few weeks and I've seen no change yet.

It doesn't mean that Alerts doesn't work. It's very possible that my information was hacked and not exposed on the internet. It's just a pity that Alerts wasn't able to help in this instance.

If you're looking for a VPN for a very complete set of privacy and security features, then Surfshark is a great option

Alerts did a lot better with my email address. When I put in my general junky email, used for online forms and shops and such – where was Alternative ID when I needed it years ago – I was unsurprised to see 25 leak alerts. Thanks Adobe, DuoLingo, Last.fm, Houzz, Kickstarter MyFitnessPal and a bunch of other sites and services that are lucky I don’t have time to name and shame.

Surfshark detailed what was leaked of mine in each breach and then makes recommendations of what to do next. Probably a good idea to do what it says but, quite honestly, with 25 breaches do deal with, there just isn't enough time in the day. Hopefully, I'll be able to lower that number with every update of this page.

Surfshark One+

Top of the Surfshark price plan tree is Surfshark One+ which adds the Incogni which is designed to prevent the misuse of your personal data online.

If Alerts is your data health examination, then Incogni aims to be the cure. It's a data removal service which is currently only available in the US, UK, Canada, EU and Switzerland because of legal reasons. Those reasons are that, in those regions, data brokers are legally required to remove your details from their records when asked. And that’s what Incogni does on your behalf.

I’ve definitely noticed getting less spam in that time

I’ve actually been lucky enough to use Incogni on a long-term test now for over two years and apart from the odd email report, there’s not much visible that actually happens. I’ve definitely noticed getting less spam in that time but part of that has also been down to being more careful what I sign up for and whether I’m using my real ID or not.

Ultimately, it’s really difficult to evaluate and I wish I could give better advice here given that it's over 60% extra on top of the Surfshark One price.

Thankfully, you can also get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage if you get a One+ plan in the US. A bit like Incogni, it's difficult to tangibly assess the benefits of this without having my identity stolen, but it certainly adds value to the plan, given the massive price jump from a One plan.

While the effectiveness of all of Surfshark's tools is not crystal clear, it's obvious by looking at the VPN feature comparison table that customers get lots of them to use, more so than most other VPN service providers.

If you're looking for a VPN for a very complete set of privacy and security features, then Surfshark is a great option, and at an excellent price point too.

Score: 10/10

Server network and locations

• 100 countries with servers, 142 server locations, over 4,500 total servers.
• Very few servers in Africa but that's similar to other VPNs.
• FastTrack technology to bring higher network speeds in coming months.

Surfshark doesn’t cover quite as many countries (100) and locations (142) as the server network market leader NordVPN (135 countries and 211 locations), but it still gets top marks in this department.

That’s because its global spread is well chosen. It largely keeps up with just as many server countries in the traditionally less well-covered continents of Asia, South America and Oceania as most of its rival VPNs.

In fact, the European server network is as robust as the rest of the pack, too. It’s only Africa and the Middle East where, like ExpressVPN, it's noticeably shorter than NordVPN and Proton VPN.

Server list on the Surfshark Windows app. Plenty of US server locations available. (Image credit: Future)

Surfshark's 34 North America server locations are fine, just short of Proton's 35. But recent improvements to other VPNs mean its far below the likes of NordVPN (74) and ExpressVPN (71).

Read more about Surfshark's server network ▼

Surfshark states on its server list that some of the locations are virtual, and that’s refreshing given that other VPNs hide that. We spot checked the actual likely location of 25 servers on Surfshark’s list. It was accurate in all but one case where the company had accidentally marked Peru down as a virtual server when it really is based in Lima. If there are to be mistakes, then we’re certainly glad that they’re false positive ones.

Sever networks are about more than just quantity, though. Surfshark uses RAM-only servers which brings important benefits that we discuss in the Privacy section.

That's more or less a VPN industry standard but where Surfshark elevates itself is with how it connects those servers together. It's developed a holistic use of all of those pathways in what it calls its Nexus network infrastructure. It connects users to the entire network rather than the single VPN server they're choosing.

Through that system Surfshark can offer a fair few benefits, not least of which is FastTrack smart routing technology which aims to speed up connection by choosing the most time efficient pathways through the network.

It uses globally distributed probes which monitor the Surfshark network in real-time. They keep track of capacity and performance. That way the FastTrack system can figure out how to route VPN traffic to ensure that users get the fastest possible connections while still taking them to the end-point server that they've selected, and with an appropriate IP address.

FastTrack launched in August, 2025. Right now, it's only available on macOS and only when connecting to the Seattle, Vancouver or Sydney servers but Surfshark claims it's made up to 70% speed improvements for customers. We look forward to the company rolling it out across the board soon.

Something a little closer to home for those in Europe is the arrival of Surfshark's first 100 Gbps servers as unveiled in Amsterdam in October 2025. That's a 10 times improvement in server bandwidth designed to cope for the modern demands of 4K streaming, gaming, VR, and remote work.

It's certainly a good headline but, cynicism aside, it's an excellent sign. Surfshark has been a market leader when it comes to investing in the future of its server network in 2025.

Everlink, released in June, 2025, is another network quality boost from Surfshark. It's a patented backup system for your VPN connection. The idea is that if the VPN drops, your app doesn’t disconnect immediately. Instead, Everlink automatically connects you to a new and working server.

It might take a few seconds and, if you happen to be browsing at the time, it’s possible you’ll find a web page that doesn't download properly. But, for the most part, Surfshark says you won’t even notice anything.

We don’t have a test for Everlink yet, but it sounds promising. Dropped connections aren’t just a usability hassle, they also risk data and IP leaks. If Everlink can reduce unexpected disconnections, then that’s very good privacy news.

The other big benefits of Nexus, and its flexible, multi-server pathways, are Surfshark's rotating IP tech, new multi-IP tech, and its excellent MultiHop system. You can read more about those in the Privacy section.

For now, suffice to say that Surfshark's server network is cutting-edge and, from everything we've seen, we're only expecting improvements over the next 12 months.

Score: 9/10

Privacy

• Super clear, user-friendly privacy policy; no-logs system.
• Top privacy features: Camouflage Mode, MultiHop & Rotating IP.
• Subject to possible 'Nine Eyes' international information sharing agreement.

Surfshark operates using a no-logs system. Its servers do record some information to check user access (encrypted credentials, timestamps and billing information) but it’s lost around 15 minutes after each user session. It never stores anything to do with traffic data such as destination IPs, DNS queries, data transferred, downloaded files or browsing history.

This is exactly how a secure VPN should operate and, having read through Surfshark’s privacy policy, we’re satisfied that there’s nothing else amiss here either. Surfshark uses standard good practice all the way.

As privacy policies go, it’s actually incredibly user friendly and worth taking a look at for yourself. It’s organised into a set of easily digestible questions and answers rather than swathes of contract-style legalese.

Surfshark doesn’t have its own, proprietary obfuscation technology like Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol. So, if it’s vital that you’re not spotted using a VPN, Surfshark probably isn’t the best option.

Read more about Surfshark's privacy credentials ▼

Nonetheless, it still offers ‘Camouflage Mode’ which kicks into action whenever you choose OpenVPN. The company says that it hides your traffic to bypass content filters. OpenVPN also means you’ll be on Surfshark’s dedicated Obfuscated Servers which are designed to make it particularly hard for your ISP to see that you’re connected to a VPN.

You can use the OpenVPN protocol in both UDP and TCP form. The former is better when high speeds are important (streaming, gaming or VoIP) and TCP is good for the kind of reliability you need when web browsing, emailing or during P2P file transfer.

If you’d rather err on the side of speed, then just stick with Surfshark's default option of WireGuard. IKEv2 is also a choice on Android, Mac and iOS but not Windows.

Like most of the best VPNs, Surfshark uses RAM-only servers with no hard drives or SSDs where it could store data. That makes it both faster and safer, from the user's point of view.

Any time RAM-only servers are switched off, any data stored on them temporarily is lost. So, if those servers are seized, then the parties taking ownership of them get nothing but the hardware in their hands. Equally, changes from a malicious software attacks could be undone by Surfshark simply turning the servers off and on again – an IT help centre’s dream.

The effect here is that no user data is logged or kept in any way, so you can rest assure that your online activities are kept utterly private by Surfshark.

Surfshark received a number of user complaints when it changed its legal jurisdiction from the British Virgin Islands to the Netherlands, given that the Dutch are part of the Nine Eyes international information sharing agreement but given there are no logs to share, it's hard to see that there’s any real disadvantage here. Don't let it put you off unless you really feel like you need that double layer of protection.

no user data is logged or kept in any way, so you can rest assure that your online activities are kept utterly private by Surfshark

Surfshark has some interesting options for the privacy-conscious when it comes to server connection. Normally, you connect to a server and it assigns you a random IP address until you disconnect and then a different one next time. But you can choose to maintain a static IP instead. This means that it remains the same throughout your session.

Now, in terms of privacy that’s maybe not great. It leaves more browsing behaviour connected to a single IP that a third party could trace from start to finish and therefore have a clearer picture about what a single user is doing. Keep up that browsing behaviour pattern long enough and they might even be able to figure out who you are.

At the same time, a static IP can be useful. There are web services that work by white listing IP addresses. A static IP that’s known and accepted will make it easier to access them wherever you are. It might remove a layer of authentication each time you access.

In general, though, static IPs aren’t a great idea for VPN traffic because it makes it easier to track you. So, we’d recommend enable the Rotating IP option, even if that makes for more CAPTCHAs.

That said, if you do often get blocked trying to access a certain site, and then find a Surfshark server that works, you might want add that location as a favourite and use it as a static IP.

Rotating IPs makes it harder for a website or web service to track you in its logs. In a single, long session, you’ll appear as multiple visitors. So, this is a definite boost to Surfshark’s privacy credentials. Only ExpressVPN offers something similar with its ShuffleIP.

Multihop (available on all Surfshark plans) is fully customisable. Create a connection to travel through any pair of Surfshark servers to help maximize privacy. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

Quite the opposite to a static IP, then, the system automatically connects you via a different IP address after 2-10 minutes – and all without the real world experience of a disconnection. (Streaming was a little more glitchy when using IP rotation, though, so do consider switching it off if you run into problems.)

You get a little status message letting you know when your next IP rotation will be and what address you’re assigned, although, actually, in practice, the timing was often quicker than stated. And, when we checked with WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, the address reported by Surfshark was accurate every single time.

So, how does Surfshark manage to switch your IP without dropping the connection? That's down to its Nexus network infrastructure (see Server Network section), ensuring that there's always a server somewhere along the path to provide online access while the IP on the destination server is switched.

The other excellent privacy application of the Nexus structure is Surfshark’s brilliantly flexible MultiHop VPN system, which is one of the very best out there.

The joined up nature of the Nexus-powered servers means that, unlike other VPNs, you can create your own double jump server pathways between almost any locations available, instead of the small handful of pre-programmed routing options that most other VPN providers offer.

That allows users to design custom, faster MultiHop connections, with start and end point servers which aren’t too far away from you and from one another.

In fact, you can even choose Fastest Location or Nearest Country within the MultiHop menu for the Nexus system to make the best suggestion for you. We particularly like that you can see latency speeds next to the options on the list so that you can really aim for maximal performance.

We checked to see the kind of effect you can expect when using two servers per connection like this. Using a pathway of two servers nearby (in our case, two different Ireland server locations) produced speeds very similar a single hop transatlantic connection which we benchmarked at 391Mbps. It was only once we started picking huge journeys, around the word for the first hop and then back all the way for the second, that we noticed speeds dipping.

Surfshark also launched Multi IP for Mac users in November 2025. This slightly differs from rotating IP, in that it gives you a new IP for every new website or session you start, but consequently serves the same goal of retaining a connection while reducing the ability of third parties to track what you do. Similarly, it also offers slightly less robust protection than a multihop connection. Regardless, it's a super handy feature for Mac users if you're looking to remain secure without risking sacrificing speed.

Of course, there’s no need to sacrifice speed on all your apps and services if you use Surfshark’s split-tunnel feature, Bypasser. It works on all four major platforms and allowed us to pick both individual apps and websites to either specifically exclude or include from the VPN tunnel.

This is a great way of working if you want to use Surfshark for something specific like torrenting, or if you want to watch your local streaming service without confusing it into thinking that you’re trying to tune in from somewhere else.

The only real privacy feature absent from the Surfshark roster is Tor Over VPN. We could still use the Tor browser manually after connecting to Surfshark on our Windows laptop but it’s not built into the app. If Tor's added layer of online anonymity is a feature you need, then you’ll want to use Proton VPN or NordVPN instead.

Unlike other VPNs, you can create your own double jump server pathways between almost any locations

Surfshark’s CleanWeb function takes care of your search by stripping out as many trackers and ads as possible. There’s a bit of a slow down when it comes to page load time but the results are well worth it.

It took all of the cookie consent requests out of our browsing as we read the football pages of the UK and European news sites. And the grey blocks where adverts used to be were certainly less distracting than all the sticky videos and other images that usually get in the way.

If you want to go the whole hog, though, try Surfshark’s very own in-app private search, available on Surfshark One and One+ plans. More details on that in the Features section above.

Score: 9/10

Security

• Excellent kill switch available on all major platforms.
• Decent phishing and malware protection boosted by a browser extension.
• Post-quantum encryption not available on all platforms

Surfshark's choice of VPN encryption, and it's platter of security features, give us plenty of reasons for confidence. It doesn't hit the same heights as the other top VPNs in all of our results below but then it's a fraction of the price of most of them and our tests are pretty exacting.

Surfshark’s AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption algorithms are pretty standard, solid stuff when it comes to incredibly hard to crack encoding of your internet traffic.

The company uses 2048-bit RSA encryption keys which is easily enough safeguarding. Proton VPN takes things a little further with 4096-bit keys just in case you have extreme security demands.

Kill switch warning on the Surfshark Windows app explaining how kill switches work. (Image credit: Future)

A more pressing for issue for Surfshark is its post-quantum encryption (PQE) credentials. It deserves increasing attention as quantum computers, and their extreme number crunching powers, arrive on the scene.

Read more about Surfshark's security credentials ▼

Surfshark doesn’t have a huge amount to say about PQE on its website, just that “Surfshark has implemented post-quantum protection on top of the WireGuard protocol”.

Not wanting to remain behind the curve as we head into 2026, Surfshark recently announced that post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has been integrated into the WireGuard protocol for more devices.

The measure will enhance user security when it comes to quantum computing threats, like breaches and "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks, and is enabled by default on most platforms. These include Mac, Linux, and Android.

Although iOS and Windows are two big omissions from that list, getting them covered, too, should be the next step in Surfshark's plan of post-quantum protection.

This is nothing out of the ordinary currently. PQE technology in VPNs is still very much in the embryonic stage.

Only ExpressVPN has gone further in its 1200-word blog post about its implementation of PQE in its Lightway protocol.

Surfshark recently announced that post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has been integrated into the WireGuard protocol

Until then, there’s still plenty to keep you safe with Surfshark.

Auto-connect is a handy feature that prevents accidental leaks of your real IP address. It's a great privacy-boosted, and we really like Surfshark's version of it.

Once activated, it automatically connected using the VPN on any network that I specifically didn't mark as Trusted. I didn't want it to auto-connect on my home Wi-Fi, for example, where I want to choose what my ISP does and doesn't see, depending on what apps and services I'm accessing.

What I really like is that I can also choose which VPN server I want Surfshark to auto-connect to. I set it to auto-connect the 'Fastest connection' preset no matter what.

Auto-connect looks and works the same across iOS, Windows and Mac. The only exception is on Android which also allows you to use it on mobile networks too – great for privacy on the go.

The gold standard for IP leak safety, though, is the VPN kill switch and Surfshark’s got full marks in our tests. There’s a kill switch on all platforms, as we would expect.

It comes in two forms: Soft Mode, which blocks your internet access if the VPN unexpectedly drops; and Strict Mode which simply blocks any internet access unless the VPN is connected in the first place.

Strict Mode is the more secure option, certainly, but I found that it slowed my speeds a little. I also encountered more CAPTCHAs and blocked websites during my day-to-day browsing, as well as issues with apps that aren't compatible with the VPN.

Soft Mode is the better option for most people, especially as Surfshark's kill switch performs well by itself.

Surfshark is one of the only VPNs with a full antivirus built in. This is the desktop version. It's available on Surfshark One and One+. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

We tried breaking the VPN connection in a few different ways – turning the router on and off, walking out of range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, stopping services, closing processes and more – and Surfshark blocked the internet every time.

The only difference between Surfshark and the very best in this department, NordVPN, is that Surfshark didn’t always manage to recover the application and reconnect every time. NordVPN’s activated the switch, spotted the precise problem, resolved it, and then got us up and running again without us really noticing that anything had happened.

Surfshark still performed far better than most VPNs, and correctly blocked our internet in every test, though, and that’s what most matters for security.

Surfshark’s CleanWeb feature helps out for security, as well as its ad blocking and cookie consent pop-up blocking features we mentioned in the Privacy section. It cuts out phishing and malware websites too.

We tested CleanWeb with 50 up-to-date URLs for each, from the very newest phishing and malware sites sourced on the day of testing itself.

Surfshark's effectiveness for blocking sites that host phishing attacks is a little subpar, blocking only 48%. It's around half as effective as ExpressVPN (76%) and Proton VPN (88%), and a long way behind NordVPN (92%).

It's also adequate forad blocking, blocking 44% of ads, and if you use the Surfshark browser extension (available on Firefox, Chrome, and Edge) alongside your platform app, you'll maximize its chances of succeeding.

Surprisingly, ExpressVPN and Proton VPN didn't manage to detect and block access to any of the latest malware hosting sites in our last lab test. So, even the fact that Surfshark score 28% is actually a pretty strong result.

What's more, CleanWeb is available with all Surfshark plans, which start as low as $1.99 per month. NordVPN's high scores come courtesy with Threat Protection Pro technology which is not included in its entry level tier. To get the benefits of Threat Protection Pro, you'd need to pay a minimum of $3.89 per month – nearly double the price.

Also, bear in mind that the bar we set for the test above is a high one. The figures above would be considerably higher if we tested CleanWeb, and the others, against threats that were even just two days old. Nonetheless, the biggest names in antivirus, such as Norton, Bitdefender, and Avira deliver results to the same tests that are up above 90%.

So, is Surfshark’s CleanWeb a replacement for the very best dedicated AV? Not quite, but it’s well worth using and, like most of Surfshark's features, a bargain. More to the point, it will protect users against most of the nasties out there. So, do switch it on if you have it.

Score: 9/10

Speed

• Among the fastest WireGuard VPNs to local servers.
• OpenVPN speeds are good too, and long-distance performance has improved.
• Surfshark has considerably higher latency and jitter than other top VPNs.

Previously rated as the fastest VPN available, Surfshark has seen its speeds increase dramatically since our last tests, though not enough for it to reclaim the title of 'fastest VPN overall'

Surfshark remains a top performer, though. What's more, it's also now released its Dausos protocol, which it claims to provide speed gains of up to 30%. That said, as yet, we've been unable to properly test these claims due to its availability being limited to only Mac.

Our last few rounds of review testing have seen us broaden our VPN lab speed testing process. We take even more data points than before and have increased our maximum speed capacity from 1 Gbps up to 10 Gbps.

Read more about Surfshark's speed ▼

Surfshark's fastest protocol, WireGuard – available on all Surfshark apps – clocked an average speed of 2005 Mbps, a huge increase on its prior result of just 1021 Mbps. What's more, this means Surfshark's speeds are currently only bested by Windscribe (2263 Mbps), Mullvad (2308 Mbps), and PrivadoVPN (2334 Mbps).

Over long distances (Europe to the US), Surfshark again looked much better than previously. Its 1739 Mbps result far exceeds the 935 Mbps it achieved previously and is considerably higher than the competition. That's something to consider if you're set to be accessing far-flung servers on a regular basis.

We were pleased to see download speeds are good with the more privacy-focused OpenVPN protocol on Surfshark, achieving 625 Mbps. This is around the same as NordVPN's 633 Mbps.

Surfshark's speed improvements are also bolstered by improved latency and jitter. This time round, the provider achieved 18ms latency and 2 ms jitter, which is slightly above average compared to other VPNs, a huge improvement from last time round where these figures were nearly twice as bad as the average.

In real terms, that means we would expect lower levels of lag than usual when gaming and less buffering than most when streaming.

A VPN engineer once said to me that, beyond certain speeds, it's really latency that's more important when considering VPN performance. Of course, speed testing is only ever a snapshot of a moment, with little regard for comparative server network conditions. All the same, it's good to see Surfshark making noticeable improvements to its results here in recent months

Score: 8/10

Unblocking streaming services

• Surfshark unblocks Netflix libraries, and other services, but with major inconsistency.
• Struggles to unblock US-only YouTube content from other countries.
• CleanWeb needs disabling to stream ad-funded streaming services.

Surfshark isn’t quite in the same league as NordVPN when it comes to unblocking streaming services but it’s mostly a good choice on this front.

Like NordVPN, and most of the best VPN services, all of Surfshark’s servers are optimzed for streaming. I didn’t need to waste any time trying to find lists of streaming servers. I just found the country I wanted and connected to any server on the list.

We tested Surfshark to see if it could unblock Netflix in five different locations and it struggled. It took several attempts to access the US library, and failed entirely in the UK and Australia. That said, we had no issues in Canada or Japan.

Amazon US/UK

Disney+ US/UK

YouTube US

NordVPN

✅

✅

❌

Surfshark

❌

❌

❌

ExpressVPN

❌

✅

✅

Proton VPN

✅

❌

❌

Read more about Surfshark's streaming service unblocking ▼

We also found that Surfshark servers couldn't be used to unblock Amazon Prime Video in the US or Australia, Canada, or Japan, no matter how we tried, though the UK was fine. This is a change from our last test when Surfshark saw success with this service.

YouTube US is one that none of our VPN services managed to unblock this time. We choose a licensed US-geo-locked test video and we weren't able to stream it from the UK with Surfshark or any of the others. This is worth considering if you tend to watch YouTube more than any other platform, although most videos tend not to be geo-specific.

Peacock was another US service Surfshark struggled with. While it would access the site successfully, the stream would then drop out on several instances during a one to two hour watching session. This is something we never experienced with other providers.

Surfshark proved useful at unblocking all of the free streaming services we tried in the UK and Australia, though. It has a cross next to ITV in the table below because Surfshark didn't manage to unblock it at the first attempt but, again, it did succeed after a server switch.

Surfshark had previously had similar issues when trying to access 10Play in Australia but there were no troubles in this round of tests.

BBC iPlayer

ITV

Channel 4

TVNZ Plus

NordVPN Plus

✅

✅

✅

✅

Surfshark

✅

✅

✅

✅

ExpressVPN

✅

✅

✅

✅

Proton VPN

✅

❌

❌

❌

It's worth noting that you may need to disable CleanWeb when trying to watch shows on ad-funded streaming services such as Channel 4 and ITV. CleanWeb's built-in ad-blocker, and the streamer's need to serve reels of ads before and between the programming, don't work well together and cause things to grind to a halt.

The only downside, of course, is that it does leave you without web-based malware blocking for a time. So, make sure you're watching a trusted service. And make sure to turn CleanWeb back on after.

When we tested Proton VPN we found the same problem but the significant difference there is that we could turn off just the ad-blocking of NetShield while leaving the malware protection running. We also didn’t have to disconnect and reconnect to change the setting, unlike with CleanWeb.

Ultimately, if you're not prepared to tinker – and why should you – then NordVPN is the best streaming VPN but let Surfshark's results in this department put you off. It's still good for unblocking streams.

Score: 7/10

P2P and torrenting

• Torrenting supported at all of Surfsharks server locations.
• Search for P2P optimized servers for best performance.
• No port forwarding.

Surfshark works well for torrenting thanks to its high download speeds and reliable privacy.

I opted for the OpenVPN protocol using TCP to be doubly sure my ISP wouldn't be able to see what I was up to. Sure enough, I've had no nasty letters through the post.

Using uTorrent, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as I chose a selection of different file sizes to download. Knowing that Surfshark performs significantly better over short connection distances (see Speed section) I made sure to choose the closest server possible.

All of Surfshark’s locations support torrenting but only some are optimised for P2P use and they’re not so easy to find as with Proton VPN or NordVPN, both which have P2P filters on their server choice lists in the apps.

We figured out that you can type ‘P2P’ into the search field of the server location list with Surfshark and the system will narrow to include only the torrenting optimized servers, but even then it’s very hard to tell that that’s what you’re looking at. There’s nothing in the knowledge base or help sections about it. How most people are supposed to discover this is a bit of a mystery.

The actual torrenting experience, though, once connected, is very similar to any of the top VPNs. My connection speed was limited more by the number and quality of peers for the file I tried to download.

Like many VPNs these days, Surfshark does not support port forwarding for reasons of security – understandable given that’s a VPN’s prime function. You can read Surfshark’s take on it here.

The article even suggests a way you can set up port forwarding manually but, if that’s really something you want that much, then you’re best off choosing Proton VPN which supports the feature directly in its apps.

Score: 4/5

Compatibility

• Surfshark is compatible with all modern platforms.
• Exceptionally large feature set available for iPhone users.
• Use browser extensions for maximum privacy.

Surfshark does a good job of keeping consistency in look, feel, and functionality across its suite of apps. In fact, it scores better than most top VPN vendors with almost all of its features supported on mobile as well as desktop.

iPhone users should take particular notice. Surfshark’s iOS app is exceptionally well stocked compared to the normally underpowered versions peddled by most VPN companies. Split tunneling, auto connect, and use of all three of Surfshark’s VPN protocols are present and correct on both major mobile operating systems.

Like all the very top VPNs, Surfshark is compatible with every modern platform you’d care to mention. There are apps for the likes of Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Linux as well as the usual big four of Windows, Mac, Android and iOS.

Features available on iPhone

Surfshark

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Proton VPN

Kill switch

✅

✅ (automatic)

✅

✅

Autoconnect

✅

✅

❌

❌

Split tunneling

✅ (websites only)

❌

❌

❌

Protocols

WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2

NordLynx, OpenVPN

Lightway, OpenVPN, IKEv2

WireGuard, Stealth

Malware blocking

✅

❌

✅

✅

GPS spoofing

❌

❌

❌

❌

Custom DNS

❌

❌

❌

❌

Read more about Surfshark's compatibility ▼

There are also Chrome, Edge and Firefox browser extensions and these are more important than you might think.

We’d recommend using Surfshark from within your browser to get the most out of the CleanWeb phishing, advert and malware blocking abilities of your VPN, for example. It’ll keep you a little safer online even if the VPN itself is turned off. See the Security section for more details.

But, there's more. Surfshark's browser extensions can mask your real location better than using just using your device's VPN app alone. That's because some websites can ask your browser its country-level location. That’s not something that’s related to your IP address.

We found we got fewer CAPTCHAs when we tried it. Searching Google for VPN-related terms often digs up request for bicycles, buses and road crossing identifications but it was a rare event with Surfshark's Chrome extension on.

We’d recommend using Surfshark from within your browser to get the most out of the CleanWeb phishing, advert and malware blocking abilities of your VPN

The browser extension doubles down on protecting your real location with its ‘Block WebRTC’ feature too. WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) is another internet technology which can be used by websites to find your real IP address. Surfshark’s browser extension should stop any red flags by making sure WebRTC doesn’t run on your device.

Putting a VPN onto your router is never a piece of cake but, like most good VPNs, it is possible with Surfshark. It requires a manual installation of the software but, beginners, be not afraid – there is an excellent post on the Surfshark blog of how to get this done, and a supporting article with information for specific routers, protocols (WireGuard/OpenVPN/IKEv3 and firmware (OpenWRT / OPNsense / TP-Link).

Surfshark does a good job of maintaining all of its apps with regular updates to many of them throughout the year.

We took a look at the number of updates that the big VPN providers made to their iOS apps between January and December 2025 for an indicator of how well they support their software. iOS apps are often the least well maintained.

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max-width: 60px !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75.mobile-view .fv-carousel-nav-btn { padding: 6px 8px !important; font-size: 11px !important; } @media (max-width: 500px) { #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-pie-container { flex-direction: column !important; gap: 1rem !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper { padding-left: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-bar-row, #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-stacked-product { flex-direction: column !important; align-items: flex-start !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title) { width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-bar-container { width: 100% !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-x-axis-wrapper:not(.fv-grouped-x-axis) { margin-left: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-x-axis-label-space:not(.fv-grouped-x-axis .fv-x-axis-label-space) { display: none !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-x-axis-chart-space { padding-right: 0 !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-benchmark-title { font-size: 16px !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-logo { width: 60px !important; max-width: 60px !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-carousel-nav-btn { padding: 6px 8px !important; font-size: 11px !important; } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75 .fv-y-axis-title { padding-left: 5% !important; /* (30/600) for mobile view */ } #fv-chart-1765979335374-rw1ncji75.fv-contains-line-chart .fv-footer-content { margin-left: -1rem !important; margin-right: -1rem !important; } } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Dataset", "name": "iOS app updates in 2025", "description": "This is the number of updates the iOS apps of each of these VPNs has had in 2025", "creator": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "TechRadar", "logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png" }, "isAccessibleForFree": true, "dateCreated": "2025-12-17T13:48:55.374Z", "citation": "Surfshark's apps are well cared for by the development team. The real outliers here are CyberGhost and PIA, neither of which appear to be putting much into app development right now.", "keywords": [ "NordVPN", "Surfshark", "ExpressVPN", "Proton VPN", "PureVPN", "Mullvad", "IPVanish", "Windscribe", "CyberGhost", "Private Internet Access", "iOS app updates", "benchmark", "comparison", "performance", "review", "TechRadar" ], "measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking", "variableMeasured": [ { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "NordVPN – iOS app updates", "value": 23, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Surfshark – iOS app updates", "value": 21, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "ExpressVPN – iOS app updates", "value": 25, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Proton VPN – iOS app updates", "value": 22, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "PureVPN – iOS app updates", "value": 18, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Mullvad – iOS app updates", "value": 9, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "IPVanish – iOS app updates", "value": 10, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Windscribe – iOS app updates", "value": 11, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "CyberGhost – iOS app updates", "value": 0, "unitText": "number" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Private Internet Access – iOS app updates", "value": 3, "unitText": "number" } ]} iOS app updates in 2025

This is the number of updates the iOS apps of each of these VPNs has had in 2025

iOS app updates NordVPN 23 Surfshark 21 ExpressVPN 25 Proton VPN 22 PureVPN 18 Mullvad 9 IPVanish 10 Windscribe 11 CyberGhost 0 Private Internet Access 3 iOS app updates Data ProductValue (number) NordVPN 23 Surfshark 21 ExpressVPN 25 Proton VPN 22 PureVPN 18 Mullvad 9 IPVanish 10 Windscribe 11 CyberGhost 0 Private Internet Access 3 Surfshark's apps are well cared for by the development team. The real outliers here are CyberGhost and PIA, neither of which appear to be putting much into app development right now. 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Looking at the table above, Surfshark is certainly one of the better companies for this with it pretty much on a par with other top VPNs Proton VPN, NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

The overall story for us here is that Surfshark has done a really good job, and we’re confident that it will continue to do so on whatever platform you wish to use.

Score: 5/5

Usability

• Make sure to disable the auto-renew function on set-up.
• Clear and consistent UX across all major Surfshark apps.
• Kill switch mode should be clearer on the UI.

After signing up for a Surshark account (don’t forget to take advantage of the Surfshark 7-day free trial while it’s here), the Surfshark online dashboard is a good place to start.

There’s a handy set-up guide to make sure you get the best of all the features – connecting to the VPN, setting up Antivirus, data leak alerts, and how to use Alternative ID. All well worth your time.

It’s also a good place to download your apps and extensions. The Download apps panel is surprisingly complete. There are QR codes to scan and buttons both of which offer direct links to the relevant app stores for smart TVs, browser extensions and Linux as well as the big four laptop, phone and tablet apps. You can even pick up the Android APK for any side-loading you might need to do.

Read more about Surfshark's usability ▼

The only thing to watch out for is that we got a little confused by the Windows app installer. It said “Welcome to Surshark One Security Suite Setup Wizard”, when we’d only purchased Surfsharker Starter originally. Sadly, it wasn’t a free upgrade. Ignore it. That’s how the standard installer lookers.

You can access the help center, view the length left of your subscription and, of course, upgrade to a dedicated IP address and an Alternative ID phone number while you're there, should you wish.

Switch off auto-renew and avoid a nasty price hike

Our top tip of all, though, is to head immediately to the Payments tab in the Your Subscriptions section of the My Account menu where you can switch off auto-renew and avoid a nasty price hike once the term of your original subscription ends. Ignore this at your peril, or face paying about twice what you did originally per month on a 12-month contract.

If you do get stung by Surfshark’s auto-renewal, though, don’t panic. The company cares about its reputation and its customers. A little sweet talk to the customer support within a week and you’re highly likely to get a refund.

User Experience

The Surfshark user experience is pretty much identical across the range. There are differences – Android has a home tab, Windows and iOS don’t, for example – but the look and feel is consistent and all the features and settings are in very similar places.

Like all good VPN apps, there are short explainers next to most of the settings and that’s important because it’s by far and away the easiest way to learn about the product. Only Proton VPN stands out as superior on this front with an info button that opens up some really clear pop-up explainers, that are as easy to understand as they are to dismiss.

There’s no map on any Surfshark app. All server locations are listed in alphabetical order and that’s perfectly sensible and easy to navigate. There’s also a search bar to stop you having to scroll to the bottom for UK, US and everything else that’s useful down there.

You can even search for the kind of server you want, instead of the location. Type in ‘P2P’ if you want one for torrenting, for example. We typed in ‘Frank’ and got not only the main Frankfurt server but also a list of those with static IPs as well as the preset MultiHop route of Frankfurt via the GB-London server.

Surfshark home page running on Android. It's a very clear interface easy access to VPN server selection and connection. There is tabbed access to the settings and product features at the bottom. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

If that’s not fast enough for you, there are connection shortcuts with buttons for your recently used servers, your fastest available connection and your nearest country too. There are also stars next to each server in the list so that you can favourite ones that you like or use most often.

We prefer the tabbed layout on the Windows app compared to the mobile versions but then that’s not a huge surprise given that there’s more space to play with on a laptop screen. The tabs make a bit more sense on a computer (VPN, Alternative ID, Alerts, Antivirus, and Settings). It’s quick access to pretty much everything you need right there.

Compare that to the four tabs on Android – Home, Products, News, Settings. News doesn’t really offer much but head to Products and you’ll find a list of the same tabbed sections as on the Windows app. In other words, access to the same areas is one step removed. It’s not a big deal and it still works fine.

The desktop apps are still actually quite small – more than the budget mobile port look and feel of cheaper VPNs like Hide.me, Windscribe and PrivadoVPN but nothing like the luxury of space you get with NordVPN, Proton VPN or ExpressVPN.

We don’t really mind that. It’s still attractive, tidy and maybe a massive VPN software windows is exactly the kind of getting-in-the-way that VPNs shouldn’t do. It’s also kind of fitting of Surfshark’s more reasonable price point.

Surfshark's desktop application is not a full screen desktop experience but I don't have a problem with that. It's neat, tidy, easy to use and doesn't get in the way of your other apps and files. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

It’s also a misnomer to think that its size means less complexity. The Surfshark Windows app has 23 buttons, icons and other areas where you can click something. NordVPN’s Windows app also has 23. Proton VPN comes in at a similar 19.

If you want something really stripped back but still nicely put together, then go for ExpressVPN with its 13 – but then that does mean fewer functions at your fingertips. It depends on what you’d rather trade off.

Probably the only part of the Windows UX that we find a bit odd is the VPN home page itself, or, more specifically, the information that’s on there. There’s data on connection time, VPN IP address, up and download data so far, what protocol you’re using and whether or not CleanWeb is on.

It’ll also tell you when the kill switch is enabled, but, the strange part is that it says nothing about the kill switch at all when it’s off – and that’s exactly when you need to know about the kill switch: when it’s not protecting you!

Oddly, Android users can tell if it’s off because it’s displayed as a toggle rather than the word On or Off.

Is it a problem? Well, potentially but you can avoid it by making sure your kill switch is activated by default. Otherwise, it would be a concern if your real IP was leaking and you didn’t know about it.

That aside, we really have no complaints to make about how Surshark has put its apps together. They’re easy on the eye and generally a pleasure to use.

Score: 4/5

Accessibility

• Middling accessibility score for the Surfshark website.
• Average language support.
• Extremely poor for keyboard-only use.

Surfshark's accessibility credentials are so-so, at best with both the website and number of languages available in-app about average. Keyboard support is really quite poor but Siri voice commands for VPN functionality save the day for iOS users.

We used AccessibilityChecker to scan Surfshark’s home page and it came out with a score of 23%. It’s only a single page but it’s a good indicator of what to expect across its website.

That’s a long way behind the likes of Mullvad (95%) and NordVPN (65%), but in the same ballpark as providers like Proton VPN (35%), ExpressVPN (32%) and Private Internet Access (10%).

The audit report showed that Surfshark’s website passed all navigation tests. It was deemed to also have increasing issues surrounding screen reader support.

Read more about Surfshark's accessibility ▼

Equally, the site uses an appropriate color scheme, and text with strong contrast, even though it didn’t match color contrast standards across a few elements.

There’s clearly room for improvement here, but this isn’t a bad score. If you’re partially sighted, then, there are better options out there than Surfshark.

Looking at Surfshark’s desktop apps, we found that the Windows application supports 13 languages including common options such as English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional.)

There are 13 languages supported on Surfshark. Not as many as other VPNs and a few key options missing. (Image credit: Future Publishing)

But it’s missing others – Arabic, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish – and many VPNs provide more. Norton VPN supports 26 languages, for instance, and Proton VPN has 28. So, if you would rather have a VPN that talks your native tongue, you might find more luck elsewhere.

Next we tried ditching our mouse. If a user can’t operate a mouse, they should be able to access every feature of the app from the keyboard. Sadly, Surfshark has extremely poor keyboard support.

Pressing Tab allowed us to move around the window, but in many cases the app didn’t highlight the current element (the button, the list, or whatever else we were accessing), leaving us with no idea where we were.

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Language options available in the Windows apps of each of these VPNs.

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Even when we could see we had reached an important element, like the location list, it turned out not to be optimized for keyboard use.

For example, PIA’s Windows app allowed us to scroll up and down to highlight a country, and connected as soon as we hit Enter. That’s easy and intuitive, we figured it out right away.

With Surfshark, we could browse up and down the location list with the keyboard, but hitting Enter did nothing. Experimenting, hitting Tab and then Enter allowed us to connect some of the time, but we regularly got lost and had to use our mouse to start again.

Overall, if you need keyboard support then Surfshark’s Windows app isn’t a good choice. Check out PIA instead.

Score: 2/5

Customer support

• Surfshark has 24/7 live chat, email and site customer support.
• Handy and easy to use on-site knowledge base.
• Email support will reply with a solution within 24-hours.

Surfshark offers customer support via a support site, live chat (24/7) and email (24/7).

We test VPN support sites by searching for common technical terms and issues, and exploring what comes up. Surfshark’s support site scores well for its vast number of articles.

When we searched for ‘DNS’, for instance, the site gave us 120 results including plenty of useful guides. That compares to 60 for ExpressVPN, and only 5 for Hotspot Shield (and only one of those was useful for setup or troubleshooting).

The only subject area almost completely absent was P2P and torrenting but perhaps for obvious thorny legal reasons.

Read more about Surfshark customer support ▼

All the help articles we read were well written, clear, nicely laid-out and very, very non-threatening.

Most Surfshark support users won't need the search, though, because the site is very well organised.

It displays links to its most important articles on the front page, grouped into topics such as ‘Getting Started’, ‘Fixing Issues’, ‘Billing’ and ‘Account’. It’s likely that many visitors will find the article they need in a couple of clicks.

We noticed that some of the support articles were a little out-of-date. Screenshots didn’t always match the latest version of the app, for instance. But that’s not unusual with VPNs that have a large number of articles, and we didn’t spot any guides where this genuinely had a significant negative result, like telling us to take an action which was no longer possible, for instance.

More to the point, all the articles we read were well written, clear, nicely laid-out and very, very non-threatening. Most people will feel confident of following the advice of this resource and rightly so.

Surfshark’s live chat appears to be well staffed. We were able to talk to helpful agents within a couple of minutes of opening a session. Getting some information about how to set the VPN up for P2P seemed like a good idea and the online agent did not let us down.

Surfshark’s live chat appears to be well staffed, and we were able to talk to helpful agents within a couple of minutes.

They said that all of their servers were fit to use for P2P, they suggested OpenVPN, with UDP for better speeds, and to make sure we had the kill switch on. All pretty sage stuff. And the whole chat took less than 5 minutes once we’d gone through a couple of layers of AI bot automation.

Email support isn’t as speedy. Proton VPN replied to a test question in minutes during its last review; Surfshark says it will reply in 24 hours, and our 21-hour wait suggests that’s about right.

Our reply was short, but friendly, accurate, and with an invitation to keep asking if we needed more help, and that earns a thumbs up from us.

Score: 4/5

User reviews

Like all user reviews, you should take Surfshark's scores on the Trustpilot and the mobile app stores with a pinch of salt, but they do paint the picture of a VPN that you can trust.

Across Google Play and the Apple App Store, it holds ratings on par with the very top VPNs. It's 4.3/5 Trustpilot rating is based on over 27,000 reviews. Around 9% of those are 1-star reviews.

Read them, and you'll most likely find that they're complaints over the auto-renewal system that most VPNs use, and it's easy to make sure that you don't become one of those statistics. You can turn auto-renew off from any point after signing up. Please do it.

Google Play

App Store

Trustpilot

NordVPN

4.6

4.7

4.2

Windscribe

4.6

4.6

4.7

Surfshark

4.6

4.7

4.3

Proton VPN

4.6

4.6

2.0

ExpressVPN

4.7

4.7

4.0

Track record: can you trust Surfshark?

• Surfshark has never suffered any hacks or data leaks.
• Apps, logging policy and server infrastructure has all been audited.
• We'd like to see audits undertaken on an annual basis.

Currently, the NIST Vulnerability Database doesn’t have a single item with the keyword 'Surfshark'. That’s quite unusual.

Proton VPN has three old bugs in the database; ExpressVPN has three; NordVPN also has three old vulnerabilities (all from 2018.) Surfshark does have the advantage of being the youngest of all of these VPNs, though, launched, as it was, in 2018. For the record, Proton VPN is only one year older.

It’s a positive sign that hackers and security researchers haven’t found any major issues in Surfshark’s apps.

That said, the provider has now had an unfortunate security incident. In September 2026, Surfshark released a report explaining how, through human error, an internal engineering server was misconfigured in a way that made it accessible from the internet.

Signs of unauthorized access were first noticed on August 31st 2026. Thankfully, the server did not have access to user accounts, user credentials, other private data, or internet traffic.

According to Surfshark, ‘Some internal, build-related credentials had at times been committed to our code history.’ Thankfully, there was no indication of malicious activity, but Surfshark rotated or retired all the compromised credentials it identified anyway.

Surfshark's transparency on this matter makes it difficult to mark them down for it, especially given the actions taken in response and the lack of impact to users.

The biggest uproar was when the company decided to switch its legal HQ from the British Virgin Islands to the Netherlands.

Surfshark did, however, cause controversy when it added a ‘fake news detector’ feature to its browser extension. The idea was to highlight sources of misinformation, but the feature falsely flagged too many legitimate sites. It also raised a few eyebrows for privacy issues with the idea that this automated feature would decide, on its own, whether a particular source was trustworthy or not. Surfshark removed the feature in 2022 and the company hasn’t tried anything similar since.

Read more about Surfshark's track record▼

For sure, the biggest uproar, though, was when the company decided to switch its legal HQ from the British Virgin Islands to the Netherlands, as we mentioned in the Privacy section of this review.

Audited, but not as well or regularly as Proton VPN

Surfshark has had all the significant parts of its processes and infrastructure audited by third parties over the years but it could do with ramping up the frequency.

Surfshark had its no-logs policy reviewed by Deloitte in 2022. The report was released in January 2023 and agreed that Surfshark’s claims matched its real-life user data procedures. More recently its no-logs claims were audited in June, 2025, and, again, everything was found to be ship shape. (The full report is available to Surfshark users.)

It’s good to see any VPN provider have the courage to put itself through a public audit, but we'd like to see Surfshark do this a little more regularly.

Proton VPN has a no-logs audit every year, and Surfshark needs to do something similar. We’d like to see regular audits of the apps, too.

Thankfully, Surfshark has had another infrastructure audit now as of the start of 2026. Conducted by SecuRing, the testing wasn't as intensive as other audits we've seen, but found no major concerns.

It’s good to see any VPN provider have the courage to put itself through a public audit, but this can’t be a one-off event.

So, while it's not doing quite as much as other top VPNs in this regard, there's not a great deal to flaw Surfshark on here either.

Score: 4/5

Final verdict

(Image credit: Future / Gemini)

Surfshark is an excellent VPN. We rate it as the second best VPN for overall use. We also rate it as the best cheap VPN available.

We recommend the Surfshark Starter plan (from $1.99 per month) or Surfshark One (from $2.29 per month) which comes with antivirus built in. Both offer a 7-day free trial.

Surfshark is an excellent VPN. We rate it as the second best VPN for overall use. We also rate it as the best cheap VPN available.

We recommend the Surfshark Starter plan (from $1.99 per month) or Surfshark One (from $2.29 per month) which comes with antivirus built in. Both offer a 7-day free trial.

Who should use Surfshark?

✅ Anyone looking for cheap VPN: You can get two years of service for less than $70 total and there's a 7-day free trial which means you can try it out for nothing.

✅ People who want an antivirus product with their VPN: Surfshark is one of the few VPNs with a full antivirus system. None of NordVPN, Proton VPN nor ExpressVPN offer this. Make sure to sign up to Surfshark One or One+ for antivirus.

✅ P2P users looking for a good torrenting VPN: Surfshark gave us fast speeds when torrenting and is very easy to use.

Surfshark One – get the 7-day free trial

We rate Surfshark One as the best Surfshark plan. It's only a few dollars more than Starter and brings some worthwhile benefits:

✅ Full antivirus
✅ Data leak alerts
✅ Ad-free Surfshark search engine

Best of all, there's currently a 7-day free trial of Surfshark.View Deal

Who should try a different VPN instead?

❌ Streamers: Surfshark can certainly unblock most streaming services from abroad but it can be a little fiddly for some important ones like Disney Plus and ITV. NordVPN is better for streaming.

1. NordVPN – from $2.99 per month
The best VPN overall and best for streaming
If watching geo-blocked streaming services is the main reason you want a VPN, then NordVPN is a better choice than Surfshark. It's our #1 rated VPN overall and unblocked every streaming service in our tests at the first attempt. It's easy to use and excellent at everything else too. The only downside is that it's more expensive than Surfshark but you get what you pay for. Try it for yourself with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

Surfshark FAQsDoes Surfshark have a free trial?

Yes, a free 7-day trial is available to new users signing up to 1 and 2-year contracts for any of Surfshark's plans.

Is Surfshark VPN owned by China?

No. Surfshark was founded in 2018 by Vytautas Kaziukonis. It has offices in Lithuania and Poland, where the company remains today. Surfshark was registered in the British Virgin Islands until 2021 when its legal home was switched to the Netherlands.

Surfshark merged with NordVPN in 2022. The company offices are on the same campus in Vilnius, Lithuania, but remain separate from one another.

Is Surfshark VPN trusted?

Yes. Surfshark operates according to secure and trustworthy VPN practices. It uses a RAM-only server network and has an audited no-logs policy to prove that it does not collect of store user data. Surfshark has never had a hack or data leak. You can read more about this in the Track Record section of this review.

Is Surfshark blocked by Netflix?

No. We were able to access five different global Netflix libraries. These were Japan, USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Surfshark was able to unblock Netflix in these locations at the first time of trying – so without switching to any different servers and without changing any settings. (Read more about it in the Streaming section of this review.) We recommend Surfshark as a good VPN for watching Netflix wherever you go.

What are the downsides of Surfshark?

Even though Surfshark is excellent for unblocking Netflix streams, it's not quite as great for streaming as some other VPNs, such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

Is Surfshark legal in the US?

Yes. Surfshark is legal to use in the US and in all other locations where VPN use is not banned. VPN bans exist in countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia and a few other places. Find out more about where VPNs are banned.

Surfshark testing methodology

I’ve tested and written about VPNs for over five years. I’ve had Surfshark installed on my Windows PC and my mobile phone during that time along with nine other VPNs. Of those, Surfshark is my go-to VPN for my phone even when I'm not reviewing it.

I like the Android app and I particularly like having my Alternative ID at hand to copy into registration fields when I’m signing up for new sites and services. You can read my thoughts on Alternative ID in the Features section.

I use Surfshark most days and I update this review with my thoughts on the service and new Surfshark features each month. The latest this time is the Web Content Blocker tool which you can read about in the Features section too.

Our VPN test lab is where we put all VPNs through the same battery of tests to ensure a level playing field. Mike has been lab testing VPNs for over 11 years and has developed TechRadar’s VPN testing methodology over that time.

Read more our Surfshark testing methodology ▼

Each VPN is put through full lab testing every six months. As with all the VPNs, Surfshark has been tested for speed, ad-blocking, anti-phasing and malware, streaming service unblocking, local IP address leaks and the server network has been spot-checked to confirm that the VPN server locations are accurate.

As well as this, Surfshark’s privacy and security credentials have been checked in-lab by reading through the company’s privacy policy in detail and by looking through VPN configuration files and monitoring connection logs to ensure that each VPN protocol will operate appropriately.

Surfshark is my go-to VPN for my mobile phone even when I'm not reviewing it.

I have subjectively user tested the rest of Surfshark’s in-app privacy and security features on my own devices in real-world situations – on my mobile connection, on public Wi-Fi and on my home network too. These include Search, Autoconnect, Alert, and Alternative ID. You can read our findings in the Privacy and Security sections.

As with all of our VPN lab tests, Surfshark’s speed testing took place on our cloud PC set-up over a 10 Gbps line. We took 10 measurements from two different server locations (Dublin and Los Angeles) and recorded both local and transatlantic VPN connection speeds. We did this on both WireGuard (for a measure of the fastest speeds) and on OpenVPN (for those who wish to use a more secure connection).

Surfshark apps running on the four major operating systems in the TechRadar VPN lab. (Image credit: Future)

Our final scores are a median average of each set of 10 to avoid any skew from outlier data points. As with all VPN speed testing, it only provides a snapshot in time but, in our experience, it’s representative of average performance.

I’ve added my real-world user experience of Surfshark's speed performance to Mike’s results. You can read about both in the Speed section of this review

Mike tested Surfshark’s CleanWeb tool (anti-phishing and anti-malware) by exposing it to the 100 latest phishing and malware websites and seeing what percentage of these it could detect and block. You can see results in the Security section where I’ve added my thoughts on what it’s like to browse websites using CleanWeb, whether it makes a difference to the number of ads seen on pages, and whether it was able to reduce cookie consent pop-ups.

To test streaming service unblocking, Mike built a tool to sequentially run through a series of streaming platforms, as accessed from a different set of global locations. These include Netflix access to content libraries in Japan, the US, UK, Australia and Canada, access to Prime Video, Disney Plus, and local free streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV, Channel 4, 10Play, 9Now and more.

The streaming tool checks whether or not Surfshark is able to access these services from abroad. If it fails, we try to access these services using different servers or by making tweaks to Surfshark’s set-up. For us, there’s a big difference in usability between a VPN that we need to tweak and one which will offer access first time.

Surfshark has been tested for speed, ad-blocking, anti-phasing and malware, streaming service unblocking, local IP address leaks and the server network has been spot-checked

I do a lot of streaming from abroad using VPNs – particularly with services such as Peacock, Sling and FuboTV. I regularly use Surfshark on my Windows PC for this. You can read my thoughts about Surfshark’s streaming quality and consistency, as well as Mike’s lab results, in the Streaming section of this review.

Finally, and certainly not least for the lab testing, is kill switches. This is arguably the most important feature we test in the lab. Mike sets up software to record the reported IP address of his test devices and switches on the VPN. He then performs a series of ways to break the VPN’s operation and checks that the kill switch kicks in without registering any leaks of the lab’s actual IP address.

The last port of call in our Surfshark testing was to test out its customer support. Mike puts his VPN knowledge to some pretty fiendish use and approaches live chat and email support with a complicated but not impossible technical query. You can see how Surfshark did in our Customer Support section.

Do take a look at our VPN lab testing methodology for a more detailed idea of Mike’s process.

This review has been fact checked across the VPN team, as well as with information provided by Surfshark. We update this review each month to include any new Surfshark features, or information about the product, to make sure that what you’re reading is 100% up to date and as you would find the product if you downloaded and used it today.

If you notice anything in your experience of using Surfshark that does not tally with what you read on this page, please let us know in the comments, or by emailing us direct, and we will endeavour to provide you with product support information or include corrections and warnings to other users, depending on which is appropriate.