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Neither ProtonVPN nor NordVPN is the right choice for everyone. Both companies’ paid plans allow ten simultaneous devices, so the decision usually comes down to three things: what you pay after the introductory period, which extras your plan bundles, and how much weight you give to published audit evidence. NordVPN publishes concrete promotional prices in the sources reviewed for this article. Proton’s pricing page displayed figures that could not be relied on, so this comparison can only price NordVPN.
What NordVPN currently charges
NordVPN’s official pricing page, as it appeared on October 7, 2026, advertises two-year offers on three plans. The page displays the following figures:
| Plan | Advertised monthly price | Displayed first-27-month total |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $3.49/month | $94.23 |
| Complete | $4.49/month | $121.23 |
| Prime | $7.49/month | $202.23 |
Each total equals the monthly figure multiplied by 27, which is how the page presents the offer. The page notes that sales tax may apply, lists a 30-day money-back guarantee, and states ten simultaneous connections. It does not show the price that applies after the introductory term, so the cost of staying subscribed beyond the offer period cannot be read from that page. Treat these numbers as promotional figures that can differ by region and checkout, and confirm the total and renewal terms in your own checkout before you pay.
NordVPN’s September 25, 2026 bundle explainer adds that plan names can vary by region. It describes higher tiers as adding antivirus, password management, breach scanning and cloud storage. Confirm which of these your local plan includes.
#1 Best Overall
- 【Five Gigabit Ports】1 Gigabit WAN Port plus 2 Gigabit WAN/LAN Ports plus 2 Gigabit LAN Port. Up to 3 WAN ports optimize bandwidth usage through one device.
- 【One USB WAN Port】Mobile broadband via 4G/3G modem is supported for WAN backup by connecting to the USB port. For complete list of compatible 4G/3G modems, please visit TP-Link website.
- 【Abundant Security Features】Advanced firewall policies, DoS defense, IP/MAC/URL filtering, speed test and more security functions protect your network and data.
- 【Highly Secure VPN】Supports up to 20× LAN-to-LAN IPsec, 16× OpenVPN, 16× L2TP, and 16× PPTP VPN connections.
- Security - SPI Firewall, VPN Pass through, FTP/H.323/PPTP/SIP/IPsec ALG, DoS Defence, Ping of Death and Local Management. Standards and Protocols IEEE 802.3, 802.3u, 802.3ab, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.1q
What Proton charges and what its free plan offers
Proton’s official pricing page compares three options: Free, VPN Plus and Proton Unlimited. It lists a 30-day money-back guarantee. When the page was checked, its dynamic price figures appeared as placeholders or as inconsistent values, so no exact Proton price is quoted here. Open the live pricing page for your region, select a plan, and read the checkout total and renewal terms directly.
Proton says its Free plan has no bandwidth limits and no ads. That is the company’s own description of the plan, not an independent finding.
Rank #2
- 【AC1200 Dual-band Wireless Router】Simultaneous dual-band with wireless speed up to 300 Mbps (2.4GHz) + 867 Mbps (5GHz). 2.4GHz band can handles some simple tasks like emails or web browsing while bandwidth intensive tasks such as gaming or 4K video streaming can be handled by the 5GHz band.*Speed tests are conducted on a local network. Real-world speeds may differ depending on your network configuration.*
- 【Easy Setup】Please refer to the User Manual and the Unboxing & Setup video guide on Amazon for detailed setup instructions and methods for connecting to the Internet.
- 【Pocket-friendly】Lightweight design(145g) which designed for your next trip or adventure. Alongside its portable, compact design makes it easy to take with you on the go.
- 【Full Gigabit Ports】Gigabit Wireless Internet Router with 2 Gigabit LAN ports and 1 Gigabit WAN ports, ideal for lots of internet plan and allow you to connect your wired devices directly.
- 【Keep your Internet Safe】IPv6 supported. OpenVPN & WireGuard pre-installed, compatible with 30+ VPN service providers. Cloudflare encryption supported to protect the privacy.
What each plan includes
Bundled features are the most common source of confusion when comparing these services, because a tier’s name does not tell you what is included. The table below separates what the sources state from what they leave open.
| Feature | NordVPN | Proton |
|---|---|---|
| Plans shown | Basic, Complete, Prime (names can vary by region) | Free, VPN Plus, Proton Unlimited |
| Ad or malware blocking | Not in Basic; added in higher tiers, according to Proton’s comparison page | Not stated |
| Antivirus, password management, breach scanning, cloud storage | Higher tiers, according to NordVPN’s September 25, 2026 bundle explainer | Not stated |
| Streaming and P2P | Not stated | Paid tiers, according to Proton’s pricing and download pages; streaming is listed as a VPN Plus or Proton Unlimited feature |
| Simultaneous devices | Ten | Ten on paid plans |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Server footprint | Not stated | More than 20,000 servers in more than 140 countries, per Proton’s download page; Proton notes these counts can change |
If ad or malware blocking matters to you, the NordVPN Basic tier is the one to avoid, based on Proton’s own comparison. That claim comes from a competitor, so confirm it on NordVPN’s current plan page.
Rank #3
- New-Gen WiFi Standard – WiFi 6(802.11ax) standard supporting MU-MIMO and OFDMA technology for better efficiency and throughput.Antenna : External antenna x 4. Processor : Dual-core (4 VPE). Power Supply : AC Input : 110V~240V(50~60Hz), DC Output : 12 V with max. 1.5A current.
- Ultra-fast WiFi Speed – RT-AX1800S supports 1024-QAM for dramatically faster wireless connections
- Increase Capacity and Efficiency – Supporting not only MU-MIMO but also OFDMA technique to efficiently allocate channels, communicate with multiple devices simultaneously
- 5 Gigabit ports – One Gigabit WAN port and four Gigabit LAN ports, 10X faster than 100–Base T Ethernet.
- Commercial-grade Security Anywhere – Protect your home network with AiProtection Classic, powered by Trend Micro. And when away from home, ASUS Instant Guard gives you a one-click secure VPN.
Privacy and audit transparency
Audit claims are where the two companies’ positions differ most, and where it is easiest to mix up a vendor’s own description with an independent finding. The table separates who is making each statement.
| Claim | Where it appears | Who makes it | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proton’s apps are open source and regularly audited, and Proton publishes full audit results | Proton’s feature page | Proton, about its own service | A company statement. This article did not verify the audits. |
| Proton offers a kill switch, Secure Core and censorship-related features | Proton’s feature page | Proton, about its own service | A description of features, not a test of how they perform. |
| NordVPN has had no-logs assurance engagements, and the reports are available only to customers | Proton’s comparison page | Proton, a competitor | A competitor’s characterization. The sources reviewed do not allow a like-for-like audit assessment. |
In practice, a publicly available audit report, a report that only customers can read, and a company’s own statement about its privacy are three different levels of evidence. This article does not quote NordVPN’s own description of its audits, so readers who weigh audits heavily should read both companies’ published material directly.
Rank #4
- 【DUAL BAND WIFI 7 TRAVEL ROUTER】Products with US, UK, EU, AU Plug; Dual band network with wireless speed 688Mbps (2.4G)+2882Mbps (5G); Dual 2.5G Ethernet Ports (1x WAN and 1x LAN Port); USB 3.0 port.
- 【NETWORK CONTROL WITH TOUCHSCREEN SIMPLICITY】Slate 7’s touchscreen interface lets you scan QR codes for quick Wi-Fi, monitor speed in real time, toggle VPN on/off, and switch providers directly on the display. Color-coded indicators provide instant network status updates for Ethernet, Tethering, Repeater, and Cellular modes, offering a seamless, user-friendly experience.
- 【OpenWrt 23.05 FIRMWARE】The Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) is a high-performance Wi-Fi 7 travel router, built with OpenWrt 23.05 (Kernel 5.4.213) for maximum customization and advanced networking capabilities. With 512MB storage, total customization with open-source freedom and flexible installation of OpenWrt plugins.
- 【VPN CLIENT & SERVER】OpenVPN and WireGuard are pre-installed, compatible with 30+ VPN service providers (active subscription required). Simply log in to your existing VPN account with our portable wifi device, and Slate 7 automatically encrypts all network traffic within the connected network. Max. VPN speed of 100 Mbps (OpenVPN); 540 Mbps (WireGuard). *Speed tests are conducted on a local network. Real-world speeds may differ depending on your network configuration.*
- 【PERFECT PORTABLE WIFI ROUTER FOR TRAVEL】The Slate 7 is an ideal portable internet device perfect for international travel. With its mini size and travel-friendly features, the pocket Wi-Fi router is the perfect companion for travelers in need of a secure internet connectivity on the go in which includes hotels or cruise ships.
Speed and performance
NordVPN reports that Artifact Security’s 2026 VPN performance test gave it an overall score of 91 and a Platinum rating. According to NordVPN, five providers were tested against speed, leak protection, website accessibility, feature reliability and connection time. This is NordVPN’s account of an external test, not an independent review of the report, and no comparable Proton figure is cited. Written as a citation, the figure reads: 91 overall score — Artifact Security, 2026 VPN performance test, as reported by NordVPN in 2026. It should not be read as a general claim about speed for every user.
Speed depends on your location, the server you connect to, your device and the time of day. To compare the two on your own connection, you can run a simple check:
Best Value
- Next-Gen Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Speeds: 2402 Mbps on 5 GHz and 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz bands ensure smoother streaming and faster downloads; support VPN server and VPN client¹
- A More Responsive Experience: Enjoy smooth gaming, video streaming, and live feeds simultaneously. OFDMA makes your Wi-Fi stronger by allowing multiple clients to share one band at the same time, cutting latency and jitter.²
- Expanded Wi-Fi Coverage: 4 high-gain external antennas and Beamforming technology combine to extend strong, reliable, Wi-Fi throughout your home.
- Improved Battery Life: Target Wake Time helps your devices to communicate efficiently while consuming less power.
- Improved Cooling Design: No heat ups, no throttles. A larger heat sink and redefined case design cools the WiFi 6 system and enables your network to stay at top speeds in more versatile environments.
- Run a speed test on your normal connection at a fixed time of day and record download speed, upload speed and ping.
- Connect to a server near you in each service and repeat the test three times.
- Connect to a server in a distant country and repeat the test.
- Compare the averages, and repeat the whole exercise at a different time of day before drawing a conclusion.
Streaming and censorship circumvention
Proton lists streaming as a feature of its VPN Plus and Proton Unlimited plans, and it describes Secure Core and other censorship-related features on its feature page. Neither company’s material establishes whether a particular streaming service will work from a particular location, on a particular server, on a given day. Streaming catalogues and platform blocking change frequently, so check the service you care about directly.
Both companies offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, which gives you a window to test this. Connect to the servers you need during that period, and request a refund under the terms in your checkout if the service does not work for you.
Quick Recap
Which one to choose
- Choose NordVPN if you want a clearly advertised promotional price and bundled extras such as password management and cloud storage in higher tiers, and you are prepared to check the renewal price before you buy.
- Choose Proton if you want to try a free tier first, need streaming or P2P on a paid plan, and place weight on Proton’s published audit statements. Check the live paid price in your region before deciding.
- Choose a NordVPN higher tier if you need built-in ad or malware blocking, since the Basic tier lacks it according to Proton’s comparison.
- Compare on total cost if your budget is tight. Put both checkout totals in the same currency, include tax, and add the renewal price for the period you expect to use the service.
Before you pay, work through these checks:
- Open NordVPN’s pricing page, select your region and note the checkout total, including any tax.
- Find the renewal price in the checkout terms and write it down next to the introductory total.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 on Proton’s pricing page for the plan you are considering.
- Confirm which bundled features your local plan includes, since names and inclusions vary.
- Use the 30-day money-back window to test the streaming services and devices you rely on.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
