NordVPN vs Surfshark (2026): Same Owner, Different Deals

Surfshark is cheaper than NordVPN for the first term, and it is the only one of the two with unlimited devices. NordVPN costs more and renews at a published $139.08 a year. For that, you get Meshnet, Double VPN, Onion over VPN, a dedicated IP option and smart DNS for TVs. NordVPN has also had six independent no-logs audits since 2018. Both belong to Nord Security, and the choice is simpler than the marketing suggests.

The shared owner does not make them one product. They run separate apps, server fleets, protocols, prices and audit programs, and their incident records differ. The table above comes from our data records for both providers. The sections below explain what the rows mean and where the common owner matters.

Pricing today

We loaded NordVPN’s pricing page on 31 October 2026, during its Black Friday promotion. The offer read “78% off + 3 extra months”. The page listed three tiers on a 27-month term:

• Basic: $3.49 a month, or $94.23 billed up front. It renews at $139.08 a year.
• Complete: $3.99 a month, or $107.73 up front. It renews at $219.48 a year.
• Prime: $6.99 a month, or $188.73 up front. It renews at $296.28 a year.

The 15-month plans cost $4.99, $5.99 and $8.99 a month, which is $74.85, $89.85 and $134.85 up front. The monthly plans cost $14.99, $19.99 and $29.99. The 15-month plans renew at $139.08, $219.48 and $296.28 a year, the same as the 2-year plans.

Surfshark’s pricing page the same day showed its Starter and One tiers at the same Black Friday price. Both cost $2.49 a month for 27 months, or $67.23 up front. One+ cost $3.99 a month, or $107.73.

Two more Surfshark prices come from its own blog post explaining its plans, dated 22 September 2026. The 12-month Starter plan costs $3.39 a month, or $40.68. The monthly Starter plan costs $16.45. We used the blog post because the pricing page shows those prices only when it loads in a browser.

Surfshark does not publish its renewal price. The page says you will be charged “the applicable renewal price”, billed once a year after the first term. No official page we loaded states the number. NordVPN prints its renewal price next to every two-year plan.

Over the first term, the cheapest tiers are $27 apart: $94.23 against $67.23. Month to month, NordVPN is cheaper at $14.99 against $16.45.

Both accept cryptocurrency, but Surfshark does not offer it on phones or tablets. NordVPN also takes bank transfer, iDEAL, Twint, Klarna and prepaid cards bought with cash in selected shops.

Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first purchase only. Surfshark’s refund excludes prepaid and gift-card payments. It also excludes its Alternative ID and anonymous dedicated IP add-ons. It refunds cryptocurrency in the same coin.

Each offers a seven-day free trial. NordVPN’s covers its 1-year and 2-year Prime plans in listed countries. Surfshark’s covers its 12- and 24-month plans and is limited to three devices. Neither has a free tier. Both pages warn that sales tax or VAT may be added. The full plan lists, with every renewal figure, are on our NordVPN pricing page and Surfshark pricing page.

Privacy and audits

Both services belong to Nord Security. NordVPN is run by nordvpn S.A. under Panamanian law. Panama is outside the 5, 9 and 14 Eyes alliances, which are groups of countries that share intelligence. NordVPN’s help center says the parent company is based in the Netherlands.

Surfshark is run by Surfshark B.V. from Kabelweg 57 in Amsterdam. That places it inside the 9 Eyes alliance. Its about page says the two companies merged under one holding company in 2022 “while operating independently”. In practice, they have separate privacy policies, server fleets and audit programs, with one owner behind both. If you want a second VPN so you don’t depend on a single company, these two don’t give you that.

Both run every server in RAM only. A RAM-only server keeps data in memory instead of on a disk, so it is wiped whenever the server restarts. Both publish transparency reports, which list the government requests they receive. Both are also retiring their warrant canaries. A warrant canary is a public statement that a company has not received a secret government order.

NordVPN says it keeps only an email address, a username and a transaction ID for refunds. Surfshark’s policy, updated 12 October 2026, lists account data, billing data and aggregated diagnostics. The billing data is a partial card number, the card’s expiry date and the payer’s country. The policy says connection details held for a short time on a server are deleted within 15 minutes of the session ending.

NordVPN has by far the longer audit record. It has had six no-logs assurance engagements. In each one, an outside firm checked whether NordVPN’s systems match its no-logs promise. PwC did the first two, in 2018 and 2020. Deloitte did the next four, in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The latest was completed on 12 December 2025. Surfshark has two Deloitte no-logs reports, dated 25 January 2023 and 16 June 2025. For both providers, the reports are open only to logged-in customers.

Both also have audits of their apps and infrastructure. NordVPN cites Cure53 assessments in 2022, 2024 and 2025 and a VerSprite audit in 2019. Surfshark cites SecuRing penetration tests of its apps in 2025 and its infrastructure in December 2025. A penetration test is an attempt by hired experts to break into a system. Surfshark also cites Cure53 audits of its browser extensions in 2018, its server configuration in 2021 and its Dausos protocol in March 2026.

NordVPN has two documented incidents. In March 2018, someone broke into a server NordVPN rented in a Finnish datacenter. NordVPN disclosed it in October 2019. In October 2024, NordVPN handed over the user data it held under a Panamanian warrant. Its transparency report records this as one order that resulted in disclosure.

Surfshark has no documented incidents. Its transparency report for July to September 2026 lists 23 government inquiries. It lists zero warrants, zero national security letters and zero gag orders.

Security and protocols

A protocol is the set of rules a VPN uses to build its encrypted connection. NordVPN’s default is NordLynx, its own version of WireGuard. It also offers OpenVPN over UDP or TCP, IKEv2 and NordWhisper. NordWhisper is the protocol its obfuscated servers now run. Obfuscation disguises VPN traffic so that networks that block VPNs are less likely to spot it. NordVPN’s post-quantum key exchange is a setting you switch on, and it works only with NordLynx. Post-quantum encryption is designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers.

Surfshark offers WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2, plus Dausos, its own AEGIS-256X2 protocol. When we checked, Dausos was available only in the macOS app. Surfshark switches post-quantum protection on by default for WireGuard and Dausos. Cure53 ran a white-box audit of Dausos in February and March 2026, which means the auditors could see its code. It reported no critical or high findings in the protocol itself.

A kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN connection drops. Both have one on desktop and mobile, but the details differ. NordVPN’s protection depends on the platform:

• Windows: an internet kill switch and an app kill switch
• Linux and Android: a system-wide kill switch
• macOS and iOS: what NordVPN calls “VPN bypass prevention”, in the App Store versions
• Fire TV Stick: no kill switch

Surfshark’s kill switch runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, with soft and strict modes.

Split tunneling lets you choose which apps or sites skip the VPN. Apple users should check this row closely. NordVPN offers split tunneling on Windows, Android and Android TV only. Surfshark’s version, Bypasser, works on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. On Windows it works with apps, websites and IP addresses. On Android it also has a reverse mode.

Both offer the same main extras under different names:

• Multi-hop, which sends your traffic through two servers: Double VPN at NordVPN and Dynamic MultiHop at Surfshark
• Obfuscation: NordWhisper obfuscated servers at NordVPN, and obfuscated servers plus NoBorders mode at Surfshark
• A dedicated IP add-on, which gives you an address that only you use
• An ad and tracker blocker: Threat Protection Pro at NordVPN and CleanWeb at Surfshark

NordVPN adds Onion over VPN and Meshnet. Surfshark adds Rotating IP and Everlink.

Port forwarding lets other devices reach yours through the VPN. Neither offers it as part of the VPN. NordVPN has it only through its separate Dedicated Server add-on. Surfshark says in a 9 September 2026 blog post that it does not support it.

IPv6 is the newer type of internet address, and neither provider gives a clear answer on it. NordVPN’s help center says “we do not support IPv6 yet”. No NordVPN page states whether the apps block it. Surfshark’s security page says its apps block IPv6 leaks. But its help center recommends disabling IPv6 on the device. Run our IPv6 leak test after connecting with either.

Streaming claims

Surfshark’s streaming page lists Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Hulu and Crunchyroll. It adds that results may vary. NordVPN’s VPN pages make no claim for any single service. Its SmartDNS help article lists Netflix Originals, Paramount+, Peacock and the US versions of Prime Video, Disney+ and MAX.

The practical difference is the smart DNS feature itself. Smart DNS helps a device that cannot run a VPN app reach streaming services. NordVPN includes SmartPlay for TVs and consoles that cannot run an app. Surfshark discontinued its SmartDNS service on 2 February 2026. As a result, Samsung Tizen and LG webOS televisions now need a router setup to use Surfshark.

We have not tested streaming on either service. Treat both lists as the providers’ documented claims, and use the 30-day refund as your test window. Our Netflix VPN picks show how each one stands today.

Apps and devices

Both have apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. Both also cover Android TV, Fire TV and Apple TV. Both support routers by manual setup and offer extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. NordVPN’s Fire TV app does not run on first- and second-generation Fire TV Sticks. Surfshark’s Apple TV app needs tvOS 17 or later, and its Fire TV app covers Vega OS.

The biggest difference is the device limit. NordVPN allows 10 simultaneous connections on every tier. Surfshark allows unlimited connections.

NordVPN publishes the code of its Linux app on GitHub, but its other apps are closed. No Surfshark app is open source. Open-source code lets anyone check what an app does.

NordVPN’s network is larger on paper: 7,242 servers in 150 countries, against Surfshark’s 4,500-plus in 100. Both use virtual locations, which are servers that appear to be in one country but sit in another. Neither count says anything about speed, which we have not yet tested in our lab.

Support and refunds

Both run 24/7 live chat, email support and large help centers. We have not measured response times for either. Refunds follow the same 30-day rule for first purchases made directly. If you bought NordVPN through the App Store, Apple handles the refund under its own terms. Surfshark allows one refund per service and excludes the payment types listed above. Cancellation steps are in our NordVPN cancellation guide and Surfshark cancellation guide.

Which should you buy?

Buy Surfshark if you are covering a household. It has three clear advantages: unlimited devices, the lower first-term price and split tunneling on macOS and iOS. Its incident record is also clean.

Buy NordVPN if you want the extras:

• Meshnet, for linking your own devices
• Onion over VPN
• A dedicated IP
• Smart DNS for a TV without an app
• A published renewal price
• A monthly plan that costs less than Surfshark’s

Check the renewal price before you decide. NordVPN’s $139.08 a year is steep, but it is printed on the page. We could not find Surfshark’s renewal price anywhere. If you buy Surfshark, set a reminder before the first 27 months end.

One company owns both, so neither is a true backup for the other. If that matters to you, the alternatives below come from different owners.

Alternatives

• Proton VPN has open-source apps, a free tier and a renewal price that stays at $83.88 a year. Compare it in NordVPN vs Proton VPN and Proton VPN vs Surfshark.
• ExpressVPN publishes its renewal price and offers split tunneling on every platform. See ExpressVPN vs NordVPN and ExpressVPN vs Surfshark.
• Private Internet Access adds port forwarding and open-source apps. See Private Internet Access vs Surfshark.
• Mullvad charges a flat €5 a month, with no introductory price to renew from. See Mullvad vs NordVPN.

Every provider we track is on the comparison hub.

How we compared them

Every row in the table comes from our data records for the two providers. We verified them against the official pricing, feature, server, policy and audit pages on 31 October 2026. The sources are listed below. Scores follow our published methodology. Speed is left out until our lab measures it. The figures shown above change whenever the data does. For the detail behind each line, read the full NordVPN review and Surfshark review. For today’s verified prices, see the NordVPN deals and Surfshark deals pages.