NordVPN's pricing page is organised by term length, and the two-year column carries the discounts. Basic is EUR 3.89 a month, billed as EUR 93.36 for the first 24 months against a list of EUR 278.16, and renews at EUR 139.08 a year. Complete, marked as the most popular, is EUR 4.89 a month, EUR 117.36 for the first 24 months against EUR 438.96, renewing at EUR 219.48 a year, and adds anti-malware and browsing protection powered by an antivirus engine, monitoring for email, phone, credit card and national ID data, call and message protection, an ad and tracker blocker, a password manager and 1 TB of storage. Ultimate Max is EUR 8.89 a month, EUR 213.36 for 24 months against EUR 676.56, renewing at EUR 338.28 a year, and adds a dedicated IP and cyber insurance covering up to EUR 5,000 for scams and identity-theft recovery. One-year terms are also published: Basic at EUR 5.49 a month and Complete at EUR 6.49 a month for the first year. Every plan carries a 30-day money-back guarantee. These figures were served in euros for an EU checkout.
TL;DR
NordVPN sells long terms at aggressive intro rates: Basic is EUR 3.89 a month billed as EUR 93.36 for 24 months and renews at EUR 139.08 a year, Complete is EUR 4.89 a month and renews at EUR 219.48 a year. Proton VPN sells a simpler two-product ladder: VPN Plus at $3.49 a month on a two-year term ($83.76 for the first 24 months, then $83.88 a year) and a genuinely usable free tier at one device and ten countries. The real differences are the free plan, the ecosystem around the VPN, and how each treats renewal.
Proton VPN keeps its ladder to three options and prices in dollars. The free plan is $0 with one device at a time, medium speed and servers in ten countries, chosen randomly. VPN Plus is $9.99 a month month-to-month, or $3.49 a month on the two-year plan, billed as $83.76 for the first 24 months and then renewing at $83.88 every 12 months; it covers ten devices at once, the full server estate of 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, streaming, P2P, an ad, tracker and malware blocker and priority support. Proton Unlimited is $7.99 a month on the two-year term, $191.76 for the first 24 months then $119.88 a year, and folds the VPN into the wider Proton suite: Mail, Pass, Drive and Calendar. Proton states a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.
Two things separate them beyond the price list. First, the free tier: Proton's is a real product with one device and ten countries and no time limit, while NordVPN's answer is a trial of the paid service. Second, ecosystem: NordVPN's upper tiers bundle a password manager, breach monitoring, antivirus-backed protection and storage, which makes Complete a security bundle rather than a VPN; Proton's upper tier bundles encrypted mail, passwords, storage and calendar instead, and the company's positioning leans on Swiss jurisdiction, open-source clients and published no-logs audits.
| Feature | NordVPN | Proton VPN |
|---|---|---|
| Free option | Trial of paid plans; no permanent free VPN tier | Free plan: 1 device, 10 countries, medium speed |
| Entry paid plan | Basic, EUR 3.89 a month on 2 years (EUR 93.36), renews EUR 139.08 a year | VPN Plus, $3.49 a month on 2 years ($83.76), renews $83.88 a year |
| Mid tier | Complete, EUR 4.89 a month on 2 years (EUR 117.36), renews EUR 219.48 a year | Proton Unlimited, $7.99 a month on 2 years ($191.76), renews $119.88 a year |
| Top tier | Ultimate Max, EUR 8.89 a month on 2 years (EUR 213.36), renews EUR 338.28 a year | Proton Unlimited covers the top of the consumer ladder |
| Month-to-month | Published on the 1-month term; the highest rate on the page | VPN Plus at $9.99 a month |
| Devices | Varies by plan and device type; confirm on the tier you buy | Ten devices on VPN Plus, one on the free plan |
| Bundle at the top | Antivirus-backed protection, breach monitoring, password manager, 1 TB storage, dedicated IP, cyber insurance | Encrypted mail, password manager, storage, calendar and docs |
| Operator | Nord Security | Proton, Swiss-based per its own site |
| Money back | 30-day money-back guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans |
Pick NordVPN if
Choose NordVPN if you want the lowest two-year entry rate and are happy to have breach monitoring, a password manager and storage arrive with the plan. Complete at EUR 4.89 a month for the first two years is the tier that does the most work, and the one-year terms give you a shorter commitment at EUR 5.49 and EUR 6.49 a month. Just price the renewal: EUR 219.48 a year is what Complete costs after the intro.
Pick Proton VPN if
Choose Proton VPN if you want to run the product before paying, or if privacy posture and jurisdiction matter more than bundled extras. The free plan at one device and ten countries is usable, and VPN Plus at $3.49 a month on two years covers ten devices with the full server estate. If you already pay for mail and storage elsewhere, Proton Unlimited at $7.99 a month can replace several subscriptions.
We did not collect an independent review corpus for this pair, so nothing above is user sentiment. Every price comes from the vendors' own pricing pages fetched on the date shown: NordVPN served euro prices for an EU checkout and Proton served US dollars.
Proton VPN, marginally, in the currencies quoted here: VPN Plus at $3.49 a month billed $83.76 for 24 months against NordVPN Basic at EUR 3.89 a month billed EUR 93.36. The two are close enough that currency and renewal terms matter more than the headline.
NordVPN's page lists renewals of EUR 139.08 a year for Basic, EUR 219.48 for Complete and EUR 338.28 for Ultimate Max. Proton VPN Plus renews at $83.88 every 12 months and Proton Unlimited at $119.88 a year. Both are step-ups from the intro rate, and both should be in your budget from year three.
No permanent free VPN tier is listed on its pricing page; the free route is a trial of the paid plans. Proton VPN runs a permanent free plan with one device, ten countries and medium speeds, which is the clearest structural difference between the two.
Proton VPN Plus allows ten devices at once, and the free plan allows one. NordVPN allows a device count that varies by plan and device type, so check the specific tier you are buying; its upper plans also add a dedicated IP option.
NordVPN's Ultimate Max adds a dedicated IP and cyber insurance of up to EUR 5,000 for scams and ID-theft recovery, on top of Complete's antivirus-backed browsing protection, monitoring, password manager and 1 TB storage. Proton's answer is Proton Unlimited, which adds Mail, Pass, Drive and Calendar rather than insurance products.
Yes on both. Proton lists VPN Plus at $9.99 a month month-to-month. NordVPN publishes a one-month term as well, at the highest rate on its page, and the one-year terms sit between the two extremes at EUR 5.49 and EUR 6.49 a month for the first year.
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