TorGuard vs NordVPN: Side-by-Side Comparison

It can be difficult to know what to look for in a VPN. At first glance, many VPN providers may look the same, particularly when they all claim to have fast speeds and plenty of extra features. You can’t be expected to test every VPN for yourself as it would be time-consuming (not to mention costly). It’s with this in mind that we compare popular VPN providers side-by-side. This time, we’re taking a close look at TorGuard and NordVPN.

Our VPN comparison starts with us fully testing each VPN’s apps. From here, we’re able to explore all of their features, comparing and contrasting what each VPN provider has to offer. For the most comprehensive comparison of TorGuard and NordVPN, we run tests to find out their server speeds and even their response time to emails. All of this is laid out in helpful side-by-side comparison tables to help you determine which VPN best fits your needs.

Summary: TorGuard vs NordVPN

TorGuard vs NordVPN pricing and discounts

TorGuard and NordVPN offer no shortage of options when it comes to their VPN subscriptions. NordVPN has monthly, annual, and two year plans, but TorGuard provides even greater flexibility. TorGuard offers three month, six month, and three year plans. The longer you commit to either VPN, the more you can save in the long run.

The advantage of a one month subscription plan is that although you pay more for a single month, you can cancel at short notice without having to pay a large sum up front. A one month subscription with NordVPN costs $12.99 (Standard plan). This is slightly cheaper with TorGuard at $9.99. Both VPNs have more expensive subscription tiers however.

NordVPN’s longest subscription and biggest potential discount is its 2-year plan. You can save 64 percent and pay just $6.99 per month ($167.76 in all) with its Ultimate plan. This includes malware protection, an ad and tracker blocker, password manager, data breach scanner, encrypted cloud storage, and more.

Although TorGuard also has a 2-year option, its biggest offer is its 3-year Anonymous VPN plan, which costs $3.88 each month ($139.99 total). This is as affordable as it gets on a monthly basis. NordVPN offers a similarly priced subscription albeit over two years when you opt for its Standard plan. This costs $3.99 a month ($95.76 total).

One of the biggest differences between TorGard and NordVPN is that NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee which is pretty standard for most VPNs nowadays. Unfortunately, TorGuard only gives you seven days to get a refund, but this should still be more than enough time to get an idea of whether it’s the right VPN for you. Try either VPN risk-free and receive a full refund if you’re not satisfied.

Best Deal for TorGuard: Pay just $3.88 a month ($139.99 total) with the TorGuard three year subscription, a saving of 60 percent.

Best Deal for NordVPN: Save 64 percent when you choose the NordVPN 2-year Ultimate plan and pay just $6.99 a month ($167.76).

TorGuard vs NordVPN features

You’ll find desktop (Windows, MacOS, and Linux) and mobile (Android and iOS) apps for both TorGuard and NordVPN. Both offer Chrome and Firefox browser extensions as well (remember that a browser extension only secures your web traffic and not other apps). NordVPN also makes an Amazon Fire TV app as well as an extension for Edge browser.

It’s possible to connect up to six devices simultaneously with a single NordVPN account. TorGuard allows as many as eight simultaneous connections ( 12 if you choose its Anonymous VPN Pro plan). However, if you manually configure a connection with a VPN-compatible router, you can connect as many devices as you like at the same time with either VPN.

If you’d like to be able to choose which apps can bypass the VPN (such as streaming apps if you desire faster speeds and don’t require as much security), then check out split tunneling. Split tunneling, a.k.a. selective routing, is only available via TorGuard’s Android app. NordVPN offers the feature on Windows, Android, and Android TV. It even has URL-based split tunneling via its browser extensions.

Both VPNs provide ad and malware blocking although NordVPN also lists tracker blocking among its many features. NordVPN has a number of specialty servers as well including those optimized for P2P file-sharing, and for two or more layers of encryption (Double VPN, Onion Over VPN).

Of the two VPNs, only TorGuard offers port forwarding, which frequent torrenters might find useful.

Streaming capabilities

Some online content is only available in certain countries. When you attempt to access it from abroad, you’ll either see some sort of region-locked message or be redirected to your current country’s version of the website or service. You’re more likely to notice geographic restrictions on content when traveling abroad as you attempt to access your usual websites and services. Geo-blocking is particularly common with streaming platforms due to copyright and licensing.

NordVPN is one of the strongest, most reliable unblockers of content, as evidenced by the fact that it worked with every streaming service we tested it with. It’s compatible with multiple Netflix libraries (the US and UK included), Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more. Some versions of DAZN prove a problem but it’s still the best VPN for DAZN and works with multiple countries’ libraries.

Unfortunately, TorGuard didn’t perform as well. Perhaps that’s just not where its area of focus is. You might have better luck with one of TorGuard’s dedicated streaming IP addresses. However, they cost an extra $7.99 USD a month, which is a lot to pay when you can just access many streaming platforms on NordVPN’s base subscription.

Evading VPN censorship (China)

Some countries with strict internet censorship and in which citizens have little to no internet freedom restrict access to VPNs. The country with arguably the toughest measures is China. The Great Firewall uses a variety of methods to prevent the use of VPNs that aren’t government approved. The web is censored through IP address blocking, DNS tampering, and URL filtering.

Many VPNs fail to work in countries like China as a result. TorGuard and NordVPN both work in China. TorGuard allows you to filter its server list for its Stealth Servers. NordVPN has obfuscated servers, but you’ll need to go to its settings page and select the OpenVPN TCP protocol to access them. In both cases, the servers disguise VPN traffic as regular web traffic in order to bypass China’s deep packet inspection.

In order to use either VPN in China, you should first have the VPN downloaded and installed on your device before traveling there. Both VPNs’ websites are blocked in the country.

Setup and interface

Whether you opt for TorGuard or NordVPN, the signup and setup process is much the same and can be done in a matter of minutes. Both VPNs require an email address. If you’d like to sign up anonymously, your best bet is using a burner email. The installation of apps is made easier by the fact that both VPNs have an automatic setup wizard for their desktop and mobile apps.

The desktop apps of TorGuard and NordVPN could both use some work. TorGuard’s desktop app is simple enough in its presentation (it looks much the same as the mobile app) so it’s not too hard to find your way around. However, it just doesn’t feel very responsive or user-friendly. Connecting to a server requires scrolling down the list of locations, clicking on the location, and then clicking the connect button. It would be nice if clicking the location connected automatically.

TorGuard’s desktop app lets you sort servers by proximity and usage, as well as filter them by region or type (Stealth, Dedicated IP, favorites). Unfortunately, the settings page is far from beginner-friendly. It’s not well organized and the lack of explanations combined with some advanced settings make it less suitable for beginners. It’s also strange that when connected to a server, the settings menu disappears entirely from view.

NordVPN’s desktop app certainly packs a lot more information into its default view and, if anything, feels a little cluttered, particularly with the server map. There are also various features packed into the sidebar. However, the app is responsive and NordVPN’s settings page is a lot easier on the eye than that of TorGuard.

Fortunately, the mobile apps of TorGuard and NordVPN are much better. Not only are they more responsive, they’re easier to navigate. However, NordVPN still suffers from trying to show too much at once with its server map and many features. With seemingly fewer settings to potentially configure in TorGuard’s mobile app, it’s a lot less complicated, although there are fewer options for filtering servers compared to the desktop app.

Servers and performance

NordVPN’s server count is twice that of TorGuard although they cover a similar number of countries (50 and 60 respectively). NordVPN has more servers because it’s a far bigger, more recognized provider with far more subscribers. Both VPNs’ server loads aren’t too high because the quantity and capacity of servers is proportional to the number of users served.

You’ll find that TorGuard and NordVPN both cover the most popular locations such as the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. But if you want a server in Colombia, Croatia, Malaysia, or New Zealand, then you’ll want NordVPN. Keep in mind though that TorGuard is the only one of the two with servers in India and Russia. Either way, both VPNs provide enough servers in enough locations that there’s usually a fast server nearby for a fast and consistent connection.

NordVPN has consistently proven to be one of the fastest VPNs. In our latest tests, it averaged 300 Mbps. TorGuard is nowhere near as fast as this, averaging 110 Mbps. This is still perfectly reasonable even for streaming and torrenting. It’s just that TorGuard’s average was hurt by its very slow servers in Tokyo, Japan where I often had speeds of just 4–8 Mbps.

Country list

Here’s the full list of countries in which TorGuard and NordVPN offer servers:

Security

TorGuard and NordVPN both give you a choice of VPN protocols. TorGuard’s default protocol is WireGuard which, thanks to its very lightweight codebase, is very fast and efficient (suitable for more bandwidth intensive activities such as streaming and torrenting).

NordVPN has a proprietary protocol called NordLynx which is actually built around WireGuard and therefore just as fast based on our extensive speed tests. NordLynx and WireGuard have both been independently audited but only WireGuard is actually open source.

When you connect to a TorGuard or NordVPN server, your data is routed through a 256-bit AES encrypted tunnel, securing it from hackers and snoopers. This is considered to be virtually uncrackable. While TorGuard uses the standard 2048-bit keys, NordVPN’s keys are twice as long (4096-bit) with the trade-off that, although more secure, are slower to process.

Both TorGuard and NordVPN protect you from DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leaks and provide a kill switch on their Windows, Mac, and iOS apps (although not available for Android, it can be replicated in Android’s security settings). This feature protects your device from leaks by cutting your internet traffic in the event that the VPN connection drops, be it due to switching wifi networks or a power cut).

Privacy

It’s worth knowing where your VPN is headquartered based on that country’s privacy laws (and whether it has any mandatory data retention requirements). NordVPN operates out of Panama which has no data retention laws and is outside of the jurisdiction of the 14 Eyes intelligence alliance. The same can’t be said for TorGuard, which is headquartered in the US, a Five Eyes member.

More important than where these VPNs are headquartered is whether they keep any logs. The reason for this is that, provided they don’t keep logs, there shouldn’t be anything of substance to provide to authorities even if requested. Fortunately, TorGuard operates a comprehensive no-logs policy.

TorGuard is actually the more thorough of the two in that it doesn’t keep any logs. NordVPN does keep some logs including device identifiers, timestamp of your last session, and the model and operating system of your device. However, unlike TorGuard, NordVPN has subjected its no-logs policy to regular independent audits.

You don’t need to provide much information when signing up for either VPN but an email address is required, which is pretty common for VPNs. This makes it easier for the VPN to help you if you need to reset your password, for example. However, there are some VPNs that don’t require an email at all because they use a token system, allowing for a greater degree of privacy.

It’s good to see that the two VPNs provide a couple of different anonymous payment methods. TorGuard and NordVPN accept payment in cryptocurrency. TorGuard also accepts gift cards although this is only available with select US retailers. NordVPN offers a subscription box in stores across the US, Canada, and Europe. This physical box contains an activation card which you can use to pay for your subscription. Provided you pay for the subscription box in cash, it’s a great way to sign up anonymously.

Configuration

TorGuard and NordVPN assign users shared IP addresses. When you connect to a server, you’re assigned an IP address that’s shared with other users on that server. All user activity passing through the server is all mixed up under a single IP address. As such, the IP address can’t be tied to a specific user, which is advantageous for privacy reasons.

TorGuard and NordVPN both offer dedicated IP addresses. In the case of TorGuard, a dedicated IP address costs an extra $7.99 a month. NordVPN offers this feature for quite a bit less at $4.19 a month. This is useful to have because you can bypass blacklisting as well as annoying CAPTCHAs, and the IP address never changes.

Most VPNs don’t offer specific DDoS protection. However, when you connect to a VPN, you’re assigned a different IP address. If someone was to target that IP address, it would be the VPN server that’s affected. You’d then only need to switch servers to carry on as normal. So a VPN still provides a layer of security in that sense.

Customer service

If you need help when using TorGuard or NordVPN, they provide live chat and email support around the clock. However, live chat support is not available 24/7 in the case of TorGuard. Neither provides support by phone although that’s highly unusual for VPNs anyway. If you prefer to troubleshoot an issue yourself, you can always search their respective knowledge bases, which include setup guides, FAQs, and more.

TorGuard and NordVPN even have YouTube channels, although TorGuard isn’t anywhere near as active and hasn’t uploaded in over five years. NordVPN has uploaded multiple times in recent days at time of writing. It should be said however that TorGuard does have a support forum accessible via its website so you can always find the information you need there.

In order to provide an idea of the speed and quality of customer support provided by TorGuard and NordVPN, I sent each provider three emails. The emails were all sent out on different days at different times of day (morning, afternoon, and evening).

TorGuard was very fast to reply to emails with replies in just six minutes and two minutes for a couple of emails. A 9 hour wait for the other email brought the average response time down to just over 3 hours but still, it’s very fast. Replies were clear and concise and certainly answered my questions.

NordVPN took a lot longer to reply to emails (just over 10 hours on average) but their replies were no less impressive. Indeed, they generally provided longer, more detailed responses than TorGuard, often also including relevant links for further information.

The Winner: NordVPN

TorGuard has its advantages as a VPN service. It’s certainly not short on features, providing an ad blocker, port forwarding, and Stealth connections for navigating internet censorship. It’s also highly secure and has good quality customer support with very fast response times to emails.

Despite TorGuard’s benefits, it’s NordVPN that comes out comfortably on top in this VPN comparison. It provides twice the number of servers (covering 10 more countries), significantly faster server speeds, and is a much stronger unblocker of content. What’s more, NordVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee (compared to the 7 days of TorGuard), providing plenty of time for you to try it out risk-free.

VPN testing methodology: How we compared TorGuard and NordVPN

We have a specific set of criteria that we look for in a VPN and this helps us not only decide if a VPN is up to par, but also how one VPN compares to another (or even against multiple VPNs). Below, we go into a little more detail regarding our testing methodology:

• Server network: The total number of servers a VPN offers doesn’t matter a great deal. What’s more important is the ratio of servers to the number of users. Plenty of low load servers suggests a VPN has a healthy server to user ratio. More important still is server locations because it impacts the content you can and can’t access when using a VPN.
• Server speed: Our speed tests help create an average download speed for each VPN, to better understand the level of performance offered. This helps you determine if it’s the right VPN for your needs, particularly if you plan on using it for streaming or torrenting. All of the VPNs we recommend offer unlimited bandwidth and fast VPN protocols.
• Unblocking: An area in which VPNs can vary significantly is their unblocking ability. Some VPNs really struggle to bypass the restrictions of popular streaming services, for example. We tested TorGuard and NordVPN against a number of popular platforms to get an idea of what they’re capable of so that you won’t have any surprises.
• Security: A VPN that doesn’t properly encrypt your data and exposes it to leaks is worth avoiding. The trouble is that such VPNs aren’t always immediately obvious until it’s too late. In order to prevent you from having to take an unnecessary risk with a VPN, we check to ensure they use industry standard encryption and don’t leak any data.
• Privacy: Some VPNs keep logs and sell the data to third parties (or otherwise share it with authorities upon request). It’s therefore essential that the VPN you choose doesn’t keep any logs by which you can be identified as a user. We’ve studied 140 VPN logging policies (TorGuard and Mullvad included) to find those that take user privacy seriously.
• Ease of use: We’ve tested each VPN’s apps for ourselves to determine just how user-friendly they are. This may be your first time using a VPN in which case you probably don’t want it to be unnecessarily complicated! We look for easy-to-navigate apps and for VPN’s offering quality customer support (preferably 24/7).
• Value for money: Our process also takes into account the pricing of each VPN. This involves looking at subscription durations offered, as well as any special offers. It’s worth keeping in mind that you can get an even better deal with the VPN discount coupons listed in this post. Furthermore, each VPN offers a money-back guarantee.

You can find out more regarding our process for analyzing VPNs such as TorGuard and NordVPN in our VPN testing methodology post.

TorGuard vs NordVPN: FAQs

See also:

• TorGuard vs ExpressVPN
• NordVPN vs Surfshark
• NordVPN vs IPVanish