NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN in 2024

In the ever-evolving realm of digital security, the need to secure your online identity from prying eyes has greatly increased the use of VPNs. With that said, NordVPN and AdGuard VPN emerged as the leading VPNs in 2023.

Unveiling specifications, pricing, privacy, features, and user interface, we will compare both VPNs and help you make an informed decision.

Admittedly, NordVPN is an industry leader, boasting a wealth of features, fast speeds, P2P support, and excellent geo-block bypassing capabilities. On the flip side, the top-tier online protection solutions of AdGuard VPN set it apart from the rest. But that’s not the only thing needed to claim it a winner.

In this guide, we will dive into the comparison between AdGuard VPN vs NordVPN. Without further ado, let’s find out who is worthy of the winner’s title.

NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN: specifications

In the clash of NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN, NordVPN holds the upper hand with advanced features, robust security, a large server fleet, and swift connections. AdGuard shines, too, boasting low pricing and a free version.

NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN: pricing

Both NordVPN and AdGuard VPN assure you with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are looking for monthly or long-term discounted subscription options, both have got you covered.

However, AdGuard VPN is more budget-friendly than NordVPN. Also, it adds a twist by offering a free version. Although AdGuard VPN takes the spotlight here, the final verdict still depends on a VPN’s value in terms of its features.

NordVPN pricing

With its affordable long-term subscription plans, NordVPN offers flexible options for safeguarding your online activities. While its one-month plan is a bit pricey at $12.99, you can opt for its one-year plan at $4.59 per month or a 2-year plan at $2.99/month. Moreso, you can take advantage of its 7-day free trial.

The other two tiers are Plus and Complete. You additionally get the NordPass password manager and a data breach scanner with the former. The latter includes the aforementioned tools, plus 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. These additions cost extra, but it’s not a lot, especially if they are something you need.

The biggest discount NordVPN has to offer is 68% off, but you can try getting a better deal by utilizing NordVPN coupons.

Besides, compared to AdGuard VPN, NordVPN provides a much more varied list of payment options. The supported payment options include credit cards, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, cryptocurrencies, and even cash. Finally, every subscription is protected by the 30-day money-back guarantee, so you won’t lose any money if you decide to back out.

AdGuard VPN pricing

AdGuard VPN surpasses NordVPN by offering a free version and diverse low-price options. It costs:

• $11.99/month for the monthly plan
• $3.99/month for the annual plan
• $2.99/month for the two-year plan

The biggest discount you can get is 75% off, which makes plans relatively cheap. Though the 30-day money-back guarantee only protects the 1-year and 2-year subscriptions. Additionally, you can pay with credit cards, PayPal, or cryptocurrencies.

As for trial versions, AdGuard VPN doesn’t have any, but that’s because the service offers a free version. Users opting not to pay a dime get:

• 2 simultaneous connections
• 3 GB of traffic
• 20 Mbit/sec speed limit
• 11 countries – Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland,
• Turkey, Ukraine, the UK, the US

There are no feature limitations, so you’re essentially getting full access to the service. It’s just that you won’t be able to do much with it.

Speed comparison

VPN speed hinges on numerous factors, including, but not limited to, tunneling protocols.

NordVPN features NordLynx, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. Several tweaks in the code enable NordVPN to balance security and speed effectively.

AdGuard VPN has its proprietary AdGuard VPN protocol, which excels in protocol uniqueness. However, NordVPN offers more choices with its diverse protocols and gains an advantage over AdGuard VPN.

NordVPN vs AdGuard: which is more secure?

While comparing two VPNs, it’s essential to consider AES-256 encryption, a kill switch, and leak protection. NordVPN excels in all three arenas, while AdGuard VPN’s leak protection feature is slightly concerning. Besides, NordVPN boasts additional security features, which makes it a more secure VPN than AdGuard VPN.

Privacy

Since NordVPN is headquartered in a privacy-friendly location in Panama, it operates outside the jurisdiction of the 14 Eyes alliance. And that’s not all! NordVPN has an independently-audited no-logs policy and it offers anonymous payment options to pay with cash or cryptocurrency for added anonymity.

AdGuard VPN claims a no-logs policy, but it isn’t audited, therefore raising privacy concerns. However, AdGuard VPN is based in Cyprus, a favorable location for online protection.

Logging

PwC and Deloitte audited NordVPN’s no-logs policy and concluded that it strictly adheres to its zero-logs policy. This bolsters its credibility. AdGuard VPN also claims a no-logs policy, but its auditing status is not widely established, giving NordVPN an edge over AdGuard VPN.

Servers location

When delving into the server locations, one should not overlook the connection points a VPN offers. NordVPN boasts a vast fleet with 7000 servers across 118+ countries. With a surplus of servers, issues like overcrowding are reduced significantly, leading to improved performance.

Furthermore, NordVPN utilizes physical hardware for its servers, offering optimal speed. Another distinctive aspect of its server infrastructure is that it owns RAM-only servers. This ensures it does not store data, which is a boon for users.

In contrast, AdGuard VPN does not specify server count, and lacks transparency regarding hardware ownership and virtual servers. The only confirmed thing is that AdGuard offers connection points in 44+ countries. Still, it underscores the challenge and fails to beat NordVPN in this category.

Features comparison

A wide range of features make both these VPNs a good choice for users. However, NordVPN offers more advanced features and takes the crown.

Smart DNS

NordVPN has an in-built SmartPlay feature, which automatically avoids DNS filters encrypting your connection. This way, you can access region-locked content on almost every device you own. AdGuard VPN, however, lacks this feature.

Ad & malware blocker

NordVPN blocks malicious websites with the Threat Protection feature, which is an optional DNS filtering attribute. The best thing is, it works without connecting to VPN, and scans for malware, disables user trackers, and blocks intrusive ads.

AdGuard VPN also offers a DNS-based ad blocker to help improve your privacy. Furthermore, there’s Stealth Mode and Browsing security which tackle user trackers and malicious websites respectively.

Split tunneling

Both VPNs offer split tunneling, allowing you to customize your VPN connections and select which apps or traffic routes through the VPN and which ones don’t.

NordVPN’s split tunneling feature is app-specific, while it is IP-specific in AdGuard, offering you a broader control level, catering to diverse privacy needs.

Specialized servers

NordVPN also offers specialty hardware:

• Obfuscated servers. Restrictive networks use DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) to discover VPN traffic and block it. With Obfuscated Servers, your activities appear as regular HTTPS traffic and remain undetected. Thus, you are able to use the VPN in internet-restrictive countries, like China.
• Onion over VPN. The Tor Network uses a worldwide fleet of volunteer-operated computers to maintain privacy. You can use Onion over VPN to combine this network with a VPN connection for maximum anonymity.
• Double VPN servers. It lets you connect to two VPN servers instead of one, encrypting your traffic twice for double the protection. It comes at the cost of performance, so keep that in mind before enabling it.
• P2P-optimized servers. Optimized for torrenting, boosting your download and upload rates.

Other features

As for other perks, NordVPN additionally comes with:

• A SOCKS5 proxy
• Invisibility on LAN
• Dark Web Monitoring
• Meshnet

Netflix and streaming comparison

When it comes to streaming your favorite shows, both providers support the most popular streaming platforms. But NordVPN emerges as a champion here due to its sheer speed. We were able to stream in UHD (4k) with no interruptions whatsoever.

In addition, NordVPN offers an incredibly impressive SmartPlay feature, which is a cherry on top, allowing Smart TVs and all other devices to utilize the service.

On the other hand, AdGuard VPN also supports all popular platforms, but it sometimes struggles with BBC iPlayer. And it can’t unblock regional Netflix version. Moreover, this VPN is limited to PCs and Android and iOS devices, therefore you won’t access it on Smart TVs and other devices.

Device compatibility

Both NordVPN and AdGuard VPN are compatible with major operating systems. But NordVPN offers a much wider selection of other apps, like Fire TV or Android TV. It also has a manual setup option, whichAdGuard VPN lacks.

Desktop applications

NordVPN’s desktop compatibility is vast and encompasses major operating systems, such as Linux. Also, it has extensions for browsers, including Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Amazon FireSticks, and Kodi. With router installation and six simultaneous connections, it offers robust coverage.

AdGuard VPN is compatible with Windows and Mac, but it does not support Linux. Unlike NordVPN, it lacks router installation, although it has ten simultaneous connections.

Mobile applications

Mobile versions of both VPNs are similar to their desktop counterparts. NordVPN mobile app is pretty easy to use and has several tabs for features, including Tapjacking protectionand split tunneling.

AdGuard VPN has less customizable features on its mobile apps, but they are pretty enough to offer you a secure browsing experience.

Torrenting

With a VPN, you can alleviate issues like throttling, and improve downloading and uploading torrents without any hassle. NordVPN, a top contender, is P2P-friendly and offers port forwarding for optimizing speeds. Additionally, it allows torrenting on all servers. Clients can enjoy a secure torrenting experience by utilizing SOCKS5 proxies and split tunneling.

AdGuard does not offer an impressive torrenting experience, unfortunately. Its servers are not optimized for torrenting, and, besides the handy split tunneling feature, you do not get other P2P-oriented perks.

China

In regions with heavy digital censorship, such as China, VPNs have become the go-to tools. It helps evade government surveillance and allows citizens to explore the internet.

NordVPN can bypass the great firewall with obfuscated servers and Onion over VPN by masking VPN traffic as regular traffic Thisworks great to hide VPN usage effectively.

On the flip side, AdGuard fails to bypass geo-restrictions in China. Technically, it hides VPN usage through tunneling protocols, but the results may vary. Unlike NordVPN, AdGuard VPN lacks both Stealth VPN and Tor over VPN features.

NordVPN is the ultimate champion with its ability to circumvent the Great Firewall of China.

Customer support

NordVPN shines in the customer support category since it offers 24/7 live chat and email support. Additionally, it provides an extensive knowledgebase on its official website, from general FAQs to detailed troubleshooting guides.

AdGuard’s customer support is disappointing, to say the least. It lacks live chat and a phone call option, relying on email support only. Naturally, its email support is much slower and might take hours to respond. AdGuard provides some solace for customers with its helpful knowledgebase., but that’s about it.

NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN – which is better?

In the battle of NordVPN vs AdGuard VPN, NordVPN stands out as a clear winner. It’s evident that NordVPN provides a vast server fleet, reliability, superior performance, excellent security features, and customer support.

While AdGuard amazes its users with its appealing ad-blocking feature, when it comes to bypassing geo-restricted content in high surveillance regions, no one beats NordVPN.

---

You may also like to read:
NordVPN vs VirtualShield
NordVPN vs Kaspersky VPN
NordVPN vs Hotspot Shield
NordVPN vs ExpressVPN
NordVPN vs TunnelBear

---

FAQ

Is NordVPN better than AdGuard VPN?

Yes, NordVPN is far better than AdGuard VPN. It offers fast-speed connections, an extensive server network, robust security, and diverse tunneling protocols.

Which is faster — NordVPN or AdGuard VPN?

NordVPN is faster than AdGuard VPN since it has the proprietary NordLynx tunneling protocol, which is faster and more secure compared to AdGuard VPN's offered protocols.