Windscribe vs NordVPN in 2024

A reliable VPN service is a must-have in today’s world, where online privacy and security are becoming increasingly important. However, with so many options available, choosing the right one for your needs can be tricky.

Windscribe and NordVPN are two of the most popular VPN providers on the market. They both promise top-notch security, various features, and impressive performance, but which one is truly better?

Today, we’ll compare Windscribe vs. NordVPN to help you find the right VPN service for you. We’ll be looking at such crucial aspects as price, security, speed, device compatibility, streaming and P2P options, and more.

NordVPN vs Windscribe: specifications

NordVPN is one exceptional VPN provider with over 7000+ servers in 118+ countries. More so, it has robust security features and fast speeds with its unique NordLynx protocol. Another benefit is that it operates from Panama, a secure country outside government surveillance, and has regularly audited no-logs.

In contrast, Windscribe has a significantly smaller server network of 480+ servers in 69+ countries but still provides decent speeds. Additionally, it utilizes the standard WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. Unfortunately, Windscribe is based in Canada, which is part of the 5-Eyes Alliance. Still, the VPN has an audited no-logs policy.

The clear winner in our Windscribe vs. NordVPN comparison is NordVPN. But let’s get into more details and check out both providers thoroughly!

NordVPN vs Windscribe: pricing

NordVPN and Windscribe are pretty different in terms of pricing. The former comes with a 7-day free trial for Android users, but the latter beats it with its free version with 11 locations.

However, if you decide to go premium, there’s only a 3-day money-back guarantee, and you must have used less than 10GB to be eligible for it. Not exactly ideal. Furthermore, Windscribe is more costly, with less subscription length options. As such, it’s a draw.

NordVPN pricing

NordVPN provides a 7-day free trial only for Android users, but once you’re signed up, you’re free to use it on other devices. Alternatively, you can enjoy a risk-free journey with its 30-day money-back guarantee. Regarding plans, here are the options for the Standard tier:

• $12.99/month for one month
• $4.59/month for one year
• $2.99/month for two years

The other tiers are Plus and Complete. Each comes with additional perks besides the VPN software. Plus includes the secure NordPass password manager and a data breach monitor. The Complete tier also adds 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage.

NordVPN allows you to pay with a credit or debit card, use Google Pay, Amazon Pay, UnionPay, ACH Transfer, or even cryptocurrencies. Thanks to the crypto payment method, you can benefit from anonymous payments.

Windscribe pricing

Windscribe offers a free version with servers in more than eleven locations globally. Besides, it even provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for its paid plans, so let’s check them out:

• $9.00/month for one month
• $5.75/month for one year

Windscribe also allows you to create a VPN plan according to your needs, which is called ‘Build A Plan.’ You can purchase any of Windscribe’s plans by using a credit/debit card, PayPal, American Express, Paymentwall (local currencies), and cryptocurrencies.

You can get a refund with Windscribe if need be, but it’s not exactly ideal. You only get 3 days to do so, and you have to be careful not to surpass the 10GB threshold. If you don’t meet these criteria, you’re probably not getting your money back.

Speed comparison

Regarding speed, NordVPN is the clear winner. It boasts impressive performance thanks to the NordLynx protocol, which is an optimized and more secure version of WireGuard. Also, due to its 7000 servers across 118+ countries, NordVPN ensures reliable and fast connections across long distances.

On the other hand, Windscribe comes with decent speeds, but they’re not enough to surpass NordVPN. Also, due to the lack of servers, Windscribe doesn’t perform that well over long distances.

As our speed tests have shown, NordVPN leaves Windscribe and everyone else behind by a large margin.

NordVPN vs Windscribe: which is more secure?

We had a close outcome in this NordVPN vs. Windscribe round, but still, NordVPN is the winner. However, both providers come with some excellent security features, such as:

• AES-256 encryption
• Kill switch
• IP and DNS leak protection
• No-logs policies
• RAM-only servers

NordVPN has a significant advantage over Windscribe as it’s not part of a country in the 5, 9, or 14-Eyes Alliance. Furthermore, its no-logs policy has been verified by an independent third party.

Privacy

Windscribe is located in Canada, which is a member of the Five-Eyes Alliance. This means that the VPN may need to share your online activities in response to government requests. That is, if any logging is happening behind the scenes.

Luckily, NordVPN is headquartered in Panama and avoids all jurisdictions of the Five-Eyes Alliance. And the country itself is well-known for being very privacy-friendly, so there’s no government push for the service to track what you’re doing.

Logging

In terms of no-logs policies, NordVPN adheres to a more reliable one, as the PwC auditing firm has audited it. This verifies the validity of their no-logs policy. In total, this provider has undergone 3 independent audits.

On the other hand, Windscribe claims it has a no-logs policy, but it doesn’t provide precise information about audits. While the whole server fleet runs on RAM modules, it’s not enough of a guarantee. An audit is still a must to gain user trust.

Servers locations

Probably the most significant difference between NordVPN and Windscribe is their server fleet. NordVPN has an extensive server network of 7000+ servers across 118+ countries, while Windscribe has 480+ servers also in 69+ countries.

Such a small server fleet isn’t necessarily bad, but it increases the risk of congestion, which leads to slow speeds and unstable connections. As for security, both VPN providers employ RAM technology, which deletes all of your online histories once the servers shut down. Still, NordVPN has an edge.

Features comparison

Both NordVPN and Windscribe offer a range of features, but in this round, NordVPN takes the lead once again. Let’s see why.

Smart DNS

NordVPN utilizes the Smart DNS feature called SmartPlay, which allows you to bypass geographical restrictions on devices that don’t support VPN software. Also, this feature adds an extra security layer, ensuring a high level of protection across all devices.

Unfortunately, Windscribe doesn’t offer a Smart DNS feature, limiting its usage to devices supported by this VPN service.

Split tunneling

The amazing NordVPN offers a split tunneling feature on Windows, Android, and Android TV. This allows you to route your traffic through a specific tunnel and have control over which apps use the VPN.

On the other hand, Windscribe also provides a split tunneling feature, but it’s limited to Windows, MacOS, and Android platforms.

Ad & malware blocker

Both NordVPN and Windscribe come with features that protect you from malicious websites and ads.

More precisely, NordVPN has the Threat Protection feature, which filters suspicious websites, blocks ads, and immediately warns you of potential threats. Also, it offers Dark Web Monitoring that checks for compromised data.

Similarly, Windscribe has a blocker feature called ROBERT. This tool disables ads and suspicious websites, emphasizing your security. Furthermore, it comes with tons of customizability options, letting you tinker with it until it meets your specific needs.

Specialty servers

NordVPN includes several specialty servers. Namely, these are:

• Dedicated IP. Only for users who bought a dedicated IP address. You’re the sole person who can use a specific IP address, which is useful in several cases, like secure online banking.
• Double VPN. Routes your internet traffic via two different servers instead of a single one.
• Obfuscated. These hide all tracks of VPN usage, letting you use VPN software in regions where it’s restricted or blocked. Great against Deep Packet Inspection (DPI).
• Onion over VPN. Routes your encrypted traffic via the Tor network for maximum anonymity.P2P-optimized. These facilitate better torrenting speeds.

Windscribe, on the other hand, only offers specialty servers for Netflix. Aptly called Windflix, these allow users to unblock Netflix US, UK, Canada, and Japan.

Other features

NordVPN also includes such features as:

• SOCKS5 proxy. You can configure it on an application so that only it uses a different IP address. Just keep in mind that it doesn’t encrypt traffic.
• Invisibility on LAN. Makes your device undetectable on your local area network.
• Meshnet. Lets you remotely connect different devices.

Windscribe also offers such perks as:

• Double Hop. Your traffic is transmitted through two VPN servers instead of one for an extra layer of untraceability.
• Stealth protocol. Disguises VPN traffic as regular traffic, bypassing VPN blocks.
• Port forwarding. Great for boosting all kinds of online activities, especially torrenting.
• SOCKS5 proxy. Same as with NordVPN.

While Windscribe isn’t a bare bones service by a long shot, NordVPN still manages to beat it with an extensive toolkit.

Netflix and streaming comparison

The next stop in our NordVPN vs. Windscribe comparison is the streaming round. As you may guess, NordVPN wins once again. While both platforms support streaming, NordVPN allows you to use any server for streaming and unblocks Netflix US, other Netflix libraries, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max.

On the other hand, Windscribe unblocks Netflix US and several other Netflix libraries, but it doesn’t work with some popular streaming platforms, which is quite a drawback. Furthermore, there’s no Smart DNS feature (which NordVPN has) to help unblock regional content on streaming peripherals.

Thus, it’s no surprise that this round goes to NordVPN.

Device compatibility

NordVPN and Windscribe are compatible with popular OS and you can even install them on routers. But, NordVPN has an advantage over Windscribe since it supports much more platforms than the competitor. And the SmartPlay feature further extends what kind of devices can be connected to this VPN.

Desktop applications

Both VPN services come with streamlined applications for Windows and macOS. They are pretty easy to use, so even first timers won’t run into problems. NordVPN’s clients are as secure as they can be across the board, and are almost identical to each other. The biggest difference is that the split tunneling feature is unavailable on the macOS version.

Windscribe isn’t far behind, with full-fledged and secure applications. The Windows and macOS versions are identical feature-wise in this case. But we’ve noticed that the former often ran into trouble when connecting via specific tunneling protocols like IKEv2.

The competitors come with applications for Linux, too. The caveat here is that NordVPN’s runs on a command line, while Windscribe’s has a GUI.

Mobile applications

Now, for the Android and iOS applications. They are similar design-wise to the desktop counterparts but with adjustments for mobile devices.

As expected, NordVPN’s Android app includes more features than the iOS one. Android users can use such features as split tunneling and Tapjacking protection. Meanwhile, iPhone owners are compensated by Siri shortcuts.

Windscribe’s mobile clients look more modern than the desktop applications. Furthermore, they come with features not available on PC, like GPS spoofing (Android) and MTU customization (Android). Still, the apps vibrate whenever you click on anything, which becomes annoying very fast. And the iOS app comes with fewer tunneling protocols.

Torrenting

Luckily, both NordVPN and Windscribe support torrenting. Moreover, they both come with a SOCKS5 proxy, which you can configure with your torrenting client, and split tunneling.

However, NordVPN wins once again as its downloading and uploading speeds are much better than Windscribe’s. Furthermore, you can utilize the P2P-optimized servers to further boost torrenting speeds.

While you could technically do the same with Windscribe’s port forwarding feature, the boost will be miniscule. Especially compared to NordVPN’s overall speeds when torrenting.

China

Although NordVPN is the winner again, both VPNs can bypass the Great Firewall of China.

NordVPN has obfuscated servers, which encrypt your data and hide that you’re even using a VPN. This will help you round DPI and ISP monitoring. On the other hand, Windscribe utilizes Stealth VPN, which makes encrypted traffic appear as a regular browsing pattern.

However, NordVPN wins as it employs the Onion over VPN feature, which combines the Tor network with VPN servers for even more robust security.

Customer support

This may be the last round of our NordVPN vs. Windscribe comparison, but it’s definitely not the least important.

NordVPN provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, chatbot, tickets, emails, FAQs, and other guides.

In comparison, Windscribe lacks the live chat feature and leaves you only with tickets, FAQs, a chatbot, email, and guides. While having a sizable knowledgebase is good, it can never replace live chat in case you run into issues. So, it looks like NordVPN is the winner.

NordVPN vs. Windscribe – which is better?

While Windscribe is a decent VPN provider, NordVPN is the overall winner of our NordVPN vs. Windscribe comparison.

It offers superb security features, supports a lot of streaming platforms, has flawless torrenting capabilities, and a diverse 24/7 customer support, which makes it one of the best, if not the best, VPNs on the market!

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FAQ

Is NordVPN better than Windscribe?

Yes, NordVPN is better than Windscribe. It offers more advanced security features, better customer support, faster speeds, more servers, unblocks more streaming services, and is compatible with more devices.

Which is faster – NordVPN or Windscribe?

NordVPN is faster than Windscribe. It has a server fleet of 7000+ servers in 118+ countries and the in-house NordLynx protocol that ensures stable and consistent connections.

Is NordVPN really the best?

According to our research, NordVPN is definitely the best VPN. It is secure and private, audited by a third party, has plenty of servers, works well against geo-blocks, and is compatible with a wide variety of devices. And all of that at an affordable price.

Is NordVPN Safe?

Yes, NordVPN is safe. Its jurisdiction is in Panama, which makes it a great choice for privacy. Furthermore, it has a great selection of security features and was audited by a third party.

Can you be tracked while using NordVPN?

No, you can't be tracked while using NordVPN. It uses industry-leading AES-256 encryption, which makes your internet traffic unreadable to anyone, including the NordVPN team. Plus, your real location is hidden since your traffic is routed through a remote server.