NordVPN vs IPVanish

It’s never easy picking between two good virtual private network services, let alone two great VPN services like NordVPN and IPVanish.

NordVPN is widely considered one of the best VPN providers in the world in many categories. The company runs expensive ad campaigns, including some advertisements on TV, and has managed to amass 12 million subscribers. Of course, none of that would matter if NordVPN was not a good VPN service.

The reason NordVPN has managed to remain among the top five VPNs globally is because of its killer combination of speed and security. The service’s packages grant users access to fast servers and terrific privacy features that are hard to find, even among competing elite VPNs.

Whether or not it is better than IPVanish is something we will try to answer throughout this comparison, but regardless, you should always give NordVPN a good thought.

On the other hand, we have IPVanish. Just a few years ago, the answer to IPVanish vs any other VPN service would have been a short and sweet IPVanish. But things have changed, and even though IPVanish doesn’t have the same lead it had over its rivals, it can still give any VPN in the market a good run for its money.

If you spend a bit of time on IPVanish’s website, you’ll quickly learn that the service provider is very proud of the fact that it has its own VPN infrastructure. While using IPVanish, you can rest assured that any server you connect to is owned by the company itself.  Setting aside the fact that IPVanish operates out of the U.S., this VPN provider offers great core features, extra features, and a wide server network.

But can it go toe to toe with NordVPN? Let’s find out in this detailed comparison.

Feature	NordVPN	IPVanish
Number of servers	5,500+	1,600+
Number of locations	80+	75+
Simultaneous connections	6	Unlimited
Price (cheapest package)	$3.71	$4.99
Money-back guarantee	30 days	30 days
Apps	Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS,  Fire TV	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Fire TV
Split tunneling	No	Only on Android
Ad blocker	Yes	No
Malware scan	Yes	No
WiFi protection	Yes	No
Chrome extension	Yes	No
Firefox extension	Yes	No
Netflix	U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Japan, Netherlands	Japan and U.S.
BBC iPlayer	Yes	No
Amazon Prime Video	Yes	No
VPN protocols	NordLynx, OpenVPN	OpenVPN, PPTP, SSTP, L2TP, IKEv2
Encryption	AES 256-bit with RSA 4096-bit	AES 256-bit 2048-bit
Kill switch	Yes	Yes
Headquarters	Panama	United States
Logs	No	No
Static IP address facility	Yes	No
NAT firewall	Yes	Yes
DDoS protection	No	No
Live chat	Yes	Yes

Overview: NordVPN vs IPVanish

NordVPN vs IPVanish is a challenging debate to settle for the simple reason that there is very little separating them regarding core VPN functionality. Both offer great apps with great user interfaces and a decent amount of extra features, putting them both above 99% of all other VPN services.

Opening up the IPVanish VPN client for the first time, you are likely to see a graph that shows real-time connection speeds. The client has a green/black theme, which feels right at home for a privacy app.

On the other hand, NordVPN has chosen blue and whitish-grey for its apps, which take a different approach to look competent compared to IPVanish. NordVPN apps are suitable for both experienced VPN users and beginners alike, at least on the face of it.

Go to NordVPN

In terms of servers, NordVPN has close to four times the number of servers one would have access to with IPVanish. But that doesn’t mean IPVanish’s VPN server network isn’t worth anything. Because even though you get more servers with NordVPN, the actual number of locations is almost the same.

Moreover, IPVanish can count on the fact that it owns all of its servers to make it competitive against a service like NordVPN. IPVanish doesn’t have to rely on third-party expertise to provide users with the best possible VPN experience. And because IPVanish has full control over its servers, it can arrange for better security features and protocols on its own terms.

Go to IPVanish

As for simultaneous connections, IPVanish offers an unlimited number, while NordVPN allows you to connect only six devices at any given time. Most modern users don’t need more than six simultaneous connections, but it’s always nice to have that option if a need arises for more, such as during gaming sessions or house parties.

One of the reasons why both NordVPN and IPVanish are such highly ranked VPNs is that they make it easy for users to install VPNs and use them.

To start using NordVPN and IPVanish, all you need to do is sign on to a subscription package, download and install the app for your device(s) and input your username and password to get started using the service.

With NordVPN and IPVanish, the only time users have to think for a bit is when selecting a VPN server location. Both IPVanish and NordVPN have modern VPN apps that connect users to the server of their choice in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Pricing

For the one-month plan, NordVPN charges $11.95 and IPVanish charges $4.99 and $5.49 (depending on whether you want storage). Note that while IPVanish says it charges $4.99 per month, that is only technically true since IPVanish doubles that amount upon renewal. So in truth, IPVanish costs $9.99 per month.

Both have their own specialized packages. For example, even though it can seem like NordVPN is a bit expensive, the pricing is cheaper when you sign up for one of its longer packages. A one-year NordVPN package costs $4.92 per month.

Additionally, if you show the company you’re committed, you can get even better price discounts. For example, the two-year NordVPN package brings down the cost to just $3.71 per month.

We’ve already mentioned that IPVanish charges $9.99/month for the monthly package. Just like NordVPN, it too drops the pricing to around $3.33/month for people who sign up for the 12-month plan (billed $39.99 for the first year).

NordVPN takes the price round, though, for the simple reason that it ultimately demands less money from its subscribers.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Money-Back Guarantee

Both NordVPN and IPVanish provide customers with an official 30-day money-back guarantee. So technically, it is a draw. Otherwise, those who can pay for three years upfront should go with NordVPN.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Privacy

IPVanish uses all the best available VPN protocols to offer the best privacy protections to its customers. It offers IKEv2 and the OpenVPN protocol for all its subscribers. These two protocols are the best in the business today.

IPVanish also has a feature it calls Scramble, which makes your VPN traffic appear like normal traffic. This feature works wonders in countries like China and Iran, where VPN usage is not encouraged (to say the least).

For privacy, NordVPN offers all the greatest VPN protocols currently available in the industry. It also provides an Onion over VPN feature that passes the user’s traffic through The Onion Router (Tor) network, in addition to its server network. This ensures the maximum possible security for the user’s data.

IPVanish and NordVPN both implement the feature well, and it works every time you need it (a level of reliability missing from other competitors’ kill switch security features).

Accordingly, this round is also a tie.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Logs

As is the case with all other elite VPNs, both IPVanish and NordVPN promise potential customers zero logs. The only problem is that sometimes VPN services don’t keep their promises, and that’s assuming they don’t take advantage of the fact that no one reads logging policies. Even if most of them mention they keep some logs, no one would know about it as a result.

If you read IPVanish’s logging policies on the company’s site, it is clear that the service does not keep any logs. IPVanish has been in the business long enough to have been exposed if it did. So in this department, IPVanish is all good.

On its site, NordVPN also claims that it does not keep any logs in its privacy policy.

You will not be able to find a large document detailing what happened during the independent audits, but since only one other VPN company (ExpressVPN) has gone through a similar independent audit, NordVPN wins this round.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Performance

A VPN product can offer you all the features and privacy tools you want, but it won’t benefit you if it isn’t quick enough.

Fortunately, both these VPN providers are not only fast but consistently fast. But which one is faster?

Expect NordVPN to drop around 10% of your download speed.

Moreover, the servers you connect to also matter. Most VPN providers, including NordVPN and IPVanish, have their fastest servers either in the U.S. or the U.K. Overall, though, NordVPN will deliver high speeds on almost all its servers.

IPVanish is also a very fast VPN service but can sometimes slow down your internet connection a bit too much on certain servers. That is especially true for its servers located in the U.K. With the U.S. servers, you shouldn’t expect more than a 30% drop in download speeds.

Ultimately, NordVPN wins if you want a fast global network. If you know that you’ll only be connecting to servers in the U.S. for the vast majority of the time, then IPVanish is the better option.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Which Is Better for Streaming?

VPNs came into existence because there was a need for online privacy. Employees wanted to connect to their office computer from another location safely, and privacy-conscious people wanted to roam the internet without having third parties like ISPs or surveillance agencies watching over them every step of the way.

The situation has changed today as most people get a VPN because they want to change their location and watch content from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video from another region. Hence, it has become very important for VPNs to allow people to do that.

We should mention, though, that it sometimes struggles to unblock BBC iPlayer. But if you are determined enough, you can use the desktop client plus the browser extension to try and unblock BBC iPlayer.

IPVanish works with Netflix and YouTube, although it doesn’t necessarily advertise itself as a VPN for streamers. It doesn’t work well with BBC iPlayer at all, though.

So, if you want to give yourself the best chance of unblocking streaming services and other geo-restricted content, then NordVPN should be your top choice.

Go to NordVPN

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Which Is Better for Torrenting?

It is slightly baffling why IPVanish pushes itself to potential customers as a good VPN for torrenting.

Torrenters can download massive files via P2P file-sharing technologies and torrent clients with ease on any IPVanish server they connect to.

On the other hand, NordVPN only allows torrenting on specialized servers. That policy helps NordVPN to provide better performance in terms of ping times and download speeds.

IPVanish wins this round because even though NordVPN has more optimized servers for torrenting, it doesn’t allow torrenting on all servers. Either way, both services are among the top VPNs for torrenting.

Go to IPVanish

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Apps

The NordVPN app is fast and very usable, featuring a big map on the home screen to make it easy for customers to connect to a server of their choice. The IPVanish desktop client is equally comprehensive and forms a connection within seconds.

While IPVanish’s user interface means that it is equally accessible on mobile and desktop platforms, the same is not the case with NordVPN, whose app has to change the layout because the desktop layout becomes infeasible on a smaller mobile screen.

NordVPN’s app is particularly known for offering users a completely functional, configurable, feature-laden desktop client that comes with advanced security tools like protocol switching, Onion over VPN, kill switch and double VPN, in addition to many others.

IPVanish tries to keep up by offering a ton of VPN features of its own, such as a kill switch, all major protocols, multiple ports and split tunneling.

Overall, though, we believe NordVPN provides users with a more comprehensive experience. So, NordVPN takes this round.

IPVanish vs NordVPN: Customer Support

Just like in any other category, both these VPNs are very established in the customer support arena. That isn’t to say you’ll need it a lot, but both these services have your back covered in the rare cases you do.

With IPVanish, you have the option to contact the service with a ticket submission, library support, support bot and live chat support. NordVPN also has a library where you can search for your answers. Additionally, it has email support and live chat support available 24/7.

This round is a tie.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Platform Support

You can find native NordVPN apps for platforms and operating systems such as:

• Android
• iOS
• Android TV
• FireStick
• Linux
• macOS
• Windows
• DD-WRT and Tomato routers
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Windows phone

IPVanish also has VPN apps for platforms such as:

• Android
• iOS
• Android TV
• FireStick
• macOS
• Windows
• Certain routers
• Chrome OS
• Linux
• Windows Phone

As you can see, IPVanish doesn’t have any browser extensions. For that reason, NordVPN takes this round.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Servers

Without a wide range of servers in different locations, you shouldn’t expect your VPN to unblock much content for you. Fortunately, both NordVPN and IPVanish have vast server networks with dozens of server locations.

NordVPN takes this round for its more extensive network and range of coverage.

NordVPN vs IPVanish: Simultaneous Devices/Connections

Modern users have multiple devices, and a VPN that doesn’t cater to them isn’t a good one. As always, NordVPN and IPVanish deliver in this department as well.

NordVPN offers six simultaneous connections per account, while IPVanish allows an unlimited number of devices/connections.

IPVanish clearly takes this round.

Conclusion: IPVanish vs NordVPN

As you can see from this comparison, there isn’t much separating NordVPN and IPVanish. Without a doubt, NordVPN is the more complete VPN, as in most categories, it goes one step further than IPVanish. But IPVanish keeps up with NordVPN (and beats it in some categories) pretty well.

If you’re looking for the best value for your money, then the contest is even closer. However, if you just want security and privacy, NordVPN is the way to go.

Go to NordVPN

Users looking for a bit of cloud storage experience may find IPVanish to be of more value since it offers storage with its packages. If that isn’t important to you, then NordVPN might be a better option.

IPVanish gives you great privacy, hard security and fast VPN servers, along with quick apps and an easy way to install them on all major platforms, including Amazon FireStick.

Go to IPVanish

NordVPN has the biggest server network that consists of fast servers and efficient tools for getting around geo-restrictions.

Add to that the fact that NordVPN enables anonymous sign-up, zero logs and a level of reliability that very few other VPNs can match.

All of this makes NordVPN the better VPN provider out of NordVPN and IPVanish.