Do I get a free VPN with my Norton antivirus?

The answer is not as simple yes or no. If you go for one Norton antivirus plan you may be VPN-ready; pick another and you could be left wanting.

There is, however, a nice easy way to spot the difference and see whether you'll benefit from a free VPN. Essentially, if you go for the entry-level Norton Antivirus Plus offering, you get standalone antivirus software that covers malware protection, gives you a firewall and comes with a password manager – but no VPN.

Go for a Norton 360 bundle, however, and you will get the Norton VPN as a core component in that mix.

It's worth keeping in mind that if you want a VPN and antivirus protection, it works out more affordable to go for a Norton 360 bundle over paying for the tools separately. Plus, you're getting extra features like parental control and dark web monitoring, that are only available in the more premium VPN subscription options from Norton.

The Norton 360 Standard package gets you the antivirus software but also bundles in the VPN. That means you can also expect all the extras that come with these like a password manager, PC cloud backup of 2GB, SafeCam for PC alerting you if anyone unauthorized tries to access your webcam, AI-powered protection in the Genie tech that scans for scams, and a smart firewall to monitor your network for unauthorized access.

So while you do get a lot here, there are still a few features lacking which are reserved for the Deluxe and LifeLock plans below.

This tier is designed more for families or those with many devices. You get all the features listed with Standard above, plus a few more added in the mix. As such you have protection across up to five devices, more cloud storage at 50GB, dark web monitoring to detect if your personal information has leaked, and parental controls to manage your kids' activity online including setting screen limits.

This is a step above the 360 plans, focusing on also protecting you from identity theft, which is LifeLock's speciality. So you get many of the features from the Norton 360 plans, plus extras such as one-bureau credit monitoring, a million dollar protection package, and lost wallet protection. All that means you're covered if your identity is stolen and you should be alerted as soon as possible to take action and avoid fallout.

LifeLock is only available in selected territories and comes at a premium across three tiered plans (Select Plus Advantage and Ultimate Plus), but could be worth it if you're particularly conscious about protecting your identity.

Norton VPN offers a range of powerful features including AES-256 encryption, kill switch, no-logs policy and split tunneling. But there are also more specialized features like its Double VPN and IP Rotation, which help keep you even more undetectable online. In our testing, we found it to offer strong unblocking of restricted apps and streaming platforms, while remaining easy to use and offering fast speeds.

Our in-depth Norton VPN review goes in to the finer details, lauding its recent revamp that "seems to have set the service on a much more promising path".