- West Coast Labs (WCL) audited NordVPN, alongside four rivals
- NordVPN achieved a near-perfect score in all six categories
- NordVPN already dropped its prices for Black Friday
NordVPN has just aced another independent audit, this time carried out by West Coast Labs (WCL), a long-established security testing organization.
The audit agrees with our own review of NordVPN, naming it the best VPN available right now.
The VPN provider was matched up against Mullvad VPN, Norton VPN, Proton VPN, and ExpressVPN. The five VPNs were tested across six categories and over a course of 500+ tests.
According to the report, NordVPN leads the pack by a significant margin. With a near-perfect score, the VPN service proved to be both the fastest and the safest.
Considering that NordVPN has just dropped to its lowest price of the year with an early Black Friday VPN deal, this report comes at a good time, giving users more insight into what makes each VPN provider trustworthy.
NordVPN: the winner in every category
As shared by both NordVPN and WCL, the VPN service has performed strongly in this latest round of independent testing.
WCL carried out numerous tests on both Windows 11 Pro and macOS Sonoma apps, using a 1Gbps fiber uplink connection. WCL followed the testing framework laid out by the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) for this audit.
NordVPN scored an impressive 58 out of 60 possible points in total. The runner-up was ExpressVPN with 52/60, followed by ProtonVPN with 49/60, Mullvad VPN with 44/60, and Norton VPN with 40/60.
Speed was one of the most decisive victories. NordVPN delivered an average download rate of 817Mbps, making it between 29Mbps and 92Mbps faster than the next-best competitors across seven global test routes.
Security testing was equally strong. Across 455 network transitions, including 62 forced network switches, NordVPN registered zero DNS, IP, WebRTC, or IPv6 leaks or failures.
NordVPN was able to reach all 100 tested websites without blocks while triggering only two CAPTCHA prompts. It was remarkably quick to connect, with an average time of 0.66 seconds. Its best result was at 0.57 seconds, which was 2.4x faster than the second place.
NordVPN didn't win in the system impact category, but it still scored an A+, losing only to ExpressVPN in CPU and memory impact.
These findings are consistent with our own extensive testing. NordVPN remains the top VPN we've tested so far, and our reviewers praise it for its extensive network with coverage in 144 locations, fast speeds, and strong security.
NordVPN is now cheaper for a limited time
This time of year means there are loads of Black Friday VPN deals, and NordVPN has its own exciting promotion going on right now.
NordVPN has slashed the prices across all of its plans, with savings up to 77% on some of the best deals. The cheapest plan is NordVPN Basic, which is now just $2.99/month with three months free on a two-year commitment.
NordVPN Plus, which is the plan we usually recommend for most people, is also heavily discounted. It adds access to Threat Protection Pro and NordPass on top of the VPN, and it's now just $3.89/month, or $105.03 for 27 months of coverage.
NordVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you don't lose anything by trying it out now that it's a lot cheaper. You're getting top-notch protection at a huge discount, and as the independent audit proves, you won't find any better security and speed.
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