NordVPN vs IPVanish: 10 Tests, 1 Clear Winner in 2025

NordVPN vs IPVanish has become a very interesting battle. These two very popular VPN services have been around for a long time. Previously, NordVPN was clearly superior to IPVanish in virtually every area. But things can change over time.

While NordVPN continues to improve rapidly, IPVanish has made massive leaps in performance and capabilities. It no surprise that IPVanish joined NordVPN on several of our “Best VPN” lists.

This table highlights the key facts of each VPN:

	NordVPN	IPVanish
Website	NordVPN.com	IPVanish.com
Location	Panama	United States
Servers	7,150+	2,400+
Countries	118	109
Logs	No logs (audited)	No logs (audited)
Torrenting	All servers	All servers
Support	Knowledge Base; 24/7 chat	Knowledge Base; 24/7 chat
Apps for	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Price	$3.09 (with coupon)	$2.19 (with coupon)
Coupon	77% Off NordVPN >	83% Off IPVanish >

Based on the latest test results, NordVPN has an edge. But IPVanish has closed the gap a lot. Read on to find out more about the improvements to IPVanish and see if it deserves consideration alongside NordVPN as your next VPN.

Here's what we will cover in this IPVanish vs NordVPN comparison:

1. Apps and Device Support – Which VPN offers the best apps and device support?
2. Features – Which service has the most comprehensive set of features?
3. Speed tests – Numerous servers tested in North America and Europe
4. Encryption and Security – Is NordVPN or the IPVanish VPN more secure?
5. Netflix and Streaming – Which one works best for Netflix and streaming services?
6. Logs and Privacy – Examining the logging policies and privacy protections.
7. Torrenting – Which VPN is best for torrenting?
8. Support – Does IPVanish or NordVPN offer the best support?
9. Price – Which VPN offers the best prices?
10. Value – Which VPN is the best value for your money?

Apps and device support: NordVPN vs IPVanish

Both of these services provide apps for the major operating systems, as well as support for other devices such as Android TV systems and routers. Here is a summary of the various options they offer:

	NordVPN	IPVanish
Apps	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Browsers	Chrome, Firefox, Edge	N/A
Other	Android TV, Fire TV, Gaming systems, Chrome OS, and more	Apple TV, Fire TV, NVIDIA SHIELD, Chrome OS, and routers

IPVanish has well-designed apps with a user-friendly interface. Below is a screenshot of IPVanish's Windows app.

This new IPVanish Windows VPN app is responsive and ran bug-free throughout our testing. It is a major improvement over previous versions in both form and function.

The IPVanish VPN app for macOS also performed admirably during our testing. Its design and user experience have been revamped to mirror that of the Windows app. This version of the app is a significant upgrade from its predecessor, which was plagued with glitches and occasional crashes in our previous tests. Here's the macOS app in the Light theme:

Another example of IPVanish's new look is the Fire TV app. It has a new look and includes a kill switch to ensure your privacy. Here is the Fire TV app:

Whichever IPVanish app we tried, they all looked good and worked without bugs or glitches. The company really upped its game here.

So that's IPVanish. What are the NordVPN apps like? They haven't changed much since the last time through this comparison. They were already excellent, both in appearance and performance. Here's the NordVPN Windows app:

The NordVPN apps across different devices look similar and have similar capabilities. For example, here is the NordVPN Android app we tested out:

NordVPN does have an edge here in that it provides browser extensions while IPVanish does not.

Features of IPVanish and NordVPN

Feature	NordVPN	IPVanish
Split tunneling	✔️	✔️
RAM-only servers	✔️	❌
Kill Switch	✔️	✔️
Private DNS	✔️	✔️
Logs	No logs (audited)	No logs (audited)
Multiple VPN protocols	✔️	✔️
WireGuard protocol support	✔️	✔️
Browser extensions	✔️	❌
Built-in ad blocking	✔️	✔️
Double VPN servers	✔️	✔️
Obfuscated (stealth) servers	✔️	✔️
Onion over VPN servers	✔️	❌
Dedicated IP servers	✔️	❌
Simultaneous Connections	10	Unlimited
Free version	❌	❌

Now let's look at the features provided by each service.

IPVanish features

IPVanish has made numerous improvements in the previous years. One of the most important is support for the WireGuard VPN protocol. WireGuard is the newest popular VPN protocol, offering improved speeds, faster connections to networks, and enhanced security. Many VPN services have moved to support WireGuard in addition to OpenVPN (the previous industry standard). As you will see shortly, the move to support WireGuard has greatly improved IPVanish speed test results.

IPVanish offers a VPN kill switch, private DNS, and a fairly large server network. There are a few more interesting features available:

• OpenVPN Scramble. This is IPVanish's term for obfuscation, a technique that makes your VPN traffic look like regular encrypted (HTTPS) internet traffic. Since virtually all websites these days use HTTPS for better security, internet censors can't detect your VPN traffic to block it.
• VPN Connection Preferences. You can configure IPVanish to use different settings based on the network or application it is connected to. This lets you optimize the connection for varying circumstances.
• Split tunneling. This feature lets you control which traffic goes through the VPN tunnel and which traffic goes directly to the internet without encryption. There are various uses for this capability. See our guide to the best VPNs for split tunneling to learn more.
• SOCKS5 proxy. This is a tool for torrenting, which can provide faster downloads but doesn't encrypt your connection. With the proxy, your IP address is exposed while torrenting, which could expose you to various forms of copyright harassment, up to even lawsuits by major corporations.
• Ad-blocking. IPVanish's Threat Protection feature blocks ads from third-party networks, enhancing your browsing experience and conserving mobile data. It also prevents ad trackers from loading, boosting your privacy and speeding up page load times.
• Unlimited simultaneous connections. You can install IPVanish on all of your computers, phones, and other internet devices, and use the VPN freely without worrying about too many devices connecting to the VPN at one time.

See all IPVanish features here >

Beyond this, IPVanish doesn't offer specialty servers or dedicated IP addresses.

Let's see what NordVPN has to offer.

NordVPN features

NordVPN is one of the most feature-rich VPN services you will find today.

NordVPN offers lots of different privacy and security features, significantly more than you will find with IPVanish. Despite the recent IPVanish VPN app updates, the NordVPN apps we tested had a better look and feel than those from IPVanish. Selecting features, changing servers, and interacting with the app was easy and intuitive.

Threat Protection Pro – NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro blocks ads, trackers, and malware domains. It can also scan downloaded documents for trouble before you open them. This is similar to an antivirus feature for Windows and Mac.

Even better, Threat Protection Pro works even if you are not connected to a VPN server. The other main NordVPN apps and browser extensions include Threat Protection, which has a subset of Threat Protection Pro's capabilities and does require you to be connected to a VPN server to work.

Split tunneling – Split tunneling is a feature that allows you to route specific apps or certain websites outside of the VPN tunnel. This feature is available with NordVPN in the Windows and Android apps. There are a few other services that offer this feature as well, such as ExpressVPN and Surfshark.

Leak Protection – NordVPN offers built-in leak protection settings that worked well in our tests (no leaks). While IPVanish VPN also offers leak protection, NordVPN's kill switch is more sophisticated. It lets you select the circumstances under which the kill switch will trigger, and exactly what the switch will kill when triggered, as you can see in the image below:

In comparison to IPVanish, NordVPN is the winner in terms of features. It simply offers more and better features than IPVanish.

Streaming support – NordVPN works with many streaming websites, including Netflix, Hulu, Max, BBC iPlayer, and more — we'll examine more below.

VPN server comparison

NordVPN and IPVanish both have VPN server networks comprised of thousands of devices. But as you will see in a moment, there are more differences than similarities to their server networks.

Servers	IPVanish	NordVPN
Total	2,400+	7,150+
Countries	109	118
RAM-only Servers	❌	✔️
Virtual Locations	✔️	❌
Specialty Servers	❌	✔️

As noted in the table above, IPVanish currently has over 2,400 servers spread across 100+ countries. This is one of the larger networks in terms of global distribution, on par with ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. One twist to this is that some portion of the IPVanish server fleet consists of virtual servers. Virtual VPN servers are simulated VPN servers that run on a physical server.

IPVanish also stresses that they have over 40,000+ shared IP addresses. Other services do not disclose this number, so I can't say too much about this other than the fact that the company thinks it is a number worthy of note. In general, more IP addresses increase the chances of getting past geo-blocking systems, so the more the merrier.

NordVPN has three times the number of servers as IPVanish (over 7,159 spread across 118 countries). All the servers in the NordVPN network are RAM-disk servers, meaning they have no disk drives that can be hacked or mined for user data.

In addition, most (maybe all by the time you read this) of their servers are colocated servers. These servers are owned and operated by the VPN, instead of leased from a third party in each country. The company has also been installing high-speed (10 Gbps) connections in key sections of its network to prevent traffic bottlenecks.

Now that you know what each server is like, you should also know that NordVPN's network contains thousands of specialized servers, including:

• Double VPN servers. These servers encrypt your internet traffic across two VPN servers in two different locations to give you more security and privacy at the cost of a slightly slower connection. (See our guide on multi-hop and double VPNs for more info on this topic.)
• Obfuscated servers. Like IPVanish's OpenVPN Scramble, these obfuscated are useful for getting around VPN blocks and other types of internet censorship. This makes them useful if you need a reliable VPN for China or other heavily censored environments.
• Dedicated IP servers. Get the protection of NordVPN along with a static IP address dedicated to your sole use. Available at an additional monthly fee.
• Onion Over VPN servers. These servers connect to the Tor network to increase your privacy at the cost of a significant slowdown of your connection.
• P2P servers – Several hundred NordVPN servers that are optimized for fast, secure peer-to-peer transfers using services like BitTorrent. For extremely fast and secure file transfers directly between trusted servers, you can use NordVPN's Meshnet feature.

---

NordVPN vs IPVanish VPN speed test comparison

To see which VPN is the fastest, I tested each VPN in server locations around the US and Europe. All tests were conducted on a 1,000 Mbps (baseline) connection using the respective VPN clients (apps). First, I tested servers in the US.

I tested locations around the US where both IPVanish and NordVPN had servers.

Test #1: Seattle

Here I'm testing a NordVPN server in Seattle, which gave me about 892 Mbps:

At almost 900 Mbps, this is a very impressive test result from NordVPN. This is the fastest VPN speed test result ever for my test lab!

Here was the IPVanish server in Seattle that I tested, giving me speeds of around 829 Mbps:

While not quite as fast as NordVPN, this is still a very impressive result turned in by IPVanish.

Test #2: Los Angeles

Next up was a NordVPN server in Los Angeles, with speeds of around 884 Mbps.

This is another impressive result from NordVPN, and is the second fastest download we have recorded to date.

Here was the IPVanish server in Los Angeles, with speeds of around 262 Mbps.

This is a very disappointing result after seeing the super Seattle speed turned in by IPVanish.

Test #3: New York

Next, I tested a NordVPN server in New York, with speeds of 849 Mbps.

NordVPN continues to deliver exceptional speeds as I try different locations across the USA. Let's see what IPVanish was able to do on this test.

IPVanish server in New York with speeds of 606 Mbps.

This time IPVanish delivers a result that is not bad, but still significantly slower than that turned in by NordVPN.

Test #4: London, UK

Next up was a NordVPN server in London, UK, with speeds of around 809 Mbps.

This is a very good result, and the fastest speed we have ever seen on a connection between our lab in the USA and a server in the UK.

IPVanish server in London, UK with speeds of 431 Mbps.

This time, IPVanish was much slower than NordVPN.

What do these results tell us? First off, IPVanish has massively improved the speed of their network. In our previous comparison of the two services, NordVPN was several times as fast as IPVanish on every test. Now NordVPN is still faster, but IPVanish has significantly upped its game.

The following table summarizes the speed test results:

Location	NordVPN	IPVanish
Seattle	892 Mbps	829 Mbps
Los Angeles	884 Mbps	262 Mbps
New York	849 Mbps	606 Mbps
London, UK	809 Mbps	431 Mbps

But the big difference is that NordVPN delivers consistently fast speeds across every connection tested, while IPVanish speeds are somewhat variable. Let's talk about this issue in more detail.

Why is NordVPN's speed more consistent than IPVanish?

Here are some reasons that may explain why NordVPN speeds were more consistent than those of IPVanish:

1. NordVPN has a larger server network with more bandwidth than the IPVanish VPN server network. NordVPN's servers may be less heavily loaded in certain regions than those of IPVanish.
2. NordVPN has been rolling out new colocated servers with 10 Gbps bandwidth channels in areas with a lot of network traffic.

---

Encryption and security: Is NordVPN or IPVanish best?

Both NordVPN and IPVanish offer good encryption and security, but one still has an edge.

Server encryption

Item	NordVPN	IPVanish
Cipher	AES-256, ChaCha20	AES-256, ChaCha20
Authentication	SHA-256, Poly1305	SHA1, Poly1305
RSA Key	4,096-bit	2,096-bit

NordVPN encrypts OpenVPN data with an AES-256 cipher, SHA256 hash authentication, and a 4096-bit key exchange to employ Perfect Forward Secrecy. For WireGuard, NordVPN uses ChaCha20, and Poly1305. NordVPN's support for WireGuard is through its own custom implementation, which they call NordLynx. NordVPN also supports IKEv2/IPsec and offers an additional proprietary protocol — NordWhisper — aimed at restrictive networks.

IPVanish encrypts OpenVPN traffic with an AES-256 cipher, SHA1 authentication, and a 2,048-bit key exchange. For WireGuard. IPVanish uses ChaCha20 and Poly1305. IPVanish also supports IKEv2/IPSec. I am happy to see that they no longer support PPTP. The PPTP protocol is not considered secure and should be avoided. We discuss these protocols more in the IPVanish review.

	VPN protocols supported
NordVPN	OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, IPSec/IKEv2, IPSec/L2TP, NordWhisper, and NordLynx
IPVanish	OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, IPSec/IKEv2, and WireGuard

Server security

Server feature	NordVPN	IPVanish
RAM-disk	✔️	❌
Virtual Locations	❌	✔️

NordVPN server security

NordVPN goes above and beyond other VPNs in the way of server security. Here are the details:

• Completed a full, third-party security audit, which included examining all servers and VPN infrastructure.
• Runs all servers in RAM-disk mode with no hard drives. This makes it impossible to store any logs on the VPN server.
• Implementing self-owned colocated servers throughout the entire network. This will mean no more rental servers from third parties, which is what most other VPNs do.

Server security with IPVanish

IPVanish describes their network as a “Tier 1” network. And while they have previously claimed to own all of the servers in their network, they no longer make this claim. This suggests IPVanish is renting VPN servers, which is what most VPNs do.

Unlike NordVPN, IPVanish does not run servers in RAM-disk mode, which means user data could potentially be acquired from the server by third parties. This was a drawback we noted in the Surfshark vs IPVanish comparison, with Surfshark also using RAM servers.

---

IPVanish vs NordVPN Netflix and streaming comparison

Many people are using VPNs to stream media and unblock content around the world. This is especially true for Netflix, which restricts access based on your IP address (where they think you are located).

There are only a handful of VPNs that work with Netflix. Many are too slow and unreliable to stream Netflix, while others are fast enough but can't defeat the geo-blocking technology Netflix uses to control access.

IPVanish – This is another area where IPVanish has made major improvements. In our previous testing, we found the service to have some limited capabilities for streaming. That has all changed.

In our most recent testing, we found that IPVanish did a great job of unblocking and streaming the Netflix US and Netflix UK libraries, as well as other regions.

IPVanish also came through for me when I wanted to stream BBC iPlayer content. This is something it could not do the last time I tested it, so it is a major improvement.

In addition to these crucial streaming services, the IPVanish team has told me that they are improving their ability to stream content from dozens of additional streaming services world wide, including:  Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, ESPN, Disney+, BBC, HBO Max, DAZN, Peacock, Crunchyroll, Hotstar, ITV (1, 2, 3, 4, BE), CITV, CTV, ZDF, Das Erste, TF1, TF France, France (2,3), La (1, 2), 24 Horas, Clan, Teledeporte, TVE, NPO (1, 2, 3), RTÉ Player, RaiPlay, Rai TV, My5, and NowTV.

Finally, IPVanish is a good option if you need a VPN for Kodi, since they provide a dedicated app for Kodi streaming.

In short, IPVanish has become perhaps one of the best VPNs for streaming.

NordVPN – NordVPN works extremely well with Netflix and unblocks more regions than IPVanish. I've tested this out many times and have found NordVPN to be one of the best options if you want a reliable VPN for Netflix that can access numerous regional libraries.

Here I'm streaming Netflix through a NordVPN server in the US.

Like IPVanish, NordVPN supports many different Netflix libraries around the world. You can access these Netflix regions with NordVPN: US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Australia, India, and Italy. Other regions may also be supported, but I couldn't test all of them.

Additionally, NordVPN works well with other streaming services. It is one of the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer and also for streaming Amazon Prime Video.

This category has become much closer since I last tested it. Both of these services are among the elite when it comes to unblocking and streaming content from around the world.

---

NordVPN vs IPVanish logs and privacy

	NordVPN	IPVanish
Audited no-logs policy	✔️	✔️
Jurisdiction	Panama	United States

The next category we'll examine is logs — or what data the VPN is recording when you use their service. In this category, there is a big difference between NordVPN and IPVanish. Both NordVPN and IPVanish claim to be “no logs” VPN providers — and both have been verified by independent auditing firms.

IPVanish's no-logs claims verified by a third-party audit

In April of 2022, IPVanish announced that they had completed a no-logs audit conducted by the Leviathan Security Group. They report that the audit, “confirmed that our VPN service was in compliance with our publicly available Privacy Policy, which guarantees that we do not retain data about the content or destination of customer sessions.” In February 2025, IPVanish underwent a second no-logs audit (equally successful), this time conducted by Schellman Compliance, LLC.

We were happy to see this result. But while the audit results are a plus, we also need to take into consideration the jurisdiction where a VPN is based.

Jurisdiction: With IPVanish being based in the United States, this puts the VPN completely under US law. It also means they can be pressured by US authorities to log user data, which is exactly what happened to them several years ago, under different management. The US is a Five Eyes surveillance country and not a good jurisdiction for privacy.

NordVPN's no-logs claims verified by third-party audit

Similar to IPVanish, NordVPN is one of the few verified no-logs VPNs. In November 2018, NordVPN completed a full audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which confirmed the accuracy of its no-logs claims. Since then, it has undergone four additional audits, further strengthening its reputation as a trusted no-logs service.

Jurisdiction: With NordVPN being based in Panama, they are much more protected from countries, such as the US and UK, that demand customer data and/or logging. Panama is not a member of any international surveillance alliances like the US, UK, Canada, and others.

---

Does IPVanish or NordVPN work best for torrenting in 2025?

Next, we will examine torrenting and P2P file sharing.

NordVPN – As noted earlier, NordVPN has dedicated P2P servers to give you the best performance with torrenting. I tested these servers and found them to offer excellent performance.

NordVPN also does not have any throttling or limitations on traffic. The fast speeds also make it one of the best VPNs for torrenting. Lastly, Panama does not have any strict copyright laws like the United States.

IPVanish – While IPVanish supports torrenting on all its servers, it does not offer any dedicated P2P servers. And being based in the US, it is also subject to strict copyright violation laws. Fortunately, without any logs, IPVanish users should not have to worry.

There is, however, an additional risk. Some US-based VPNs have been sued and forced to block torrenting on their servers. This happened to TorGuard VPN as part of a settlement from getting sued by copyright holders. While I have not heard of IPVanish having any such legal problems, this is something that might happen one day, thanks to the service being based in the United States.

Based on its more privacy-friendly jurisdiction, higher speeds (in general), and the availability of P2P-optimized servers, NordVPN is the winner here.

---

IPVanish vs NordVPN support

	NordVPN	IPVanish
Support Options	24/7 live chat, email, articles, FAQs	24/7 live chat, email, articles, FAQs
System Status Displayed	No	Yes, on the Support Center page

I have dealt with both IPVanish and NordVPN's support periodically over the past few years. This was mainly done when testing out the VPNs for their respective VPN reviews.

NordVPN – With NordVPN, you get access to 24/7 live chat support, which is available directly through the website. I have always found the chat support team to be professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. I've never experienced any extended wait time or problems getting support.

IPVanish – This is an area where IPVanish has improved since our last review. It used to be that live chat support was only available during regular business hours, but now they do provide 24/7 live chat support:

Kudos to IPVanish for upping their game here. I also like that they display the system status on the Support Center's main page.

---

IPVanish vs NordVPN price and value comparison

IPVanish pricing and refund

IPVanish plans	IPVanish Essential	IPVanish Advanced
1-month	$12.99/month	$14.99/month
1-year	$3.33/month	$4.49/month
2-year	$2.19/month	$3.29/month

Deal: Get 83% OFF IPVanish 2-year plans >

IPVanish offers monthly, yearly, and 2-year pricing plans, as you can see in the table above. The 2-year plan is priced at under $3.00 per month, making it a particularly strong value. With all the improvements this service has made, don't be surprised if IPVanish makes it onto our list of the best cheap VPNs soon.

There are two subscription tiers: Essential and Advanced. The Essential plan includes the VPN service with advanced privacy features, 24/7 support, and Threat Protection. The Advanced plan builds on this by adding a secure browser with built-in VPN, encrypted file sharing, cloud backup, and phone support.

IPVanish accepts credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay, but they do not accept cryptocurrency payments.

IPVanish refund policy – IPVanish offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on their yearly and 2-year plans. There are no refunds on monthly subscriptions.

NordVPN pricing and refund

NordVPN plans	Basic	Plus	Complete	Prime
1-month	$12.99/month	$13.99/month	$14.99/month	$17.99/month
1-year	$4.99/month	$5.99/month	$6.99/month	$8.99/month
2-year	$3.09/month	$3.99/month	$4.99/month	$6.99/month

Deal: Get 77% OFF NordVPN 2-year plans >

NordVPN pricing varies not only based on how long of a subscription you get, but also on which of their four plans you select. Like IPVanish, they offer monthly, yearly, and 2-year plans. The Standard plan includes the VPN itself. The Plus plan adds a password manager and data breach scanner. The Complete plan includes everything in the Plus plan and adds 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage. The Prime plan is only available to U.S. customers and includes NordProtect, the company’s own identity theft protection tool.

Currently, the best price you will find on NordVPN is with our NordVPN discount coupon. NordVPN supports all major payment options, with the exception of PayPal (in the US), and also accepts many different types of cryptocurrency.

(See also my NordVPN coupon page that also shows the latest deals and discounts with NordVPN.)

NordVPN refund policy – NordVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Unlike with IPVanish, this refund applies to all subscription plans.

While IPVanish betters NordVPN on price and has greatly improved across the board, I still feel that NordVPN offers a better value for most users.

---

Conclusion: NordVPN wins in 2025

In this NordVPN vs IPVanish comparison, the winner is clearly NordVPN. While IPVanish has been making some improvements over the last year or two, NordVPN still has an edge. This table highlights the test results for every category:

Category	Winner
Apps and Device Support	NordVPN
Features	NordVPN
Encryption and Security	NordVPN
Netflix and Streaming	Tie
Logs and Privacy	NordVPN
Torrenting	NordVPN
Support	Tie
Price	IPVanish
Value	NordVPN

We recommend you take advantage of NordVPN's full 30-day money-back guarantee and the discount coupon below. You'll have plenty of time to confirm that NordVPN is right for you and get the best possible price too.

Here's a coupon to get the best savings with NordVPN:

As we have pointed out throughout this comparison article, IPVanish is a massively improved product. While NordVPN won this competition, IPVanish is superior to the majority of VPN services available, and definitely worth a try.

Other VPN comparisons:

• NordVPN vs Proton VPN
• ExpressVPN vs NordVPN
• IPVanish vs ExpressVPN
• Surfshark vs NordVPN
• CyberGhost vs Surfshark
• Surfshark vs ProtonVPN

If you are open to other options, you could also see my list of the best VPNs based on the latest test results.