Norton Safe VPN Evaluation (2023): Pricing, Professionals & Cons

Whereas Norton has been well-known for its widespread antivirus software program, its Safe VPN answer fails to fulfill the identical excessive customary. Its smaller server community throughout solely 29 nations, lack of notable options and doubtful no-logs claims make it laborious to advocate over different VPNs accessible.

Norton Safe VPN presents quick efficiency and reasonably priced month-to-month plans, however you may discover extra sturdy choices in additional established VPN suppliers comparable to NordVPN or ExpressVPN.

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Norton Safe VPN pricing

Norton Safe VPN’s pricing is exclusive because it presents plans per gadget as an alternative of getting a set variety of protected units per plan like different VPN suppliers.

Should you plan on defending just one gadget, Norton’s one-device subscription at $4.99 per thirty days is an reasonably priced possibility as month-to-month plans from rivals vary from $9 to $15; nevertheless, these plans embody extra units. If you would like a VPN that covers limitless units, for instance, Personal Web Entry VPN (PIA VPN) is an effective alternative.

Norton offers a set of safety software program outdoors of its VPN. The Norton 360 Customary plan for $94.99 per yr consists of Norton’s Safe VPN, antivirus software program and a password supervisor for 3 computer systems, tablets or telephones. This comes out to round $7.92 per thirty days and packs good worth for purchasers who need an all-around safety answer along with a VPN.

Should you’re solely after a VPN answer, I discover Norton Safe VPN’s five-device month-to-month subscription to be one of the best worth for cash. At $7.99 per thirty days, it stays an reasonably priced alternative in comparison with related month-to-month plans and covers 5 units as an alternative of only one.

Norton presents a 7-day free trial for its Safe VPN via Norton 360 bundles. I want Norton had a free model to strive its service out, particularly since its free trials require fee info to entry. Should you’re in search of a free VPN, ProtonVPN has a free tier with limitless knowledge.

Is Norton Safe VPN secure?

On paper, Norton Safe VPN is secure. It makes use of bank-grade AES 256 encryption and carries OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec safety protocols — two protocols identified for his or her safety and stability.

Sadly, Norton Safe VPN doesn’t enable customers to manually choose which protocol to make use of and doesn’t provide the speed-oriented WireGuard protocol. These safety features come customary in widespread VPNs like Surfshark or NordVPN.

Norton Safe VPN advertises itself as a no-logs VPN answer, stating that it “doesn’t log details about the place you browse on the Web.” Nevertheless, Norton’s World Privateness Assertion tells a distinct story.

Its privateness coverage covers all Norton software program and says that if you happen to set up any of its merchandise, it collects info comparable to your gadget identify, IP handle, browser knowledge comparable to session inside cookies and URLs, simply to call a couple of.

It’s unlucky that Norton data this quantity of knowledge whereas claiming to have a no-logs VPN. Additionally, Norton Safe VPN doesn’t report third-party safety audits, which most VPN suppliers use to verify their privateness claims. Whereas unbiased audits aren’t the end-all and be-all of a VPN’s safety structure, they’re an excellent indicator of a service’s transparency and confidence in its guarantees.

If you would like a VPN that’s gone via a ton of third-party safety testing, ExpressVPN has had round 16 unbiased audits since 2018.

Whereas Norton Safe VPN might be thought of a secure VPN to make use of in 2023, the VPN nonetheless has room to enhance, particularly in its safety protocols and knowledge logging coverage.

Key options of Norton Safe VPN

In comparison with different VPNs, Norton Safe VPN doesn’t have many standout options. Nevertheless, it presents three major options that one would anticipate from a VPN.

Cut up tunnel

Norton Safe VPN consists of break up tunneling performance that lets customers exclude explicit apps from the VPN’s visitors. This can be a handy function for customers who wish to management which apps they really feel want extra pace and which of them they need protected through the VPN.

Throughout my testing, I discovered Norton Safe VPN’s break up tunneling function to work properly; I used to be capable of route my chosen apps to my common web connection with out problem.

Nevertheless, having to search out the precise file location (Determine A) of the app I needed to pick out made the method a bit extra complicated. Different VPNs robotically present the record of selectable apps.

Kill swap

Norton Safe VPN comes with a built-in kill swap that robotically blocks your machine from connecting to an unprotected community in case your VPN connection is unexpectedly disrupted.

Norton Safe VPN’s kill swap labored as marketed, however it is vitally fundamental. PIA VPN, for instance, offers customers the choice to dam web visitors no matter whether or not the VPN is turned on or off.

However if you happen to’re not too explicit about having that exact management, Safe VPN’s Kill Swap will assist shield you in opposition to undesirable knowledge leaks.

Advert tracker blocking

Safe VPN has an advert tracker blocker that forestalls advertisers and advertising and marketing firms from monitoring your on-line exercise; that is particularly helpful for blocking focused adverts.

I like that Safe VPN offers you a tough estimate of the variety of blocks carried out in a given interval. This provides customers an concept of the variety of trackers we’re recurrently uncovered to when searching the web.

Is Norton Safe VPN quick?

Whereas Norton Safe VPN doesn’t have a ton of standout options, it carried out rather well by way of pace. Per my utilization, Safe VPN offered me with a fast and dependable connection. This included having a number of browser tabs open for analysis, working in Google Docs, attending on-line video conferences and streaming 1080p movies on YouTube.

By way of pace assessments, Norton Safe VPN was spectacular; with a 1.33% drop, it had one of many lowest drops in obtain speeds I’ve examined. The add pace was additionally good, coming in at 21.84% drop. Should you’re the kind of one who recurrently downloads large recordsdata or streams high-definition content material, Norton Safe VPN’s pace gained’t be an issue.

For DNS leak safety, I encountered zero leaks with Norton Safe VPN. This was after operating the VPN a number of occasions via a public DNS leak instrument and utilizing completely different servers to check.

Norton Safe VPN was additionally capable of set up connections shortly and swap servers seamlessly.

Norton Safe VPN servers and areas

Norton doesn’t disclose the precise variety of servers in Safe VPN’s server suite; some websites have reported it to be across the 1,000-2,000 server mark. Nevertheless, it seems that Safe VPN comes with a smaller community in comparison with the common 3,000-4,000 servers we see from different suppliers.

Norton Safe VPN offers entry to servers in 29 nations, together with america, Switzerland, Japan and South Africa. This can be a fairly low quantity contemplating how rivals like CyberGhost VPN and ExpressVPN have servers in 100 and 105 nations, respectively. Even newer VPNs like Atlas VPN include servers in 42 nations. If unblocking geo-restricted content material is your major precedence, you’ll be higher off going for choices like these as an alternative.

Norton Safe VPN doesn’t help you select city-level servers. And, whereas there’s the choice to decide on a torrent-optimized server, Safe VPN doesn’t have specialised servers for streaming, safety or gaming.

General, Norton Safe VPN’s server suite leaves quite a bit to be desired with its small community and nation unfold.

Norton Safe VPN app expertise

Norton Safe VPN comes with a really fundamental desktop consumer interface. It has a single, one-click button to activate the VPN and a rustic selector on the best — and that’s about it.

To entry extra options, all it is advisable to do is click on the cog icon on the higher left, and also you’ll get entry to Safe VPN’s restricted function set.

Safe VPN is extraordinarily straightforward to make use of, however I do really feel like that is each an excellent and unhealthy factor. It’s good as a result of it offers an easy expertise that novice customers gained’t discover laborious to make use of or perceive.

Nevertheless, the interface additionally displays Safe VPN’s lack of standout options and performance. By my rely, there are solely three menus inside Norton Safe VPN’s settings web page — which signifies that customers who desire a bit extra management or further options might not discover Safe VPN very interesting.

I additionally discover it odd that Norton Safe VPN doesn’t have an equal browser extension. Many VPN suppliers provide a browser extension, because it makes their service simpler to entry.

To its credit score, I had zero points utilizing Safe VPN’s desktop utility. I used to be capable of swap servers simply and it obtained the job achieved by way of VPN connection.

Norton Safe VPN Professionals

• Inexpensive month-to-month plans.
• Quick pace and dependable efficiency.
• Will be bundled with different Norton merchandise.
• Contains break up tunneling.

Norton Safe VPN Cons

• Small server community.
• Logs extra knowledge than we’d like.
• Lack of unbiased testing.
• No standout options like specialised servers.

How good is Norton Safe VPN?

Norton Safe VPN is an honest VPN answer that provides good speeds, a fundamental and easy-to-understand interface and reasonably priced pricing.

Nevertheless, its questionable privateness coverage and knowledge logging, lack of unbiased testing and bare-bones options make it laborious to advocate over the competitors. Its server community in 29 nations can also be one of many smallest choices in immediately’s VPN panorama.

I can solely advocate Norton Safe VPN if you happen to’re buying it as an included service via Norton 360 Plus, bundled with Norton’s different safety software program. It may also be an excellent possibility if you’d like solely probably the most fundamental VPN safety at a low value.

Options to Norton Safe VPN

Should you really feel that Norton Safe VPN doesn’t match what you or your group wants, I’ve listed three different VPNs that could be higher choices.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is among the greatest VPN choices for customers who desire a no-nonsense VPN service that gives a well-designed interface and dependable efficiency. This can be very straightforward to make use of and helps as much as 8 gadget connections. It additionally makes use of RAM-only server expertise that wipes all knowledge inside its servers with each reboot.

We rated ExpressVPN 4.4 stars out of 5. To study extra, learn our full ExpressVPN evaluate right here.

NordVPN

NordVPN has constructed a status for being among the best VPN suppliers by way of safety and privateness. It consists of security-focused options like an encrypted file-sharing system and built-in anti-malware safety. NordVPN additionally comes with a darkish net monitor that can alert customers if their electronic mail turns into concerned in any form of breach or hack.

We rated NordVPN 4.7 stars out of 5. To study extra, learn our full NordVPN evaluate right here.

CyberGhost VPN

Customers in search of a VPN to unblock geo-restricted content material ought to select CyberGhost VPN. It presents a formidable server community of greater than 10,000 servers, unfold throughout 100 nations and 125 areas. This provides you tons of flexibility in accessing region-blocked websites or providers all around the world.

We rated CyberGhost VPN 4.3 out of 5 stars. To study extra, learn our full CyberGhost VPN evaluate right here.

Evaluation methodology

My evaluate of Norton Safe VPN concerned an in depth evaluation of its safety features, real-world efficiency and price. I had hands-on expertise with Safe VPN via a one-month plan for one gadget.

For pace, I examined Norton Safe VPN utilizing Ookla’s public Speedtest. I additionally used DNSleaktest to check Safe VPN’s DNS leak safety.

I rated Norton Safe VPN on all the pieces, from its protocols to its pricing, primarily based on an inside algorithm to get a last ranking of three.0 out of 5 stars. The scoring was primarily based each on Norton Safe VPN by itself and in relation to different VPN providers accessible immediately.