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Table of Contents
- NordVPN prices, plan by plan
- What Complete and Prime add to the price
- What you pay over three years
- The renewal step: month 28 and month 13
- How $3.49 compares with other VPNs
- What the base plan did when we tested it
- Add-ons, tax and ways to pay
- Picking a plan without overpaying
- NordVPN price questions
- Check three numbers before you pay
Key Takeaways
- NordVPN’s lowest advertised price is $3.49 a month, for the Basic plan on a 2-year term. That price covers the first 27 months, billed up front as $94.23.
- After that, Basic renews at $139.08 a year, which is $11.59 a month. Complete renews at $219.48 and Prime at $296.28.
- Averaged over the first 39 months, the 2-year Basic plan costs about $5.98 a month. The 1-year plan averages $9.56 over three years, and paying monthly is $14.99.
- Every plan covers 10 devices. Complete and Prime add extras such as an antivirus, a password manager and cloud storage, not a faster VPN.
- Prices on this page were read from NordVPN’s US pricing page on 15 October 2026. They change often, so confirm the figure on the checkout screen.
The number NordVPN advertises is $3.49 a month. That’s the cheapest the VPN gets, and it applies to the Basic plan on a 2-year term, billed as one payment of $94.23 that covers 27 months. Month-to-month, the same plan is $14.99.
The gap between those two prices is the whole story of what NordVPN costs, and renewal widens it. Below are all nine price points from NordVPN’s own page, the renewal rates, and our arithmetic on what you pay once the first term ends. If you’re still deciding whether to use a VPN at all, start with our guide on whether you need one.
NordVPN prices, plan by plan
NordVPN sells three plans, named Basic, Complete and Prime, each on a 1-month, 1-year or 2-year term. All prices below are in US dollars from NordVPN’s US pricing page on 15 October 2026. Sales tax may be added at checkout.
| Plan | 2-year term (per month) | Billed up front | 1-year term (per month) | Billed up front | 1-month term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $3.49 | $94.23 for 27 months | $5.49 | $65.88 for 12 months | $14.99 |
| Complete | $4.49 | $121.23 for 27 months | $6.49 | $77.88 for 12 months | $19.99 |
| Prime | $7.49 | $202.23 for 27 months | $9.49 | $113.88 for 12 months | $29.99 |
Two details are easy to miss. The 2-year price buys 27 months, not 24, because NordVPN adds three extra months to that term, so $3.49 × 27 gives the $94.23 charge. And the first-term price is what you pay once. The rate that follows is a different number, covered in the renewal section below.
Every plan, including Basic, covers 10 devices at the same time on one account. NordVPN’s page words it as ten simultaneous connections. The VPN itself, with its servers and protocols, is the same on all three plans, which is why the next section matters.
What Complete and Prime add to the price
The plan name doesn’t change the VPN. According to NordVPN’s pricing page, Basic gives you the VPN, scam and phishing protection, and Dark Web Monitor for up to 5 email addresses. Everything above that is a bundle of other products.
| Plan | What it adds, per NordVPN’s page | Extra per month over Basic (2-year term) |
|---|---|---|
| Complete | Antivirus with malware protection (desktop only), ad and tracker blocker, email, call and message protection, a cross-platform password manager, 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage, Dark Web Monitor Pro (up to 8 emails plus phone, card and national ID monitoring), and bank transaction monitoring for US accounts | $1.00 |
| Prime | Everything in Complete, plus credit freeze assistance, identity theft insurance (up to $1,000,000), cyber extortion insurance (up to $100,000), one-bureau credit monitoring and a VantageScore 3.0 credit score from TransUnion | $4.00 |
Think about this the way you’d think about any bundle: it saves money only for the parts you’d otherwise pay for. If you already use a password manager you like, the one in Complete adds nothing for you. If you keep files in cloud storage you already pay for, the 1 TB is a duplicate. For someone who has none of those, a dollar more a month on the 2-year term is a small step up. We haven’t tested the antivirus, password manager or storage, so we can’t say how they compare with stand-alone products. Our NordVPN review covers the VPN itself.
Prime’s identity features are written around US credit and banking systems. NordVPN’s page marks bank transaction monitoring as US-only, and doesn’t state eligibility for the other Prime items in the part we read, so check that they apply where you live before you pay for them.
What you pay over three years
A VPN is a subscription, so the number worth comparing is the average monthly cost over a few years, not the first-term price. We worked it out from NordVPN’s own figures. For the 2-year term we counted the first 27 months plus one renewal year (39 months). For the 1-year term we counted the first year plus two renewal years (36 months). Because the windows differ, compare the per-month average, not the totals.
| Plan | 2-year term: average over 39 months | 1-year term: average over 36 months | Paying monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $5.98 a month ($233.31 total) | $9.56 a month ($344.04 total) | $14.99 a month |
| Complete | $8.74 a month ($340.71 total) | $14.36 a month ($516.84 total) | $19.99 a month |
| Prime | $12.78 a month ($498.51 total) | $19.62 a month ($706.44 total) | $29.99 a month |
So the $3.49 on the advertising is the lowest point on the curve. Over a 39-month stretch, the same plan averages $5.98 a month, about 71% above the headline price. Even so, the 2-year term is the cheapest way to hold a NordVPN subscription for three years. Paying monthly for the same 39 months would add up to $584.61 on Basic, against $233.31 on the 2-year term.
The arithmetic assumes that each renewal bills the annual rate NordVPN lists next to the plan. We haven’t gone through a renewal ourselves, so treat the three-year averages as a planning figure and check the renewal screen in your Nord Account when the time comes.
The renewal step: month 28 and month 13
NordVPN’s page lists a renewal price under each term. For the 2-year and 1-year terms, the renewal prices shown are identical, and they’re billed per year.
| Plan | Renewal per year | Per month | Compared with the 2-year first-term price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $139.08 | $11.59 | 3.3 times higher ($3.49 → $11.59) |
| Complete | $219.48 | $18.29 | 4.1 times higher ($4.49 → $18.29) |
| Prime | $296.28 | $24.69 | 3.3 times higher ($7.49 → $24.69) |
The step-up is normal in this industry, and NordVPN shows the renewal figures on its pricing page. Still, the first-term price is a one-time rate. When the term ends, the rate that applies is the renewal one unless you switch to a new plan at that point. Note the date in your calendar and read the renewal notice when it arrives.
Your options at renewal are to pay the renewal rate, to cancel, or to move to a different provider. Switching providers is always an option. Our VPN pricing comparison lists the starting price for all 17 providers we track, and our filter tool narrows them by what you need.
How $3.49 compares with other VPNs
In our October 2026 pricing capture, 11 of the other 16 providers advertised a lower starting price than NordVPN’s $3.49. FastestVPN was lowest at $0.83 a month, then PrivateVPN at $2.00, Private Internet Access at $2.03, CyberGhost at $2.19, Surfshark at $2.49 and ExpressVPN at $2.99. Those are advertised starting prices from each provider’s page, and each has its own renewal terms, so none of them is a like-for-like comparison with the figures above.
The cheapest sticker price doesn’t pick the best VPN. What you get for the money varies: audits, app quality, how often a connection drops, where the company is based. We cover the detail in the head-to-head guides for Surfshark vs NordVPN, NordVPN vs ExpressVPN, CyberGhost vs NordVPN and Mullvad vs NordVPN. If cost is your main filter, our budget VPN guide is the place to start.
What the base plan did when we tested it
We’ve tested NordVPN on Windows. Those checks ran on the VPN itself, which is what Basic gives you. The most recent was a drop test on 15 October 2026: NordVPN’s Windows app (version 8.13.1) on a Windows 11 laptop on home Wi-Fi in Sydney, with a script logging our public IP address about twice a second while we forced a server change and cut the Wi-Fi for around five seconds.
- Switching servers took about 5 to 7 seconds of failed requests before the new VPN address appeared, with the Internet Kill Switch on or off.
- Turning Wi-Fi off for about five seconds produced roughly 23 to 24 seconds of failed requests before traffic returned, again with the kill switch on or off.
- In no run did our real home IP address appear in the log.
That’s one laptop, one network and one afternoon. We didn’t simulate a long outage, an app crash or a tunnel that never comes back, and we didn’t test the extras that Complete and Prime add. The full method is on our how we test page, and our explainer on the VPN kill switch shows why the setting matters. If a connection is giving you trouble, see our NordVPN troubleshooting guide.
Add-ons, tax and ways to pay
Add-ons. NordVPN’s page lists a Dedicated IP and Incogni (a service that asks data brokers to remove your information) as optional add-ons on all three plans, selectable at checkout. The part of the page we could read didn’t show their prices, so we can’t state what they add. Treat them as extra lines on the bill and check the total before you confirm.
Tax. The page says sales tax may apply, so the price at checkout can differ from the figures above depending on where you live.
Payment methods. NordVPN’s FAQ lists major credit and debit cards, PayPal, digital wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay, a selection of cryptocurrencies, local bank transfers (Sofort, iDEAL, Twint) where available, purchases through the Amazon Store, Apple App Store or Google Play, and prepaid NordVPN cards sold for cash at selected retailers. The options you see depend on your country and currency.
Upgrading. You can upgrade from your Nord Account at any time. According to the page, the change takes effect when your current subscription expires.
Picking a plan without overpaying
- You want a VPN and nothing else: Basic on the 2-year term. Expect about $5.98 a month on average if you stay for three years, and decide at renewal whether you still want it.
- You’re not sure you’ll keep it: a shorter term costs more per month but commits you for less time. The 1-month plan at $14.99 is the most expensive way to run NordVPN for a year, and the most flexible.
- You’d otherwise buy a password manager and cloud storage: compare Complete’s $1 uplift on the 2-year term with what you pay for those today. If you already have both, skip it.
- You’re in the US and want credit tools and insurance: Prime is the only plan with them, at roughly $4 a month more than Basic on the 2-year term. Read the policy terms on NordVPN’s site before counting insurance as a reason to buy.
- Price is your main concern: compare at least two other providers’ renewal prices, not only their first-term ones.
NordVPN price questions
How much does NordVPN cost per month?
The lowest advertised price is $3.49 a month on the Basic plan with a 2-year term (US prices, 15 October 2026). The same plan costs $5.49 a month on a 1-year term and $14.99 on a 1-month term. Complete and Prime cost more at every term.
Is there a free NordVPN plan?
Not on the pricing page we checked. NordVPN lists three paid plans, Basic, Complete and Prime. If a free VPN is what you need, read our guide on what a VPN does and doesn’t protect first, because free services make their money in other ways.
Why is NordVPN more expensive after the first term?
NordVPN’s page shows a separate renewal price for each plan: $139.08 a year for Basic, $219.48 for Complete and $296.28 for Prime. The low monthly price on the plan card is for the first term only.
Does the price include tax?
Not necessarily. NordVPN’s page says sales tax may apply, so the final amount at checkout depends on your location.
Is NordVPN Complete worth the extra cost?
It depends on whether you’d use the extras. On the 2-year term, Complete is $1 a month more than Basic and adds an antivirus, a password manager, 1 TB of cloud storage and other protection tools. The VPN itself is the same as on Basic.
How many devices can I use with one NordVPN plan?
10 at the same time on every plan, according to NordVPN’s pricing page.
Does the NordVPN price change by country?
The figures in this article are US prices in dollars. NordVPN’s page says payment options depend on your country and currency, so check the amount shown at checkout where you live.
Sources
- NordVPN pricing page, US prices, plan contents, device limit, add-ons, payment methods and upgrade terms (read 15 October 2026).
- HidVPN VPN pricing comparison, lowest advertised monthly price for 17 providers (rows re-checked September and October 2026; NordVPN row $3.49, 23 September 2026).
- HidVPN hands-on test log: NordVPN drop test, Windows app 8.13.1, Windows 11, Sydney, 15 October 2026.
Check three numbers before you pay
Before you click buy, read three things on the checkout screen: the term length, the amount charged today, and the renewal amount with its date. Those three tell you the real cost. If the renewal rate bothers you, set a reminder for a month before the term ends and compare it with what another provider charges new customers that week.
See NordVPN’s current plans · See FastestVPN’s current plans. Prices change often, so check the current plan before you buy.