NordVPN vs IPVanish
Even for an experienced user, choosing a VPN can be a difficult task especially with such a huge variety of VPN services to choose from.
For this reason, we’re going to pit two VPN giants against each other to see who comes out on top as the better one.
NordVPN is a better VPN service when compared to IPVanish. It tops the list for most features and is, therefore, more desirable than IPVanish.
Read on so we can show you why NordVPN is better than IPVanish and why NordVPN is much more recommended! This is sure to be an insightful read.
NordVPN
NordVPN is arguably one of the best VPN service providers out there.
In a world where there are dozens upon dozens of VPN providers, NordVPN has carved out a lane for itself and proven to be one of the most reliable, trustworthy, and effective VPNs that exist.
Since 2012 NordVPN has been offering online security solutions for users all around the world and up to date it’s still a respected VPN service provider.
In terms of security, NordVPN is one of the most secure services boasting military-grade encryption and other security features that ensure users’ information is safe from third parties.
It also has excellent speeds and a proven no-logs policy which means that it doesn’t track, collect, or store users’ data. It’s based in Panama, a country that has zero logs laws.
Some of the pros and cons of NordVPN include:
Pros of NordVPN
- It has a proven no-logs policy.
- It has the largest server count- With over 5000 servers in over 60 countries.
- It has fast and stable speeds all around the world.
- It is extremely easy to use and offers a satisfying user experience with a wide range of features.
- It has lots of security features and strong encryption protocols to ensure the security of users’ data.
- It allows streaming and torrenting.
Cons of NordVPN
- A little bit pricey.
- Some servers give low speeds
- Torrents don’t work on every server
But just like any other company, NordVPN has competitors and one of the biggest of these is IPVanish. So in this article, we’re going to pit the two VPN providers against each other and see who the winner is.
NordVPN vs IPVanish: Which One Is Better?
To be clear, both NordVPN and IPVanish are popular and excellent VPN services.
Each of them claim to offer a balance between security and privacy, top-notch performance, and excellent speeds-but which one of these VPNs is the better one in a head-to-head comparison?
We’ll give you the best picks for each category and at the end come up with a winner.
1. Streaming
Streaming videos is arguably one of the most popular pastimes today. This makes streaming capabilities one of the foremost important factors to consider when deciding the best VPN provider for you.
Some of the most popular streaming platforms geo-block their content. This means that if you are outside of a certain region, you cannot access any of these streaming platforms.
With NordVPN and IPVanish however, you can unlock these streaming services.
NordVPN is an excellent choice for streaming purposes. It reliably unblocks most geo-restricted streaming service libraries.
With NordVPN, you can access Netflix libraries around the world like in the US, UK, South Korea, France, Germany, Turkey, Canada, and even more.
NordVPN can also offer reliable access to other streaming services like Disney+. Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, HBO, and many more others.
Unfortunately, IPVanish cannot top NordVPN’s list. For IPVanish, Netflix US only works on select IPVanish U.S. servers.
The other streaming services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO cannot be unblocked using IPVanish.
While it’s possible to connect to Netflix and maybe Disney+, the VPN provider’s access to streaming services is a little bit of a miss.
To put it plainly, it seems like NordVPN puts in a little more extra effort to provide users with a hassle-free streaming experience. It has over 5000 servers that are optimized for streaming.
NordVPN, therefore, provides the versatility you need to stream and watch anything from any corner of the world.
When compared to NordVPN, IPVanish doesn’t have servers that are optimized for streaming.
IPVanish also has a fewer number of servers-1300+ – most of whose locations are blocked by popular streaming services.
So for this category, NordVPN is the clear winner.
| Streaming Service | NordVPN | IPVanish |
| Netflix | Yes | Yes |
| Disney+ | Yes | Yes |
| Hulu | Yes | No |
| Amazon Prime | Yes | No |
| BBC iPlayer | Yes | No |
| HBO | Yes | No |
2. Torrenting
Torrenting and P2P file sharing are extremely popular today and for this reason, they are quite risky.
Using torrenting services unprotected opens one up to all manner of security threats and as such using a VPN while torrenting is a no-brainer.
It’s worth mentioning that both NordVPN and IPVanish support P2P file sharing. The two of them, however, use a quite different infrastructure for this functionality.
For starters, IPVanish does not have dedicated torrenting servers. They just simply allow P2P connections on their normal servers.
This is somewhat of an easier approach considering you only need to connect to a VPN provider with a single tap for torrenting sessions.
NordVPN on the other hand uses a different approach. It has dedicated P2P servers that are optimized for torrenting. NordVPN has over 4000 torrenting servers. This is a huge advantage over IPVanish.
One of the things that haunt IPVanish in terms of torrenting is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) U.S Policy.
IPVanish is based in the U.S and is legally required to monitor and report copyright infringement. There’s often a thin line between legal and illegal torrenting actions.
For this reason, relying on IPVanish for torrenting purposes is quite risky and can put you in a legal bind.
On the other hand, NordVPN has free torrenting support. It’s located in Panama, a country that doesn’t observe DCMA policies.
For this reason, using NordVPN for torrenting doesn’t put you in as much of a legal bind.
The winner in this case is NordVPN, though by a small margin. This is thanks to its dedicated p2p servers and a non-U.S. base of operation.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| Dedicated Torrenting servers | Yes (4000) | No |
| Under DCMA policy jurisdiction | No | Yes |
3. Servers
What makes for a good VPN service is a large number of servers around the world.
The more servers there are, the more the choice for you to choose from, especially if these servers are located in a wide variety of countries.
This allows you to get consistent, strong, and fast speeds no matter where you are on earth. It also allows you to effectively mask your location and appear to be in a different country than you are in.
Both NordVPN and IPVanish present strong cases on their server networks. They both have a larger number of servers than most VPN services in the business, but between the two there can only be one winner.
NordVPN runs the largest server network with over 5500 servers, which are spread out over 60 countries around the world. This makes it possible for you to obtain fast connections regardless of where you are on earth.
For these servers, you can get around 4500+ P2P servers, 470+ obfuscated servers, 3 onion over VPN servers, and 40+ double VPN servers. NordVPN also has over 70 servers with dedicated IP addresses.
A large server count is no mean feat, and few VPNs can boast of this. Running a large number of servers requires numerous resources and NordVPN makes this work for them.
The large server count means that congestion on servers is also minimal with NordVPN and therefore fast speeds.
The case is quite different for IPVanish. It has a server network of approximately 1300 servers spread out over 75 locations all over the world.
But while IPVanish offers more locations, it lacks specialized servers when compared to NordVPN.
Besides, with an ever-growing number of VPN subscribers, you’d prefer a VPN service that can handle huge loads of traffic without compromising speed in any way.
In terms of server coverage, NordVPN leads IPVanish, although the latter isn’t too far behind.
| Servers | NordVPN | IPVanish |
| Total number | 5500+ | 1300+ |
| Locations around the world | 60+ | 75+ |
4. Privacy and Logging policies
Privacy is one of the most important things to most internet users. The reason why most people use VPNs in the first place is to safeguard their privacy in all their online activities.
Logging policies are directly linked to privacy while using VPNs. Logging policies determine whether VPN services track, collect, and stores users’ information.
In both regards, NordVPN comes out on top without a doubt. Why?
For starters, NordVPN has a no-logs policy. Yes, IPVanish also claims to have a no-logs policy, but in the case of NordVPN, it’s a proven fact.
NordVPN submits to regular audits by auditing firms that have access to their servers and databases. The auditing firms can also interview employees and observe operations.
The last audit that was carried out confirmed that NordVPN indeed has zero data retention and is fully compliant with its no-logs policy.
Another reason is that NordVPN is located in Panama, outside of the U.S., and EU jurisdictions. Because of this it’s not legally required to retain users’ data.
This means that NordVPN guarantees the privacy of users.
IPVanish on the other hand does keep users’ data private, but it doesn’t have a spotless record. Reportedly, in 2016 IPVanish shared users’ data with US security agencies.
It’s therefore evident that IPVanish lied about its no-logs policy. For this reason, it’s a little hard to trust IPVanish with user privacy.
It’s also worth mentioning IPVanish is located in the U.S. and therefore falls in the country’s jurisdiction. It’s therefore required to keep logs of users’ information.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| Proven no-logs policy | Yes | No |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | US |
5. Security
One of the most important factors considered while carrying out online activities is security. VPNs encrypt all your online traffic and ensure no one can access this information thus keeping you safe.
Both NordVPN and IPVanish use AES-256 encryption. This makes both of their security levels military-grade and virtually unbreakable. Both of them also offer OpenVPN which is one of the best security protocols.
So in terms of security, both are quite adept. But there can only be one winner.
NordVPN goes the extra mile to provide additional security measures to better ensure your online security. These include a Kill Switch feature, CyberSec, Obfuscation technology, as well as DNS and IP leaks.
It also offers the double VPN feature (quite rare) which routes your online traffic through 2 VPN servers thus increasing security.
NordVPN also offers 2 options for the kill switch feature and gives one the option to customize DNS settings.
IPVanish also offers its own brand of security features, but truthfully speaking they cannot match the depth of those provided by NordVPN.
For example, IPVanish does provide a kill switch feature but not with customizable options like in NordVPN.
IPVanish doesn’t support customizing DNS settings. It also offers very basic DNS and IP leak protection.
In this scenario, NordVPN wins because it leads in encryption and security features when compared to IPVanish, although this is a close one.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| AES-256 encryption | Yes | Yes |
| Open VPN protocol | Yes | Yes |
| Kill switch feature | Yes | Yes |
| Options for kill switch feature | Yes | No |
| Customizing DNS settings | Yes | No |
| DNS and IP leak protection | Strong | Basic |
6. Speeds
The main reason why most people choose a VPN is for cybersecurity. But choosing a VPN service that reduces speeds and is inconsistent is a reality for most people.
A good VPN will always give you an excellent balance of speed in all your online activities.
In the VPN business, both NordVPN and IPVanish are at the top of their game. Both have better internet speeds than other VPN counterparts and the reason for this can be attributed to the number of servers.
Generally speaking, a large number of servers will in most cases lead to a higher speed.
To determine the best VPN in terms of speed, we carried out a speed test. First of all, we tested the speed without the VPN connection to establish the baseline connection speed which was about 160Mbps.
The first speed test was in Europe. In Germany, the average speed of NordVPN servers averaged at about 149Mbps. IPVanish on the other hand averaged about 87Mbps. So NordVPN has the edge in Germany.
The next test was in the UK. For NordVPN the average server speed was about 150Mbps while that of IPVanish was about 65Mbps.
The next speed test was in the US. With a server in New York, the speed for NordVPN was around 148Mbps while that of IPVanish was 65Mbps.
We also tested the speeds in Dallas to determine which VPN offers better speeds within the US. For NordVPN the server speed was about 149Mbps while for IPVanish it was 46Mbps.
In Canada, NordVPN clocked speeds of 147Mbps while IPVanish about 78Mbps.
Based on all of these tests, it’s clear to see that NordVPN is faster than IPVanish.
The reason for this may be because of NordVPN’s larger server count which accounts for faster speeds. It can also be attributed to WireGuard.
NordVPN also has WireGuard, which is the fastest VPN protocol available. This feature increases the speed greatly. IPVanish doesn’t have this feature. This puts NordVPN ahead in terms of speed.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| Germany | 149Mbps | 87Mbps |
| UK | 150Mbps | 65Mbps |
| US (New York) | 148Mbps | 65Mbps |
| US (Dallas) | 149Mbps | 46Mbps |
| Canada | 147Mbps | 78Mbps |
| Wireguard | Yes | No |
7. Simultaneous Connections
This is quite straightforward. If you’re looking to find a VPN provider that can allow you to connect on multiple devices, both NordVPN and IPVanish are excellent.
On a single account, NordVPN will allow you to connect up to 6 devices at once. IPVanish allows you to connect up to 10 devices at once.
IPVanish is therefore the winner in this instance.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| Simultaneous connections allowed | 6 | 10 |
8. Customer Support
While most VPN providers offer solid and trouble-free VPN services, there may likely arise a situation in which you have a question or two.
Support is essential for every VPN user and a VPN that provides options for immediate customer service is an ideal choice for anyone. So in this regard, NordVPN and IPVanish differ from each other.
Unmistakably though, they are quite ahead of their peers in matters of customer support.
Both NordVPN and IPVanish give options for Email support. Each one of them also has troubleshooting guides and a searchable knowledgebase with tutorials.
Both NordVPN and IPVanish have 24/7 live chat support which is directly available through their websites.
The only difference is that NordVPN has a chat support team of actual humans while IPVanish uses a bot feature instead of humans.
Also upon testing the response time, IPVanish takes a little longer to reply (2 minutes) compared to NordVPN (30 sec).
So NordVPN has a slight advantage over IPVanish in this case.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| 24/7 Live chat support | Yes | Yes |
| Human live chat support team | Yes | No |
| Email support | Yes | Yes |
| Support library | Yes | Yes |
| Response time | 30 sec | 2 minutes |
9. Pricing
At $11.95 for its one month plan, NordVPN isn’t that cheap. However, the longer deals offered by NordVPN seem to be the best.
Its 6-month plan is $9 a month. Its 2-year plan comes at only $3.71 a month. NordVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
In the case of IPVanish, the 1-month plan is $10, with the three-month plan at $8.99 a month. The year plan is at $6.49 a month. IPVanish has a 7-day money-back guarantee.
So NordVPN is the better choice in terms of pricing.
| NordVPN | IPVanish | |
| 1 month plan | $11.95 | $10 |
| 3 month plan | – | $8.99 |
| 6 month plan | $9 | – |
| 1 year plan | – | $6.49 |
| 2 year plan | $3.71 | – |
| Money back guarantee | 30 days | 7 days |
The bottom line is that NordVPN is the better service choice for all your VPN requirements!
