Quick Summary
- Cheapest plan: Basic 2-year at $3.49/mo (76% off) → get the deal here
- Best value: Plus 2-year adds a password manager and ad/tracker blocking for roughly $1/mo more than Basic
- Renewal pricing: Introductory rates do not last. Expect a significant price increase when your first term ends
- Risk-free: 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans. Android users also get a free trial with no payment needed upfront
NordVPN starts at $3.49/mo on a 2-year plan, but the final cost depends on which tier you choose and how long you commit. We have been tracking NordVPN’s pricing since 2019, so we have a clearer picture of what counts as a good deal than most review sites. What follows is the honest breakdown, including the part about renewal pricing that most articles leave out.
How Much Does NordVPN Cost? Pricing Breakdown by Plan
NordVPN charges more for shorter commitments and less for longer ones. The monthly plan costs $12.99/mo for Basic, which only makes financial sense if you need coverage for a short trip or a specific short-term situation. The 1-year plan brings that down to $4.99/mo. The 2-year plan drops it to $3.49/mo, which is where the value actually sits.
Every plan includes access to 9,000+ servers across 181 countries, simultaneous connections on up to 10 devices, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
NordVPN Subscription Tiers Compared: Basic, Plus, Complete and Prime
NordVPN sells four tiers, each adding services on top of the core VPN. Knowing what each includes makes the price difference easier to evaluate against what you actually need.
Basic is the VPN itself. Full server access, the NordLynx protocol built on WireGuard, Threat Protection Lite, and a kill switch. This covers everything most individuals need from a VPN.
Plus adds NordPass, NordVPN’s own password manager, and the full Threat Protection Pro suite, which blocks ads, trackers, and malicious sites at the network level before they load. At roughly $1/mo more than Basic on the 2-year plan, this tier offers the most practical value for everyday users.
Complete bundles in NordLocker with 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage on top of everything in Plus. If you already pay for cloud storage separately, the combined cost of Complete can work out cheaper than keeping both services.
Prime adds NordProtect, covering cyber insurance and identity theft protection. This is currently US-only. At the highest monthly rate across all tiers, it targets users who want a full digital security suite rather than a standalone VPN.
Which NordVPN Plan Offers the Best Value for Your Needs
Plus on a 2-year plan is the right call for most people. The core VPN is solid on Basic, but Threat Protection Pro alone justifies the small price difference. It blocks trackers before they reach your browser, which a browser extension does only partially. If you already use and pay for a separate password manager you trust, Basic is the leaner option.
Complete makes financial sense if you need encrypted cloud backup and would otherwise pay for it separately. NordLocker’s 1 TB is competitive with mid-tier Google One and iCloud plans. Prime is a niche product: the identity protection features are US-only and the price premium is steep. Most users outside the US will find little practical value in the upgrade.
If you are undecided, start with the 30-day money-back guarantee on Basic. You can upgrade to a higher tier at any point without losing your remaining subscription period.
NordVPN Discounts, Deals, and Seasonal Promotions
We have tracked NordVPN’s pricing since 2019. The current rate of $3.49/mo sits in the lower range of everything we have recorded over six years, making it a genuinely good deal by historical standards.
📉 NordVPN Price History: Best Long-Term Rate (2019 – 2026)
Monthly-equivalent price · lowest available long-term plan · via Web Archives and internal records
What the data shows
Over six years of tracking, NordVPN's best available price has ranged from $2.99 to $4.13/mo. Since late 2021 it has stabilised in the $2.99–$3.39 band, alternating between a regular rate of $3.09 (+3 months free) and $3.39 (24-month flat). The current $3.09/mo is a Good Deal by historical standards – the only realistic way to improve on it is a Black Friday promotion, which has reliably pushed the price down by around $0.10 to $2.99 each November.
▶ View full price history data
| Date | Price/mo | Plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2019 | $3.49 | 3-year plan (€3.17) | Regular |
| March 2020 | $3.49 | 3-year plan | Regular |
| July 2020 | $3.51 | 3-year plan (€3.11) | Regular |
| November 2020 | $3.71 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | Expensive |
| February 2021 | $3.71 | 2-year plan | Expensive |
| May 2021 | $4.13 | 2-year plan | Expensive |
| June 2021 | $3.30 | 2-year plan · Summer Deal | Regular |
| November 2021 | $3.29 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | Regular |
| June 2022 | $3.29 | 2-year plan (Standard tier) | Regular |
| October 2022 | $3.09 | 2-year plan | Good Deal |
| November 2022 | $2.99 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | 🔥 Hot Deal |
| November 2023 | $2.99 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | 🔥 Hot Deal |
| March 2024 | $3.09 | 2-year plan (no free months) | Good Deal |
| August 2024 | $3.39 | 2-year plan · 24 months | Regular |
| October 2024 | $3.09 | 2-year plan · 27 months (+3 free) | Good Deal |
| November 2024 | $2.99 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | 🔥 Hot Deal |
| February 2025 | $3.39 | 2-year plan · 24 months | Regular |
| April 2025 | $3.09 | 2-year plan · 27 months (+3 free) | Good Deal |
| July 2025 | $3.39 | 2-year plan · 24 months | Regular |
| November 2025 | $2.99 | 2-year plan · Black Friday | 🔥 Hot Deal |
| January 2026 | $3.39 | 2-year plan · 24 months | Regular |
| April 2026 ← Current | $3.09 | 2-year plan · 27 months (+3 free) | Good Deal |
Lowest available long-term plan in USD/mo at time of capture. 3-year plan used for 2019–2020 (cheapest then available); 2-year plan from Nov 2020 after the 3-year plan was discontinued. EUR prices converted at period exchange rates.
Black Friday is the one time NordVPN has reliably gone lower, historically dropping to around $2.99/mo each November. Outside of that window, the current deal is as low as it gets without waiting several months.
NordVPN also offers branded coupon codes through select partners. Our codes thebestvpn2y (2-year) and thebestvpn1y (1-year) apply the discounted pricing automatically at checkout. See our full NordVPN deals page for the current active coupon codes.
NordVPN Payment Options, Money-Back Guarantee, and Renewal Pricing
NordVPN accepts credit and debit cards, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank transfer, and cryptocurrency including Bitcoin. PayPal is not accepted directly but works through Paddle at checkout on some plans.
The 30-day money-back guarantee covers all paid plans and all payment methods including crypto, which is more generous than most competitors. Refunds typically process within 5 to 10 business days.
The part most pricing pages leave out: the introductory rate does not last. When your first 2-year term ends, NordVPN renews at a higher rate closer to the 1-year pricing. On the Basic plan that means a significant jump in your monthly equivalent at renewal. The exact renewal amount is shown at checkout before you commit, so it is worth checking before you sign up. Options to manage it include re-subscribing on a new promotional offer when your term ends or watching for a win-back discount NordVPN occasionally sends to subscribers who do not renew automatically. The 2-year plan is still good value even accounting for renewal, but knowing this upfront beats finding out when the charge appears.