NordVPN is actually the best VPN if we balance out the categories.

SurfShark's advantage on Nord is that it offers unlimited devices, is much cheaper and enables efficient split-tunneling.

If you pick anything other than SurfShark or Nord, you are either paying too much or paying for trash. Find me one exception and I'll 'eat my hat'.

SurfShark says that it offers unlimited devices. It also says that it has an efficient whitelister (split tunneling) mechanism and that it camouflages your connection as HTTPS traffic to your ISP (which is extremely important if you're in an oppressed nation).

The problem is lack of transparency and I am going to explain how/why. As soon as you enable split-tunneling with SurfShark, you are not fully camouflaging your connection because it demands Ikev2 Protocol (which they never explain, and your settings will say you're on OpenVPN with UDP but really you have IKev2 with maybe some layer of OpenVPN on top). This is especially true if using the Android or iOS when/if you have their 'whitelister' activated for some apps. It is spitting the connection but operating on a protocol designed for good configuration but less 'pure security' nonetheless I'd say sure, there's no leaks happening but the key is that the apps/programs you make 'whitelisted' will sense you're using a VPN due to how it splits. This means if you think you can just split it like that and the things using your real IP will go 'ah everything is fine' you are so wrong. If you play online poker, use any bank-related programs or something that basically your money and real-life depend on, you can technically be banned for doing this even though you white-listed it. That aside, to truly whitelist a program in Windows with SurfShark is so utterly more complex than they make out with their 'tick the game you want to whitelist' options. The Client you play on is one of many .exe files (Idk what mac has instead of .exe and never ever will care, Apple and me fell out of love a long time ago). If you go through all the .exe files, you often find 'tracker' especially for games that want to ban 2 people playing from the same IP or track cheating or ban-bypassing like that. If you are not running that through your real IP, you can get banned for it. It comes down to how lenient and understanding the tech team is and how recipient to them, the admins are, that determines the mercy given to you when you explain you didn't realise you weren't whitelisting it fully. Note, even when whitelisted fully, split tunneling cannot and will not ever fully work for things like that because it works by it understanding you're blocking tracking and other things with your VPN active and then going 'oh we are lucky to have your real IP anyway but how do we really know for sure?'. If you understand programming, you'll realise why NordVPN is much more honest for only enabling you to have split tunneling on Android and why the only true way to split-tunnel on computers is to have browser extensions with your VPN there and the rest of your computer completely 'exposed'. This registers to games and programs as completely acceptable as there is no way you're faking your IP to them, regardless of your VPN on the browser being active. You can split-tunnel on Android with NordVPN if you read their support guide on IKeV2 but it's not 'easy' to setup ('just a bit easier than medium' is what I'd rank it).

ExpressVPN has the exact same issues as SurfShark with regards to authenticating the split-tunnel but maybe they have a workaround or 'true split tunneling' mechanism, I haven't used their product to speak on it. They charge too much, as do Hotspot Shield. I don't trust any other VPN, because I know how to analyse the proper 'never turn you in' element of a VPN based not only on the wording of their T&C and Privacy Policy but physical things, audits, track record etc.

NordVPN completely deletes the device and usage data after your session, but the other 2 do not necessarily do so althought they perhaps stay 'true' to the policy as they keep it airtight within their company.

I agree

NordVPN has great speeds if you pick a location close to you and don't make it obfuscated (but obfuscation is a must if you are in an oppressed nation, regarding Internet rights).

I may have been wrong about Split tunneling on Surfshark using IKEv2 but it still is much less open about what/how to use its functions, though for the money paid it is indeed brilliant. If knowing everything about your VPN matters less to you than having a lot for less money, go for SurfShark, if you like to know a lot and still have a fantastic deal that makes split tunneling awkward as hell to make work, go for NordVPN as in all other ways it equals and/or surpasses Surfshark while still having an absolutely brilliant price for the 3-year plan.

Any other VPN is either based in a nation where logs are obligated to keep and can be demanded at any times (even if it says it keeps no 'personally identifiable' logs, it's keeping many logs that are required by law) or is based in a good enough nation and situation security-wise but simply is too expensive vs what it offers.

I know for a fact that if you're in an oppressed nation the camouflage mode ('NoBorders') of SurfShark and the Obfuscated servers of NordVPN (Nord works brilliantly with Onion Router, TOR Browser for computers and Orbot router + Orfox browser for Android... Don't use iOS if you seriously want to connect to TOR... This matters a lot. ExpressVPN is good at that but is a rip-off price wise. Also, in very oppressed nations, ExpressVPN addresses and DNS servers are usually one of the first targetted by authorities like China, because it's such a high-end one that they know a lot of data transfer will happen over. It takes them up to 5 days to recover from a proper China security hit and other nations that dislike VPN target it also, but tend to struggle if you use the stealth mechanism properly.

If you have the money to buy ExpressVPN and require high speed connection on top of Stealth/Obfucation then sure, go for it. NordVPN has fantastic enough speeds if you don't need obfuscation and the obfuscated speeds are great for general browsing, as is SurfShark. I prefer NordVPN because it gives you more clarity on how to opt in and opt out of that, as well as clearly explaining when obfuscation is not happening. SurfShark support seem to think it still is camouflaging when on P2P servers as well as the double-VPN... In fact SurfShark even offers Virtual Servers that it claims it's obfuscating you while connecting to... That is insecure to do and ridiculous to add on top.

Your website has reviewed 3 VPNs; NordVPN, ExpressVPN and SurfShark.

I recommend all three, in that order.

I thought I was watching one of those YouTube videos that starts with a minute-long ad for Nord VPN for a second there.

Are you one of these people who thinks advertising is evil and goes for something like PIA instead?

Not at all.

Based in Panama.

Wow nice. 

One thing that ExpressVPN has (but soon NordVPN will equal them on this in another way) is complete invulnerbility to local leaders in very conservative nations suddenly snapping their fingers despite privacy laws. In Turkey,there was an understandable reason for the government to do this:

The reason Express has this 'edge' that enables/enabled it to operate in countries most VPNs would steer clear of is that they run their information on pure RAM discs, not genuine servers, there's nothing stored at all in the memory, what the government holds is an empty disc.

In the case of almost all other VPNs except for VyprVPN, the actual servers are not truly under the absolute control of the VPN provider, they are being rented. The reason that this doesn't truly matter is that it is quite simply implausible (not impossible) that the server-provider would keep physically replacing servers to feign having wiped the memory, since the renter is able to make sure things get deleted from servers after each use, but more importantly if the VPN provider is located in a nation such as British Virgin Isles or Panama, it means that very little can be done to obtain proof that a particular activity was done by any particular user.

Furthermore, NordVPN is moving towards completely owning its own servers just like VyprVPN, do note that VyprVPN does not at all promise no-logs in the way that NordVPN does, read the fine print and you will realise that in fact it is owned by Golden Frog, which while it is definitely dedicated to privacy and security, is based in Switzerland who have what we can call watertight privacy laws (whereas Panama and British Virgin Isles have airtight). There are absolutely loopholes in Switzerland's privacy laws that force it to hand over information if other EU nations or their allies (such as the US) can give a good enough reason to force the hand of Switzerland. While this is much more difficult than normal and not obligatory storage period of data is there, if you actually read the fine print of the 'logs' section in the terms, or whatever, of VyprVPN, it does not at all promise 0 logs, it promises to not ever sell them or hand them over and justifies that it is capable of resisting thanks to being based in Switzerland.

I am not saying Vypr is bad, it just lacks in a few departments (for instance, since it openly owns its servers and buys them all in the name of its company, Golden Frog, it is extremely easy to see you are using this VPN... The ISP will give it away, which means that for any purposes of 'unblocking sites and services' it is mediocre whereas in terms of encryption and such, it's top tier).

NordVPN does not yet own all its servers and will probably only own them all via the NordLynx protocol whereas the standard OpenVPN protocol is likely to remain on rented servers until it's rich enough to properly convert. Even then it won't invest in the physical disc storage system that ExpressVPN has, as opposed to server storage system of other VPNs. In practise, deleting server info is still totally secure, but the reason that using discs for temporary processing memory and running primarily via RAM is more secure, is because quite literally even if you wanted to, you couldn't hand over information thanks to the mechanics of what ExpressVPN has in place. The cost reflects this, it's double the cost of NordVPN on long-term plans and still much more, albeit not double, for shorter-term plans, almost entirely due to that one factor and how much it costs.

NordVPN will end up equal to ExpressVPN but at the moment is approaching VyprVPNs status, it is taking time due to cost and logistics more so than technology.

Well damn. I think you sold me. I usually go the free VPN route when in coffee shops or trying to watch german netflix, but I think you sold me on Nord VPN for my pirating needs, seeing as how the last stimulus package seemed to sneak some stuff in there about heavier punishments for piracy. 

I never encouraged pirating anything in this thread.

I also didn't really advertise, it is simply objectively true that Nord is superior in the overall categories, they even have P2P servers that specialise in handling torrent traffic but do note that torrents are not inherently pirate software at all, to transfer ANY extremely large file legally requires torrenting unless you want to wait a huge amount of time.

Free VPNs are terrible for the purpose you are describing, not only do they protect worse (except for Hotspot Shield which gives 500Mb free per day, genuinely) but they are obviously used by many people, meaning it's piss-easy for sites that you're trying to unblock, to know you're trying to do so, since many others will be doing the same from the same IP.

I want you to notice what it says with 'user data' now compare it to NordVPN because user data doesn't mean it's deleting logs of what you, the user, did. It means it's deleting your username being linked to said activity after the session is over. You are smat enough to understand what thateams can happen prior to deleting it, as well as what that means may be kept permanent logs of, especially as they own all their servers unlike most other mainstream VPNs.

They have been audited, but so has Nord.

Pay attention to what they DO NOT explicitly say they aren't keeping logs of, it's things like this that separate most good VPN providers from Nord, in my opinion.

Instead NordVPN has been audited to prove it keeps no logs (only subscribed users can read the full audit, for whatever reason, and we agree to the terms and conditions of not pasting the contents of it or talking specifically about what's inside) I can tell you the audit fully explains the mechanics of their no logs and it is essentially a perfect no logs system.

As for the promise they give:

To read more about the details of their promise, see here:

I have researched and this is still the case. Almost exactly the same. In fact Nord has a speed edge it didn't before, now, thanks to the Nordlynx encryption method.

Nord also allows split-tunneling now but I do believe that it's better to 'totally encrypt' your raw connection, exceptions lead to issues potentially.

Hideme is my pick. They are based in Malaysia which doesn't have any agreements with other governments and they don't record anything permanently and clear out their servers daily.

They also use AES-256 bit encryption.

The only one I know of that uses advanced encryption is ProxPN but they have atrocious reviews despite the 1048-bit encryption they used.

Though if Snowden is right the NSA can already crack every type of encryption available in a matter of minutes.

Snowden never said that.

Also, that extreme of encryption is actually unnecessary and slows the connection too much.

NordVPN has an encryption method called Nordlynx, almost just as secure and revolutionary speeds. Research Wireguard to understand what is utilises.

Also make sure you realise that your NSA worries and that VPN are not linked in reality.

Has it ever been audited?

Nordlynx took wireguard and made it so that it deletes user info every time, Hideme uses raw wireguard which is fast and reaource-light but it notes every time you connect and to which server etc.

Why does it not warn of that?

Malaysia is a borderline Sharia nation. Are you sure it has good data retention policy for the VPN to maintain its no logs? Does it delete logs instantly or every few days?

How is it at georestriction unlocking, speed of connecting etc?

It's clear that you've delved deep into the technical aspects of VPN services and their impact on user psychology and online activities. User psychology plays a crucial role in choosing the right VPN service, as individuals often need to balance security and convenience, especially when split-tunneling is involved.
Your insights into SurfShark's split-tunneling and its potential implications for users engaging in sensitive activities, such as online poker or financial transactions, are indeed valuable. It highlights the importance of not only the VPN's features but also the clarity and ease of use for those features. Complexity in whitelisting programs can lead to user error and unintended consequences.
Your comparison with NordVPN's approach to split tunneling on Android and the use of browser extensions provides an interesting perspective on different VPN services' strategies and their implications for user experience.
ExpressVPN and Hotspot Shield also come under scrutiny here, illustrating the importance of trustworthiness, pricing, and the need for robust privacy policies in the VPN industry. Trust is a significant factor in users' decision-making processes, particularly when it comes to entrusting a service with their online activities.
Overall, your analysis sheds light on the intricate details of VPN services, revealing that user psychology and trust are essential considerations when choosing the right VPN for one's needs. Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences.

The Opera Web Browser has free VPN.

this doesn't encrypt at all

Yay, rational madman is back! Even tho they still have me blocked.

I been using free Proton VPN for month or so.  I like it.

I agree on both your assessments.  Thats about normal for you and I. Yay! 

Glad your back. This place is just not the same without you. Even tho they still blocking me.