Overview of NordVPN vs Avast SecureLine VPN
If you knew nothing about the VPN market, you might assume that Avast SecureLine is way better than NordVPN. Avast is a household name in online security and who are these Nord people anyway? Allow us to shatter your dreams – NordVPN is the best or second-best VPN on the market, whereas Avast SecureLine is known purely because of the brand.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s see how NordVPN vs Avast SecureLine VPN stacks up!
Security & Anonymity
This one’s easy: one has the strongest security and anonymity credentials on the VPN market, and the other is Avast SecureLine VPN. NordVPN has powerful encryption and no leaking issues, which means no DNS leaks, WebRTC leaks, or any other leaks. Meanwhile, Avast SecureLine VPN does not have their own DNS network, making their protection against DNS leaking somewhat suspect. In addition, Avast also has some WebRTC leaking issues. This doesn’t even touch upon the suite of security features – Avast VPN has no kill switch, for example, while NordVPN includes even some truly bonkers features (like double VPN or Onion over VPN).
In short, when it comes to security, NordVPN vs Avast SecureLine VPN is pretty clear-cut!
Speed & Performance
Some raw stats for you:
- NordVPN: 4,685 servers in 62 countries
- Avast SecureLine VPN: 54 servers in 34 countries
Need we say more? Yes. Yes, we do.
The sheer server count isn’t always the alpha and omega of how well a VPN will do on a speed test. Clearly, NordVPN has a lot more users than Avast SecureLine and, if you divide them by the number of servers, perhaps it comes out as equal? Not quite – unlike tools such as PrivateVPN or SurfShark VPN, Avast has the benefit and the curse of being a known brand. Simply put, it’s not as unpopular as its quality should make it. It also has larger uncovered patches than NordVPN does, and, finally, whatever the server situation may be, speed tests show that Nord is a lot faster and more consistent.
Ease of Use
Not that much to say here – both NordVPN and Avast SecureLine VPN are easy to use. Maybe it’s a little unfair to compare them this way, because NordVPN has many easy-to-use functions, whereas SecureLine really doesn’t have that much going on. The interface is very similar to the Avast Antivirus interface, which brand loyalists will appreciate. We feel that the NordVPN GUI is more functional, but they’re ultimately hard to compare.
Torrenting and P2P
Neither Avast SecureLine VPN nor NordVPN is a bad shout for torrenting. With that said, NordVPN is both safer (technologically and legally) and faster. Avast VPN has no private DNS, has some leaking issues and is based in the Czech Republic, which, while not terrible, is no Panama.
Netflix and China
This one’s simple. Avast SecureLine VPN does not unblock Netflix US, and we don’t imagine this is going to change anytime soon. Even much larger VPN service providers have had difficulties with the Netflix block, so it’s hardly a surprise that it got the best of Avast. NordVPN, on the other hand, has a constantly growing server list and has never had issues getting past Netflix’ geo-blocking.
What about China? Well, for one thing, we want a super-secure VPN service for a repressive country like China. Secondly, as with Netflix, not many VPNs are capable of getting past the (affectionately-titled) Great Firewall. NordVPN has some nice tricks up their sleeve to make sure their service in China is as reliable as possible under the circumstances. For example, NordVPN’s Obfuscated servers will help you defeat China’s Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). Avast has no such tricks, therefore, we couldn’t recommend it as a reliable VPN for China.
Compatibility
Avast SecureLine VPN has custom apps for the main platforms – Mac, Android, iOS, and Windows (including Windows 10). As far as we can tell, that’s it, and we reckon that’s not enough. NordVPN has all the same apps plus Android TV, as well as Chrome and Firefox extensions. More importantly, NordVPN supports many other platforms through protocol apps (such as OpenVPN).
Pricing
After this somewhat long and painful road, we must mention the price. You’re probably thinking, this Avast SecureLine VPN must be dirt-cheap. Well, it isn’t. As a matter of fact, depending on your perspective, it costs more than NordVPN.
You can buy Avast VPN for all devices, or any particular device. Let’s compare the all-devices price because NordVPN doesn’t offer distributed deals. If you buy it for all devices, Avast SecureLine VPN will cost you $79 for a year, $149.99 for 2 years, or $219.99 for 3 years. NordVPN is $69.00 for a year, $79.00 for 2 years, and you can find a deal for $99.00 billed every 3 years. You can also get it for one month at $11.95. If that seems super unfair, that’s because it is – NordVPN, the far superior product, will cost you less than half the price of Avast.
Of course, more pricing options is always a good thing, but it’s not like the other SecureLine VPN deals are great.
Avast VPN vs NordVPN – which is better?
We’ve come full circle and now we can reiterate: NordVPN is comprehensively better than Avast SecureLine. There is no aspect where we would favor the latter product!
Christelle DuLin
I wouldn’t give Avast the time of day for their security software and definitely not for their VPN’s. This only confirms my conviction that Avast is overrated. Interesting comparison here between one of the best VPN’s (NordVPN) and a wannabe.
sherlock
As you stated, obviously this comparison is non-starter. Only three criterion that are comparable are Customer Support, international connection speeds & Netflix support. Rest is Nord all the way.
The Squirrel
I don’t trust ANY big name online security brands, such as Avast or McAfee. Most of them are based on the USA and would sell our data in a blink. NordVPN all the way!!
Kevin Marlowe Author
Thanks for the comment!
You’re right in the sense that the best VPN services have so far been native to the VPN industry, rather than made by cybersecurity giants. The latter are just now playing catch-up because they saw this whole VPN boom too late. The problem is they’re entering the sphere already corrupted in their business practices. As such, I would say for the time being it’s a good approach to stay away from big brands. But never say never!
Emma Robert
Nord is good but expensive. I am using PureVPN since two years. It is cheap and works well with all the devices
Betty Garrison
PureVPN is a very good provider, but I still prefer NordVPN. I had no doubts it would win this comparison, not only because it’s so good but also because the Avast VPN is awful.
ForestBerry
Thought so. Nord has been good to me for the most of the time of our 2 year long relationship. Had a short break to see other providers after my 1st year subscription expired (thought maybe I’ll find something as good for less), but I shortly came back crawling.