By now, every major security company has probably rolled out its own virtual private network, or VPN. Norton Secure VPN has a strong security pedigree from the Norton name and an affordable, flexible pricing scheme that places it well within impulse-purchase territory. A clunky client, continued aversion to BitTorrent, and a dearth of advanced features limit its attractiveness, however.
What Is a VPN?
When you switch it on, a VPN creates an encrypted connection between your device and a server controlled by the VPN company, a bit like a tunnel. Your data enters the tunnel, which keeps it secure from anyone snooping around on your network and even from your ISP—who can now sell your anonymized user data. Out on the web, anyone watching your movements will see the IP address of the VPN server, not your real IP address. That’s another layer of privacy.
VPNs are simple, powerful tools for improving your privacy, but they won’t protect against every digital danger. We strongly recommend using antivirus software; enabling two-factor authentication wherever it is available; and using a password manager to create unique, complex passwords for every site and service you use.
How Much Does Norton Secure VPN Cost?
Norton lets you choose a subscription that renews monthly or annually, with a discount for the longer of the two. You can also choose a plan that covers one, five, or 10 devices. Five is the industry average for the number of simultaneous connections permitted with a subscription. I appreciate this level of flexibility, since it lets customers tailor the offering to their needs.
When I review VPNs, I focus on the monthly pricing for comparison. Through that lens, Norton Secure VPN compares quite favorably. Monthly plans start at $4.99 for one device, $7.99 for five devices, and $9.99 for 10 devices. As of this writing, the average per-month cost of a VPN is about $10.21. Several other VPNs manage to beat that price and offer excellent service, such as Mullvad which costs a flat €5 ($5.89 at time of writing). Still, Norton represents a remarkable and remarkably flexible value.
Norton Secure VPN annual plans start at $39.99 for one device or five devices (that’s right, both plans cost the same for the first year), and $59.99 for 10 devices. Note that annual plan pricing changes after the first year. After that, you pay $49.99 for one device per year, $79.99 per year for five devices, and $99.99 per year for 10 devices. Monthly plans do not change after the first year. Kaspersky VPN manages to undercut that pricing with a $29.99 annual plan that doesn’t increase over time, making it the cheapest for-pay VPN we’ve yet reviewed.
As you may have heard, Norton also sells a few other security tools. Add-on bundles are also available to new customers purchasing Norton security products. A subscription to Norton 360 Standard includes Secure VPN for one device, and a Norton 360 Deluxe or Norton 360 With LifeLock Select subscription raises the number of devices to five.
If you decide to go ahead and purchase a subscription with Norton, you’ll have a hard time doing so anonymously. Norton only accepts major credit cards. Other VPN services, such as TorGuard VPN, will accept anonymous Bitcoin payments and even prepaid gift cards from other merchants such as Best Buy and Starbucks. Other VPNs also offer add-ons like dedicated IP addresses. Norton Secure VPN has no additional features for sale but is itself included as an add-on for other Norton products.
Norton Secure VPN provides all the assurances of a VPN, but other services provide more tools to protect your privacy. Some VPNs include multi-hop connections, which route your traffic through two VPN servers to ensure it’s not intercepted. Some support split-tunneling, which lets you designate what traffic travels through the VPN and what does not, and others grant access to the Tor anonymization network. Norton does not offer these additional features, and ProtonVPN is the only VPN I’ve tested that has all three.
VPN Protocols
I prefer VPN services that use the OpenVPN protocol. This open-source protocol can be examined by anyone, and it has been picked over for vulnerabilities. Norton Secure VPN uses OpenVPN for its Android, macOS, and Windows apps. iOS devices connect via the IPsec protocol, which isn’t unusual, as Apple requires iOS VPN apps to jump through approval hoops if they want to include OpenVPN. Still, I’d like to see Norton work to support newer and more secure protocols across all devices.
The heir apparent to OpenVPN is WireGuard, a new open-source VPN protocol built for speed and security. A few VPN services have begun widely deploying this new technology (notably, NordVPN and Mullvad VPN), but it’s still so new that Norton’s lack of support isn’t an issue for now. We’ve not done extensive testing of WireGuard, but what we have seen is very exciting.
Norton’s Servers and Server Locations
Norton offers VPN servers in 79 locations in 30 countries. If a VPN company has a diverse offering of server locations, you can be assured that no matter where you go, you’ll find a server nearby for better performance. It also means you have several locations to choose from when spoofing your location.
The VPNs I’ve tested have VPN servers in an average of about 52 countries. TunnelBear, an excellent VPN service, has servers in just 23 countries, while ExpressVPN covers a whopping 94. Norton Secure VPN’s offering is on the low side, but it does effectively span the globe. Especially notable are Norton’s servers in South Africa, as most other VPNs ignore the entire continent. Still, I’d like to see Norton expand its presence, particularly in South America. Norton also does not provide servers in Russia or Vietnam— areas with particularly repressive internet policies. It does offer servers in Turkey and VPN servers in Hong Kong.
As for the number of servers, Norton offers some 2,800 in total. Note, however, that there isn’t necessarily a direct correlation between the number of servers and quality of service. It’s notable that Norton is on the higher end, although CyberGhost currently leads the pack with 5,900 servers.
Some VPN companies rely heavily on virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that several virtual servers can be running on one physical machine. Virtual servers can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than where their physical host is located. That can be an issue if you’re concerned about the specific locations through which your data travels. Norton Secure VPN relies heavily on virtualization, with 1,974 of its 2,800 servers being virtual. However, all virtual servers are located within the country listed; they do what they say on the tin.
Your Privacy With Norton Secure VPN
A VPN could have as much insight into your online activities as an ISP, so it’s important to choose a VPN that puts your privacy first. Unlike many other VPNs, Norton Secure VPN comes from an established name in the security industry, making it less risky than a new and unknown entity.
VPN companies outline what information they collect and why in their privacy policies. Norton has many services, but provides a privacy policy specific to its VPN product. It’s short and easy to read, which I appreciate. It is, however, on a page with every other Norton product, which, while a bit overwhelming, is undeniably comprehensive.
A Norton representative told me, “Norton Secure VPN does not collect any personally identifiable information about the web activity traffic that traverses our network.” The service does look at aggregate bandwidth usage. Importantly, Norton told me that the company does not make money from sources other than subscriptions. That’s good, as less scrupulous companies could sell your personal information for a tidy profit.
Norton also collects user IP addresses but says this information is anonymized. That’s a good start, but other services are clearer about how this information is protected and how long it is stored. Norton should strive to do better on this point. The company also gathers information about the devices you use—Device Name, etc.
Depending on where a VPN company is based, it may be subject to mandatory data retention laws. NortonLifeLock is physically based in Tempe, AZ. The US currently does not have any laws that require VPN companies to collect or maintain user information, so that’s one less thing to worry about. Norton says that were it to receive an order from law enforcement to hand over user activities, it could not.
Many VPN companies engage in third-party evaluations to ensure that there are no vulnerabilities that can be exploited. TunnelBear, for example, has committed to releasing annual audits. Norton says that it undergoes several security audits before releasing new versions, but it does not make that information public. Audits are very imperfect tools, but it would be useful for Norton to undergo these evaluations. Norton also does not appear to publish a transparency report, which would outline its disclosures to law enforcement.
Some VPN companies advertise ownership of their own infrastructure, and specialized efforts made to secure their server fleets. Norton Secure VPN does not own its own servers, although that is not unusual. The company says that its network is highly automated and managed by third party providers. I’d like to see Norton go into more detail about the security of its server network. Other companies, like NordVPN, play up their ownership of VPN servers, and have moved to RAM-only servers that retain no data should they ever be confiscated.
Hands On With Norton Secure VPN
I had no trouble setting up Norton Secure VPN on an Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon) desktop running the latest version of Windows 10. It took just a few minutes to install and was ready to work immediately.
Most VPN companies have opted to create an app that stands apart from the operating system, as any other app would. The Norton Secure VPN app, however, is anchored to the System Tray. That’s a little annoying for me, as someone who needs to fiddle with every possible setting, but most people will probably leave their VPN out of sight and out of mind.
The UI is a bit small and dated to my eyes, but it’s still functional. When you open the app it immediately connects to what it thinks is the best network. A large circle shows your current location on a map, flanked on either side by your true IP and your public IP address from the VPN. The map is just chrome, unfortunately. I prefer designs like TunnelBear VPN, which is friendly and bright.
Norton Secure VPN wants to keep your VPN protection active—so much so that I had trouble finding how to switch it off. It turns out you toggle the switch at the bottom of the screen, which I had mistaken for a connection setting. Nudging users towards better security is a good thing, but I don’t care for apps whose tools aren’t immediately understandable.
Given Norton’s security pedigree, I hoped to see the company’s VPN packed with advanced features. That’s not the case. Aside from the option to connect automatically and to launch the app on startup, the Norton Secure VPN app has nothing more to offer. There isn’t even an option to change your VPN protocol, though I suspect most users won’t miss this or other wonky options. The Android app, not reviewed here, does include a Kill Switch feature.
A Norton representative told me that the company offers specialized servers for video streaming and unblocking content. I couldn’t find any way to connect with those servers, unfortunately. In fact, the Secure VPN app won’t let you drill down to select specific servers, a feature found with the best VPN services. It’s very useful for when you need a VPN server in a specific country but are having trouble finding one that works. I also appreciate VPN apps like NordVPN that display server information in a variety of different ways, such as an interactive map.
One notable feature is the Ad Tracking tab. This shows all the ad trackers Norton Secure VPN has blocked this week, in the last 30 days, and since you first installed the app. Several VPNs claim to block ad tracking, but this is one of the very few that actually shows its work. I confirmed that the number increased as I scooted around the web, but I did not test its efficacy as a tracker blocker.
A danger when using a VPN is that it might leak your true IP address or DNS information. In my testing I confirmed that Norton Secure VPN hid my IP (and by extension, my ISP). The DNS Leak Test tool showed that Norton successfully hid my DNS information as well.
Norton Secure VPN and Netflix
Netflix in the US isn’t the same as Netflix in the UK, or any other country for that matter. The content that’s available is dictated by deals cut by Netflix, and sometimes that means content will be available in one country and not another. As a result, Netflix and VPN companies are locked in a cat-and-mouse game, with Netflix blocking VPN users and VPN companies finding ways around the blockade.
Fortunately for Norton, Secure VPN was not blocked by Netflix in my testing. Your mileage, however, may vary.
Beyond VPN
As noted, Norton Secure VPN also blocks ad trackers. It’s not a configurable tracker blocker, unlike the TunnelBear Blocker browser plug-in, which lets users decide what they want blocked. Still, I appreciate that this feature is here.
If you’re keen on file sharing, Norton probably isn’t for you. While most VPN services, such as NordVPN, allow BitTorrent and P2P services on specific servers, Norton has a blanket ban. If you’re keen on the torrenting, you should look elsewhere. Norton’s position on p2p and Torrenting is disappointing and makes it an outlier among VPN services.
Speed Test Results
When testing VPNs, we compare speed test results from Ookla with the VPN active to results without the VPN active to find a percent change. This is useful for comparison’s sake, but it will likely not match your own experience. For an exhaustive look at how we test VPNs, read the aptly titled feature How We Test VPNs. Note that Speedtest by Ookla is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag’s publisher, Ziff Davis.
Our testing found that Norton Secure VPN increased latency by an astonishing 643.8 percent, far above the median result. We also found that it reduced download speeds by a far more reasonable 70.9 percent, and upload speeds by 63.4 percent. The high latency but comparably good speed scores make this product a real mixed bag.
You can see how Norton Secure VPN compares in the chart below with the top ten performers among the near 40 services we tested.
The results show that Hotspot Shield VPN is the fastest VPN we’ve tested so far. It had the least impact on download scores and latency results. Surfshark, however, snuck in a peerless upload speed test score, and was very close in the other categories as well. It’s one to watch. That said, we always warn against choosing a VPN solely on its speed test results. The available features, overall value, and dedication to customer privacy are all vastly more important.
Since it was initially tested, we reran Norton Secure VPN’s speed tests. However, PCMag has been working from home since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Without access to the PCMag Labs test network, these results are anecdotal, at best. While inconclusive, the results do suggest that Norton’s significantly increased latency may have improved recently. We look forward to continuing testing when it is safe to do so.
Norton Secure VPN on Other Platforms
In addition to the Windows app reviewed here, Norton has Secure VPN apps available for Android, iOS, and macOS. That should cover just about all your devices. Notably, Norton does not offer browser plug-ins, which let you spoof your location for just your browser traffic. The company also does not provide client software for streaming devices, nor does it have instructions on how to configure your router to use a VPN. Those are fringe scenarios, but they could be deal breakers for some consumers.
A Decent VPN With an Impressive Pedigree
Norton Secure VPN makes a strong case for itself with very affordable and flexible pricing options. You can easily scale it up or down to meet your needs, which is a rarity among VPN products. The fact that it’s bundled with Norton’s popular security software doesn’t hurt, either.
The bundling helps because on its own, the service lacks the advanced features found in other services and offers little more than a bare-bones VPN. The ban on BitTorrent traffic is troubling—it seems almost anachronistic these days. If you’re already using Norton products, or are looking for basic protection at a value, Norton Secure VPN will be a good fit. But if you have specific needs or want the most tools available, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
