VPN for Mac 2026

Getting started with NordVPN is easy thanks to the onboarding wizard that springs to life when you fire up the Mac or Windows version for the very first time. It’ll walk you through Nord’s features and make sure you understand what’s going on.

NordVPN has users well covered for apps, and we love the browser extension too which still includes features like split-tunnelling and the kill switch. It also has location spoofing which means you can access international versions of any website you come across – handy for checking for the cheapest prices.

We were delighted to see the May 2025 addition of a NordVPN Linux app complete with a GUI and even more pleased to see the company make the interface app open source in October 2025 too. The December 2025 launch of support for OpenWrt routers extended that commitment to the open-source community.

Any Fire Stick VPN users should also take note that NordVPN has been the first VPN provider to ready an app for the September 2025 launched Fire Stick Select and its new Vega OS.

Apple TV users are also well-catered for; NordVPN currently holds the top spot in our best Apple TV VPN rankings thanks to its dedicated tvOS app and high-speed NordLynx performance.

Read more details on NordVPN’s ease of use.

Streaming ★★★★★

We rate NordVPN as the best streaming VPN that money can buy. It boasts over 8,900 ultra-fast servers covering over 127 countries, all of which are optimized for streaming.

It unblocks all major streaming services – including international Netflix libraries, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus – as well as a host of other regional streamers such as BBC iPlayer, 9Now, SBS On Demand, ITVX, Sling, FuboTV, Max, and many, many more. In fact, it’s not often we find a streaming service that NordVPN can’t get around the back of.

Speeds are easily enough to handle 4K HDR video. The only streaming-related caveat is that NordVPN isn’t the best torrenting VPN. That A goes to ExpressVPN. That’s because there are only a handful of NordVPN servers optimised for P2P use.

NordVPN also has a special, if slightly niche, treat on the streaming front with its Meshnet private network feature.

Meshnet had been scheduled for shutdown in August 2025, until user uproar saw it saved on just one month later. We asked NordVPN what happened here along with everything you’ve always wanted to know about NordVPN.

Meshnet can be used for remote desktop access and file sharing and that includes using it to turn your home computer into a media server. So, you could use Plex to set up your media server and then access it remotely on all kinds of devices over Meshnet. That’s not something you get with other VPNs.

In January 2026, the company extended the number of virtual server locations to 79, adding almost 30 new locations that allow people to bypass censorship and access otherwise blocked content in restrictive territories. What’s more, it’s transparent about which locations are virtual, so you know exactly where your data is going.

Read more details on NordVPN’s streaming service unblocking .

Privacy & Security ★★★★★

NordVPN comes with cutting-edge security and privacy features, including its recently launched NordWhisper protocol for VPN obfuscation and censorship avoidance. It also runs both OpenVPN and its own proprietary WireGuard-based Nordlynx protocol with super-secure, recently audited, zero-trust AES-256 encryption, meaning you can be confident that nobody has access to your data but you.

If someone ever did manage to pilfer it, it would take them millions of years to crack the encryption, particularly as NordVPN’s quantum-safe encryption is theoretically future-proofed.

In fact, NordVPN extended its post-quantum encryption (PQE) in May 2025 across all of its apps, making the service theoretically invulnerable to so-called “store now, decrypt later (SNDL)” attacks, which await the availability of quantum computers and their increased code-cracking powers.

According to NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis, though, PQE is only the start of greater agility in cryptography as a whole. (You can read more about that in our interview with him and in our article on NordVPN’s privacy and security roadmap for 2026.)

All of NordVPN’s security mettle was put to the test in a large-scale security audit in December 2025, which the company passed with flying colors.

The company has a strict no-logs policy – which was successfully audited for the sixth time in February 2026 – meaning that not even NordVPN itself has a record of your browsing data.

It’s also legally headquartered in Panama – a country with strong data protection laws – meaning that it would be very difficult for any third parties to have any successful claims to NordVPN’s customer base, even if it did log anything significant.

Finally, there’s also a kill switch for further assurances and DNS leak protection to prevent your ISP from getting even a whiff of what you’re up to.

NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro feature set (available on the NordVPN Plus plan and above) includes anti-malware and anti-phishing security for file downloads as well as while browsing. It extended its protection to customer email inboxes too, in December 2025, for those using the Windows or Mac apps.

In a study published at the end of 2025, its cybersecurity tool was found to successfully block 92% of phishing websites. Plus in February 2026, NordVPN integrated CrowdStrike’s Threat Intelligence into its Threat Protection Pro feature.

And if you think that the security provided by your antivirus is enough, then you might want to take a look at NordVPN’s October 2025 Times Square demonstration of just how exposed we are online without a VPN.

Read more details on NordVPN’s privacy and security.

Speed & Performance ★★★★½

The NordLynx proprietary protocol performed brilliantly in our speed tests. It clocked consistent speeds upwards of 1200 Mbps to nearby servers, dropping to more like 700 Mbps when heading across the Atlantic to the UK.

Longer distance connection performance is where many other VPNs struggle. That’s worth considering given that you may be be looking to access streaming services and other content from across the world.

OpenVPN speeds are a little slower, at more like 700 Mbps both locally and long distance, but we’d rate NordVPN as one of the very fastest out there on this protocol, with only ExpressVPN and Surfshark doing better.

NordVPN has a great deal of pride in its server network and has recently looked to change the conversation from server count to server quality. However it wishes to speak about it, our lab and user testing certainly points towards a system that’s rarely overloaded and that works incredibly well.

In fact, NordVPN underwent a third-party audit, in June 2025, for performance speed and connection time, as well as its functionality and security. West Coast Labs determined that everything was more than satisfactory.

Read more details on NordVPN speed and performance.

NordVPN price plan comparison

There are three NordVPN price plans to choose from, although the specifics depend on your location.

NordVPN Basic is just the VPN software. It’s available everywhere. If you want to add anti-virus functionality (Nord Threat Protection Pro), then go for NordVPN Complete.

For a password manager (NordPass), cloud storage (NordLocker), and up to $5000 of cyber insurance on top, go for NordVPN Prime.

NordVPN Prime also recently extended its ID theft recovery insurance to UK Ultimate users up to a value of £5000 – useful in light of the 2025 UK big retail cyber attacks.

For our money, the Basic plan is the best value, but if you really need the extras on offer in Complete or Prime, then go for it. Each plan type comes with a different possible contract length: 1-month, 1-year, or 2-year.

Do remember that you need to pay the full amount upfront, though, and that, along with Surfshark, NordVPN adds local tax at checkout. That means that its quoted monthly prices might well be a little higher depending on where you live. In some parts of the United States, that could mean another 8% or so added on. For those in the UK, it’s a full 20% extra.

The other major warning – and this is true for most VPNs – is do not let your subscription auto-renew, or you’ll end up with a pretty sharp price hike. Currently, NordVPN auto-renews for $139, for just one year, for those on the Basic plan.

That’s around 50% more than you might have paid for the original 2-year plan you subscribed to. In fact, a US law firm is taking NordVPN to Court over what it has deemed to be “deceptive” auto-renewal pricing. Our advice is to make sure you switch off auto-renew in your subscription settings as soon as you sign up and install.

Whichever subscription you choose, though, you get 30 days to change your mind and ask for a full refund.

Below is a comparison table of the NordVPN plans and what each one offers.