The Proton case is built on Switzerland: a base outside the EU and the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, paired with open-source apps and five consecutive independent no-logs audits — the highest privacy mark we hand out. Proton also wins on the raw spec sheet, fielding around 20,000 servers across 145 countries to Nord's ~7,400 in 118, and undercutting it on the 2-year Plus plan. Where it gives ground is the lived-in experience: a steeper €9.99 month-to-month price, a prorated refund instead of a clean full one, no Smart DNS, and live chat locked behind a paid plan.
For the typical Irish reader our pointer is NordVPN, the safer all-round buy and our number one in the best VPN for Ireland ranking — faster, friendlier and better value across a normal subscription. Yet if your priorities run the other way — open-source audited apps, a Swiss home, or a free plan that does not throttle you into giving up — Proton VPN is the better fit, and it lands a very close second.
Quick comparison
The short version, side by side — every figure from our hands-on testing in Dublin, the same data behind our best-VPN ranking. Green highlights show which provider takes each round.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 9.6 / 10 | 9.3 / 10 |
| Best for | Best all-rounder | Best for privacy |
| Price from | €3.39/mo | €2.99/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day | 30-day |
| Avg Dublin speed | 455 Mbps | 430 Mbps |
| Netflix unblocking | Yes | Yes |
| Simultaneous devices | 10 | 10 |
| Servers | 7,400+ | 20,000+ |
| Countries | 118 | 145 |
| Works in China | No | No |
| No-logs policy | Yes | Yes |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | Switzerland |
| Support | 24/7 live chat | Live chat (paid) + email |
Proton's free tier — a genuinely usable free option
If there is one thing that makes this matchup lopsided, it is the free plan — because only Proton VPN has one worth the name. Its free tier carries unlimited data with no ads and no time limit, a combination no other top provider in our ranking comes close to matching. NordVPN simply does not field a free option; the nearest thing is a 3-day Android-only trial behind the 30-day refund. So for anyone who refuses to pay a cent, this is not really a contest.
The catch worth flagging for Irish readers is that Proton's free tier is deliberately limited to a handful of countries and does not include an Irish server, so it will not get you into RTÉ Player from abroad — that needs a paid Proton plan. Free-tier speeds also dip at peak times as paid users get priority. Used as intended — a no-cost, no-strings everyday VPN for browsing and privacy — it is the best free VPN we have tested.
Swiss base vs Panama: open-source apps tip it to Proton
This is where Proton VPN earns its keep. Both run audited no-logs operations on RAM-only servers, so neither writes your activity to disk — but Proton VPN pushes past Nord on two fronts. It is headquartered in Switzerland, outside the EU and the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances and backed by famously strict privacy law, and its apps are fully open-source with five consecutive independent no-logs audits behind them. That earns the highest privacy rating we award to any provider.
NordVPN is genuinely trustworthy too — a Panama jurisdiction beyond the intelligence alliances, six independent no-logs audits (PwC and Deloitte) and a long clean history. What it cannot match is open-source code that lets anyone read the apps line by line, which is the standard privacy purists insist on. Day to day both are far safer than you need; for the watertight case, Proton's transparency wins.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| No-logs policy | Yes | Yes |
| Independent audit | Deloitte (2025) | Securitum (2025) |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | Switzerland |
| Privacy rating | 9.7 / 10 | 9.9 / 10 |
NordLynx vs WireGuard: Nord edges the Dublin speed tests
Both are quick from Dublin, but NordVPN is the faster of the pair. Its NordLynx protocol led our local runs and barely shaved our base broadband on nearby servers, with Proton VPN's WireGuard sitting just behind. The margin is narrow — you would not feel it buffering RTÉ Player or streaming Netflix in 4K — and both leave ample headroom on a normal Irish line.
Nord's edge comes from a network tuned hard for throughput, holding steady on busy and long-haul routes where small gaps usually show. Proton VPN stays fast and rock-stable for streaming, gaming and big downloads; it just trails on the raw numbers in our testing rather than in anything you would notice.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Dublin speed | 455 Mbps | 430 Mbps |
| Speed rating | 9.7 / 10 | 9.2 / 10 |
| Global speed loss | 8% | 8% |
Both unblock RTÉ Player — Nord's Smart DNS wins the living room
For Irish viewing the apps are level. Each keeps physical servers in Dublin, so each hands you a real Irish IP that opens RTÉ Player, Virgin Media Player and TG4 from abroad — the test that matters most here. Both also unblock Netflix (IE, UK and US), BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video, with native apps for Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV.
The split shows up on the kit that cannot run a VPN app. NordVPN's Smart DNS reaches PlayStation, Xbox and older smart TVs directly; Proton VPN has no equivalent, so those devices need fiddlier router-level setup to reach the same result. On phones, laptops and streaming sticks the two are an even match for everyday Irish viewing.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix unblocking | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming rating | 9.6 / 10 | 9.3 / 10 |
| TV / streaming-box apps | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV |
Threat Protection vs Secure Core: two different security bets
The fundamentals are shared: a kill switch, split tunnelling, full P2P with port forwarding and AES-256 plus ChaCha20 encryption on both. The flavour differs. NordVPN runs NordLynx, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and its newer NordWhisper protocol and throws in Threat Protection to block ads, trackers and malware before they load. Proton VPN counters with WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and its Stealth obfuscation protocol, plus Secure Core — multi-hop routing through hardened servers in privacy-friendly countries.
So the choice is less about strength than about character: Nord's Threat Protection is the practical, everyday win, while Proton's Secure Core is the heavier privacy tool for anyone facing a serious adversary. One quirk catches Apple users on both sides — split tunnelling is absent on iOS and macOS regardless of which you pick.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | AES-256 + ChaCha20 | AES-256 + ChaCha20 |
| Kill switch | Yes | Yes |
| Split tunnelling | Yes | Yes |
| P2P / torrenting | Yes | Yes |
| Protocols | NordLynx, OpenVPN, IKEv2, NordWhisper | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, Stealth |
Proton's €2.99 long plan vs Nord's clean 30-day refund
On the committed plan Proton VPN is cheaper, opening at about €2.99/mo on the 2-year Plus tier against NordVPN's €3.39/mo — and, importantly, Proton's renewal price holds steady where Nord's jumps sharply at rebill. Stack the free tier on top and Proton owns the low end of this matchup outright. Month-to-month, though, it flips: Proton is the pricier impulse buy at €9.99.
NordVPN earns its value back on the terms. You get a clean 30-day money-back guarantee against Proton's prorated refund, plus Threat Protection and Smart DNS folded into the subscription. Both bill in euro. Net of it all: pick Proton for the cheapest long commitment or a real free option, pick Nord for the no-risk trial and the most thrown in.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €3.39/mo | €2.99/mo |
| Free trial | 3-day (Android) | Free tier |
| Data cap | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Value rating | 9.2 / 10 | 9.0 / 10 |
Nord's 24/7 chat vs Proton's paid-only support
Both apps are polished and one-tap simple, with tidy server lists and native clients across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux. NordVPN inches ahead on living with it: the dashboard lays out Threat Protection, Smart DNS and specialty-server toggles cleanly, and 24/7 live chat is open to everyone, subscribed or not.
Proton VPN's apps are clean and capable, with a map-style server picker some people prefer — but live chat is walled off for paying users, leaving everyone else on email support that can lag. That support gap, more than anything in the interface, is why Nord feels marginally easier to run day to day.
| NordVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease-of-use rating | 9.4 / 10 | 9.1 / 10 |
| Native platforms | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux |
Which should you choose?
It comes down to what you value most. Here's the quick way to decide.
Choose NordVPN if…
- check_circleYou want the fastest, most consistent speeds on an Irish connection
- check_circleStreaming convenience matters — Smart DNS unblocks consoles and older smart TVs that cannot run a VPN app
- check_circleYou value a true 30-day money-back guarantee and bundled Threat Protection ad-and-malware blocking
- check_circleYou want 24/7 live chat support available to every user, not just paying ones
Choose Proton VPN if…
- check_circlePrivacy is your top priority — a Swiss base, open-source apps and five no-logs audits is the strongest case we rank
- check_circleYou want the best genuinely-free VPN tier on the market, with unlimited data and no ads
- check_circleYou want the cheapest long-term plan and a renewal price that does not spike
- check_circleYou like Secure Core multi-hop and a network of around 20,000 servers across 145 countries
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