Disclosure: VPNFin is reader-supported. If you buy a VPN through links on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never affects our ratings — here’s our full disclosure.
NordVPN and TorGuard have met before, in court. In 2019 TorGuard sued NordVPN, alleging orchestrated attacks and pressure to remove critical video reviews. NordVPN said it had found TorGuard’s server configuration files publicly accessible and reported the problem. A court dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, so no judge ever ruled on either account.
As products, they serve different people. NordVPN is a mainstream service with six published audits and no port forwarding. TorGuard, short for Torrent Guard, sells port forwarding and dedicated IPs to technical users, but has never been audited and has blocked BitTorrent on its US servers since 2022.
NordVPN vs TorGuard: The Short Answer
Choose NordVPN for most uses. It rates 4.8 in our NordVPN review, with six published no-logs audits, strong streaming and ten devices. It does not offer port forwarding.
Choose TorGuard only for its technical extras. It rates 3.1 in our TorGuard review. Port forwarding, dedicated IPs and obfuscation are its case; the missing audit and the US torrent block are the costs.
If you torrent from the United States, TorGuard’s own servers there will not carry BitTorrent at all. Connecting through another country works normally.
The 2019 Lawsuit, Briefly
TorGuard’s complaint claimed NordVPN had organised attacks against it and tried to force the removal of critical YouTube reviews. NordVPN’s account is entirely different: it said it had discovered TorGuard configuration files exposed online and disclosed the issue without conditions.
A court dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds. The merits went undecided, so both versions remain claims, and our TorGuard review presents them side by side rather than choosing. It is worth knowing about, yet it says little about which service suits you today.
Privacy: Audits Against Conduct
NordVPN has six published no-logs audits, by PwC and Deloitte, and operates from Panama. Our audit tracker sets that record against every provider we cover, and our ownership guide covers the companies behind both.
TorGuard has none, after more than a decade. Its privacy case rests on its written policy and on what it did under pressure: when roughly twenty-five film studios sued in 2021, it settled in March 2022 by agreeing to block BitTorrent on its US servers, and it disclosed no customer records. The studios had been pressing providers to keep logs, so that trade is defensible, as our review argues.
⚠️ Jurisdiction favours NordVPN too. VPNetworks LLC runs TorGuard from Orlando, Florida, inside the Five Eyes arrangement, and our review notes its apps are closed source. Our no-logs guide explains why conduct under a lawsuit counts, and why it is still weaker evidence than an audit. Our guide to legal demands on VPNs covers how other providers fared.
| Provider | No-logs audits | Auditor | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 6 | PwC, Deloitte | Panama |
| Surfshark | 2 | Deloitte | Netherlands (9 Eyes) |
| ExpressVPN | 3 | KPMG (28 security reports in total) | British Virgin Islands, Kape-owned |
| CyberGhost | 3 | Deloitte | Romania, Kape-owned |
| PureVPN | 4 | KPMG | BVI, operated from Pakistan |
| IPVanish | 2 | Leviathan, Schellman | United States (Five Eyes), Ziff Davis-owned |
| Windscribe | 1 | Packetlabs, production infrastructure | Canada (Five Eyes); Greek case dismissed, no data to give |
| Proton VPN | 5 | Securitum | Switzerland, moving infrastructure to EU |
| Private Internet Access | 3 | Deloitte | United States (Five Eyes), Kape-owned |
| Mullvad | 10+ | Cure53, Assured AB | Sweden (14 Eyes) |
| TunnelBear | Annual since 2017 | Cure53 | Canada (Five Eyes), US parent |
| Norton VPN | 2 | VerSprite | United States (Five Eyes) |
| Hotspot Shield | 0 | protocol audited, policy not | United States (Five Eyes) |
| AirVPN | 0 | none — the client is open source instead | Italy (14 Eyes) |
| IVPN | 8, annual since inception | Cure53 | Gibraltar (status disputed) |
| Hide.me | 1 modern, in 2024 | Securitum, though one source names Altius IT | Malaysia (outside the alliances) |
| PrivadoVPN | 0 | none in six years of operation | Iceland (moved from Switzerland, 2026) |
| TorGuard | 0 | none; settled a lawsuit without disclosing records | United States (Five Eyes) |
| FastestVPN | 1, in 2023 | Altius IT | Cayman Islands (outside the alliances) |
| StrongVPN | 0 | none in over two decades | United States (Five Eyes), Ziff Davis-owned |
| VyprVPN | 1, in 2018 | Leviathan Security, before the 2023 sale | United States (Five Eyes), Certida-owned since 2023 |
| PrivateVPN | 0 | none; support says there is nothing to audit | Sweden (14 Eyes), ownership disputed |
| ZoogVPN | 0 | none; support describes one as planned | Greece (outside the alliances), run from Ukraine |
| Malwarebytes Privacy VPN | 1, in 2026 | X41 D-Sec, white-box over two months | United States (Five Eyes), runs AzireVPN infrastructure |
| Astrill | 0 | — | Disputed: Seychelles or Liechtenstein |
Torrenting: A Reversal of Expectations
You might expect the service named after torrenting to be the better choice for it. On US servers it is not: since the March 2022 settlement, TorGuard blocks BitTorrent there with firewall rules, and no setting restores it. Servers in other countries still carry it.
Port forwarding is TorGuard’s real advantage. It includes it, while NordVPN offers it on neither its standard plans nor its dedicated IP add-on. For seeding, especially on private trackers, that matters. Our port forwarding guide lists who else offers it, and our torrenting guide covers the rest.
NordVPN allows P2P on dedicated servers worldwide, US included, with no protocol block. For downloading without port forwarding, it is the simpler choice.
Price
NordVPN Basic costs $94.23 for 27 months, then $139.08 a year, as our NordVPN pricing page sets out.
TorGuard’s pricing is harder to pin down. Our review found reported figures from about $4.27 to $10.99 a month on its Standard plan, with streaming access on a higher tier and dedicated IPs extra. The entry plan covers the VPN but not the unblocking, which is easy to miss at checkout.
⚠️ So compare like with like. If you need streaming, TorGuard’s relevant price is the higher tier, not the headline one.
Features: Where TorGuard Is Built Differently
Dedicated IPs are central to TorGuard’s appeal and sold as add-ons; NordVPN sells one too. Our dedicated IP guide explains who needs one.
Obfuscation is a strength on both sides. Reviewers report that TorGuard’s stealth modes work on networks that block VPNs, and NordVPN runs its own obfuscated servers. Our obfuscation guide covers how both approaches work.
Ease of use favours NordVPN clearly. TorGuard’s interface is the recurring complaint across reviews: capable, but not designed for a first-time user.
Which One
NordVPN for almost everyone: streaming, privacy with audits behind it, easy apps and ten devices.
TorGuard if you need port forwarding and dedicated IPs, torrent from outside the United States or not at all, and accept an unaudited provider. TorGuard against PIA compares it with an audited provider that also forwards ports, and NordVPN against PIA shows the same trade from NordVPN’s side.
How We Research
NordVPN’s prices come from its pricing page, read on 25 September 2026, and its audit count and ratings from our tables and review. TorGuard’s settlement, pricing range, ownership and the 2019 dispute come from our TorGuard review, which draws on TorrentFreak, BleepingComputer, Techdirt, VPNOverview, TechRadar, vpn.social and VPNTesting. Where the two companies’ accounts of the 2019 case conflict, we present both. We do not run our own tests. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
NordVPN vs TorGuard FAQ
For streaming, privacy and ease of use, yes. NordVPN rates 4.8 against TorGuard’s 3.1 in our reviews, with six published audits, better streaming and easier apps. TorGuard’s advantages are port forwarding and dedicated IPs for technical users.
In 2019 TorGuard alleged NordVPN organised attacks against it and pressured reviewers. NordVPN said it had found exposed TorGuard configuration files and reported them. A court dismissed it on jurisdictional grounds, without a ruling on the merits.
Not on its US servers, where it has blocked BitTorrent since a March 2022 settlement with film studios. Servers in other countries allow it, and TorGuard includes port forwarding.
No, not on its standard plans or with its dedicated IP add-on. TorGuard includes it, which is its main advantage for seeding torrents.
No. In more than a decade it has published no independent no-logs audit. NordVPN has six, by PwC and Deloitte.
The Verdict
NordVPN is the better VPN for nearly everyone. It has the audit record, the streaming and the easy apps that TorGuard lacks, and it carries torrent traffic in the United States.
TorGuard remains a niche tool: port forwarding, dedicated IPs and obfuscation for users who know exactly why they need them. Choose it with the missing audit and the US block in plain view.