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People compare NordVPN and Astrill for one reason: China. Astrill is the specialist, with a long record behind the Great Firewall and a price to match. NordVPN is the mainstream option that also claims to get through, using obfuscated servers and its newer NordWhisper protocol.
The evidence for NordVPN in China is genuinely split. Gizmodo tested it there in June 2026 and it held up; SafetyDetectives, in February, said it did not work at all. Astrill has fewer contradictions on China but many elsewhere, from its refund policy to its home country. This page weighs both.
NordVPN vs Astrill: The Short Answer
For China specifically, Astrill has the stronger record, and GreatFirewallGuide reported 98% bypass confidence on China Telecom in April 2026. It costs $30 a month, or $300 for two years, and has no audit. Our Astrill review rates it 3.0.
For everything else, NordVPN wins clearly. It rates 4.8 in our NordVPN review, with six published audits, reliable streaming and a 30-day refund, at $94.23 for 27 months on Basic.
Using an unapproved VPN in China remains a regulatory violation, with an individual fine of up to RMB 5,000, as our China legality page explains.
China: What the Tests Say
Astrill. GreatFirewallGuide, a site dedicated to the Great Firewall, reported 98% bypass confidence on China Telecom’s CN2 GIA network and 96% on China Unicom in April 2026. It noted evening UDP throttling on China Mobile, which switching to TCP resolves. Astrill’s StealthVPN and OpenWeb protocols were designed for exactly this.
NordVPN. Results depend on the protocol and on who tested. Technerdo found NordWhisper the most reliable choice in spring 2026, while standard NordLynx was dropped within seconds. Gizmodo’s June test on obfuscated servers connected through Italy, the US, the UK, Hong Kong and Canada. SafetyDetectives, however, reported in February that NordVPN did not work, while VPNPicked’s June retest put it at 86% of attempts.
⚠️ NordVPN’s own documentation adds a caution. According to RottenWifi’s August review of it, NordVPN describes NordWhisper as intended for local restrictions rather than nationwide controls, and says its Linux app is fully blocked in China. Test NordVPN before you travel rather than treating it as a guarantee. Our obfuscation guide explains how both approaches work.
Privacy and Trust
NordVPN has six published no-logs audits, by PwC and Deloitte, and is based in Panama. Our audit tracker sets that record against the rest.
Astrill has none. It logs your IP address, connection time, device type and app version during a session, deleting them afterwards by its own account, according to VPN.com. Reviewers also disagree on where it is based: four say the Seychelles, two say Liechtenstein. Our no-logs guide explains what session logging does and does not reveal.
| 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 |
Price
NordVPN Basic costs $94.23 for 27 months, then $139.08 a year. Our NordVPN pricing page covers every plan.
Astrill costs $30 for a month, $180 for a year, or $300 for two years, and the same amounts repeat at renewal. Over four years its two-year plan comes to $600, against $372.39 for NordVPN Basic.
⚠️ The refund terms differ sharply. NordVPN gives 30 days on first purchases. For Astrill, vpnMentor, VPNOverview, Wizcase and TheBestVPN report no refunds, VPN.com and GreatFirewallGuide describe seven days, and its pricing page says nothing. Our refund guide explains what to check.
Streaming, Devices and Features
Streaming: NordVPN ranked first for Netflix in VPNpro’s 2026 comparison, as our Netflix guide discusses. Reviewers call Astrill’s streaming hit and miss.
Devices: NordVPN allows ten. Astrill’s page now claims unlimited devices in your household, while several reviewers counted five. Our multi-device guide compares the limits.
Port forwarding: Astrill lists it among its features; NordVPN does not offer it on standard plans. Our port forwarding guide covers the providers that do.
Protocols: NordLynx, NordVPN’s WireGuard-based default, is fast but does not survive the Great Firewall, which is why obfuscation matters there. Our WireGuard and OpenVPN comparison explains the trade-off.
Before You Fly
Install everything at home. Technerdo notes that Apple’s App Store and Google Play are unreachable from a mainland Chinese address, so an app missing from your phone at customs stays missing. Download server lists and log in on every device first.
Set the protocol before you land. On NordVPN, switch to NordWhisper, or to OpenVPN over TCP with obfuscated servers, and turn on the kill switch; Gizmodo’s June test used obfuscated servers only. On Astrill, choose StealthVPN or OpenWeb, and GreatFirewallGuide suggests servers in Hong Kong or Japan.
Keep a fallback. Technerdo warns against relying on a single VPN, since sensitive dates bring tighter filtering. A second provider, or a saved manual configuration, is cheap insurance.
Which One
Astrill if you live or work in mainland China and need the connection to hold during crackdowns, and you accept the price, the missing audit and the uncertain refund.
NordVPN for everyone else, and for short trips to China if you set it up before you fly and test NordWhisper and obfuscated servers at home. Some travellers carry both, and our travel guide explains why a backup matters.
How We Research
NordVPN’s China results come from Gizmodo, Technerdo, SafetyDetectives and RottenWifi, and Astrill’s from GreatFirewallGuide, each dated where used and read on 25 September 2026. Prices come from each provider’s own pricing page, read the same day. Astrill’s logging, refund and jurisdiction claims come from the reviews named in our Astrill review. China’s legal position comes from our China legality page. We do not run our own tests. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
NordVPN vs Astrill FAQ
On the published evidence, Astrill has the more consistent record. GreatFirewallGuide reported 98% bypass confidence on China Telecom in April 2026, while NordVPN’s results vary by protocol and source. NordVPN is the stronger VPN everywhere else.
Sometimes, with obfuscation. Gizmodo’s June 2026 test on obfuscated servers worked, and Technerdo found NordWhisper reliable in spring 2026, but SafetyDetectives reported in February that it did not work. Set it up and test it before travelling.
Only if you need a VPN that holds up in China. Its two-year plan costs $300, or $12.50 a month, with no renewal increase, but it has no audit and its refund terms are disputed.
Using an unapproved VPN is a regulatory violation. China’s implementing rules set an individual fine of up to RMB 5,000. Enforcement is uneven, but the rule names the user.
NordVPN, on the evidence. It has six published no-logs audits. Astrill has none, and it logs some session data while you are connected.
The Verdict
For life inside China, Astrill’s record is the reason to pay its price. For everything else, including most short trips, NordVPN is the better, cheaper and audited choice.
Whichever you pick, install and test it before you fly, keep a second option ready, and remember that China’s rules name the user as well as the provider.