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Government · head to head

Bonfire vs NordVPN

Bonfire logo

Bonfire

Government

Public sector sourcing and bid evaluation software with scored, auditable award decisions

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
NordVPN logo

NordVPN

Cybersecurity

Consumer and business VPN from Nord Security, registered in Panama, with repeated third-party no-logs audits.

From
$3.99/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bonfire it is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.; NordVPN a server in a Finnish datacentre was accessed in March 2018 through a remote management interface left exposed by the hosting provider, and NordVPN did not disclose it until October 2019, so a buyer relying on the company's transparency is relying on a track record that includes a nineteen-month delay.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, NordVPN covers NordLynx.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonfire and NordVPN actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonfire and NordVPN differ
AttributeBonfireNordVPN
Starting priceOn request$3.99/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWebWeb, Desktop, Mobile, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bonfire

  • Solicitation posting
  • Sealed submission intake
  • Scored evaluation workspace
  • Audit trail
  • Supplier portal
  • Requirement matrices

Only in NordVPN

  • NordLynx
  • Audited no-logs policy
  • RAM-only servers
  • Threat Protection
  • Obfuscated servers
  • Double VPN
  • Kill switch
  • Dedicated IP

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bonfire

  • An agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation recordnot NordVPN
  • A procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and emailnot NordVPN
  • A university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement systemnot NordVPN
  • An agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing listnot NordVPN

NordVPN

  • A buyer choosing on evidence rather than claims, who wants a no-logs policy that has been audited more than once by a named firmnot Bonfire
  • Households and individuals wanting one subscription across ten devices including a smart TVnot Bonfire
  • Travellers and remote workers on hotel and airport networks who need obfuscation where plain VPN protocols are blockednot Bonfire
  • Small teams needing basic remote access to a shared resource, via the NordLayer business product rather than the consumer appnot Bonfire

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bonfire

  • It is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.
  • Since the acquisition path from GTY to GI Partners to Euna Solutions, Bonfire sits in a portfolio alongside products it once competed with, which narrows a shortlist that appears independent.
  • Suppliers must register on the portal to bid, and small local vendors reliably complain about the extra account, which can reduce responses on low value solicitations.
  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and scales with solicitation volume, so an agency with a few very large procurements pays a model designed around throughput.
  • Contract management after award is thin compared with dedicated contract lifecycle products, so agencies often buy a second system for the obligations the award created.

NordVPN

  • A server in a Finnish datacentre was accessed in March 2018 through a remote management interface left exposed by the hosting provider, and NordVPN did not disclose it until October 2019, so a buyer relying on the company's transparency is relying on a track record that includes a nineteen-month delay.
  • Pricing depends on a long initial term and reverts to the standard rate at renewal, so the monthly figure that justified the purchase is not what the subscriber pays in the third year, and the cheapest way to stay is usually to cancel and re-subscribe.
  • Panamanian registration is selected for the absence of a data retention law, but it also means a subscriber with a dispute has little practical recourse, and the protection rests on a corporate structure the customer cannot inspect or enforce against.
  • NordLynx is unavailable for manual and router configurations, so the one device that could cover an entire home network falls back to OpenVPN or IKEv2 with the associated throughput loss, and obfuscated servers likewise only run over OpenVPN.
  • Features such as Threat Protection are implemented in the client rather than in the network, so any device using a manual configuration, a router or an unsupported platform receives a bare tunnel without the protections the subscription is sold on.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bonfire

On request
  • Bonfire$undefined/year
    • Quoted by agency size and annual solicitation volume
    • Supplier side registration is free, which is how the vendor network grows
    • Implementation and training quoted separately from subscription

NordVPN

$3.99/month
  • Standard$3.99/month
    • 6 devices
    • 5,500+ servers
    • Threat Protection Lite
  • Plus$4.99/month
    • All Standard features
    • Threat Protection Pro
    • NordPass password manager
  • Complete$5.99/month
    • All Plus features
    • NordLocker 1TB encrypted cloud
    • Identity theft protection

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonfire if

  • You need solicitation posting.
  • You also want sealed submission intake.
Bonfire review

Choose NordVPN if

  • You need nordlynx.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api.
  • You also want audited no-logs policy.
NordVPN review

Questions people ask

Is Bonfire or NordVPN better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonfire starts at On request and NordVPN at $3.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonfire or NordVPN?
Bonfire starts at On request and NordVPN at $3.99/month.
Does Bonfire or NordVPN run on more platforms?
Bonfire runs on Web. NordVPN runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api.
What is Bonfire best used for?
Bonfire is most often used for an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record, a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email, a university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement system, an agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing list. Of those, an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record and a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email are not what NordVPN is typically brought in for.
What can Bonfire do that NordVPN cannot?
Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Sealed submission intake, Scored evaluation workspace, Audit trail. NordVPN covers NordLynx, Audited no-logs policy, RAM-only servers, Threat Protection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bonfire: Who owns Bonfire?

Euna Solutions. Bonfire was acquired by GTY Technology in 2019, GTY was taken private by GI Partners in 2022, and the portfolio was rebranded Euna Solutions in 2023.

NordVPN: What jurisdiction is NordVPN under?

The VPN service company is registered in Panama, which has no mandatory data retention law for these services. The wider Nord Security group operates from Lithuania.

Bonfire: Is it full procure to pay?

No. It covers sourcing and evaluation through award. Purchase orders and invoicing remain in the finance system.

NordVPN: Has the no-logs claim actually been audited?

Yes, more than once. PwC Switzerland examined it in 2018 and 2020 and Deloitte in later engagements. Each is a point-in-time assurance report over stated policy and server configuration, not ongoing monitoring.

Bonfire: What is the real value?

A defensible, time stamped evaluation record when an award is protested, which is the expensive failure mode in public procurement.

NordVPN: What happened in the 2018 breach?

An attacker reached one rented server in Finland via an insecure remote management tool left in place by the datacentre provider, and obtained a TLS key that had expired. NordVPN disclosed it in October 2019, nineteen months later, and afterwards moved the estate to RAM-only servers.

Bonfire: Can we see what other agencies pay?

Yes. These contracts are public records. Read several comparable awards before negotiating.

NordVPN: How many devices does one subscription cover?

Ten simultaneous connections. A router configured with the service counts as one connection regardless of how many devices sit behind it.

NordVPN: Does it work on restrictive networks?

There are obfuscated servers intended for networks that block VPN protocols, but they run over OpenVPN only and no provider can guarantee access in a country that actively filters. Treat it as best effort.

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