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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs NordVPN

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; 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: Earthly covers Policy as code, NordVPN covers NordLynx.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and NordVPN actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and NordVPN differ
AttributeEarthlyNordVPN
Starting priceFree$3.99/month
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb, Desktop, Mobile, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded20202012

Identical on both: 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 Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

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.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot NordVPN
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot NordVPN
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot NordVPN
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot 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 Earthly
  • Households and individuals wanting one subscription across ten devices including a smart TVnot Earthly
  • Travellers and remote workers on hotel and airport networks who need obfuscation where plain VPN protocols are blockednot Earthly
  • Small teams needing basic remote access to a shared resource, via the NordLayer business product rather than the consumer appnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

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

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

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

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

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 Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly 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 Earthly or NordVPN better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and NordVPN at $3.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or NordVPN?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $3.99/month for NordVPN.
Does Earthly or NordVPN run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. NordVPN runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. NordVPN starts at $3.99/month.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what NordVPN is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that NordVPN cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. NordVPN covers NordLynx, Audited no-logs policy, RAM-only servers, Threat Protection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
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.

Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
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.

Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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.

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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