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Cybersecurity · head to head

NordVPN vs Periscope Holdings

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
Periscope Holdings logo

Periscope Holdings

Government

Statewide e-procurement systems and supplier networks for large public agencies

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Periscope Holdings it is scaled and priced for statewide programmes, so a single city or county typically finds both the implementation effort and the cost out of proportion to its needs.
  • They diverge on capability: NordVPN covers NordLynx, Periscope Holdings covers Sealed bid solicitation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NordVPN and Periscope Holdings actually diverge.

Attributes where NordVPN and Periscope Holdings differ
AttributeNordVPNPeriscope Holdings
Starting price$3.99/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Mobile, ApiWeb
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
Founded2012Unknown

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 NordVPN

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

Only in Periscope Holdings

  • Sealed bid solicitation
  • Supplier registration network
  • Contract catalogues
  • Cooperative purchasing
  • Spend and compliance reporting
  • Supplier diversity tracking

What people use each for

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

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 Periscope Holdings
  • Households and individuals wanting one subscription across ten devices including a smart TVnot Periscope Holdings
  • Travellers and remote workers on hotel and airport networks who need obfuscation where plain VPN protocols are blockednot Periscope Holdings
  • Small teams needing basic remote access to a shared resource, via the NordLayer business product rather than the consumer appnot Periscope Holdings

Periscope Holdings

  • A state building a central procurement portal serving many agencies and local entitiesnot NordVPN
  • A large agency needing statutory sealed bidding with a public opening recordnot NordVPN
  • A purchasing programme that must report spend and supplier diversity across entitiesnot NordVPN
  • A state wanting local governments to buy from its awarded cooperative contractsnot NordVPN

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Periscope Holdings

  • It is scaled and priced for statewide programmes, so a single city or county typically finds both the implementation effort and the cost out of proportion to its needs.
  • The interface reflects the age and regulatory weight of the platform, and suppliers routinely describe registration and bidding as harder than on newer portals, which can suppress bid response.
  • Ownership has changed twice since 2021, from independent to mdf commerce to KKR, so roadmap and support continuity should be written into the contract rather than assumed.
  • Sibling products inside mdf commerce cover adjacent procurement ground, which means an apparently competitive shortlist may contain two products with the same owner.
  • Statewide implementations are multi year projects with heavy configuration and change management, and the professional services cost commonly exceeds the software over the contract term.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Periscope Holdings

On request
  • BuySpeed$undefined/year
    • Quoted per programme, scaled to entities served and transaction volume
    • Multi year statewide contracts with implementation priced separately
    • Supplier side registration fees form part of the commercial model on some programmes

Which should you pick?

Choose NordVPN if

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

Choose Periscope Holdings if

  • You need sealed bid solicitation.
  • You also want supplier registration network.
Periscope Holdings review

Questions people ask

Is NordVPN or Periscope Holdings better?
Neither clearly leads. NordVPN starts at $3.99/month and Periscope Holdings at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, NordVPN or Periscope Holdings?
NordVPN starts at $3.99/month and Periscope Holdings at On request.
Does NordVPN or Periscope Holdings run on more platforms?
NordVPN runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api. Periscope Holdings runs on Web.
What is NordVPN best used for?
NordVPN is most often used for a buyer choosing on evidence rather than claims, who wants a no-logs policy that has been audited more than once by a named firm, households and individuals wanting one subscription across ten devices including a smart tv, travellers and remote workers on hotel and airport networks who need obfuscation where plain vpn protocols are blocked, small teams needing basic remote access to a shared resource, via the nordlayer business product rather than the consumer app. Of those, a buyer choosing on evidence rather than claims, who wants a no-logs policy that has been audited more than once by a named firm and households and individuals wanting one subscription across ten devices including a smart tv are not what Periscope Holdings is typically brought in for.
What can NordVPN do that Periscope Holdings cannot?
NordVPN covers NordLynx, Audited no-logs policy, RAM-only servers, Threat Protection. Periscope Holdings covers Sealed bid solicitation, Supplier registration network, Contract catalogues, Cooperative purchasing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Periscope Holdings: Who owns Periscope Holdings?

mdf commerce acquired it in 2021, and mdf commerce was itself acquired by KKR in 2024.

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.

Periscope Holdings: Is it suitable for a single city?

Usually not. It is built and priced for statewide or very large agency programmes.

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.

Periscope Holdings: What is BuySpeed?

The e-procurement platform behind its statewide deployments, covering solicitation through catalogue ordering and reporting.

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.

Periscope Holdings: Can we see what a state paid?

Yes. State procurement awards are public records and typically disclose the full multi year contract value.

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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