CNET says Norton VPN has made real progress, but privacy gaps and a $100 yearly renewal jump keep it behind Surfshark, Proton VPN and Windscribe.
Norton, the company best known for antivirus, has been improving its VPN, but CNET still would not pick it first. In a review updated October 26, 2026, CNET says several other VPNs are better for virtually every use case. A VPN is a service that hides your internet traffic and location. The biggest complaints are data collection and a steep renewal price.
CNET calls the gains in privacy, transparency, usability, features and platform support significant. The review lists these strengths for Norton VPN 6.2:
CNET says Norton's privacy is not as tight as it should be, and it points to substantial data collection. There is no support for routers or Linux, and the Windows app is laggy. Payment options are limited to credit card, PayPal or Google Pay, which may bother people who want to pay in crypto or other private ways.
The first-year deal looks fine, but the renewal does not. The standalone plan jumps $100 a year when it renews. CNET compares that with Surfshark at $79, Proton VPN at $84 and Windscribe at $69 a year on renewal. It says those three beat Norton on most things users care about, at about the same price or less.
The bundled plans add antivirus, a password manager, dark web monitoring and cloud backup. Plus costs $63 the first year and $120 at renewal. Ultimate, aimed at families, costs $78 the first year and $150 at renewal.
Speeds were somewhat erratic, but CNET measured an average 29.5% speed loss across more than 200 tests. That was the fifth-fastest result in its testing. Mullvad lost 26.5% and NordVPN 27.2%. MacOS did better than Windows, at 24.4% loss versus 34.7%.
Compare the renewal price, not just the first-year price, and read the privacy policy. The 60-day guarantee, double the usual 30 days, gives extra time to test Norton. For a short-term VPN, CNET suggests Mullvad at about $6 a month, Windscribe at $9 or Proton VPN at $10.
Before buying any VPN, check what it costs after year one and how much data it collects, since Norton's renewal rises $100 a year.
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