Figures checked 15 September 2026
Quick Answer
The two-year Basic plan works out at roughly £3 a month, charged as a single payment of about £84 covering 27 months. The rolling monthly plan runs from £8.89 to £14.89 depending on tier. The number NordVPN advertises does not include UK VAT, so add 20% to whatever the pricing page shows you. And the figure that actually decides the cost is the renewal, which is higher and which nobody puts in the headline.
Working out what a VPN costs in the UK is harder than it should be, and not by accident. Three separate things sit between the advertised number and the amount that leaves your account.
One: the advertised price excludes VAT
NordVPN quotes pre-tax. Every figure on its pricing page is before the 20% that a UK customer pays, and the increase only appears at the checkout screen.
The two-year Basic plan is the clearest illustration. The plan subtotal is £69.93. VAT adds £13.99. The amount charged is £83.92.
None of that is hidden, and nothing about it is unlawful. It is simply the reason a reader who budgeted £70 is charged £84, and the reason the searches that brought you here exist at all.
Two: the term is not twelve or twenty-four months
A two-year plan is frequently not two years. The current offer adds three free months, so the single payment covers 27 months rather than 24. That is genuinely more VPN for the money, and it is also why the advertised monthly figure never divides neatly into the total.
At £83.92 for 27 months, the real rate is about £3.11 a month. Divide the same total across 24 months instead and you get £3.50. Neither number is wrong. They answer different questions, and comparison sites pick whichever suits the point being made.
Three: the renewal is where the money is
This is the part worth reading twice.
When the prepaid term ends, the account does not continue at the promotional rate. It switches to a standard annual charge fixed by tier, and that charge is substantially higher than what the first term suggested. On the most expensive tier, the annual renewal can exceed twelve months of rolling monthly billing, which means the long commitment stops being the cheaper option from year three onwards.
The practical effect is a two-stage price. Cheap while the term runs, ordinary afterwards. Anyone comparing VPNs on the introductory figure alone is comparing the part designed to be compared.
What each plan costs a UK customer
Checked 15 September 2026 and quoted inclusive of VAT, because that is what you are charged.
On the two-year term, Basic came to £83.92 for 27 months, working out at roughly £3.11 a month. The Complete tier came to £109.84 over the same period, an effective £4.07 a month, and the top Ultimate Max tier to £203.80, or £7.55.
On the one-year term, Basic was £58.90, an effective £4.91 a month.
On rolling monthly billing, the range runs from £8.89 for Basic to £14.89 for the top tier, with the middle Plus tier around £10.39.
Treat all of these as a snapshot. NordVPN runs promotions continuously and the numbers move with them, which is the honest reason no page on the internet can give you a permanent answer. What does not change is the structure: pre-tax advertising, an odd term length, and a renewal that is higher than the term you signed up for.
Check the live UK checkout
The checkout screen shows the VAT-inclusive total and the renewal terms before you pay. That screen is the only figure worth trusting, including over this page.
See the current UK price →Which tier a UK reader actually needs
Most people over 50 buying a VPN want it for three things: connecting away from home without worrying about the network, reaching the British services they already pay for while travelling, and keeping their browsing away from their internet provider. Basic covers all three.
The case for moving up a tier rests almost entirely on Threat Protection Pro, the phishing and malicious-domain blocker that AV-Comparatives certified. It is a real addition, and it is the single most useful thing in the bundle for this age group, given that the losses in it come overwhelmingly from convincing messages rather than from intercepted traffic. It is not in Basic.
The upper tiers add a password manager, encrypted cloud storage and identity monitoring. If you already use a password manager, you are paying twice for it.
Why the tier names differ from what you read elsewhere
A small thing that causes a surprising amount of confusion. The tier names are not identical across regions: a UK customer sees Ultimate where an American review is describing Complete Max, and the American article's dollar figure does not map onto the British one even after conversion, because the tax treatment differs as well.
If a comparison quotes dollars, it is describing a different checkout from yours. This is not a detail worth much anxiety, but it explains why the figure you read and the figure you are shown rarely match.
Getting a refund, which is not automatic
Every plan carries a 30-day refund window. It has to be requested through support, and cancelling the subscription on its own does not trigger one. That distinction accounts for a large share of the complaints that surface about the company, and almost all of them were avoidable.
Frequently Asked Questions
On the two-year Basic plan it came to about £83.92 including VAT, covering 27 months, which works out at roughly £3.11 a month. Rolling monthly billing runs from £8.89 to £14.89 depending on tier. Prices move with promotions, so treat any figure as a snapshot and check the live checkout.
No. The figures on the pricing page are quoted before tax, and UK VAT at 20% is added at the checkout. On the two-year Basic plan that is a subtotal of £69.93 plus £13.99 of VAT, giving £83.92.
Between £8.89 and £14.89 a month on rolling billing, depending on which tier you pick. Committing to a longer term brings the effective rate down to roughly £3 to £5 a month, at the cost of paying the whole thing upfront.
The current offer adds three free months to the two-year term. You pay once and the subscription runs for 27 months, which is why the advertised monthly rate never divides cleanly into the total charged.
It goes up. The account moves from the promotional term to a standard annual charge set by tier, which is considerably higher. On the most expensive tier that annual figure can exceed twelve months of rolling monthly billing, so the long plan stops being the cheaper route after the first term.
Within 30 days, yes, but you have to ask support for it. Cancelling the subscription by itself does not produce a refund, and that gap is behind a large share of the complaints people post about the company.
Sources
- NordVPN — plans and pricing explained
- Wise — NordVPN subscription pricing, UK guide
- Price tracker — UK subtotal, VAT and checkout total by term
- ComparEdge — term rates and the annual renewal figure per tier
How we assess VPNs
We did not buy this subscription and we do not publish speed figures we did not measure. The prices above were compiled from the provider's own pricing documentation and from independent trackers that record the checkout total by country, each dated. VPN pricing changes with promotional cycles, so every figure here carries the date it was checked, and the live checkout overrides anything written on this page. More on how this site works.
We earn a commission if you subscribe through our links, at no extra cost to you. It does not change the figures above, which come from sources you can open yourself. Full disclosure.