Both VPNs, tested the same way, on the same WireGuard protocol, continuously. Live head-to-head across 1 directly-compared location (of 2 locations measured here) — real measured speeds, not marketing claims.
Faster average download across 1 directly-compared location. 112368 total tests and counting.
As of 6 August 2026, across 1 directly-compared location tested identically on WireGuard, Surfshark recorded the faster average download in 1 and NordVPN in 0 for Poland — from 112368 independent, continuously-updated speed tests measured by VPNSpeedTest (vpnspeeddata.com). These are datacentre/server-side conditions showing each VPN's speed ceiling, not a home-broadband guarantee; their value is the like-for-like comparison. How we test → Why our numbers differ from other reviews →
Tested by the VPNSpeedTest team · automated, vendor-independent measurement · data as of 6 August 2026 · about us
| Location | Surfshark | NordVPN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Down | Up | Ping | Down | Up | Ping | |
| Poland - Gdansk | 1281.3 | 836.2 | 35.1 | — | — | — |
| Poland - Warsaw | 2186.6 | 1466.6 | 33.8 | 1716.8 | 1552.8 | 36.2 |
Down/Up in Mbps, Ping in ms. "—" means we don't yet have data for that provider in this location. NordVPN serves the lowest-load server per city, so its exact server varies between tests.
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We run identical, automated speed tests against both Surfshark and NordVPN using the WireGuard protocol (NordLynx on Nord's side), connecting to the recommended server in each city and measuring download, upload, ping, and jitter. Because both providers are tested the same way at the same cadence, the numbers above are directly comparable — unlike one-off screenshots taken under different conditions.
Speed isn't the only thing that matters when choosing a VPN, but it's the one most review sites fake. Use the live scoreboard above to see which provider currently wins more locations on download speed, then dig into the per-location table to find the best option for the regions you actually connect to.
Want the deep dive on each? Read our Surfshark review and NordVPN review, both backed by the same continuous data.