Which is faster, Surfshark or NordVPN in United States?

Both are measured identically on the WireGuard protocol, continuously. Across 21 locations where both VPNs were tested in the same city, Surfshark posted the faster average download in 20 and NordVPN in 1 in United States over the last 30 days of independent tests. Use the live per-location table to see which wins in the regions you actually connect to. These are datacentre-measured ceiling speeds, not a home-broadband guarantee.

How do you compare Surfshark and NordVPN speeds?

We run automated speed tests against both VPNs over WireGuard (NordLynx on NordVPN), connecting to the recommended server in each city and measuring download, upload, ping and jitter with the Ookla Speedtest CLI. Because both providers are tested the same way at the same cadence, the numbers are directly comparable — unlike one-off screenshots taken under different conditions.

Are Surfshark and NordVPN fast enough for 4K streaming?

4K streaming needs roughly 25 Mbps. Both Surfshark and NordVPN average well above that on WireGuard in our continuous tests, so either handles Netflix, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer in 4K from a nearby server. The live table shows the 30-day average download for each VPN per location so you can pick the faster one for your region.

Is this Surfshark vs NordVPN comparison up to date?

Yes. The figures update continuously as new automated tests run, current as of 8 November 2026 — using the last 30 days of results. Locations without enough recent results are left out. We do not publish static screenshots.

Live head-to-head · WireGuard · same hardware

SurfsharkvsNordVPNin United States

Tested the same way, on the same protocol. Last 30 days — 21 directly-compared locations (of 24 measured) in United States. Real measured speeds, not marketing claims.

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Locations won · download

20Surfshark

1NordVPN

Faster average download across 21 directly-compared locations in United States.

Average across 21 directly-compared locations

Download

1,249.0 Mbps

1,138.0 Mbps

Upload

775.7 Mbps

814.6 Mbps

Ping

117.0 ms

113.0 ms

Data pick · United States Surfshark Faster download in 20 of 21 directly-compared locations.

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By location

24 locations, sorted by biggest gap

Location	Surfshark	Gap	NordVPN	Best here
PhoenixUnited States	1,268.5584.4141.2	+23%+0%1.1 ms	1,028.8584.0142.3	Surfshark
BuffaloUnited States	1,279.8905.889.0	+17%+2%16.9 ms	1,092.2926.2105.9	Surfshark
SeattleUnited States	1,218.1655.3133.6	+17%+2%4.9 ms	1,043.6668.2138.5	Surfshark
DallasUnited States	1,288.2710.8122.2	+16%+1%1.4 ms	1,114.8718.3120.8	Surfshark
ChicagoUnited States	1,259.9889.798.2	+15%+1%4.2 ms	1,097.4881.194.0	Surfshark
Kansas CityUnited States	1,133.7680.0106.0	+15%+26%3.9 ms	1,300.1855.2102.1	NordVPN
Salt Lake CityUnited States	1,258.8694.5128.2	+13%+5%5.6 ms	1,109.6728.0122.6	Surfshark
NashvilleUnited States	1,364.4836.7118.2	+13%+0%2.5 ms	1,208.2838.0115.7	Surfshark
Las VegasUnited States	1,223.0625.3151.4	+12%+2%1.3 ms	1,091.5614.9150.1	Surfshark
BostonUnited States	1,202.31,036.987.3	+12%+0%3.9 ms	1,073.41,041.183.4	Surfshark
DetroitUnited States	1,360.8904.0102.3	+12%+2%2.6 ms	1,219.8925.699.7	Surfshark
Los AngelesUnited States	1,193.1560.2148.1	+11%+7%1.2 ms	1,072.4601.1146.9	Surfshark
AtlantaUnited States	1,327.5897.995.8	+11%+1%0.0 ms	1,193.9907.095.8	Surfshark
OmahaUnited States	1,353.8831.2106.0	+10%+1%0.3 ms	1,225.5826.8105.7	Surfshark
San FranciscoUnited States	1,211.9616.4144.8	+10%+3%0.4 ms	1,105.9599.7144.4	Surfshark
AshburnUnited States	1,155.2971.584.0	+9%+4%0.9 ms	1,059.91,011.383.1	Surfshark
New YorkUnited States	1,159.81,079.277.8	+8%+4%1.1 ms	1,076.91,124.876.7	Surfshark
DenverUnited States	1,246.1673.6122.5	+7%+12%0.4 ms	1,167.7751.2122.1	Surfshark
CharlotteUnited States	1,335.0535.6175.7	+6%+67%72.7 ms	1,259.2893.1103.0	Surfshark
MiamiUnited States	1,186.5805.2108.0	+3%+1%1.1 ms	1,154.3809.3109.1	Surfshark
HoustonUnited States	1,203.5795.0116.0	+0%+1%5.4 ms	1,202.2801.8110.6	Surfshark
BendUnited States	1,260.5638.7139.4	SS onlySS onlySS only	———	Surfshark
LathamUnited States	1,062.41,113.880.3	SS onlySS onlySS only	———	Surfshark
San JoseUnited States	1,225.7600.3143.7	SS onlySS onlySS only	———	Surfshark

Download in Mbps. “—” means no data yet for that provider in this location. NordVPN serves the lowest-load server per city, so its exact server varies between tests.

Surfshark wins 20 here

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NordVPN wins 1 here

£2.69 /mo · 69% off + 3 months free

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Which is faster in United States? It depends where you connect.

As of 8 November 2026, across 21 directly-compared locations tested identically on WireGuard, Surfshark recorded the faster average download in 20 and NordVPN in 1 for United States — using the last 30 days of independent speed tests measured by vpnspeeddata.

Both providers are tested identically: WireGuard (NordLynx on Nord's side), the recommended server in each city, the same Ookla test, at the same cadence. That makes every row above a like-for-like comparison — unlike one-off screenshots taken under different conditions.

These are datacentre ceiling speeds, not a home-broadband guarantee. Their value is the like-for-like comparison.

Surfshark review →NordVPN review →Why numbers differ →How we test →

Automated, vendor-independent measurement · data as of 8 November 2026 · about us