NordLayer Review
NordLayer takes Nord's consumer infrastructure and wraps it in team management, dedicated gateways and access rules. It is the least painful business VPN to actually deploy.
Review last updated 2026-08-20 · How we rate providers
Scorecard
Pros
- Fastest route from a consumer VPN mindset to a managed business deployment
- Dedicated gateways with fixed IPs for allowlisting, on top of the shared network
- Runs on Nord's proven WireGuard infrastructure with Deloitte audits behind it
- Simple admin console that a generalist IT person can run without training
Cons
- Per-seat pricing plus gateway fees adds up quickly
- Less granular than true zero-trust products like Twingate
- Five-user minimum excludes very small teams
- No free tier and only a 14-day guarantee
Privacy, jurisdiction & audits
Who the company answers to legally, what it keeps, and whether anyone independent has checked.
| Legal jurisdiction | Lithuania outside 5/9/14 Eyes |
|---|---|
| Logging policy | No-logs, independently audited |
| Independent audits | Deloitte, 2024 no-logs assurance across Nord Security services |
| Owned by | Nord Security |
| RAM-only servers | ✓ |
| Warrant canary | - |
| Anonymous payment | Card / PayPal only |
NordLayer plans & pricing
Advertised rates as of August 20, 2026. VPN promo rates normally require the prepaid term shown and renew at the higher rate; proxy pricing falls with volume. Confirm on NordLayer's own site before buying.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LiteBusiness VPN & ZTNA | $8/user/moannual, 5-user minimum | |
| CoreBusiness VPN & ZTNA | $11/user/moannual, 5-user minimum | Adds dedicated servers and site-to-site |
| PremiumBusiness VPN & ZTNA | $14/user/moannual, 5-user minimum | Adds device posture and advanced threat protection |
| Dedicated server add-onBusiness VPN & ZTNA | $40/moper gateway, monthly |
Features
Our NordLayer review
NordLayer is what happens when a consumer VPN grows up. The tunnel technology is NordLynx, the same WireGuard-based stack as NordVPN, and the network is the same proven infrastructure, but the product around it is built for administrators: a console, user provisioning, SSO with the usual identity providers, and access rules.
The dedicated gateway option is the feature most teams buy it for. You get a fixed IP address that your cloud dashboards, databases and SaaS tools can allowlist, and only your people can reach it. That single capability solves the most common reason a small company wants a VPN at all.
It is a network-centric product rather than a strict zero-trust one. Access is granted to a gateway and then to what sits behind it, rather than to individual applications with continuous verification. Premium adds device posture checks that narrow that gap, but Twingate and Zscaler are more granular by design.
Deployment is the strong suit. A generalist IT person can roll it out across a fifty-person company in an afternoon, with clients on every platform and browser extensions for the rest. Support runs around the clock and account management is available on larger plans.
Pricing starts at $8 per user per month with a five-seat minimum, and dedicated gateways are billed separately at around $40 each. A twenty-person team with two gateways lands near $240 a month, which is fair for what it does but not cheap.
The right choice for small and mid-sized businesses that want a managed VPN with fixed IPs and minimal operational overhead.
Notable facts
- Built on the same NordLynx infrastructure as NordVPN
- Dedicated gateways provide fixed IPs for allowlisting
- Five-user minimum on all plans
At a glance
| Founded | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Service types | Business VPN & ZTNA |
| Servers | 3K |
| Country coverage | 33 |
| Protocols | NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2 |
| Apps | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Browser extension |
| Starting price | $8/user/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | 14 days |
| Free tier | No |
| Support | chat, email, tickets (24/7), account manager on larger plans |
Frequently asked questions
How is NordLayer different from NordVPN?
Same tunnel technology, different product. NordLayer adds an admin console, team provisioning, SSO, access control and dedicated gateways with fixed IPs, and is billed per seat.
Is NordLayer zero trust?
Partly. It grants access at the network gateway level with device posture checks on the top tier, which is less granular than application-level zero-trust products like Twingate or Zscaler.
What does a dedicated gateway cost?
Around $40 per gateway per month on top of per-seat pricing, and it is the feature most teams actually need for IP allowlisting.
Bottom line
NordLayer takes Nord's consumer infrastructure and wraps it in team management, dedicated gateways and access rules. It is the least painful business VPN to actually deploy.
Check current NordLayer pricing →
