The Showdown

NordVPNvsshadowsocks-qt5

Why pay monthly fees for NordVPN when you can self-host shadowsocks-qt5 for free? Let's look at the facts.

NordVPN

The Expensive Option

  • Closed Source (Black box)
  • Expensive monthly fees per user
  • Data stored on their servers
WINNER

shadowsocks-qt5

The Freedom Choice

  • 100% Open Source Code
  • Free forever (Self-hosted)
  • You own your data completely
Interactive Calculator

Calculate Your "SaaS Tax"

SaaS pricing is designed to scale with your success. See how much wealth transfers from your bank account to NordVPN's shareholders.

10 people
150100200+
$

*Estimated standard pricing for NordVPN. Adjust if needed.

Estimated Annual Waste
$1,440
Monthly Burn Rate$120
5-Year Projection$7,200
Cost with Self-Hosted$0
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Calculations based on 10 users at $12/mo.

Detailed Breakdown

0
OpenVPN / WireGuard
Shadowsocks (SOCKS5)
1
Closed source client
Fully auditable source
2
High (Electron-based)
Low (Native C++)