Atlas VPN — Discontinued

Overview & shutdown

Atlas VPN was launched in 2019 as a US-based consumer VPN and was acquired by Nord Security (the parent company of NordVPN) in 2021. For about three years it operated as a separate brand within the Nord Security portfolio, marketed primarily on its free tier and lower-than-NordVPN price point.

On April 24, 2024, Nord Security announced that Atlas VPN was being discontinued. Existing Atlas VPN subscribers were offered free migration to NordVPN for the remainder of their subscription term, plus an additional period as compensation. The Atlas VPN apps stopped accepting new connections and were removed from app stores shortly afterwards.

The shutdown was a portfolio decision, not a security incident. Nord Security indicated that consolidating engineering and infrastructure investment in NordVPN allowed the group to focus on a single, more advanced consumer VPN product rather than maintaining two parallel codebases.

Historical product summary

For reference, Atlas VPN's product positioning at the time of its shutdown included:

• Free tier with capped bandwidth — one of the few free VPNs from a major operator
• Unlimited simultaneous device connections on paid plans
• WireGuard and IKEv2 protocols; OpenVPN was deprecated late in the product's life
• SafeBrowse — DNS-level malicious-site blocking
• Data Breach Monitor — email-based credential breach alerts
• ~1,000+ servers across ~40 countries
• 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans
• US jurisdiction (5 Eyes)

Independent audits of the no-logs claim were limited and Atlas VPN had also been the subject of public scrutiny in 2021 over an iOS-app vulnerability that was subsequently patched.

What former Atlas VPN customers should do

If you are a former Atlas VPN customer:

• Existing subscribers should already have received NordVPN migration emails. If you missed yours, contact NordVPN support — Nord Security maintains records of eligible Atlas VPN accounts.
• Uninstall the Atlas VPN apps if they remain installed; they are no longer maintained.
• Review NordVPN's current feature set on our NordVPN review page. NordVPN includes Threat Protection, Meshnet, Double VPN, dedicated IP and a substantially larger server fleet than Atlas VPN ever offered.
• If you had an Atlas VPN free-tier account only, no migration is offered — you can sign up for any of the alternative free-tier providers below.

Current alternatives

Atlas VPN's positioning combined a meaningful free tier, unlimited devices and an affordable price point. Today's nearest functional equivalents include:

• NordVPN — direct successor; what Atlas VPN customers were migrated to. Larger server network, NordLynx protocol, Threat Protection malware blocker.
• Surfshark — also part of Nord Security since 2022. Unlimited devices, CleanWeb ad blocker, very competitive pricing.
• Windscribe — generous 10 GB free tier, unlimited devices on paid plans, R.O.B.E.R.T. blocker.
• ProtonVPN — Switzerland-based, free tier with no data cap, strong privacy posture.
• TunnelBear — beginner-friendly, audited annually, 2 GB free tier.