NordVPN vs Norton VPN: Is NordVPN Really THAT Better?

Staying safe and secure online has become increasingly hard these days. With various online threats, hackers, and snoopers lurking around, finding a trustworthy VPN service became a tedious task. However, some great choices lead the pack.

NordVPN, perhaps the most popular service around, is known for top-of-the-line security, unbeatable privacy, thousands of servers, and cutting-edge technology that makes this provider extremely reliable. That is something we confirmed in our review of NordVPN. On the other hand, the newcomers on the market, such as Norton Secure VPN, want to take a piece of the cake. Norton VPN comes from NortonLifeLock, a company known for developing one of the oldest antivirus solutions and many other cybersecurity-related apps.

While this isn’t a very popular choice, many users are interested in seeing a NordVPN vs Norton VPN duel that will highlight these VPNs’ pros and cons. In fact, it’s interesting that many people are divided between the two providers and are wondering which one is better.

In this Norton VPN vs NordVPN comparison for 2024, I will put these providers through 9 extensive tests to give you the answer to the question of which provider is better. We’re going to see how easy they are to use, how fast they are, and of course, talk about their security and privacy.

This is going to be a long read but think of it as a buyer’s guide. If you’re in doubt, flat out – says Collin McRae. And I say – if you’re in doubt, check my comparison out! Now, let’s get to the topic and see just how well Norton VPN stands against NordVPN.

NordVPN vs Norton VPN: Apps & Ease of Use

In this NordVPN vs Norton VPN duel, it’s vital to talk about device compatibility, applications, and ease of use. We’ll start with the simple provider, which is Norton VPN. This provider offers nothing special in this regard, supporting all major desktop and mobile platforms.

By this, I mean Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS. These are the only four supported platforms here, so don’t expect this provider to be usable on a router, Apple TV, or gaming console. Besides, this is a corporate VPN, so it’s logical that it’ll support only “official” platforms.

As for the number of simultaneous connections… well, it can be both good and bad, which depends on how much you pay for it. It offers 3 subscription plans with 1, 5, or 10 connections, giving you a lot of variety and the ability to tailor your subscription to your needs.

On the flip side, we have NordVPN which raises the bar so high that Norton Secure VPN couldn’t get to it even if it could fly. This VPN service works even on Kodi, Apple TV, Fire TV Stick, routers, gaming consoles, and pretty much any internet-capable device.

Of course, native clients for the aforementioned platforms are here too and unlike Norton, NordVPN has a great Linux app for several distros. Router support is top-notch as well and the provider is more usable than its rival in every possible case.

With 10 simultaneous connections, it’s surely nothing to write home about – neither is Norton VPN. However, with router support in place, you can increase this number as you’ll be able to protect more devices in your household at the same time.

NordVPN

Norton VPN upgraded its user experience quite a lot in the past couple of years. So did NordVPN. This provider offers a modern-looking app with a splendid world map that lets you connect to a server of your choice with a single click of a mouse.

Even better is the fact that you can customize the app and select a theme. I’m always for this dark theme you see but if your eyes are less sensitive, the light theme looks elegant and sleek. The ease of use is one of NordVPN’s strongest points.

Connections are established with a single click and connection times are extremely short. Thus, as soon as you click on the server, you’ll be connected within two seconds – I’m not exaggerating! The server list is on the home screen and all servers are listed alphabetically, adding to the ease of use.

On the left side, you have your menus for different features and almost all of them have separate menus. It’s easy to visit Settings, change the protocol, enable a kill switch, or use Threat Protection to keep malware and viruses out of your device.

During my experience with it – which still lasts as it’s a great VPN – I’ve had no issues with this app. It’s snappy, responsive, and quick to boot, which is always welcome. The same interface welcomes you on mobile devices, so there’s no learning curve because you’ll get used to it in 3-4 minutes.

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Norton VPN

Norton Secure VPN, despite being a mediocre provider overall, has a solid app for Windows. Yes, I used it mainly on Windows but I also found its iOS app decent, as it has all the important features and shows no signs of crashing or various bugs that a provider like FastestVPN is guilty of.

The app is a small white window with the connection button on the left and the server list on the right-hand side of the screen. The server list opens in a separate window, revealing server locations listed alphabetically – always a welcoming sight.

Much like NordVPN, Norton VPN supports one-click connections, and might I add, they’re blazing quick! In less than 2-3 seconds, the provider will connect to the server you want, giving you the ability to get on the internet almost immediately.

Moving on, the Gear icon opens Settings where we can see its features. Admittedly, there aren’t a whole lot of them and those that are here are easy to find and tweak. I mean, you get a separate menu for its Ad Tracker Blocker function, the kill switch, and other relevant features.

During my time with Norton VPN, I didn’t notice a single glitch or app crash regardless of the platform. It works well on Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android, showing impressive performance across the board. So far, so good – but which provider is better in this regard?

Who Wins?

In the first NordVPN vs Norton VPN battle, NordVPN WINS. While Norton Secure VPN can offer 10 simultaneous connections NordVPN does the same plus offers much better device support and can be used on a plethora of devices and platforms. It’s also easier to use and comes with better-looking apps, making it a clear winner.

Security & Privacy: Which One Is Safer to Use?

Some people are wondering if using a VPN is legal, especially when talking about secure VPNs like NordVPN or ExpressVPN. The answer to this question is YES, but if you were to ask me if Norton VPN is safe, the answer wouldn’t be so straightforward. Hear me out.

Security Features

To compare these providers in terms of safety and security, we first must go over their security features. These features are available in their apps and they’re either active or passive. Either way, I can tell you that NordVPN is significantly more feature-rich and offers so much more than its rival.

Let’s however, discuss their similarities first. Both providers come with 256-bit AES encryption and an automatic kill switch, which works well in both instances. Split tunneling is here as well and I’m glad that both providers offer it.

Another important feature is the Ad Tracker Blocker, which will block ads and trackers when using Norton Secure VPN. NordVPN has a feature called CyberSec, which aims to do the same, but from my experience, it does things better and more efficiently.

What Are the Differences?

With the similarities out of the way, let’s focus on their differences. Norton VPN offers two protocols. WireGuard, which is used on Android, Windows, and macOS, and IPsec/IKEv2 is used on iOS. You can’t switch protocols in the app, which means you’re locked to one or the other depending on the platform.

NordVPN comes with NordLynx, a proprietary WireGuard-based protocol plus OpenVPN. NordLynx is the star here, as it offers extreme performance while maintaining a high level of security and privacy. In addition, Norton Secure VPN has no other security features – nada!

Its rival, on the other hand, boasts a huge array of features that would take ages to explain. For now, I’ll mention its private DNS which routes your traffic through an in-house DNS service that stores no logs of your search history and browsing activities.

Moreover, NordVPN’s servers are based on RAM which ensures additional privacy thanks to wiping all information with each server restart. This provider’s Threat Protection feature is something to point out too. It contains not only CyberSec but also antivirus and malware protection.

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Dark Web Monitor makes its appearance here and so does Meshnet, a feature for joining and hosting private LAN parties. I like that NordVPN lets you choose a custom DNS if you want and its kill switch can completely disable your internet connection when you’re not using its service.

This, in conjunction with IPv6 and DNS leak protection, ensures that NO leaks appear, therefore, preserving your privacy all the time. Since Norton VPN has no additional security features, we simply have nothing more to talk about in this sense.

NordVPN is simply superior in this case considering all the features you get. And I haven’t even mentioned Double VPN which routes your traffic through two servers, doubling your encryption. Even obfuscated servers should be mentioned, as they allow you to bypass censorship with ease.

Is There a No-Logs Policy?

Security features are just a part of the equation. We also need to talk about privacy and how dedicated these providers are to this cause. In this NordVPN vs Norton VPN comparison, you’ll see exactly why NordVPN is so trustworthy while its rival still has a lot of ground to cover.

Let’s start with NordVPN. What can we say about it? It’s a Panama-based provider with a certified no-logging policy thanks to several security audits from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte. If you take a look at its privacy policy, you’ll see nothing but pure transparency.

The provider stores no logs of your online activities, IP address, DNS queries, location, and similar information. It’s proven time and time again that users can fully trust NordVPN, as it has no leaking incidents or cooperation with authorities like HMA VPN or PureVPN.

Aside from a minor security breach in 2018, which didn’t impact users’ privacy, the company had no such incidents since then and even received its second PwC audit quickly after that. Norton is a US-based provider which immediately rings an alarm in my head.

One thing I dislike about US VPN services is their 5 Eyes jurisdiction known for explicit data collection, mass surveillance, and anti-privacy practices. Norton VPN’s privacy policy tells us that this company doesn’t have what we call a no-logging policy.

We talked more about this in our Norton VPN review for 2024, so I’ll cut it short. Namely, the company knows and monitors several types of data which include information like IP address, visited sites, application names and versions, and file metadata.

There’s also mention of this service data, such as network connection activity and internet usage time, all of which are used for seemingly benign purposes explained in the privacy policy. Even if this was true, Norton Secure VPN has no business knowing all of this about you.

Compared to NordVPN which doesn’t mention your IP or sites you visit, this provider definitely lets itself off the leash and stores a good amount of user-related information. Plus, it has no third-party audits.

Who Wins?

In the security & privacy round of this duel, NordVPN WINS by a huge margin. It offers more security features and it stores no logs of sensitive information. Norton VPN stores logs, it’s a US-based provider, and offers just a few basic security features, making it a less viable choice for complete anonymity.

NordVPN vs Norton VPN Streaming Test

After a long day’s work, you just want to rest your feet on your sofa and enjoy binge-watching your favorite show. However, with so many geo-restrictions online, people are looking for VPNs to change their online location and bypass geo-blocks.

NordVPN is one of the best VPNs for streaming and it’s been like that for quite some time now. Alongside ExpressVPN, I very often use NordVPN to unblock geo-restricted streaming platforms and TV channels with pretty much 100% success.

This provider is fast, with stable connections allowing for 4K streaming regardless of the server. Plus, with NordLynx support, it’s extremely effective at unblocking streaming services from countries like the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, India, and other locations.

When it comes to watching foreign TV channels, this provider shows impressive performance. All you need is to get an IP address from another country in which the channel is based, visit that TV channel, and watch it. It’s all so smooth and effortless with this provider.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about Norton VPN. This service has a rough time with every streaming platform and it’s almost always detected and blocked when trying to access them. It will work with foreign TV channels but even in this case, I had some issues with a few American channels.

This carries over to mobile devices as well, so if you’re on iOS and you’re stuck with the IKEv2/IPsec protocol, chances are that you’ll unblock nothing. Coupled with slower speeds and a smaller server park, unblocking geo-restricted sites with this provider can be a chore.

Who Wins?

This round was pretty easy and here, NordVPN WINS again by being a better VPN for streaming. Unlike Norton VPN, NordVPN works with most streaming services and TV channels, offering a pleasant experience throughout, thanks to its NordLynx protocol producing state-of-the-art performance.

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NordVPN vs Norton VPN Speed Test: Which One Is Faster?

In the previous section my Norton VPN vs NordVPN comparison, I briefly mentioned NordVPN having great performance and its rival not as much. Well, this part of the duel will tell you about the differences in performance and see just how much NordVPN is faster.

However, before we talk about that, it’s important to clarify the testing parameters. Both services are tested 3 days in a row, 3 times a day, across 4 popular server locations, such as the UK, the US, Australia, and Japan.

Also, it’s important to state that I didn’t tinker around with protocols. Since Norton VPN doesn’t allow you to change protocol and you’re forced to use an automatic option, I did the same with NordVPN. I simply set the protocol to Automatic and let the provider do the job.

In the screenshot above, you can see my native internet speeds. This is when I’m not connected to a Virtual Private Network. But what about connecting to NordVPN or Norton Secure VPN? Well, the speed test results of both providers are below, so let’s examine them together.

NordVPN

UK:

US:

Australia:

Japan:

Norton VPN

UK:

US:

Australia:

Japan:

Who Wins?

In this round of the duel, NordVPN WINS effortlessly. If you take a look at the results, we can see that it’s overwhelmingly faster, especially on servers in Japan and Australia, where Norton VPN crumbles under the pressure of the distance between me and those servers. NordVPN maintains performance in all scenarios, which makes it obvious that it will always win.

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Torrenting: Are Norton VPN and NordVPN P2P-Friendly?

In 2024, it’s incredibly important to use a VPN when downloading torrents through uTorrent or any other client. You want to make sure to protect your privacy and hide your IP address to avoid ISP monitoring and the ability to get tracked by torrent sites.

If you’re looking for a VPN for torrenting, you should know that both of these are P2P-friendly. In fact, they both offer P2P servers but with one big difference. Norton Secure VPN has torrent-optimized regions that work well in this regard, providing decent performance and stability.

The issue, however, is that torrent-optimized regions are the only ones working for this purpose! If you connect to a “normal” region, P2P won’t work, and instead, you’ll have to switch to a server optimized for torrenting to start downloading.

I found this annoying many times, especially since I don’t have this problem with NordVPN. NordVPN does have P2P servers and if you choose to take advantage of them, you’ll get better performance thanks to P2P optimization.

But if you go ahead and connect to a Double VPN server, for example, torrenting will still work. It’ll still work on obfuscated servers or even onion over VPN servers that are used for browsing the dark web. Plus, this provider has better performance and speeds overall.

This makes it easy to download torrents even when connecting to a distant server, as you can still get awesome performance without any special effort.

Who Wins?

This NordVPN vs Norton VPN torrenting comparison ends quickly, as NordVPN WINS yet another round of this duel. Yes, both services are torrent-friendly but NordVPN makes everything easier by allowing P2P traffic on all of its servers and not just P2P servers like in Norton Secure VPN.

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Are NordVPN and Norton VPN Working in China?

If you plan on visiting China or you happen to be living in this country, you should consider using a VPN. This is among the most censored countries on the planet and the Great Firewall is its measure used for blocking thousands of websites and web pages.

This kills freedom of speech and prevents people from fully enjoying the internet. Conversely, it also prevents you from using VPNs and as we speak, at least 90% of the VPNs on the market are successfully blocked by Chinese authorities.

On this list, we can find Norton Secure VPN as well. This provider has no obfuscation technology and no advanced protocols, so it can’t slide through the Great Firewall. It simply isn’t working in the country, and with no additional settings to change, you can do nothing about it.

NordVPN’s advanced set of features works flawlessly. Thanks to obfuscated servers that use OpenVPN TCP, it successfully obfuscates your VPN traffic and makes it seem like normal traffic. This tricks the Great Firewall into not detecting your VPN usage, letting you use the provider easily.

While using NordVPN in China, you can expect stellar performance. Additional obfuscation doesn’t seem to slow it down that much and you can still enjoy the fast performance for torrenting, streaming, or just browsing through your Facebook/Instagram feed.

Who Wins?

Once again, NordVPN WINS by being able to work in China properly due to obfuscated servers. Norton VPN fails miserably and without advanced protocols and security features, it can’t bypass the Great Firewall in 2024.

NordVPN vs Norton VPN Server Fleets

This NordVPN vs Norton VPN battle wouldn’t be complete without talking about the server networks of each provider. Needless to say, we have quite a few differences here, so let’s check them out together and see which provider offers more to look forward to.

NordVPN (6,400+ servers in 111 countries)

Starting with NordVPN, we can easily find out that it has 6,400+ servers in 111 countries. These two numbers are very impressive, even more so when considering the great server distribution. The provider has 2,000 or so servers in the US only and also covers Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Moreover, we’re talking about a 10 Gbps RAM-based server infrastructure that boasts excellent speeds and privacy. RAM-based servers will wipe every bit of information when they’re restarted, while the 10 Gbps infrastructure ensures you get the best possible performance.

Now, we also mentioned the great server variety in this Norton VPN vs NordVPN duel. Aside from P2P servers, you get obfuscated, onion over VPN, and Double VPN servers, each making up for a safe and secure environment.

The server fleet is large and covers 111 countries and even India. If you want another great provider with servers in India, make sure you check my Surfshark review. That provider has servers in 100 countries, giving you a well-distributed server fleet as well.

Norton VPN (3,000 servers in 29 countries)

Unlike NordVPN, Norton Secure VPN is secretive and definitely not as transparent. In its application, I counted 29 countries and I had to put some effort into finding out that it apparently has 3,000 servers. I say apparently because I doubt this number is genuine.

On the site, you’ll see that it has fast-speed servers and stuff like that, with no mention of numbers. But in practice, I can tell you that its server fleet feels very underwhelming and the servers you get are set in standard locations like Europe, the UK, the US, etc.

To make things worse, we don’t know anything about the server infrastructure. Are these 10 Gbps servers? We don’t know, but I think they aren’t. Are these RAM-based servers? Once again, we don’t know, and once again, I doubt.

Norton VPN has P2P servers and that’s all – no variety. Plus, you can’t choose custom locations from each country as you can in NordVPN. Instead, it’ll connect you to the fastest server in the country you selected, which is often slower than you might expect.

Who Wins?

NordVPN WINS this round of the duel by offering more servers in more countries. Its servers support 10 Gbps speeds and they’re varied, with the presence of onion over VPN, obfuscated, P2P, and Double VPN servers. Overall, it offers a much larger, more robust server fleet that crushes its rival.

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Customer Support: NordVPN or Norton VPN?

Before talking about pricing in this Norton VPN vs NordVPN 2024 duel, let’s quickly go over customer support. In this regard, I found both providers to be great. For the start, they both offer 24/7 live chat support, which is always welcome when you need help quickly.

Email support is here in both providers, although I found NordVPN’s email support to be faster to respond to my questions. Besides, Norton is a larger company and it most likely receives hundreds of emails daily regarding different products.

I like that NordVPN has FAQs and a big Help Center section where you can find answers to pretty much all of your questions. This is accompanied by in-depth guides and tutorials which make NordVPN very approachable and easy to use even for beginners.

Despite having a great YouTube channel for more information, I think Norton Secure VPN has one major advantage – phone support. Yes, the provider comes with phone support which you can use to directly fix the issue you’re having which is more convenient.

You can, after all, explain the problem over the phone more quickly and get instant solutions from the support team. Keep in mind that its phone number is reserved for people in the US only, so if you’re abroad, you shouldn’t use it to avoid getting charged more for calling a foreign number.

Who Wins?

Both providers come with more than decent customer support through live chat and email. NordVPN is more responsive overall, while Norton VPN has phone support for US-based users. This makes the NordVPN vs Norton VPN customer support comparison a DRAW.

Pricing Comparison: How Cheap Norton VPN and NordVPN Are?

In the end, the only thing left to discuss in this duel is pricing. It’s clear that NordVPN is a better choice but some people prioritize pricing above everything, which is why they’re ready to get a worse provider just to save some money. In my opinion, that’s a wrong decision.

But let’s not focus on my opinion in this round. This round is all about which provider is cheaper, and the one with lower prices will win. By the way, if you’re looking for some of the greatest affordable VPN providers, make sure you check my article about that.

NordVPN

Let’s see how expensive NordVPN is.

Its prices are shown in the screenshot above and we can see that the provider is on the cheaper side but not the cheapest compared to CyberGhost or Surfshark. Still, its affordable 2-year plan offers all the aforementioned features and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee which applies to all plans.

The Standard plan at under $3.4 at the time of writing is our favorite. It includes all features, including CyberSec, Meshnet, and so forth. Users who want NordPass can pay for the Plus plan, and if you want 1 TB of cloud storage from NordLocker, the Ultimate plan is here.

Granted, the Ultimate plan is more expensive but combined with NordLocker and NordPass, its value for money is simply incredible. NordVPN also offers annual plans but as you can see, they’re more expensive. Albeit, the Standard plan is priced moderately in our book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We want to mention that the Complete (Ultimate) plan is now almost $7 a month, which ends up being more than ExpressVPN. However, NordVPN’s inclusion of NordPass and NordLocker in this plan makes it worth the money.

Finally, we come to its monthly plans. The Standard plan is priced moderately and is similar to CyberGhost and ExpressVPN. Again, the Complete deal is nearly $15 a month. Compared to Surfshark One+ at around $20, NordVPN is, at the end of the day, affordable.

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Norton Secure VPN

Now, Norton VPN has 3 types of subscription plans with 1, 5, and 10 simultaneous connections.

The plan with 10 connections will cost you $60 for the first year at the time of writing and if you opt for 5 simultaneous connections, you’ll be paying $40 each year. Translated to a monthly price, you’re looking at $5 and $3.33 a month respectively.

It’s hard to compare the pricing this way since Norton makes things more complicated with the pricing structure. However, if we were to compare the two providers using their annual plans, we’d see that Norton Secure VPN is either cheaper or costs the same.

It’s cheaper if you choose 5 connections and costs the same with 10 connections. On top of that, it has a 60-day money-back guarantee for its annual plans, and NordVPN has a 30-day refund period.

Who Wins?

The last round of this comparison goes to the cheaper provider, so Norton VPN WINS. It’s significantly worse than NordVPN but it wins this round by offering more affordable prices, which budget-focused users will appreciate.

Conclusion: NordVPN Wins!

Okay. It’s time to bring this NordVPN vs Norton VPN duel to an end and see who is the winner. Today’s battle ends with NordVPN’s win with a score of 8:2. This provider is way better than Norton Secure VPN, which holds its ground only in terms of customer support and beats its opponent with lower prices.

Everything else is on NordVPN’s side, which is to be expected keeping in mind the caliber of this service. NordVPN offers better device compatibility, faster speeds, better streaming capabilities, more servers/countries, faster torrenting, and the ability to work in China.

Not to mention its advanced security features and the NordLynx protocol which crushes Norton VPN’s minuscule security offerings. Above all, I want to clarify that Norton VPN is NOT a safe provider and this isn’t a zero-log VPN like NordVPN.

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It stores a significant amount of logs and since it’s based in the US, it’s not going to be as trustworthy as its opponent in this match. As a result, comparing NordVPN and Norton VPN is kinda funny when you see just how better the Panamanian provider is.

In the end, this provider can’t be a formidable alternative to NordVPN. It’s not even that much cheaper, and to be honest if you’re still in doubt after everything  I said, I recommend waiting a bit, saving a few dollars more, and getting NordVPN instead.

This provider will impress you with everything it offers and you’ll be pleased with what you’ll get for the money. NordVPN represents a perfect balance between the highest quality and reasonable pricing, making the choice obvious.

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FAQs

In the end, we’ll address a few more questions about both providers to ensure our in-depth comparison covers everything.

Can Norton VPN and NordVPN be used for free?

No, they’re not free, which means you can’t use them without paying. Norton Secure VPN offers no free version but it comes with a long 60-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to get a refund in up to 2 months after the purchase.

NordVPN offers a 30-day refund policy, which is shorter. But the service also has a 7-day free trial on mobile devices, which Norton VPN lacks. If you sign up for NordVPN on your Android phone, you’ll be able to use it for 7 days free but provide credit card info.

Granted, you can cancel the free trial in the first 7 days and not be charged at the end of the period. We think this is a significant advantage over Norton VPN for which you HAVE to pay before thinking about using it.

Are there special discounts on NordVPN?

Yes, that’s the beauty of this service. It offers discounts for students, veterans, and so on. NordVPN’s discounts can be claimed with its coupon that you can get from our site. Once you do that, it’ll be easy to save money and get one of the top VPNs in 2024.

Sadly, Norton VPN has no special discounts and promo codes, so its price remains the same all year round.

Does Norton VPN come with an antivirus?

No, it doesn’t. Like other “antivirus” companies, the VPN can be bought with some of the security packages on the site. In particular, there’s the Norton 360 Deluxe plan, which includes a VPN with a few other security features.

Norton offers even more expensive plans with a full-fledged antivirus AND a Virtual Private Network. Its LifeLock Ultimate Plus plan costs around $300 for the first year, however. NordVPN is still better in this regard, as it includes an antivirus in all of its plans.