Who owns Surfshark, and is it the same company as NordVPN?

Surfshark is provided by Surfshark B.V., a company registered in the Netherlands, according to its terms of service. Since February 2022, Surfshark and Nord Security, the company that owns NordVPN, have been merged “under one holding company”, in Surfshark’s words, and both say they operate independently. None of the company pages checked for this article name that holding company or say how it is owned.

Sources: Surfshark’s legal and company pages and both sides’ merger announcements, checked on 13 October 2026. Company registries were not checked.

Surfshark B.V.: the company behind your subscription

Surfshark’s terms of service, last updated 13 July 2026, say your contract is with Surfshark B.V. Surfshark gives its Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number as 81967985 and its address as Kabelweg 57, 1014BA Amsterdam. Surfshark states: “Surfshark is based in the Netherlands.”

The governing law is the unusual detail. Section 12 of the terms reads: “Our contract with you is governed by the laws of the British Virgin Islands. The same as it was before we moved to the Netherlands.” So the company is Dutch, but the contract keeps British Virgin Islands law, as it did before the move. The terms add that the mandatory consumer law of your country still applies. This page reports that wording; it doesn’t interpret it legally.

Surfshark also names two payment-processing companies: Surfshark Limited, at 50 Broadway, London, and Surfshark Inc., at 25910 Acero, Mission Viejo, California. They handle payments, while the terms say the contract itself “is concluded with Surfshark B.V.”

Where Surfshark works and who runs it

Surfshark’s About page lists offices in Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania, Warsaw in Poland and Berlin in Germany. So “what country?” has a layered answer: a Dutch company, British Virgin Islands contract law, and offices in Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

Surfshark names Vytautas Kaziukonis as its founder; he is now Chairman of the Board. The chief executive is Dovydas Godelis. When the merger was announced in 2022, Kaziukonis was quoted as Surfshark’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.

The 2022 merger with Nord Security

The two sides dated their announcements a day apart:

• Surfshark, 1 February 2022: “Surfshark is joining forces with Nord Security, which marks the finalization of a merger agreement. Even though we come together to form a group, Surfshark and Nord Security will continue to operate as autonomous companies relying on separate infrastructures and different product development plans.” The post quoted Kaziukonis and Tom Okman, a Nord Security co-founder.
• NordVPN’s blog, 2 February 2022: the companies “will continue to operate autonomously, relying on separate infrastructures and product roadmaps”, and they “have their own user bases, which is not going to change.” The post adds that closing the agreement “marks the end of the process that started in mid-2021.”

Surfshark’s About page now sums it up this way: “In 2022, Surfshark and Nord Security merged under one holding company to form a cybersecurity powerhouse while operating independently.” Nord Security’s 2023 funding post says that in 2022 it “formed a group of companies with” Surfshark.

On 7 April 2022, Surfshark announced a “$100M financial influx of outside capital” at a “$1.6 billion valuation” for the combined group. Novator Ventures led the round, with Burda Principal Investments and General Catalyst taking part. Nord Security’s post on the same date describes the round as its first outside capital. None of these posts names the holding company or says how its ownership is divided.

Are Surfshark and NordVPN the same company?

No, but they belong to the same group. Here is the precise picture:

• Different providers. Surfshark’s service comes from Surfshark B.V. in the Netherlands. NordVPN’s terms name nordvpn S.A., in Panama, as its provider.
• One group at the top. NordVPN’s own FAQ says Nord Security owns NordVPN and is headquartered in Lithuania. Surfshark and Nord Security merged under one holding company in 2022, so the two brands sit in the same group.
• Stated independence. Both companies say they run separately, with their own infrastructure, product plans and user bases. That is their description; the sources checked don’t show how the group is managed internally.
• Separate subscriptions. Each sells its own plans under its own terms, so you buy, cancel and request refunds with each company separately.

For NordVPN’s side of the structure, see who owns NordVPN.

Logging policy and audits: trust context

Ownership questions are often about trust. Surfshark’s terms say: “We do not collect any information about what you do online (your visited IP addresses, browsing history, session information, used bandwidth, connection time stamps, network traffic or any other similar data).” For abuse prevention, its servers store your user ID and/or IP address and connection timestamps, which Surfshark says are “automatically deleted within 15 minutes after termination of your session.”

Independent firms have reviewed parts of the service. Surfshark announces or hosts their results:

• Deloitte, no-logs assurance. Surfshark announced results on 25 January 2023, covering server and deployment configuration, the VPN infrastructure API, the software-defined network and staff interviews. A second round, announced on 16 June 2025 under the ISAE 3000 standard, covered standard, static and multiport servers. The full reports sit behind a Surfshark account login, so their report type and covered period weren’t verified for this page.
• Cure53, protocol audit. A summary dated 30 March 2026 covers Surfshark’s Dausos VPN protocol architecture and cryptography, tested in February and March 2026. It lists 10 findings: the most severe were in an external hosting environment outside the audit’s scope, and in-scope findings were rated Medium or lower. Surfshark’s trust center describes the work more broadly, as covering “infrastructure and new protocol Dausos”.
• SecuRing, penetration tests. An infrastructure test ran from 1 to 10 December 2025 (report dated 12 December) and found no critical issues and one medium. An earlier SecuRing review of the apps and browser extensions ran from February to April 2025, with an attestation letter dated 9 June 2025.

Surfshark also says it moved to a “100% RAM-only server network” in 2020. Each review covers a defined scope at a point in time, and none of them assesses the ownership structure.

What isn’t known

• The holding company’s name and how its ownership is divided.
• When Surfshark moved to the Netherlands. The terms mention the move but give no date.
• The type and covered period of Deloitte’s reports, which are behind a login.
• How the group coordinates in practice, beyond each company’s statement of independence.

What ownership means for your purchase

Group ownership doesn’t merge the products. Surfshark and NordVPN have separate plans, prices and terms, so compare them as two services. NordVPN vs Surfshark sets out cost, devices and app controls, and the Surfshark review covers the documented features. If ownership isn’t a dealbreaker, Surfshark’s current offer (affiliate link) for Starter is $67.23 paid upfront for the first 27 months, then $79.00 a year before tax.

Common questions

Who owns Surfshark and NordVPN?

Since 2022, Surfshark and Nord Security, which owns NordVPN, have been merged under one holding company, according to Surfshark. The sources checked don’t name it. Both companies say they still operate independently.

Is Surfshark owned by NordVPN?

Not as the companies describe it. NordVPN is owned by Nord Security, and Surfshark merged with Nord Security into one group under a shared holding company. Surfshark’s service is still provided by its own company, Surfshark B.V.

What country is Surfshark based in?

The Netherlands. Surfshark B.V. is registered in Amsterdam, and Surfshark says it is based there. Its terms choose British Virgin Islands law, and its listed offices are in Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

Who is Surfshark’s CEO?

Dovydas Godelis, according to Surfshark. Founder Vytautas Kaziukonis, who was quoted as chief executive when the 2022 merger was announced, is now Chairman of the Board.

Did the merger change Surfshark’s no-logs policy?

This page can’t compare today’s wording with the pre-merger version. The current terms say Surfshark doesn’t collect information about what you do online and deletes temporary connection data within 15 minutes of a session ending. Deloitte’s no-logs assurance results were announced in January 2023 and June 2025, both after the merger.