Professional's Ranking
Professionals
- Quick, dependable connections
- Robust privateness & safety
- Nice unblocking
Cons
- Dearer than rivals
- No double-hop choice
- Solely 5 simultaneous connections
Our Verdict
ExpressVPN delivers an incredible service that’s quick and affords help for a lot of several types of gadgets. It’s costly, although, and lacks a couple of options which rivals provide at a decrease value.
Worth When Reviewed
From $6.67 monthly
Finest Costs Right now: ExpressVPN
With so many VPN providers to decide on between, it helps in case you have a well known model so you possibly can stand out from the group. ExpressVPN definitely has that, and it has subjected itself to a wide range of third-party audits which present that its apps and servers are safe, and that it sticks by its no-logs coverage.
ExpressVPN – as with all shopper VPN providers – grants an additional layer of privateness on-line, further safety on public Wi-Fi networks (resembling in cafes and inns) and the power to unblock region-locked content material, resembling movies and web sites.
Once you use a VPN, you’re routing all of your exercise via its servers, so it’s essential which you can belief it with all of your web site visitors.
That is additionally why elements such because the historical past of ExpressVPN’s present proprietor – Kape Applied sciences – and the recent water its CIO discovered himself in again in 2021 don’t matter very a lot. It is a VPN service we really feel greater than comfy utilizing.
ExpressVPN positions itself as a premium VPN service, which is why it prices greater than quite a lot of its rivals. You gained’t see any loopy offers providing 80% off: there’s solely ever one deal: join 12 months and also you’ll pay virtually half what you’d pay when you subscribed on a one-month rolling foundation. And, on the finish of the primary yr, you get three further months tacked on at no cost.
The massive query, in fact, is whether or not or not ExpressVPN price it when you may get a two-, three- and even five-year subscription to a rival VPN service for a similar cash? Hold studying to search out out.
Options
- 3000+ servers in 94 international locations
- 5 simultaneous connections
- Permits torrenting
- Unblocks 200+ streaming providers
Though some VPNs have extra servers than ExpressVPN, few cowl as many international locations. What’s necessary, although, is whether or not it has servers close to you, and within the international locations the place you need to get round regional blocks.
It affords 24 places within the US, 4 within the UK (three in London and one within the Midlands). There’s a selection of seven places in Australia, however solely 5 international locations overlaying the entire of Africa and the Center East.
It’s price mentioning that ExpressVPN permits P2P and torrenting, which some VPN providers particularly forbid.
Though ExpressVPN rents its servers – versus proudly owning them and having unique entry to them – it makes use of what it calls TrustedServer expertise. That is the place the software program runs totally in RAM and doesn’t save any information to the onerous drive. Though servers nonetheless have onerous drives, these are read-only and comprise solely the working system picture wanted as well up the servers.
Put merely, it means anybody seizing a server (resembling native authorities) wouldn’t be capable to retrieve any person information from it.
It’s a commendable setup, however the place it used to have this benefit over rivals, some have now caught up and successfully use the identical setup. It nonetheless isn’t fairly as safe as an entirely owned and operated community the place there isn’t an underlying working system that – probably – datacentre workers might entry. However not many VPN suppliers run their very own servers.
Unblocking streaming providers is certainly one of ExpressVPN’s greatest strengths. It claims to reliably unblock over 200 streaming service and likewise provides you a backup choice – the MediaStreamer proxy service – when you discover that the VPN isn’t unblocking DAZN, say, on the actual second you need to watch a reside sports activities occasion.
ExpressVPN additionally has its personal encryption protocol, Lightway. This affords very quick connection instances and good speeds. That is necessary in case you have a quick web connection and don’t desire a VPN to gradual it down.
You probably have any issues, reside chat is out there around the clock, too.
One other characteristic is Menace Supervisor. This blocks site visitors from web sites recognized to be malicious, defending your gadgets from malware, scammers and trackers. It really works solely when the VPN is linked, however isn’t current within the Home windows or Android apps. ExpressVPN says it's rolling out on these “quickly”.
Apps
- Home windows
- Android
- iPhone, Mac
- Router
- Linux (command line)
Considered one of ExpressVPN’s different strengths is the vary of apps it affords: Home windows, macOS, iPhone, Android, iPad, Linux and Amazon Fireplace TV. Nevertheless it doesn’t cease there. There are browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.
And in contrast to all different VPN providers, whose extensions are merely proxies masquerading as VPNs, ExpressVPN’s extensions are extra akin to a distant management for the principle VPN app, so whenever you use them, you’re getting the total safety of a VPN quite than merely altering your IP handle.
Though ExpressVPN doesn’t provide a GUI for Linux, a workaround is to put in a browser extension and use that to connect with a server.
The apps are typically simple to make use of. They've a easy dwelling display with a giant button to attach. You don’t even want to choose a location: it’ll try this for you.
You solely want to decide on a location in case you have a particular want, resembling unblocking movies overseas. Within the Home windows app, the nation listing isn’t notably apparent, and throughout all apps defaults to a listing of beneficial places. You’d be forgiven for lacking this reality and questioning why there have been so few places out there within the US.
Nevertheless, these are minor gripes, and we like that common international locations are listed on the high, quite than the everyday alphabetical order that places the US and UK close to the underside.
Current servers keep on the house display, however you may also favorite them to rapidly reconnect at a later date.
One characteristic you gained’t discover is ‘double hop’, which routes your connection through two servers for even higher privateness. It’s additionally a disgrace that the few digital servers (resembling India and Indonesia) aren’t marked up as being digital within the apps.
All apps have the identical appear and feel and work in the identical approach. The desktop apps can get a bit messy as a result of the listing of places and settings open as separate home windows. It isn’t a dealbreaker, in fact.
A pleasant characteristic is which you can rapidly hook up with latest servers from the taskbar menu on each macOS and Home windows.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Android and iPhone homeowners will admire the helpful widget that makes it simple to connect with a server with out even launching the app. One other considerate contact is that, within the app itself, there are shortcuts to launch apps after you’ve linked to a server, and you may decide your favorite apps for the listing.
If you need a VPN primarily to unblock video and you've got an Apple TV or one other system for which there’s no VPN app, then ExpressVPN is an efficient selection. That’s as a result of you possibly can configure suitable routers to make use of ExpressVPN. Meaning each system connecting to the web through the router makes use of the VPN connection, and this additionally will get across the five-device restrict that ExpressVPN imposes for simultaneous VPN connections: a router counts as just one system.
Ordinarily, operating a VPN connection on a router can be uninteresting to most individuals, however as router apps go, ExpressVPN’s is the most effective we’ve seen.
It’s surprisingly simple to make use of. You possibly can change server pretty simply, and it doesn’t pressure all your computer systems and Wi-Fi devices to make use of the VPN: you possibly can select which gadgets do or don’t. Actually, you possibly can even create system teams, so all of your sensible TVs might hook up with a US server, whereas your IoT gadgets might join through your nearest server. It's also possible to specify gadgets that don’t use the VPN in any respect.
You possibly can’t set up ExpressVPN on any outdated router – you’ll want a suitable Asus, Linksys or Netgear – otherwise you’ll have to purchase a router with ExpressVPN already put in from an organization resembling FlashRouters.com.
ExpressVPN has even launched its personal Wi-Fi 6 router with the identical software program. You possibly can buy the AirCove from Amazon (within the US) for $189.99 or from FlashRouters which can ship to different international locations.
Privateness
The TrustedServer tech that ExpressVPN makes use of is simply a part of the general privateness story. The corporate is registered within the British Virgin Islands, a self-governing territory that isn’t topic to British legal guidelines. This affords further peace of thoughts as a result of, though ExpressVPN (identical to nearly each different VPN) operates a no-logs coverage, even when some person information did in some way get saved, the native legal guidelines imply they will’t be requested at hand over information to authorities.
Most VPN providers have an analogous enterprise setup, particularly in the event that they’re based mostly in a rustic with unfavourable privateness legal guidelines such because the US, UK and others which share intelligence with one another.
ExpressVPN’s privateness coverage states clearly (on the high of the web page) that “We don't acquire logs of your exercise, together with no logging of shopping historical past, site visitors vacation spot, information content material, or DNS queries. We additionally by no means retailer connection logs, that means no logs of your IP handle, your outgoing VPN IP handle, connection timestamp, or session period.”.
ExpressVPN additionally runs its personal DNS servers, that are additionally a part of its MediaStreamer characteristic. This removes the chance that each one the web sites and providers you utilize could possibly be leaked and recorded by third-party DNS servers (and even your ISP’s DNS servers).
One other good safety characteristic is the kill swap (known as Community lock) which is out there within the Home windows, macOS, Linux and Android apps. This stops any information being despatched or obtained if the VPN connection unexpectedly drops, conserving you protected.
It's also possible to set Community lock to permit native gadgets (on your own home community) to proceed working whereas stopping all distant site visitors. When the VPN connection is reestablished, the web connection to another app that requires it will likely be restored.
Break up tunnelling
Break up tunnelling is out there within the Home windows, Android and macOS apps (in addition to the router model). What this does is allow you to select which apps use the VPN connection and which don’t. The benefit is which you can nonetheless entry native web sites or gadgets – resembling wi-fi printers – with none issues whereas concurrently accessing abroad websites through the VPN.
Simply notice that cut up tunnelling nonetheless isn’t out there on macOS Large Sur or later.
An alternative choice when you don’t need all apps utilizing the VPN connection is to put in and use one of many internet browser extensions to restrict the VPN’s scope to solely web sites you’re visiting in that browser.
Efficiency & ease of use
Relatively than do what others have accomplished, ExpressVPN determined to not use WireGuard however to as an alternative develop its personal protocol known as Lightway.
It’s fairly quick, too, and pretty constant. We examined utilizing a gigabit connection (for each add and obtain speeds) in San Francisco. The outcomes beneath are good, though not the quickest we’ve seen. Surfshark and NordVPN’s obtain speeds have been faster, however ExpressVPN did effectively on add speeds total.
Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry
As in earlier years, ExpressVPN didn't leak our actual IP handle or DNS in any of our exams, the latter due to utilizing its personal DNS servers. It doesn’t help IPv6, so merely blocks any IPv6 requests.
Unblocking
- Unblocks HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix, BBC iPlayer
ExpressVPN has a superb monitor file for unblocking, and it was no totally different after we examined the service in February 2023. We have been capable of watch exclusives on Netflix’s US library from the UK, in addition to HBO Max and Disney+. We additionally tried the Australian streaming service 9Now and located ExpressVPN allowed us to stream in HD with no points for hours on finish.
It additionally unblocks Netflix Japan, Australia and France, and BBC iPlayer within the UK.
In the event you do have any points, ExpressVPN additionally affords its MediaStreamer DNS servers. You’ll discover directions for apply it to the corporate’s web site for numerous gadgets, from laptops and PCs to sensible TVs. Primarily, you’ll lose the encryption from the VPN however will be capable to unblock the content material you need.
Help
Not all VPN suppliers have 24/7 reside chat however ExpressVPN does, and brokers reply rapidly and are educated. There’s now a hyperlink to the help centre from the cell apps, however after we examined this on an iPhone, it merely confirmed us a clean white web page.
Worth & plans
At £11.07 / US$12.95 for one month’s use, ExpressVPN is roughly the identical worth as rivals. Nevertheless, virtually no-one pays for a VPN month by month. Usually, suppliers provide enormous reductions for subscribing for a yr or two.
ExpressVPN doesn’t actually do these affords: its longest subscription is 12 months, though with a particular deal for the primary yr will provide you with 15 months for the value of 12. This prices
After this, the annual subscription renews at $99.95 / £85.47 per yr after the preliminary deal. That’s $8.33 / £7.12 monthly (inc VAT). That’s virtually 3 times the price of most VPNs.
One mitigating issue is that ExpressVPN now features a password supervisor within the subscription. That often prices further with different VPN providers, however Keys is at present in beta.
It’s necessary to know that almost all VPNs cost you a better worth whenever you subscription renews, one thing ExpressVPN doesn’t do. Nevertheless, there’s nothing stopping you from cancelling your subscription with a rival and renewing on a brand new two-year deal. ExpressVPN is solely costly on a regular basis.
We’ve talked about it already, however ExpressVPN is a bit stingy with the variety of gadgets you possibly can join on the identical time. The place Surfshark permits you to use its subscription on a vast variety of gadgets, ExpressVPN restricts you to 5 (except you utilize the router app).
There’s a 30-day a refund assure when you’re not proud of the service for any purpose. You possibly can pay by bank cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and a variety of different choices together with GiroPay. So if you wish to pay anonymously, you are able to do so.
Verdict
General, we’re impressed with ExpressVPN. It’s fast and nice at unblocking streaming providers – going past the same old US Netflix, Disney+ and different US-based providers.
The apps work effectively, there’s a large selection of nations and servers, stable help and loads of step-by-step guides for set up on gadgets the place apps aren’t out there and respectable security measures to make sure your exercise stays personal.
Given the value, although, there are a couple of options lacking that you just get with different, cheaper providers. NordVPN and Surfshark, for instance, each provide double hop, however ExpressVPN doesn't. It additionally doesn’t help Tor-over-VPN. Lastly, it doesn’t provide devoted or static IP addresses. Not many individuals want a type of, however the choice isn’t there when you do.
Worth stays the most important disadvantage. Except you need to run a VPN on a router – which ExpressVPN does higher than anybody else – then it’s onerous to justify that worth when rivals resembling Surfshark and NordVPN provide related safety, unblock common streaming providers and provide even higher speeds.