ExpressVPN
The VPN market is a tough one, with a lot of competition around, but ExpressVPN knows exactly how to stand out from the crowd: it piles on the professional features, delivering way more than just about anybody else.
Top-notch platform support includes apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux and other operating systems, not to mention custom firmware for many routers, as well as detailed manual setup guides for Apple TV, Fire TV, PlayStation, Chromebooks, Kindle Fire and more.
A strong set of core features provide multiple layers of privacy protection. High-end encryption shields your traffic from snoopers; secure DNS prevents your ISP seeing your traffic, too; and even if the VPN drops, a kill switch kicks in to block your internet connection and keep you safe.
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The company offers a vast network of more than 3,000 servers spread across 160 cities in 94 countries. Europe and the US have the best coverage, but ExpressVPN also has many locations in Asia and several countries that rarely appear elsewhere. There are 26 Asia Pacific countries alone, for instance – Mozilla VPN only has around 30 countries in its entire network.
ExpressVPN doesn't just beat the competition on standard features, though: it has unique technologies of its own. Lightway is ExpressVPN's speedy and secure VPN protocol, for instance. And the MediaStreamer smart DNS system enables unblocking some websites even on devices which can’t run the apps.
A clear and simple privacy policy explains that ExpressVPN doesn't log any sensitive information – but you don't have to take the company's word on trust. ExpressVPN has had its servers audited to confirm they live up to its promises, while F-Secure has just audited its apps to look for security issues (they passed with flying colors).
The real standout feature could be support, though, where ExpressVPN has agents available 24/7 on live chat. This isn't the very basic, outsourced, first-line support you'll often get with other services: they're experts who can walk you through just about any technical issue. If you run into trouble, then, you won't be waiting a day (or potentially longer) for a support response. In our experience, there's always someone available on ExpressVPN's live chat, and you could be getting quality help within a couple of minutes.
All that adds up to a service that we really couldn't recommend more - that's why Express is still sitting pretty at the top of our list of the world's best VPNs.
ExpressVPN: what's new?
Improvements since our last review start with a major upgrade to ExpressVPN’s network. In June 2022 the company announced real progress on its move from 1Gbps to at least 10Gbps servers, with 70% of global bandwidth already benefiting, and the rest to follow ‘over the next few months’ we are told.
This isn’t just about network bandwidth: ExpressVPN says many old servers have four CPU cores (processing units), but the new models have from 20 to 32 cores. The extra processing power means more reliable connections for everyone, and ensures servers can take full advantage of the faster network speeds.
Elsewhere, ExpressVPN has released Aircove, a powerful Cure53-audited Wi-Fi 6 router with the company’s router app built-in. Set this up at home and all your internet-enabled devices can use ExpressVPN immediately, without having to install a single app, or worrying about device connection limits.
Aircove pricing looks good, too, at $169.90 on launch (the regular price is $189.90). But if you’re on a budget, no problem: you can still install the ExpressVPN router app on your own hardware (assuming it’s compatible) for free. (The official Router Setup page has more on this.)
Major app additions include Network Protection for iOS (version 14 or later), a feature which reduces the chance of data leaks by automatically blocking your internet connection if the VPN drops. And if that’s not your Apple platform of choice, ExpressVPN’s Mac apps now run natively on Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and M2), delivering better performance and reduced battery consumption.
Even if you're not interested in app tweaks, it's worth looking at just how often ExpressVPN releases updates. Many companies leave months between iOS updates, for instance – indeed, a few take more than a year – but ExpressVPN releases something every 10 days or so (check the iOS Release Notes for yourself). Even if you run into a problem, that's a sign that you may not have to live with it for long, because fixes are never far away.
ExpressVPN pricing
As explained in our dedicated ExpressVPN pricing and deals guide, the provider has a very simple pricing structure with only three plans, and these start with a monthly-billed product for $12.95.
That's not cheap, but CyberGhost, Hotspot Shield and Surfshark all charge around $13 for their monthly plans, and it's not far from the $9-$10 charged by most big-name VPNs.
Sign up for ExpressVPN's 6-month plan and the price drops to $9.99 per month. That's a reasonable discount, and it also gives you more flexibility than you'll get with some competitors, who don't offer a 6-month plan at all.
The annual plan cuts the cost further to a monthly equivalent of $8.32, a chunky 35% discount on the monthly subscription. But it's still substantially more than some of the competition (Private Internet Access asks $3.33 on its annual plan, Windscribe is $4.08), especially if you're willing to sign up for long periods. Private Internet Access has a three-year plan which costs only $2.03 a month in its first term, for instance, while Ivacy currently charges just $1 a month on its five-year plan.
When you're comparing headline prices, though, be sure to check the small print, because ExpressVPN is closer to many competitors than you might realize. For example, many vendors have low prices which increase later. IPVanish looks good value at $3.75 a month in year one, but that price jumps to $7.50 on renewal. And NordVPN starts at $4.92, but renews at a costly $8.29.
There are ways to save some cash, as well. Signing up with our exclusive deal adds three free months to the annual ExpressVPN subscription, giving you 15 months of service for an effective $6.67 per month.
If you decide to sign up you'll discover a wide range of payment methods, including cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and a host of other players (AliPay, Yandex Money, WebMoney and more).
If you're not quite convinced, installing the Android or iOS app gets you a 7-day trial. And even after handing over your cash, ExpressVPN's 30-day money-back guarantee allows you to safely check out the service for yourself.
Privacy
ExpressVPN's privacy protection begins with its choice of highly secure protocols (OpenVPN and its own open source Lightway), with industrial strength encryption to shield your data from even the most well-equipped attacker.
The company doesn't just offer DNS leak protection to prevent data about your online activities leaking out of the VPN tunnel – ExpressVPN also runs its own private, zero-knowledge, 256-bit encrypted DNS on every server.
We pointed the mobile and desktop apps to multiple testing websites, and they all confirmed that ExpressVPN’s connections used its own DNS service, and none of these had any DNS or traffic leaks.
ExpressVPN has put itself through various audits and certifications in the past year or two, and these add a little extra privacy reassurance.
ExpressVPN's ioXt Alliance certification covered all kinds of low-level technical details, for instance: cryptography, network security, the software building process, automatic updates and more. For example, it checks that the app stores its private keys in the secure operating keystore rather than via some custom scheme of its own, an indicator of a secure design and something that would take a lot of time and expertise to check for yourself.
Even if you don't have the background knowledge to interpret these details (that's okay, we struggle with some of them too), it's reassuring to see the company expose itself to this kind of technical scrutiny.
Logging
Check out the typical VPN website and you'll usually find 'NO LOGGING!' claims prominently displayed in a very large font, but often behind that there is a privacy policy which either gives you very little details on any specifics, or reveals that the company does log some of your information, after all.
ExpressVPN does things a little differently. Out goes the usual fact-free 'zero log' boasting, in comes a clearly written 'Policy towards logs' document which explains precisely what ExpressVPN collects, what it doesn't, why the service works this way, and what it means for users.
The page states that the service doesn't log your IP address when you connect to ExpressVPN, the time you've logged in, the VPN IP address you're assigned, or any information on the websites or pages you visit (including via DNS requests), or any of your traffic.
There is some minimal logging. The company records each date of when you connect to the service, and your choice of server. But as it doesn't store the connection time, or the IP address you’re allocated, there's no way anyone can use this data to definitively link an internet action back to a specific ExpressVPN account.
The company also records the version number of any software clients you've installed, along with the total amount of data you've transferred each day. This data also doesn't constitute any kind of privacy risk, and we've no doubt that other VPNs do similar things: they just don't admit it.
ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands. Despite its small size, the BVI regulates its own affairs, and the UK and US don't have jurisdiction to automatically compel ExpressVPN to release any data.
The BVI isn't a part of '14 Eyes', the intelligence sharing agreement also known as SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR), and is not known to be a party to any of its intelligence sharing arrangements.
In short, any would-be complainant would have to raise their issue in the BVI High Court, show that the records related to a serious crime (one punishable by a year or more in prison if it happened in the BVI), and explain how those records would provide relevant evidence to that case. It's hard to see how the minimal ExpressVPN records could provide useful evidence of anything.
There's a lot to like here. It's clear that ExpressVPN understands the issues to hand and is making considerable efforts to explain them, properly and in full, to its customers. That in itself is reassuring, and a huge improvement on the detail-free privacy policies of many VPNs.
You don't simply have to take what ExpressVPN says on trust, though. The company has had its TrustedServer technology and backend systems audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers to confirm that it's living up to its privacy promises.
Legal restrictions mean we can't quote from the summary report, but it's freely available for customers to download and read. If you're not yet a customer, check out this blog post for background on the audit, in particular the 'full details of what was covered in the audit' (this is a PDF) link. That document includes a vast amount of info on how ExpressVPN's systems work, what it collects and what it doesn't – all the details PwC verified. This is interesting all on its own, even without the report, as a technical guide to how ExpressVPN works internally.
Performance
Speed is an important factor when choosing a VPN, and we run some intensive tests to find out how a service performs.
We checked speeds from a US residential location and a UK data center, both with 1Gbps connections. We used the standard ExpressVPN Windows app to connect to our nearest location, then checked the download speeds reported by multiple speed test sites and services (SpeedTest's website and command line app, nPerf, SpeedOf.me and more). We took at least five results from each site, using two protocols (OpenVPN and ExpressVPN's own Lightway), and ran the entire test set in both morning and evening sessions to look for variations over time.
ExpressVPN's peak OpenVPN speeds were capable at 355Mbps. That outperforms IPVanish (120Mbps), Surfshark (190Mbps), Ivacy (220Mbps) and others, although some did significantly better. Mullvad's OpenVPN connections soared to 600Mbps, for instance, and TorGuard did even better at 630Mbps.
The real star is ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol, though, which accelerated its download speeds to 540-560Mbps. That shot past competitors like Hotspot Shield (210-375Mbps), ProtonVPN (360-510Mbps) and Private Internet Access (450-510Mbps). That said, some providers go faster still, and Atlas VPN, Hide.me, IPVanish, Surfshark and TorGuard all reached 700Mbps and higher in recent tests.
Netflix and streaming
Unlike most of the competition, ExpressVPN doesn't just make vague claims about its unblocking abilities. The company publicly specifies which platforms are supported: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Google, Wikipedia, YouTube and others. It's good to see a provider being upfront about what it's claiming to do.
To get a feel for ExpressVPN's unblocking abilities, we tried accessing 12 popular streaming sites from a number of ExpressVPN locations.
The service delivered great Netflix results, getting us into US Netflix on three out of the five servers we tried, and then unblocking Netflix Australia, Canada, Japan and the UK, too.
It was the same story with other top US platforms, as ExpressVPN got us access to Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus.
The positive news continued in Australia, as we managed to stream content from 9Now and 10 play. And in our final UK tests, ExpressVPN successfully unblocked BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4.
These are great results, but a quality VPN isn't just about getting you access right now – it's also what happens if a platform blocks a new range of IPs, and your favorite server doesn't work anymore.
Complain to many VPNs and they'll just reply that 'we don't guarantee access to any streaming platforms', leaving you on your own.
ExpressVPN proactively monitors its own unblocking performance, giving it a chance to detect and fix any problems before you've even noticed.
On the rare occasions we've had unblocking issues with ExpressVPN, we've opened a live chat session, been talking to an agent within a couple of minutes, and either had recommendations on locations to try, other troubleshooting advice, or been told it's a known issue that'll be fixed soon (which has always been true). Now that's what we call helpful.
Torrents
ExpressVPN's website doesn't advertise its P2P support, but we dug into the details, ran a few tests, and found it's far more torrent-friendly than most of the competition.
P2P users aren't forced onto a small number of overloaded servers, for instance. You can access torrents from the full set of ExpressVPN locations.
There are no bandwidth or transfer-related catches, either. The company says it will never throttle your connection.
Performance testing with torrents is a challenge as there are many factors which might affect speeds, but we tried downloading using three locations (US, UK, Netherlands), had no connection or other issues, and saw broadly the performance we'd expect in each case.
Factor in other key features of the service – no activity logs, lots of locations, apps for everything, Bitcoin support, the 30-day money-back guarantee – and ExpressVPN looks like a great choice of VPN for all your torrenting needs.
Client setup
Getting a VPN app installed and working properly can sometimes be a challenge, but the well-designed ExpressVPN website keeps hassles to an absolute minimum.
Log in to your account dashboard, for instance, and the website detects the type of device you're using, displays a Download button for that app, and enables grabbing a copy with one click.
If you need something for another platform, clicking 'Set up on all your devices' takes you to links for Windows, iOS, Amazon Fire, Mac, Android, Linux and more. Selecting any of these displays more download links and instructions.
Even these are far more helpful than you would expect. Hit the 'Android' link with most VPNs and you'll probably just be redirected to Google Play. ExpressVPN has a Play Store link, but it also gives you a QR code, a button to email yourself a setup link (ideal if you need to install it on another device), and even an option for experts to directly download the APK file.
In a neat setup touch, ExpressVPN doesn't force you to find and manually enter your username and password. Instead, all you have to do is copy the unique activation code displayed on your download page, and paste it into the app when you're asked. The software then automatically sets up your login credentials, and you won't have to think about usernames and passwords, at all. (Very handy if, say, you're using a password manager and don't even know what your passwords are.)
Windows app
The ExpressVPN Windows app has a comfortable and familiar interface which immediately makes you feel at home. A big On/Off button allows you to activate the service when required, a clear status display shows you the current server, a Choose Location button enables picking something else, and a menu button top-left gives speedy access to other features.
The client makes it exceptionally easy to choose the best server by always displaying the three most likely options: the closest, whatever's currently selected in the list, and the location you accessed last. No need to open a Location list, search, sort, apply filters or anything else, just click the server you need and typically you'll be connected in a fraction of a second (it's seriously fast).
You can still view a full list of locations, of course, and it has all the conveniences you'd expect. Locations are grouped by continent and country, a Search box allows you to find locations by keyword, or you can add individual locations to a Favorites list for speedy recall later.
The app makes smart use of its system tray icon, too. Right-clicking displays a menu which includes your last three locations, and choosing one of those will get you connected immediately, without having to open the full app.
A capable Settings dialog allowed us to choose from four protocol variations: ExpressVPN's Lightway or OpenVPN, both in UDP or TCP flavors (L2TP and IKEv2 have been dropped, as they’re less secure).
Elsewhere, a kill switch blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops, reducing the chance of any data leaks. There's no setup involved with this, it's enabled by default, and always ready to protect your privacy.
It works, too. We simulated all kinds of extreme situations – dropping the VPN, pausing or closing ExpressVPN’s Windows services, and all its processes – but the app took everything we threw at it, and kept our traffic protected at all times.
Low-level technical touches include basic IPv6 leak protection, and the ability to access devices on the local network when you're connected to the VPN.
One highlight of the app is its support for split tunneling, a smart technology which enables defining which apps use the VPN, and which use your regular internet connection. If an application won't work when your VPN is up (an email client, say), you can make it use your normal internet connection instead. And if you're gaming, redirecting game traffic out of the VPN tunnel should improve performance.
Mac app
ExpressVPN's Mac app looks much like the Windows app, at least initially: it shows the current location, a Settings icon, a big Connect button and nothing else to get in the way. Even newbies will figure out what to do immediately.
There are some small interface differences, and they're mostly improvements. The Windows app only displays your last two locations in its Recent list, for instance, but the Mac app has a separate Recent tab where it lists many more.
The Mac Settings box is presented a little differently, but the options are organized in exactly the same way. And if you're used to Mac VPN apps which leave out most of the more advanced Windows features, good news: this one has the kill switch, WireGuard and OpenVPN support, IPv6 leak protection and more.
There is one significant omission: there's no split tunneling on the Mac. But the app makes up for that with ExpressVPN's tracker and malware-blocking Threat Protection (not yet available on Windows). We didn't test this in depth and can't give a definitive verdict on how effective it is, but any extra layer of protection is welcome. (And if it causes you any issues, you can always turn it off.)
Put it all together and this is a likeable Mac app, a well-designed mix of power and ease of use. Well worth a try.
Android app
The Android app looks good, with portrait and tablet-friendly landscape interfaces. As on the desktop, your closest, currently selected and recently used locations are always visible, and in many cases you’ll simply connect or disconnect with a tap.
The full location list is on hand if you need it. This also looks and feels much like the desktop apps, with locations grouped by country and continent, and a Search box if there’s something you can’t find (just type a few characters of a country or city and any matches pop up).
There’s no visible sign of a way to mark locations as Favorites. You can build a Favorites list very easily – just swipe right on your chosen location – but that may not (no, will not) be obvious to first timers.
A Protection Summary box displays details of your current VPN location, IP address, and how much time you've used the service for recently. We don't see any great need for a chart showing us that we use the VPN mostly on Wednesdays (for instance), but the location and IP information is handy, and if you don't like the Protection Summary then you can turn it off with a tap.
A Security Assistant reminds you of steps you should take to ‘protect your device’ and ‘guard your privacy’ (keep Android up-to-date, use Facebook’s Privacy Checkup and so on). They’re reasonable suggestions and it makes sense to give them a look, but we’d prefer the Security Assistant to be tucked away on a menu rather than on the main app window (or at least, have that as an option).
The Settings section includes an integrated kill switch to protect you if the connection drops. Protocol support includes OpenVPN and ExpressVPN’s own Lightway protocol, and split tunneling enables defining which apps should or shouldn't use the VPN.
A bonus auto-connect feature is particularly welcome, optionally connecting you to the VPN whenever you join untrusted networks (like public Wi-Fi).
The 'App and Website Shortcuts' feature provides a configurable toolbar on the connection window which can hold up to five shortcuts for your favorite apps. It's a very simple idea, but a useful one, which facilitates launching commonly used apps with a tap just as soon as you're connected.
If you're having problems, there's in-app help which gives you speedy access to support documents without having to head off to the website, while an 'Email us' link should get you swift assistance if and when you need it.
It doesn't have quite as many expert-level features as you'll get with some apps – you can't set your preferred DNS servers, for instance – but ExpressVPN's Android offering has more than enough functionality for most people, while remaining easy to use. Even better, install the app and you can try the service for free for seven days, an offer you won't get if you sign up on the website. If you're at all interested in Android VPN apps, ExpressVPN needs to be on your shortlist.
iOS app
ExpressVPN's iOS app opens with much the same clean and straightforward interface that you'll see on other platforms: it displays a recommended location, a big Connect button to get online, and a menu button to explore further.
The well-designed Location Picker offers multiple ways to find specific cities or countries. You can add commonly used locations to your Favorites by swiping right, assuming you realize that’s an option, and a Recent Location list includes everything you’ve accessed lately.
The choice of protocol is limited to IKEv2, Lightway UDP and TCP; there's no OpenVPN anymore. We're never entirely happy to see options disappear, but Lightway and IKEv2 performed well for us, and it's likely they'll provide everything you need.
A new Network Protection feature acts as a kill switch, blocking internet access if the VPN drops and can’t be restored.
The iOS app now includes Threat Protection, too, optionally blocking trackers or communications with malicious sites.
We've seen more feature-packed VPN apps, but on balance ExpressVPN's iOS offering is likable, easy to use and delivers the functionality most folks are likely to need. And if you'd like to check out the service for yourself, good news: as with Android, there's a risk-free 7-day trial available.
Browser extensions
The ExpressVPN apps are generally very polished and user-friendly, but they're not the only way to work with the VPN. The company also offers Chrome and Firefox extensions which allow you to control its Windows, Mac or Linux apps directly from your browser.
Why? Suppose you’re using Chrome on Windows 11, and realize you need to unblock the current website. So now you have to switch away from the browser, maybe launch the ExpressVPN app, choose whatever location you need, and go back to Chrome when you’re done.
Installing the browser extension gets you an ExpressVPN icon on your address bar. Clicking this gets you an almost identical interface to the desktop app, with the same main screen and location list. The ‘Recent Location’ is the one you need, so you click it, the extension passes your command to the regular app, which connects to the location for you. This way, you’ve unblocked your site in a couple of taps, with no need to find the actual ExpressVPN app, or even leave your browser.
This isn’t always as handy as it sounds. If you’ve marked some of the most useful locations as Favorites, for instance, you might be expecting to just click one of those, but there’s just one problem: Favorites aren’t supported by the browser extension. You can find servers using the regular location picker, but if you’re doing extra work, you might as well just switch to the app as usual.
There's also a little good news, though, in the shape of some bonus privacy tools. Both the Chrome and Firefox extension include settings to prevent HTML5 geolocation from revealing your real location while you're connected to the VPN, as well as blocking WebRTC leaks at the browser level, and using HTTPS Everywhere to automatically force connections to the HTTPS versions of websites whenever they're available.
The browser extension won't be for everyone, especially as you must have the ExpressVPN app installed to use it. But the ability to control the app from your browser is a genuinely useful feature that you won't find with the competition, and overall, it's a very worthwhile addition to the package.
Support
Much like any other networking technology, a VPN can misbehave in many ways, and figuring out exactly what's going on can be a real challenge. That's why even the most experienced user can benefit from quality VPN support.
ExpressVPN's support site gets off to a good start with its lengthy list of troubleshooting guides. Whether you're trying to diagnose slow speeds or dropped connections, understand error messages, change your password or cancel your account, there's useful information to hand.
Most articles are well-written and deliver in all the key areas. They don't assume technical knowledge, instead taking the time to explain the background, offering multiple suggestions to resolve most problems, and linking to other relevant articles. For example, where other VPNs might have a single line suggesting you "try another server" to help diagnose speed problems, ExpressVPN also links to a detailed article explaining how to find the best location for you.
The setup articles are even more impressive. You don't just get one generic installation tutorial per platform, for instance. There are guides covering how to install the app, how to set up manual connections, or use third-party apps such as OpenVPN GUI. And this isn't just about Windows. You'll find tutorials for Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Chromebooks, Smart TVs, routers, and... well, you get the idea.
An accurate search engine scans more than 250 of these articles to find whatever fits your requirements. It's hugely refreshing to enter keywords on a VPN support site and actually view a lot of useful content. OpenVPN has 39 hits, DNS has 56, there are 112 for Android, 13 for Ubuntu, 7 for DD-WRT, and the list goes on.
If the website can't help, ExpressVPN's support team is available 24/7 via email and live chat.
ExpressVPN recommends live chat for the fastest results, but we sent a test email question anyway to check response times. Although the company suggests it can take up to 24 hours to reply, we got a friendly, detailed and helpful message in well under an hour. That's much faster than we expected, and the reply contained everything we needed to diagnose and resolve our issue.
Live chat also performed very well. We ran several checks on the service, there were always agents available, and typically we had a first genuine response (a real comment on our issues, not just an automated 'I'm Steve and I'm here to help you' bot-type reply) within a couple of minutes.
The quality of chat support was well above average, too, with agents willing to spend a very long time patiently walking us through some well-chosen diagnostic steps.
If you're a networking expert, it's tempting to assume this doesn't really matter. You know what you're doing, so there's no need to pay a premium for this kind of handholding, right?
Well, maybe, but keep in mind that there's more to VPN support than explaining the low-level geeky technicalities. We've also asked about system status issues like temporary connection problems, or the best server to use for US Netflix or Amazon Prime. Unlike some providers, there's no waiting for a day to get an email response – we've always had useful advice within minutes of asking, and that ability to get speedy help makes a huge difference to the overall service experience.
ExpressVPN review: Final verdict
This is a top-quality VPN which exceeds our expectations in everything from platform coverage and privacy, to ease of use, unblocking abilities and its excellent customer support. ExpressVPN is more expensive than most, but you can see why: this is a polished, powerful and professional service.
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