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- Pros
Large, diversely distributed fleet of servers. Strong privacy policy. Supports OpenVPN protocol across all platforms. Allows P2P and BitTorrent. Simple interface. Greatly improved performance.
- Cons
Expensive. Few simultaneous connections allowed.
- Bottom Line
ExpressVPN is a comprehensive VPN service with an impressive server fleet and excellent features. But, compared with the competition, it allows for fewer simultaneous connections, and it's more expensive.
You never know who might be virtually looking over your shoulder, so it pays to use a virtual private network (VPN), like ExpressVPN, to secure your web browsing against scammers, three-letter agencies, and, well, everyone else. ExpressVPN has a wide distribution of servers and includes rare features like split-tunneling. It's expensive, however, and it only provides three connections per license.
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What Is a VPN?
When you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network at the local coffee shop, you're not safe. An unscrupulous person could snoop on your web traffic, or perhaps the free Wi-Fi is phony and designed expressly to steal information from anyone who connects to it. Even out on the web, governments and advertisers are keen to get your data.
When you're connected to one of these services, your data travels through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the VPN company. From here, it exits onto the web. While in transit it can't be intercepted, stopping sleazes at the coffee shop from snooping on you. Out on the open internet, your real IP address can't be discerned because your traffic appears to be coming from the VPN server. Routing your traffic through the VPN's server also effectively spoofs your location.
Pricing and Features
ExpressVPN has three pricing tiers: $12.95 billed each month, $59.95 billed every six months, and $99.95 billed annually. Like most services, the only difference is for how long you commit. The company accepts payment by all major credit cards, PayPal, and other services such as Alipay and WebMoney. ExpressVPN subscriptions can also be purchased with Bitcoin. There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money back guarantee.
The current monthly price of a top-rated VPN service is around $10.30, which is quite a bit below ExpressVPN's asking price. Private Internet Access costs a mere $6.94, while TunnelBear is slightly more at $9.99. Even NordVPN, the most expensive Editors' Choice-winning VPN, is a full dollar a month cheaper.
The only thing cheaper than cheap is free, and ExpressVPN does not offer a free VPN subscription. TunnelBear VPN does offer a free trial which limits you to 500MB of data month, while Anchorfree HotSpot Shield's free subscription cuts you off at 500MB per day. ProtonVPN, on the other hand, places no data restrictions on its free subscription and has a flexible pricing structure that can get you started for $5.00 per month.
Given ExpressVPN's price tag, its service is surprisingly stingy. ExpressVPN limits you to three simultaneous connections from different devices, while the industry standard is five simultaneous connections. NordVPN offers six connections, and CyberGhost seven, while TorGuard VPN lets you choose how many connections you'd like with a simple slider that goes from five to 205. Windscribe and Avira Phantom VPN are even simpler: they place no limit on the number of devices you can connect simultaneously.
Alternatively, you can spring for a router preloaded with ExpressVPN software, thanks to a partnership between ExpressVPN and FlashRouters. Or you can follow ExpressVPN's instructions and install the software on a router yourself. The advantage of a VPN-enabled router is that it protects every device on your network, including those that can't run VPNs on their own, and effectively lets you connect an infinite number of devices. ExpressVPN notably provides apps or installation instructions on a dizzying number of platforms, so you're sure to find something that meets your needs.
VPN Protocols
VPNs are a very mature technology and as such there are a lot of different ways to create a VPN connection. I prefer OpenVPN. This VPN protocol is known for its speed and reliability, but most importantly is an open-source project, meaning its code has been picked over for vulnerabilities. ExpressVPN, happily, supports OpenVPN UDP/TCP on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. It also supports configuring routers to use OpenVPN.
ExpressVPN also supports the older L2TP protocol on macOS and Windows, and the much less secure PPTP on Windows only. I don't recommend using either, unless you absolutely have to for some obscure legacy reason.
It's notable that ExpressVPN supports OpenVPN in its iOS app. That's because Apple makes app developers that wish to use OpenVPN jump through additional hoops, and many developers decline to do so. ExpressVPN also supports the IKEv1/2 protocols on iOS, which is my next-best choice of VPN protocol after OpenVPN.
Servers and Server Locations
Part of what you are paying for with a VPN subscription is access to the company's fleet of VPN servers. These are the machines you'll be connecting with, and from which your web traffic will appear to originate. Generally speaking, it's good to have a diverse distribution of servers, since this will ensure that you'll be able to find one close by, no matter where you travel, and likely get better service because of that closeness. It also gives you more options for spoofing your location.
ExpressVPN offers 160 server locations across 94 countries. Among my top-rated VPNs, ExpressVPN offers the most choices for server locations. My top choice, NordVPN, supports only 62 countries and CyberGhost only 80. It also excels in geographic diversity, with four of its locations in Africa and excellent coverage across South America—two continents often underserved or completely ignored by other VPN companies. ExpressVPN also maintains servers for some countries with repressive internet policies, including Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Some readers have expressed concern about virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that one piece of hardware can host multiple virtual servers. Virtual servers can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than where that physical hardware is located. Virtual servers aren't necessarily bad, but the idea that your data may be heading to some country other than where you want it to go can be unnerving.
Most VPN companies will spin up servers as needed (virtual or otherwise) to meet demand. As such, the overall number of servers is influenced by how many subscribers a company can boast. But a large server fleet also means it's more likely to find an uncrowded server, potentially getting you better performance. ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers at its disposal, placing it among the largest collection of servers we've seen. CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and TorGuard all have over 3,000 servers but NordVPN is at the top of the heap with well over 5,200 servers.
ExpressVPN is very transparent about its use of virtual servers. An explanatory page says that less than three percent of servers are not physically located where they appear to be, and lists their true location. A company spokesperson confirmed this information. ExpressVPN explains that part of why it uses virtual servers is to provide better performance, but also for improved security. You wouldn't necessarily want a VPN server within a dangerous country, as it could be tampered with, potentially revealing private information about its users. ExpressVPN's Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Vietnam servers, for example, are all virtual. This sounds reasonable.
Your Privacy With ExpressVPN
When you use a VPN, you're entrusting it with access to your web traffic. If the VPN were lacking in morals, it could easily monetize your personal information much the same way an ISP can. The VPN might also be targeted by law enforcement to hand over information relating to its customers. This is why it's important to read and understand a VPN's privacy policy. Don't worry, I've read the fine print for you. To its credit, ExpressVPN's privacy policy is a reasonable length and fairly easy to understand.
ExpressVPN does collect information on activity in order to run its business, but is clear about the limits of that gathering: 'These statistics never include anything about what the user did with the VPN: no data about the contents or destinations of VPN traffic, no DNS queries, and no IP addresses.' The policy goes on to explain that it cannot match users to IP addresses or other activity. That's what you want to hear from a VPN company.
ExpressVPN has its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, which has no data retention laws. The company points out that any request for user information would have to be issued from a local court, and would only be honored if the crime under investigation would be punishable by at least a year in prison in the British Virgin Islands.
Better still, ExpressVPN makes it clear in its policy (and verified to me) that it only generates revenue through the sale of VPN subscriptions. The company does not sell user data.
The company does, however, collect information on the aggregate amount of data transferred, the day a successful connection has been made, and to which VPN location—but not a specific public-facing IP address. ExpressVPN stresses that this information is not sufficient to identify a specific individual, since it would be identical to many other users. A company representative proudly pointed out that when Turkish authorities seized an ExpressVPN server, investigators, 'could not find any server logs that would enable investigators to link activity to a user or even determine which users, or whether a specific user, were connected at a given time.'
Some VPN companies have begun releasing the results of third-party audits in order to validate the security of their services. NordVPN commissioned an audit of its no-log policy, and TunnelBear has committed to releasing annual audits of its entire process. An ExpressVPN representative tells me that the company carries out regular audits and penetration tests, but has not yet shared any publicly.
One contribution that ExpressVPN has made to the larger security community is an open-source leak-testing tool. It has also responded to the Center for Democracy and Technology's VPN questionnaire.
Hands On With ExpressVPN
I had no trouble downloading and installing the software on my Lenovo Thinkpad T460s running Windows 10. Installation and setup were a breeze in my testing, and I was quickly using ExpressVPN's lovely, minimal interface. The simple main window lets you connect and disconnect quickly, with a large, clearly marked button. One interesting twist is that I didn't have to log in to the ExpressVPN client. Instead, I just entered an activation code from the ExpressVPN site. It's nearly seamless.
Additional windows let you sort and save preferred servers but I wish the app showed more information about each server, such as overall usage. I especially like the speed test window, which performs a quick test across all ExpressVPN's available servers to help you pick the best one.
ExpressVPN eschews specialized servers and upsell features, opting to instead offer a rock solid product out of the box. Everything you'd expect is here, like a kill switch to prevents apps from connecting to the Internet if the VPN is disconnected. ExpressVPN has a unique feature called split tunneling. When active, this lets you designate which applications send their data through the VPN's tunnel or travel outside the tunnel, without encryption. If you have certain activities that are blocked when you use a VPN or are affected negatively by poor network performance, split tunneling is a useful workaround.
Note that ExpressVPN offers its own DNS service. That's handy, since clever attackers can monitor DNS requests to try and track you across the web. The company also allows P2P file sharing and BitTorrent on all servers.
If a VPN is configured incorrectly, it can
ExpressVPN and Netflix
Streaming media is incredibly important for consumers, but streaming services like Netflix will sometimes block your access when you use a VPN. This is often in order to protect distribution agreements for streaming companies.
Unfortunately, I was unable to connect to Netflix while ExpressVPN was in use. That's disappointing, but not too surprising. VPNs and Netflix are in an ongoing arms race over access.
Beyond VPN
Some VPN companies include additional features to help differentiate them from competitors. For example, NordVPN attempts to block advertising at the network level. Other companies attempt to block malicious URLs, or provide static public IP addresses. ExpressVPN does not offer these extras.
Speed and Performance
A perennial concern with VPNs is that using one will slow your internet connection to a crawl. While it is true that using a VPN will increase latency and reduce upload and download speeds, it's usually a bearable experience. To get a sense of the impact a VPN has on your internet experience, we run a series of tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) I run through the nitty-gritty of our testing elsewhere, so be sure to read that if you're curious about my methodologies.
Keep in mind that network connections are mercurial things, and your individual experience will probably differ from mine. Think of these results as more of a snapshot for comparison, rather than a final verdict on performance.
When I initially tested ExpressVPN, the results weren't spectacular. It greatly increased latency, in my case by 1,266.7 percent. I found that ExpressVPN reduced upload speeds by 85.7 percent and download speeds by 95.3 percent. When ExpressVPN released the current version of its software, company representatives said it had been rejiggered to produce better speed test results. I was skeptical, but the test results speak for themselves: ExpressVPN now reduces latency by only 25 percent, upload speeds by 76.3 percent, and download speeds by 85 percent. That's an across-the-board improvement.
You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below with the top ten performers among the over 30 services we tested.
According to my testing, HideIPVPN is the fastest VPN based on its comparatively small impact on upload and download speeds. ExpressVPN, however, has improved by leaps and bounds. It's a very close runner up for the top 10 fastest VPNs (in fact, it came in at 11th). That said, I believe that features and overall value are far more important than speed, and discourage readers from judging a VPN solely off these results.
You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below.
ExpressVPN on Other Platforms
ExpressVPN offers apps for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. I highly recommend that people use an app with a VPN, since it is easier to use, requires no manual configuration, and grants access to additional features. ExpressVPN also supports Linux users with a command line tool.
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ExpressVPN also has plug-ins available for browsers, including Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. Note that browser plug-ins function as proxies, letting you change the apparent location of only your browser traffic, and doesn't apply the encryption found with VPN protocols.
ExpressVPN also provides a Fire TV and Kindle Fire app, and instructions for using the service on Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox devices.
Tough Competition
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ExpressVPN has a lot going for it. Its geographic distribution is excellent, and its use of virtual servers seems smart—not sketchy. It also boasts over 3,000 servers, which is quite robust. While it covers all the basics, ExpressVPN goes further by including rarely seen features like split tunneling. What holds ExpressVPN back from being an Editors' Choice is the value proposition it offers: Three simultaneous connections at a comparably high monthly price.
ExpressVPN is a very good service, but our Editors' Choice winners have better all-around offerings at lower prices: NordVPN offers more for less, Private Internet Access undercuts ExpressVPN by almost half the price, TunnelBear has unbeatable friendliness, and ProtonVPN provides excellent security with flexible pricing.
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Bottom Line: ExpressVPN is a comprehensive VPN service with an impressive server fleet and excellent features. But, compared with the competition, it allows for fewer simultaneous connections, and it's more expensive.
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