Is ExpressVPN the right choice for you?
With its strong marketing push, ExpressVPN is one of the more popular VPNs on the market. But can it really hide your online doings and make you anonymous on the web? Not all VPN companies are the same. Some log your web activity and IP address, while others keep you completely cloaked. In the same vein, some VPNs slow down your internet speeds so much they’re not worth using. Is ExpressVPN worthwhile? We tested it to find out.
ExpressVPN is an excellent all-around choice for a VPN. Not only does it provide the privacy and security you need from a VPN, but it can also boost your speed. While testing ExpressVPN, it actually improved download speed and latency, a rarity for a VPN.
Based in the British Virgin Islands, the company has a strict data-logging policy that keeps users’ web activity and IP addresses safe. Plus, ExpressVPN has 2,000 servers in 94 countries and is compatible with many devices, so it will work for the masses.
One of the only areas where ExpressVPN doesn’t shine is multihopping, which means that your data is cascaded through multiple VPN servers. When testing ExpressVPN, our data went through one server only. You may feel comfortable with that, given the company’s privacy policy and the VPN’s dynamic IP addresses. However, if it’s important to you that your data is moved through multiple servers, you will be best served by another VPN.
In the same vein, all ExpressVPN services only let you connect five devices at once, so it’s not a great choice if you want to route a multitude of devices through the encrypted tunnel. Finally, ExpressVPN lacks a phone support line, so all customer support is via 24/7 live chat only.
The purpose of a VPN is to shield your web traffic and IP address from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). But it’s not only important to check that your traffic and IP address are hidden from your ISP; you’ll also want to know if ExpressVPN is logging this information.
Its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands gives ExpressVPN a leg up on some of its competition. This is because the country does not belong to the international surveillance alliances Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or 14 Eyes. That means intelligence agencies can’t force the company to hand over customer data.
However, the question still remains: Does ExpressVPN save any of your web activity?
According to its privacy policy, ExpressVPN does not log any of the following:
Web activity
IP addresses
Connection time stamps
Session durations
Rather, it only keeps account of and aggregates the information below:
Your name
Your email address
Your payment information
App diagnostic data (crash reports, etc.)
Which app and version you used
The sum of data transferred in MB
When you had a successful connection (but it only logs which day, and not the time of day)
While many VPNs advertise themselves as zero-log, the truth is that every VPN company logs some information to uphold your account. Fortunately, ExpressVPN logs the minimum data possible so you can maintain your privacy when using the web.
Every time we connected to ExpressVPN when testing it out, it replaced our existing IP address with a new one, making it harder to track us online. If you think of a VPN as a disguise, it’s like ExpressVPN gives you a new mask every time you browse the web.
Encryption is how ExpressVPN hides web traffic and IP address from an ISP. Fortunately, the VPN uses 256-bit encryption, the latest and greatest encryption available.
DNS stands for Domain Name Server, a system that contains public IP addresses. We did a DNS leak test to make sure that our IP address was hidden when we connected to ExpressVPN. The verdict? It was! That’s significant, because if someone knows your public IP address, it’s easier for them to determine your location.
Lastly, we performed a WebRTC leak test, or Web Real-Time Communication test, to make sure our private IP address was hidden as well. Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge all use WebRTC to communicate with other web browsers directly. While WebRTC is great for increasing speeds on video chatting, file transferring, or live streaming, it requires knowing the other browser’s private IP address.
But no worries — ExpressVPN hides private IP addresses, even with browsers that use WebRTC.
After testing it thoroughly, the features we liked the most about ExpressVPN’s service included the following:
The kill switch: What if you’re browsing the web and your Wi-Fi suddenly buckles? If that occurs, ExpressVPN shuts down all your web apps or browsers, protecting you even in a network outage.
Split tunneling: With split tunneling, we were able to choose which parts of our device we wanted to route through ExpressVPN, and which we wanted to keep as is. This was really useful when streaming. While you might not care if your ISP knew that you were watching the new season of “Dream Home Makeover,” you might want to keep other apps and activities, such as online banking, hidden from prying eyes. Split tunneling allows for faster speeds than if you had to route all your web activity through ExpressVPN’s encrypted tunnel.
Setting up split tunneling is fairly easy: On a Windows computer, first disconnect from a server. Then, click Options, Split Tunneling, and then Manage Connection on a Per-App Basis. In Settings, choose the split tunneling option you prefer. Note that split tunneling isn’t available for macOS 11 or above, but if you are using an older Mac operating system, the process works much the same as it does on Windows devices.
Netflix: While you may have to play around with the servers, ExpressVPN should work with Netflix.
Torrenting: ExpressVPN also works with torrenting to upload and download files on the BitTorrent peer-to-peer, file-sharing network.
ExpressVPN’s download and upload speeds.
One disadvantage of using a VPN is that it typically slows down your download and upload speeds and increases ping (latency). However, for the most part, that didn’t happen with ExpressVPN.
In contrast, when we connected to a server, download speeds actually increased by 17%, ideal for a streaming session. Similarly, latency decreased by about half, which is great for gamers. While upload speeds did decrease by 43%, the fact that download speeds and ping improved helps explain why ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPNs on the market.
Compared to other VPNs, ExpressVPN’s pricing is about average. The cheapest option to go with is an annual plan, which breaks down into only $8.32 per month. That’s a savings of 35% compared to the month-to-month option. Note that you get the exact same service with each subscription: The only difference is the term length.
If you want a cheaper VPN, Private Internet Access’ subscriptions start at just $2.03 a month with the three-year plan, or $11.95 if you sign up on a month-to-month basis.
Keep in mind that ExpressVPN has a 30-day, money-back guarantee, so if you cancel before your first month is over, you won’t be charged. That’s a great opportunity to sign up, download the app, connect, and see how it affects your speeds.
ExpressVPN works with different operating systems, browsers, smart TVs, and gaming consoles, making it a good choice across the board. There are apps for the following devices:
Android
Blackberry
iOS
Kindle Fire
Linux
Mac
Routers
Windows
ExpressVPN works on the following smart TVs:
Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Apple TV
Chromecast
Nvidia Shield
Roku
Samsung
If you’re a gamer, you can use ExpressVPN on the following platforms:
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation
Xbox
Setting up ExpressVPN only took a few minutes. You’ll need to create an account on its website, pay, download the app on your devices, sign in, and connect to the server of your choice. That’s all it takes. Congratulations — you’re now invisible online.
ExpressVPN is available in 94 countries, with over 2,000 servers worldwide. Below are the server locations.
In contrast to physical servers, virtual servers mean that while the IP address you get may be linked to a specific country, the actual server is not in that country. It’s actually in another country nearby. ExpressVPN also has virtual servers in the following countries:
Algeria (via the Netherlands)
Andorra (via the Netherlands)
Argentina (via Brazil)
Armenia (via the Netherlands)
Bahamas (via the U.S.)
Bangladesh (via Singapore)
Belarus (via the Netherlands)
Bhutan (via Singapore)
Bolivia (via Brazil)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (via the Netherlands)
Brunei (via Singapore)
Cambodia (via Singapore)
Chile (via Brazil)
Colombia (via Brazil)
Ecuador (via Brazil)
Egypt (via the Netherlands)
Guatemala (via Brazil)
India (via the U.K.)
India (via Singapore)
Indonesia (via Singapore)
Isle of Man (via the Netherlands)
Jersey (via the Netherlands)
Kazakhstan (via Singapore)
Laos (via Singapore)
Liechtenstein (via the Netherlands)
Malaysia (via Singapore)
Macau (via Singapore)
Malta (via the Netherlands)
Monaco (via the Netherlands)
Mongolia (via Singapore)
Montenegro (via the Netherlands)
Myanmar (via Singapore)
Nepal (via Singapore)
North Macedonia (via the Netherlands)
Pakistan (via Singapore)
Panama (via Brazil)
Peru (via Brazil)
Philippines (via Singapore)
Slovenia (via the Netherlands)
Sri Lanka (via Singapore)
Taiwan – three (via Hong Kong)
Thailand (via Singapore)
Turkey (via the Netherlands)
Ukraine (via Poland)
Uruguay (via Brazil)
Uzbekistan (via the Netherlands)
Venezuela (via Brazil)
Vietnam (via Singapore)
To reiterate, you can access your VPN service in the above-listed countries, even if the physical servers aren’t there.
We recommend trying out an ExpressVPN subscription for 30 days. During this time, you can: perform speed tests with the VPN connected and not connected; test your desired VPN apps; and see if you can unblock Netflix with the VPN connected. If you like your ExpressVPN trial, you can sign up for the annual subscription for the most savings.
Read more about the best VPNs we recommend in our full VPN review.