ExpressVPN stands as one of the world’s foremost VPN services, widely regarded for its premium quality. While free VPN providers may boast larger user bases, ExpressVPN excels in reliability, security, and privacy, consistently outperforming its competitors. Known for its strong ability to bypass censorship, it remains one of the few VPNs capable of evading detection from even the most stringent systems, such as the Great Firewall of China.
Key Features
- Rating: 5/5
- Price: $8.32 – $12.95 per month
- Refund Policy: 30-day money-back guarantee
- Headquarters: British Virgin Islands (BVI)
- Devices per License: 5
- Server Locations: 130 locations across 94 countries, including the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, France, and Germany
- Streaming Services Unblocked: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, ABC, NBC, ESPN
- Torrenting Support: Yes
- Logging Policy: Yes
- 24/7 Customer Support: Yes
- Website: expressvpn.com
With over 13 years of operation and 3 million users, ExpressVPN has established itself as a leading player in the VPN industry. Owned by Kape Technologies, it has brought VPN technology from relative obscurity to mainstream adoption, making it a standard tool for privacy and security on many devices.
For users seeking a simple and effective VPN to securely access US Netflix from anywhere, safely engage in online gaming, or download content without legal concerns, ExpressVPN is an excellent choice.
Pricing and Value Proposition
One notable consideration is ExpressVPN’s premium pricing. At $8.32 to $12.95 per month, it is on the higher end of the VPN market. However, as with luxury brands such as Prada, Ferrari, or Rolex, the company positions itself based on quality, not price. The underlying message is clear: if you desire top-tier service, you must be willing to pay for it.
While many VPN services offer lower-cost or even free alternatives, ExpressVPN distinguishes itself by offering unparalleled performance. Free VPNs often lack adequate privacy protection, and some are known to incorporate spyware or malicious functionalities. Even many paid VPN services fail to deliver on key features such as speed, security, and the ability to bypass geo-restrictions.
For users who prioritize budget over all else, cheaper options are available. However, for those unwilling to compromise on quality, ExpressVPN remains a premier choice.
Privacy and Security
The privacy and security features of ExpressVPN are where it truly excels. For those uninterested in the technical details, the key takeaways are:
- Strong Legal Protection
- Robust Encryption
- Adequate Anonymity
For users who prefer a deeper dive into the legal and technical intricacies, the following sections offer a more detailed analysis.
Legal Protection
One of the major benefits of ExpressVPN is its location in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The jurisdiction of the VPN provider plays a crucial role in safeguarding users from potential legal challenges. The entertainment industry in the United States, for example, is notoriously aggressive in pursuing copyright violations and has been known to pressure VPN providers into revealing customer identities.
However, ExpressVPN’s base in the BVI offers a layer of legal protection. As a British Overseas Territory, the BVI is geographically small and politically distant from US legal influence. This separation means that US-based corporations and legal entities face significant challenges when trying to enforce subpoenas or gather evidence from VPN providers based there.
The lenient regulatory environment in the BVI, similar to its favorable tax laws for corporations, also extends to technology services like VPNs. This legal buffer provides ExpressVPN users with additional peace of mind, as legal actions against the service are both costly and logistically complex for external entities.
In summary, while ExpressVPN may not be the most affordable option on the market, its high level of privacy, robust security features, and ability to bypass geo-restrictions make it a top choice for users who demand the best. Whether you’re streaming, gaming, or seeking anonymity online, ExpressVPN offers a solution that justifies its premium price.
A Note on Internet Privacy
When data is transmitted across networks and the internet, it is sent in small units known as packets. Each packet contains a header that includes the source and destination addresses. This is how platforms like Netflix can identify and block specific requests, and how internet service providers (ISPs) can restrict access to websites such as The Pirate Bay.
Data security is achieved by encrypting the contents of these packets, while connection privacy is ensured by encrypting the entire packet, including its header. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) function using a process called “encapsulation.” This technique places one packet inside another. Since routers need to read a packet’s destination address, encryption of the header would prevent them from determining where to send the packet. Therefore, the outer packet has a plain-text destination address—usually the VPN server—while the actual destination address, such as a blocked website, is hidden in the encrypted header of the inner packet.
ExpressVPN Privacy Protection
ExpressVPN offers two VPN protocol options: OpenVPN and Lightway, both of which are open-source and function similarly. Users can choose to operate these protocols over either TCP or UDP, depending on their preferences or requirements.
For macOS and iOS devices, ExpressVPN also provides the option to use IKEv2/IPSec. While older protocols such as PPTP, L2TP, and SSTP were previously supported, they are no longer available. Additionally, ExpressVPN allows users to connect to the Tor network, although there is no dedicated Tor option within the app itself. It’s worth noting that WireGuard, a popular VPN protocol, is not currently offered by ExpressVPN.
Regardless of the chosen protocol, the ExpressVPN app encrypts all packets, encapsulating each within an outer packet that has a plain-text header directed to the selected VPN server. Once the ExpressVPN server receives the packet, it removes the outer layer, decrypts the inner packet, and forwards it to its intended destination.
When your encrypted internet traffic passes through your ISP’s gateway, government-mandated logging systems are unable to determine the packet’s final destination, as they can only see the VPN server address. Even if legal action forces ISPs to provide activity logs, the trace would lead only to ExpressVPN’s servers, which operate under the legal jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), making further pursuit challenging.
ExpressVPN Session Encryption
The effectiveness of a VPN relies on the strength of its encryption. ExpressVPN employs AES-256, a symmetric encryption cipher that has been adopted as the Advanced Encryption Standard by the U.S. government to safeguard its communications, including those of the military.
Encryption strength increases with key length. In the case of ExpressVPN, a 256-bit key is used for AES encryption, which is the longest available key, providing robust, nearly uncrackable protection.
While attempting to break AES-256 encryption is essentially futile, the system’s vulnerability lies in the need to share the encryption key between both ends of the communication. This same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the data.
ExpressVPN Session Establishment
To prevent unauthorized access to the AES encryption key, ExpressVPN employs asymmetric key encryption, commonly known as public-key encryption, to protect the key during transmission. This is the same method used in Transport Layer Security (TLS) to secure HTTPS web traffic.
Public-key ciphers, while effective, offer less security than symmetric-key systems, which is why VPN services, including ExpressVPN, switch to symmetric-key encryption as soon as possible. The difference in security is evident in key lengths: while symmetric-key systems utilize key lengths in the hundreds, public-key systems require keys in the thousands.
Many VPN providers, especially free services, use RSA encryption with a key length of 1024 bits. Most paid VPN services increase this to 2048 bits for greater security. ExpressVPN, however, goes further, using RSA encryption with a key length of 4096 bits, offering one of the strongest encryption standards available in any VPN service.
DNS Protection
Routers on the internet do not recognize website addresses (also known as URLs) as you type them into your browser. They only interpret numerical IP addresses. Before a browser can request a webpage, it must first identify the IP address of the server hosting the website. This IP address is then included in the packet header for the request.
The system responsible for mapping website names to their corresponding IP addresses is known as the Domain Name System (DNS). By default, your browser uses a DNS server provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Most ISPs restrict access to certain websites by redirecting requests for the site’s IP address to a dead-end—a process known as sinkholing. For instance, if you attempt to visit ThePirateBay.org, your browser may display an error indicating that the website cannot be found or that the security certificate is invalid. This manipulation occurs at the ISP level.
ExpressVPN offers its own private DNS system to circumvent ISP blocking mechanisms. Many lower-cost VPNs lack private DNS services, leaving users vulnerable to ISP-based sinkholing and exposing their browsing activity through DNS leaks. With ExpressVPN, this risk is eliminated. Additionally, ExpressVPN’s smart DNS, integrated into its browser extension, helps bypass access restrictions on streaming sites, although it does not provide additional security features.
IP Leak Protection
Not all VPNs are capable of offering comprehensive protection from online surveillance and data breaches. In some cases, network traffic may be exposed, and the true destination of your internet connection may be revealed—this is called an IP leak. ExpressVPN is designed to prevent IP leaks.
IP leaks typically occur for three main reasons:
- The user forgets to activate the VPN.
- The user intentionally deactivates the VPN.
- The connection drops, causing the VPN to disconnect, and the internet reconnects without VPN protection.
Although ExpressVPN cannot compel users to keep the VPN constantly active, it incorporates features that make it easier to maintain continuous protection. With unmetered usage and unlimited bandwidth, there is no financial incentive to turn off the VPN periodically.
One common reason users disable their VPN is due to reduced internet speed, which can affect activities such as video streaming or online gaming. However, slowdowns are usually a result of poor internet performance, rather than the VPN itself.
While most VPNs slow down connections, ExpressVPN is engineered for speed. Its superior carrier agreements and routing infrastructure allow it to deliver minimal impact on connection speeds, even improving performance for international connections. When installing ExpressVPN, you’ll be prompted to enable automatic VPN activation at system startup, which is highly recommended for maintaining consistent protection.
ExpressVPN Network Lock (Kill Switch)
One key security feature available in ExpressVPN is the Network Lock, commonly referred to as a “kill switch.” This feature ensures that your network card only allows traffic from your VPN, preventing any data from being transmitted if the VPN connection drops unexpectedly.
While the term “kill switch” may sound intimidating, it is an essential safeguard that protects your privacy by preventing any unprotected traffic from reaching your ISP. You can easily disable the Network Lock whenever you choose, and if you uninstall ExpressVPN, the kill switch function is automatically removed.
If your internet connection is interrupted, your computer will typically reconnect quickly. However, the disconnection will end the VPN session, and upon reconnection, normal traffic will resume without the VPN, exposing your browsing activity to your ISP. This is where the Network Lock becomes critical, ensuring that your online activity remains private even during brief connection interruptions.
Internet Anonymity
Anonymity and privacy are closely linked, with privacy playing a critical role in evading internet censorship. If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) cannot track your online activities, it cannot restrict them. However, even with privacy, there remains the risk of being traced.
In many advanced economies, governments have imposed legal obligations on ISPs to log all client connections to the internet. While this may seem harmless, these logs create a trail of evidence that allows government agencies and copyright lawyers to review your online activities. This is why privacy alone is insufficient—you also need true anonymity.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can provide two forms of anonymity: account anonymity and activity anonymity. Account anonymity involves masking the link between your payment method and your VPN account, shielding the trail to financial sources like bank accounts.
Examples of anonymous payment methods include voucher programs and gift cards. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, once considered completely anonymous, are now traceable through various means, making them less secure than before. Thus, while they offer some level of anonymity, they are not entirely risk-free.
Activity anonymity refers to the non-retention of logs that could identify your online actions. Many VPNs use shared servers, which forward all client traffic through the same IP address. This makes it difficult for anyone trying to trace your connection to pinpoint you specifically, as all users share the same public IP address. The VPN assigns port numbers to each client, and Port Address Translation (PAT) maps the incoming traffic to the appropriate user. It is vital that VPN providers do not retain these logs after the session ends.
ExpressVPN Anonymity Measures
ExpressVPN supports Bitcoin payments, though this no longer guarantees total anonymity due to the traceability of cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately, ExpressVPN does not offer gift card payments, leaving credit cards and PayPal as the primary payment methods, neither of which provides anonymity.
ExpressVPN uses shared servers with Port Address Translation (PAT), meaning multiple users share the same IP address for their outgoing internet traffic. This structure makes it difficult for third parties to track individual users. Furthermore, ExpressVPN retains its address translation table in volatile memory (RAM), never writing it to disk. As a result, while theoretically possible to trace a user if authorities raid the server during an active session, this is highly unlikely. Once the session ends, the PAT table entry is erased.
Though ExpressVPN does not store detailed activity logs, it does maintain long-term records of connection details, such as dates and data usage for each session. However, it does not log which servers users connect to, the websites visited, or the time of day. While some VPNs offer a complete no-logs policy, ExpressVPN still upholds robust privacy standards by not recording user-specific internet activity.
Simultaneous Connections
ExpressVPN offers apps for a variety of devices and operating systems, allowing users to secure multiple devices simultaneously. Supported platforms include:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Chromebook
- Android
- iOS
- Fire TV
This broad compatibility ensures that users can protect their anonymity and privacy across a wide range of devices, enhancing the overall user experience.
You can install a browser extension for ExpressVPN in:
You can install the ExpressVPN browser extension on the following platforms:
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Edge
Additionally, the ExpressVPN app is compatible with Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, Apple TV, and Roku. It also supports gaming consoles, including Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
While you can install the ExpressVPN app on an unlimited number of devices, only five devices can be connected to the service simultaneously. Account sharing is only permitted among family members residing in the same household.
One significant advantage of ExpressVPN is its dedicated app for routers. Installing the VPN on a router counts as only one of the five allowed devices, enabling all devices within your home network to be covered. This leaves four device slots for external connections.
It is important to note that the browser extension only secures traffic through the browser itself. Other applications, such as torrent clients, will not be protected if the extension is in use. The browser version also counts as one device in the five-device limit.
ExpressVPN is particularly well-regarded for its effective implementation of split tunneling, a feature that allows users to exclude specific applications from the VPN’s coverage. Split tunneling is available on the Windows, macOS, Android, and router apps.
Server Locations
While ExpressVPN does not disclose the exact number of servers, it operates in 130 locations across 94 countries. It is reasonable to assume that the service maintains at least one server in each listed location.
In the United States, ExpressVPN offers servers in the following 16 cities:
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Denver
- Lincoln Park
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New Jersey
- New York
- Phoenix
- Salt Lake City
- San Francisco
- Santa Monica
- Seattle
- Tampa
- Washington D.C.
Notably, ExpressVPN ceased operations in India in April 2022 due to the country’s new data retention laws, which require VPN providers to store user activity records for up to five years. However, users can still access Indian content through proxy servers located in London and Singapore.
Website Unblocking
ExpressVPN is highly regarded for its ability to bypass geo-restrictions, which are commonly enforced by streaming services to comply with regional licensing agreements.
For example, if a company holds exclusive rights to a movie in France, Netflix would need to ensure that viewers in France cannot access it through their platform. While Netflix operates globally, most streaming services, such as Hulu, are restricted to specific regions (e.g., Hulu is only available in the United States).
ExpressVPN is capable of unblocking all major streaming platforms, both for entertainment and sports. Below is a list of services the provider claims to unblock, along with details on whether they have been successfully tested.
Service Testing Results
- Netflix: Verified access to USA and France libraries from the UK.
- Disney+: Verified access to the USA library from the UK.
- Hulu: Subscriptions can only be made within the USA.
- BBC iPlayer: Verified access to UK content from the USA.
- ITV Hub: Verified access to UK content from the USA.
- Channel 4: Verified access to UK content from the USA.
- ABC: Verified access from the UK.
- NBC: Verified access from the UK without the need for a VPN.
In addition to these services, ExpressVPN can also unblock ESPN, Amazon Prime, HBO, and YouTube TV.
Pricing Structure
ExpressVPN offers a single service with three payment plans, differentiated by the billing cycle. Opting for a longer billing cycle results in a lower monthly rate, but the full amount must be paid upfront for the entire subscription period.
- One-Year Plan: $99.84 ($8.32 per month)
- Six-Month Plan: $59.94 ($9.99 per month)
- Monthly Plan: $12.95 per month
All plans, including the Monthly Plan, come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Customers can cancel within 30 days to receive a full refund, with no questions asked.
Performance Testing
We conducted a performance analysis of ExpressVPN to assess its impact on internet speed and latency. These tests were performed in the UK using public Wi-Fi hotspots from Sky UK’s The Cloud, a service operated by Comcast, which employs similar technology as the Xfinity Hub in the USA. Speed tests were conducted using the Ookla system on speedtest.net.
Baseline Speed
- Without a VPN, the local server delivered:
- Download Speed: 11.61 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 0.93 Mbps
Activating the VPN within the UK had a minimal impact on these speeds, maintaining a high level of performance.
Remote Connection Speed
- Testing an unprotected connection to Sydney, Australia, resulted in:
- Download Speed: 1.48 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 0.83 Mbps
Improved Speed with ExpressVPN
- Enabling ExpressVPN on a server located in East London improved the speed significantly, achieving:
- Download Speed: 11.02 Mbps
This enhancement in speed was consistent across various locations. For instance:
- Connection to Sydney via a VPN server in New York, USA:
- Download Speed: 11.69 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 0.92 Mbps
- Connection to Sydney via a VPN server in Hong Kong:
- Download Speed: 10.46 Mbps
- Upload Speed: 0.85 Mbps
These results demonstrate how ExpressVPN’s long-distance trunking agreements can enhance connection speeds, outperforming unprotected connections over vast distances.
Mobile Application
The mobile application must be downloaded from the respective app store based on the device’s operating system. For instance, the Android version can be obtained from Google Play. After installation, users are required to input an Activation Code to enable the app. However, this code only needs to be entered during the initial setup and is not required on subsequent uses.
The mobile app’s interface closely mirrors that of the desktop version, with a few additional features, such as displaying time spent using the VPN service on the main screen. The image below illustrates a comparison between the Windows desktop app (left) and the Android mobile app (right).
In terms of connection speed, the mobile app performed similarly to the desktop version. Local VPN connections achieved speeds comparable to unprotected connections, while international VPN connections maintained speeds near those of local VPN servers, significantly outperforming unprotected international connections, such as those to Sydney.
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