Quick speeds and a low studying curve

ExpressVPN is nice at its job. It is simple to be skeptical of any service with a knack for self-promotion, however do not let ExpressVPN’s hype distract you from the truth that it retains its front-page promise of “simply working.”

Exterior of strong safety, the 2 greatest issues ExpressVPN provides are quick speeds and a easy interface. Our checks confirmed solely a 7% common drop in obtain pace and a 2% lack of add pace, worldwide. And whereas the dearth of additional options could frustrate skilled customers, it makes for a real set-and-forget VPN on any platform.

This is not to say ExpressVPN is with out flaws — it is practically bereft of customization choices and it is notably costlier than its competitors — however it beats most VPNs in a head-to-head matchup.

For this assessment, we adopted our rigorous 10-step VPN testing course of, exploring ExpressVPN’s safety, privateness, pace, interfaces and extra. Whether or not you learn straight by way of or skip to the sections which might be most essential for you, you need to come away with all the data you could determine whether or not to subscribe.

Editor’s word (7/25/25): We’re within the strategy of revamping our VPN protection to offer extra in-depth, actionable info and shopping for guides. Our suggestions, and all the data on this web page, are topic to alter because the replace continues. Try our revamped ProtonVPN review and NordVPN review to see the brand new path, or study extra about how we test VPNs.

Desk of contents

Findings at a look

Putting in, configuring and utilizing ExpressVPN

This part focuses on the way it feels to make use of ExpressVPN on every of the main platforms the place it is accessible. Step one for any setup course of is to make an account on expressvpn.com and purchase a subscription.

Home windows

As soon as subscribed, obtain the Home windows VPN from both expressvpn.com or the Microsoft Retailer, then open the .exe file. Click on “Sure” to let it make adjustments, watch for the set up, then let your laptop reboot. Together with the reboot, the entire course of takes 5-10 minutes, most of it idle. To complete, you may want your activation code, which yow will discover by going to expressvpn.com and clicking “Setup” within the top-right nook.

Excessive simplicity is the watchword for all ExpressVPN’s designs. The Home windows consumer’s launch panel consists of three buttons and fewer than ten phrases. You possibly can change your location or let the app choose a location for you — the “Sensible Location” is the server with one of the best mixture of being close by and unburdened.

The whole lot else is crammed into the hamburger menu on the high left. Right here, in seven tabs, you may discover the Community Lock kill swap, the 4 varieties of content material blockers, the break up tunneling menu and the choice to alter your VPN protocol. You may as well add shortcuts to numerous web sites, helpful when you repeatedly use your VPN for a similar on-line locations.

To sum up, there’s nearly nothing right here to get in the best way: no delays, no snags, no nested menus to get misplaced in. It could be the world’s most ignorable VPN consumer. That is not a foul factor in any respect.

Mac

ExpressVPN’s app for macOS is nearly equivalent in design to its Home windows app. The method for downloading and setting it up is almost the identical too. As on Home windows, it may be downloaded from the App Retailer or sideloaded immediately from the expressvpn.com obtain middle. Just a few options are lacking and a pair others have been added. Cut up tunneling is gone (until you are still on a macOS decrease than 11), and you will not see the Lightway Turbo setting.

Mac customers do achieve entry to the IKEv2 protocol, together with the choice to show off automated IPv6 blocking — Home windows customers have to go away it blocked always. Nearly each web site remains to be accessible through IPv4, however it’s helpful when you do have to entry a selected IPv6 deal with whereas the VPN is energetic.

Android

Android customers can obtain ExpressVPN by way of the Google Play Retailer. Open the app, sign up and also you’re able to go. The Android app has a really good dark-colored design, solely barely marred by an pointless info field about how lengthy you have used the VPN this week.

There’s a big button for connecting. Clicking on the server title takes you to an inventory of places. On this checklist, you may both search or scroll and might select particular person places inside a rustic that has multiple. We related to as many far-flung server places as we might, however not a single one took longer than a couple of seconds.

The choices menu is organized sensibly, with no possibility situated greater than two clicks deep. You will note a few choices right here that are not accessible on desktop, one of the best of which is the power to mechanically hook up with your last-used ExpressVPN server every time your telephone connects to a non-trusted wifi community.

There are additionally a couple of basic safety instruments: an IP deal with checker, DNS and WebRTC leak testers and a password generator. These are additionally accessible on the web site, however right here, they’re constructed into the app. Except for the latter, we would suggest utilizing third-party testing instruments as a substitute — even a VPN with integrity has an incentive to make its personal app seem like it is working.

iPhone and iPad

You possibly can solely set up ExpressVPN’s iOS app by way of the app retailer. Throughout setup, it’s possible you’ll have to enter your password to permit your telephone to make use of VPN configurations. In any other case, there aren’t any main variations from the Android course of.

The interface shouldn’t be fairly as pleasing because the dark-mode Android app, however it makes up for that by reducing out a number of the muddle. The tabs and options are related, although break up tunneling and shortcuts are absent. Additionally, each cell apps make buyer help much more accessible than their desktop counterparts — plus, cell is the one approach to ship electronic mail help tickets.

Browser extension

ExpressVPN additionally contains browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. These allow you to join, disconnect and alter server places with out leaving your browser window. It is good, however not important until you’ve got a really particular net browser circulation you want.

ExpressVPN pace check: Very quick averages

Connecting to a VPN nearly at all times decreases your pace, however one of the best VPNs mitigate the drop as a lot as attainable. We used Ookla’s pace testing app to see how a lot of your web pace ExpressVPN preserves. For this check, we emphasised the places ExpressVPN makes use of for many of its digital servers, together with the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany and Singapore.

Some phrases earlier than we begin:

• Latency, measured in milliseconds (ms), is the time it takes one information packet to journey between your system and an internet server by way of the VPN. Latency will increase with distance. It is most essential for real-time duties like video chatting and on-line gaming.

• Obtain pace, measured in megabits per second (Mbps), is the quantity of knowledge that may obtain onto your system at one time — akin to when loading an internet web page or streaming a video.

• Add pace, additionally measured in Mbps, is the quantity of knowledge your system can ship to the net directly. It is most essential for torrenting, because the quantity of information you may seed determines how briskly you may obtain in trade.

The desk beneath reveals our outcomes. We carried out this on Home windows, utilizing the automated protocol setting with the Lightway Turbo function energetic — a latest ExpressVPN addition that retains pace extra constant by processing connections in parallel.

These are extraordinarily good outcomes. ExpressVPN is a winner on each obtain and add pace. Regardless of the place we went on the earth, we by no means misplaced greater than about 7% of our obtain speeds, and add misplaced an astoundingly low common of two%. This means that ExpressVPN deftly distributes its person load between servers to remove bottlenecks.

The latency numbers look worse, however the rise within the desk is much less sharp than we projected. Ping size relies upon much more on distance than obtain pace does, so we anticipate it to shoot up on servers greater than 1,000 miles from our location. Preserving the typical beneath 300 ms, as ExpressVPN does right here, is a powerful displaying.

ExpressVPN safety check: Checking for leaks

A VPN’s core mission is to cover your IP deal with and make you untraceable on-line. Our activity on this part is to determine if ExpressVPN can perform this mission each time you join. Whereas we won’t be 100% sure, the checks we’ll run by way of beneath have led us to imagine that ExpressVPN is at the moment leak-proof.

Accessible VPN protocols

A VPN protocol is sort of a frequent language {that a} VPN server can use to mediate between your gadgets and the net servers you go to. If a VPN makes use of outdated or insecure protocols, or depends on distinctive protocols with no seen specs or supply code, that is a foul signal.

ExpressVPN offers you a collection of three protocols: IKEv2, OpenVPN and Lightway. The primary two are strong selections that help the newest encryption algorithms. OpenVPN has been totally open-source for years and is the only option if privateness is your objective. Whereas IKEv2 began life as a closed venture by Microsoft and Cisco, ExpressVPN makes use of an open-source reverse-engineering, which is each higher for privateness and fairly quick.

Lightway is the odd one out, a protocol you may solely discover on ExpressVPN, although its source code is available on Github. It is just like WireGuard, in that each attain for quicker speeds and decrease processing calls for by holding their codebases slim. Nonetheless, Lightway was lately rewritten in Rust to raised shield the keys saved in its reminiscence.

Finally, you may’t go flawed with any of ExpressVPN’s protocol choices. 99% of the time, your best option might be to set the controls to Computerized and let the VPN determine which runs greatest.

Testing for leaks

ExpressVPN is likely one of the greatest providers, however it’s not leak-proof (as you may learn within the Background Test beneath). Fortunately, checking for DNS leaks is a straightforward matter of checking your IP deal with earlier than and after connecting to a VPN server. If the brand new deal with matches the VPN server, you are good; if not, your VPN is leaking.

First, we checked the Home windows app with break up tunneling energetic to make sure the flaw actually had been patched. We examined a number of servers and did not discover any leaks, which suggests the patch labored, although leaks have been uncommon even earlier than ExpressVPN mounted the vulnerability.

Actually, we did not discover any leaks on any ExpressVPN server we examined on any platform. Although questions stay about iOS, as you may see later on this part, that is an issue on Apple’s finish that even one of the best VPNs can do little or no about for now.

The most typical reason for VPN leaks is using public DNS servers to attach customers to web sites, which might mistakenly ship looking exercise outdoors the VPN’s encrypted tunnel. ExpressVPN avoids the dangers of the general public system by putting in its personal DNS resolvers on each server. That is the important thing issue behind its clear invoice of well being in our leak testing.

Two different frequent flaws can result in VPN leaks: WebRTC site visitors and IPv6. The previous is a communication protocol utilized in dwell streaming and the latter is a brand new IP customary designed to broaden area availability. Each are good, however at the moment non-obligatory, so ExpressVPN mechanically blocks each to make sure there is not any alternative for leaks to come up.

One word about VPN safety on iOS: it is a known and continuing problem that iOS VPNs don’t stop many on-line apps from speaking with Apple immediately, outdoors the VPN tunnel. This dangers leaking delicate information, even with Lockdown Mode energetic in iOS 16. A blog post by Proton VPN shares a workaround: hook up with a VPN server, then flip Airplane Mode on and off once more to finish all connections that have been energetic earlier than you related to the VPN.

Testing encryption

We completed up our battery of safety checks by testing ExpressVPN’s encryption immediately. Utilizing WireShark, a free packet sniffer, we inspected what it appears to be like like when ExpressVPN transmits information from one among its servers to the web. The screenshot beneath reveals an information stream encrypted with Lightway UDP.

That lack of any identifiable info, and even readable info, means encryption is working as meant. We repeated the check a number of occasions, at all times getting the identical outcome. This left us glad that ExpressVPN’s core options are working as meant.

How a lot does ExpressVPN price?

ExpressVPN subscriptions price $12.95 per 30 days. Lengthy-term subscriptions can deliver the month-to-month price down, however the nice offers they provide are inclined to solely final for the primary billing interval.

A 12-month subscription prices $99.95 and contains three months without spending a dime along with your first cost, costing a complete of $6.67 per 30 days. The bonus disappears for all subsequent years, elevating the month-to-month price to $8.33. You may as well join 28 months at a value of $139.72, however that is additionally once-only — ExpressVPN can solely be renewed on the $99.95 per yr stage.

There are two methods to check ExpressVPN without spending a dime earlier than making a monetary dedication. Customers on iOS and Android can obtain the ExpressVPN app with out coming into any cost particulars and use it free for seven days. On any platform, there is a 30-day money-back assure, which ExpressVPN has traditionally honored with no questions requested. You’ll have to pay earlier than you need to use it, although.

In our opinion, ExpressVPN’s service is strong sufficient that it is price paying additional. Maybe not this a lot additional, however that relies on what you get out of it. We suggest utilizing the 30-day refund interval and seeing how effectively ExpressVPN works for you. If it is a VPN you may take pleasure in utilizing, that runs quick and unblocks every thing you want, that is price a server’s weight in gold.

ExpressVPN facet apps and bundles

ExpressVPN contains some particular options that work principally or wholly separate from its VPN apps. A few of these come free with a subscription, whereas others add an additional price.

Each subscription contains the ExpressVPN keys password supervisor. That is accessible beneath its personal tab on the Android and iOS apps. On desktop, you may have to obtain a separate extension out of your browser’s retailer, then sign up utilizing your account activation code. It is accessible on all Chromium browsers, however not Firefox.

Beginning in 2025, new subscribers get an eSIM plan by way of holiday.com, a separate service linked to ExpressVPN. The baseline 1GB vacation eSIM plans final for five days and might apply to nations, areas, or your complete world (although it isn’t clear whether or not the bundle deal applies to the regional and international plans). Longer-term plans embody bigger eSIM plans.

You possibly can add a devoted IP deal with to your ExpressVPN subscription for an additional cost per month. A devoted IP allows you to use the identical IP deal with each time you hook up with ExpressVPN. You possibly can add the deal with to whitelists on restricted networks, and also you’re assured to by no means be blocked due to another person’s dangerous exercise on a shared IP.

In contrast to a lot of its rivals, ExpressVPN would not at the moment supply antivirus or on-line storage providers, however there’s a complete bundle of ID safety instruments referred to as Id Defender. We’ve not reviewed any of those merchandise intimately, however this is an inventory for reference:

• ID Alerts will inform you if any of your delicate info is leaked or misused on-line. It is free with all plans, however you may need to enter your private info in your ExpressVPN account web page or a cell app.

• ID Theft Insurance coverage grants as much as $1 million in identification theft reimbursement and comes free with new ExpressVPN one-year or two-year subscriptions. It isn’t but accessible to those that subscribed earlier than it launched in October 2024.

• Knowledge Removing scans in your info in information brokerages and mechanically requests that it’s deleted. It is also free with one-year and two-year plans.

• Credit score Scanner is barely accessible for United States customers. It screens your exercise on the three credit score bureaus so you may rapidly spot any suspicious transactions.

The Id Defender options are at the moment solely accessible to new ExpressVPN clients within the US.

Shut-reading ExpressVPN’s privateness coverage

Though we fear that the consolidation of VPN manufacturers beneath the umbrella of Kape Applied sciences (ExpressVPN’s father or mother firm) will make the business much less aggressive, we do not imagine it is influencing ExpressVPN to benefit from its customers’ privateness. To verify, and get a full sense of what kind of privateness ExpressVPN guarantees its customers, we got down to learn ExpressVPN’s privateness coverage intimately. It is lengthy, however fortunately geared toward informal customers as a substitute of attorneys. You can see it for yourself here.

Within the introduction, ExpressVPN states that it doesn’t preserve both exercise logs (akin to a person’s looking historical past whereas related to the VPN) or connection logs (such because the period of a person’s session and their IP deal with, which can be utilized to extrapolate looking exercise). It then specifies the seven varieties of information it is legally allowed to gather:

• Knowledge used to enroll in an account, akin to names, emails and cost strategies.

• VPN utilization information which is aggregated and cannot be traced to any particular person.

• Credentials saved within the ExpressVPN Keys password supervisor.

• Diagnostic information akin to crash studies, that are solely shared upon person request.

• IP addresses licensed for MediaStreamer, which is just for streaming gadgets that do not in any other case help VPN apps.

• Advertising and marketing information collected immediately from the app — a “restricted quantity” that is saved nameless.

• Knowledge voluntarily submitted for identification theft safety apps.

Of these seven exceptions, the one ones that depend as purple flags are account information and advertising and marketing information. Each classes are extremely private and might be damaging if mishandled. Luckily, complying with subpoenas shouldn’t be one of many allowed makes use of listed for both information class, nor does the coverage let ExpressVPN promote the info to different personal events.

The one actually annoying factor right here is that when you ask ExpressVPN to delete your private information, you will not be capable of use your account from then on. You are not even eligible for a refund on this case, until you are inside 30 days of your preliminary subscription.

As for advertising and marketing information, ExpressVPN collects system fingerprints and placement information whenever you join an account on its web site. The privateness coverage additionally claims that is anonymized, as its “programs are engineered to decouple such information from personally identifiable info.” Audits corroborate this, as we’ll see within the subsequent part. So, whereas it will be higher if ExpressVPN did not acquire any private information in any respect, its practices do not seem to pose a danger to something you do whereas utilizing the VPN — simply the ExpressVPN web site.

Privateness audits

VPN suppliers typically get third-party accounting corporations to audit their privateness insurance policies. The thought is {that a} well-known agency will not mortgage its status to lie on behalf of a VPN, so their outcomes might be trusted.

For the final a number of years, ExpressVPN has had KPMG look over its privateness coverage and related infrastructure (see “TrustedServer” beneath). KPMG’s most up-to-date report, accomplished in December 2023 and launched in Might 2024, discovered that ExpressVPN had sufficient inside controls in place that customers might belief its privateness coverage.

The report is freely available to read. It is a excellent signal, although we’re searching for a extra up-to-date audit quickly.

TrustedServer

“TrustedServer” is a advertising and marketing time period ExpressVPN makes use of for its RAM-only server infrastructure. RAM-only servers haven’t any laborious drives for long-term storage and return to an ordinary disk picture with each reboot. This makes it theoretically unattainable to retailer person exercise logs on them, even when ExpressVPN wished to try this.

The KPMG audit, linked above, studies that TrustedServer works as marketed. Between its many clear privateness audits and the Turkish server incident in 2017, we’re ready to say ExpressVPN is a non-public VPN, despite its aggravating exception for advertising and marketing.

Can ExpressVPN change your digital location?

Subsequent, we examined whether or not ExpressVPN can truly persuade web sites that you just’re someplace aside from your actual location. Our safety checks have already confirmed it may cover your IP deal with, however it takes greater than leak-proofing to idiot streaming websites nowadays — Netflix and the others have gotten excellent at combing by way of metadata to smell out proxy customers.

The method for testing this can be a lot like how we dealt with the DNS leak checks: strive a number of completely different servers and see if we get caught. We checked 5 pattern places outdoors the U.S. to see if we a) received into Netflix and b) noticed completely different titles within the library. The outcomes are beneath.

In fifteen checks, ExpressVPN slipped up solely as soon as. Docklands, the UK server it selected because the quickest, wasn’t capable of entry Netflix. We switched to a server labeled merely “London” and unblocked it with out challenge.

All the opposite places received us entry to an alternate Netflix library on the primary strive. We even checked whether or not the India server, which is bodily situated within the UK, confirmed us completely different movies than the UK servers. It did, which makes us much more assured that ExpressVPN’s digital places are hermetic.

Investigating ExpressVPN’s server community

ExpressVPN customers can hook up with a complete of 164 server places in 105 nations and territories. These places are moderately effectively distributed throughout the globe, however as with all VPNs, there is a bias towards the northern hemisphere. There are 24 places within the U.S. alone and an extra 66 in Europe.

That is not to say customers within the World South get nothing. ExpressVPN has IP addresses from 9 nations in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and 6 in Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa). The community even contains Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, spectacular since central Asia would be the area most frequently shafted by VPNs.

Nonetheless, many of those servers have digital places completely different from their actual ones. For these of you selecting a server primarily based on efficiency as a substitute of a specific IP deal with, ExpressVPN’s web site has a useful checklist of which servers are digital. The dangerous information is that it is a large chunk of the checklist. A complete of 63 ExpressVPN places are digital, or 38% of its complete community.

To cut back the sting, ExpressVPN takes care to find digital servers as near their actual places as attainable. Its digital places in Indonesia and India are bodily primarily based in Singapore. This is not at all times sensible, resulting in some awkwardness like working a Ghana IP deal with out of Germany. But it surely helps ExpressVPN carry out higher within the southern hemisphere.

In comparison with direct rivals like NordVPN and Surfshark, ExpressVPN would not have many particular options. It is aimed squarely on the informal market and can most likely disappoint energy customers. Having mentioned that, what they do embody works effectively. On this part, we’ll run by way of ExpressVPN’s 4 substantial options outdoors its VPN servers themselves.

Community Lock kill swap

“Community Lock” is the title ExpressVPN offers to its kill swap (although it is referred to as “Community Safety” on cell). A VPN kill swap is a security function that retains you from broadcasting outdoors the VPN tunnel. If it ever detects that you just aren’t related to a authentic ExpressVPN server, it cuts off your web entry. You will not be capable of get again on-line till you both reconnect to the VPN or disable Community Lock.

That is essential for everybody, not simply customers who want to cover delicate site visitors. The lately found TunnelVision bug theoretically permits hackers to arrange faux public wi-fi networks by way of which they redirect you to equally faux VPN servers, which then harvest your private info. It is unlikely, however not unattainable, and a kill swap is one of the best ways to stop it — the swap at all times triggers until you are related to an actual server within the VPN’s community.

Like most of ExpressVPN’s options, all you are able to do with Community Lock is flip it on and off. You may as well toggle whether or not you may nonetheless be capable of entry native gadgets whereas the kill swap is obstructing your web — that is allowed by default.

Risk supervisor, advert blocker and parental controls

ExpressVPN teams three instruments beneath the heading of “superior safety” — Risk Supervisor, an advert blocker and parental controls. Risk Supervisor consists of two checkboxes: one which blocks your browser from speaking with exercise monitoring software program and one which blocks an inventory of internet sites identified for use for malware.

You possibly can’t customise the lists, so that you’re restricted to what ExpressVPN considers worthy of blocking. They share their sources on the web site. Whereas the lists are intensive and open-source, they depend on after-the-fact reporting and might’t detect and block unknown threats like a correct antivirus.

The adblock and parental management choices work the identical means: test a field to dam every thing on the checklist, uncheck it to permit every thing by way of. In checks, the advert blocker was practically 100% efficient towards banner adverts, however failed to dam any video adverts on YouTube or Netflix.

The parental management possibility blocks an inventory of porn websites. It is a straightforward possibility for involved mother and father, however solely works whereas ExpressVPN is related. As such, it is meant for use along side device-level parental controls that stop the kid from turning off or uninstalling the VPN consumer.

Cut up tunneling

Typically, you may discover it useful to have your system getting on-line by way of two completely different IP addresses directly — one in your dwelling providers and one for a location you are making an attempt to spoof. That is the place break up tunneling is useful: it runs some apps by way of the VPN whereas leaving others unprotected. This could additionally enhance your speeds, because the VPN must encrypt much less in complete.

ExpressVPN contains break up tunneling on Home windows, Android and Mac (although solely on variations 10 and beneath). You possibly can solely break up by app, not by web site, however it’s nonetheless fairly helpful. For instance, you may have BitTorrent dealing with a heavy obtain within the background when you use your browser for innocuous actions that do not want defending.

ExpressVPN Aircove router

By now, it ought to be clear that we discover ExpressVPN to be a extremely dependable however typically unexceptional VPN service. Nonetheless, there’s one space by which it is a clear business chief: VPN routers. ExpressVPN Aircove is, to our data, the one router with a built-in business VPN that comes with its personal dashboard interface.

Often, putting in a VPN in your router requires tinkering with the router management panel, which turns off all however probably the most skilled customers — to not point out making it a large ache to modify to a brand new server location. Aircove’s dashboard, in contrast, might be immediately acquainted to anybody who already is aware of use an ExpressVPN consumer. It even permits completely different gadgets in your house to hook up with completely different places by way of the router VPN.

Aircove’s greatest downside is its worth. At present retailing at $189 (not together with an ExpressVPN subscription), it is round 3 times costlier than an aftermarket router fitted with free VPN firmware. A few of you may nonetheless discover the comfort definitely worth the one-time cost.

ExpressVPN buyer help choices

ExpressVPN’s written assist pages are a number of the greatest in the marketplace. Its dwell chat is extra of a blended bag, and sophisticated questions could trigger delays. Nonetheless, it’s at the very least staffed with human brokers who intention to answer precisely, fairly than resolve your ticket as rapidly as attainable.

We approached ExpressVPN’s help options with a easy query: “If I requested that ExpressVPN delete all my private information, would I be capable of get a refund for my unused subscription time?” (Bear in mind from the Privateness Coverage part that submitting a full deletion request additionally cancels your ExpressVPN account.)

Our first cease was expressvpn.com/help, the written help middle and FAQ web page. It is divided into setup guides, troubleshooting, account administration and knowledge on every of ExpressVPN’s merchandise. The setup guides are glorious, together with screenshots and clearly written steps; each features a video information for individuals who study higher that means.

Troubleshooting is simply nearly as good — no movies, however the identical requirements of readability and usefulness prevail. The part begins with basic issues, then delves into particular points you may face on every working system. Every article clearly derives from an actual buyer want.

The dwell help expertise

To get solutions on our refund query, we visited the account administration FAQs. This part said that the refund coverage solely applies inside 30 days of buy. Fairly clear-cut, however we nonetheless wished a solution on our particular case, so we contacted dwell chat by clicking the button on the bottom-right of each FAQ web page.

Stay chat begins with an AI assistant, which isn’t too laborious to get previous — simply ask it a query it may’t reply, then click on “Switch to an Agent.” We received on-line with (what claimed to be) a human in lower than a minute. Answering the query took longer and concerned an uncomfortable 10-minute silence, however we did get a transparent verdict from an actual particular person: refunds are inside 30 days solely, it doesn’t matter what.

If the dwell chat agent cannot reply your query, you may be redirected to open an electronic mail help ticket. Annoyingly, there is not any approach to go on to electronic mail help by way of the web site or desktop apps, although cell customers have the choice to skip immediately there.

ExpressVPN background test: From founding to Kape Applied sciences

ExpressVPN launched in 2009, which makes it one of many oldest client VPNs in continuous operation. In additional than 15 years of operation, it is by no means been caught violating its personal privateness coverage, although its document is not freed from extra minor blemishes.

Headquarters within the British Virgin Islands

Founders Dan Pomerantz and Peter Burchhardt registered the corporate within the British Virgin Islands from the begin to benefit from that territory’s favorable authorized setting for on-line privateness. The BVIs haven’t any regulation requiring companies to retain information on their customers, and the method for extraditing information is famously troublesome, requiring a direct order from the very best court docket.

In 2021, the BVI implemented the Data Protection Act (DPA) [PDF link], which prevents firms primarily based within the territory from accessing information on their customers wherever on the earth. It is an excellent privateness regulation in concept, modeled on best-in-class laws within the EU. Nonetheless, we could not discover any proof that its supervising authority — the Workplace of the Data Commissioner — has a frontrunner or workers.

In different phrases, whereas ExpressVPN shouldn’t be legally required to log any information on its customers, there’s technically no one stopping them from doing so. Whether or not you belief the jurisdiction relies on whether or not you belief the corporate itself. Let’s examine what the opposite proof says.

Safety and privateness incidents

Two important incidents stand out from ExpressVPN’s 16-year historical past. In 2017, when Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, was shot to death at an art show. Turkish police suspected somebody had used ExpressVPN to mask their identity whereas they deleted info from social media accounts belonging to the alleged murderer. To research, they confiscated an ExpressVPN server to comb for proof. They didn’t find anything.

A police seizure is the very best check of a VPN’s strategy to privateness. The supplier cannot put together beforehand, faux something, or collude with investigators. The Turkey incident remains to be probably the greatest causes to suggest ExpressVPN, although eight years is a very long time for coverage to alter.

The second incident started in March 2024, when a researcher at CNET knowledgeable ExpressVPN that its model 12 for Home windows occasionally leaked DNS requests when users enabled the split tunneling feature. Whereas these customers remained related to an ExpressVPN server, their looking exercise was typically going on to their ISP, unmasked.

The bug solely impacted a couple of customers, and to their credit score, ExpressVPN sprang into motion as quickly as they realized about it. The crew had it patched by April, as confirmed by the researcher who initially found the vulnerability. However whereas their fast and efficient response deserves reward, it is nonetheless a mark towards them {that a} journalist seen the bug earlier than they did.

Kape Applied sciences possession and administration questions

In 2021, an Israeli-owned, UK-based agency referred to as Kape Applied sciences purchased a controlling interest in ExpressVPN. Along with ExpressVPN, privately held Kape owns CyberGhost, Non-public Web Entry, and Zenmate (earlier than it merged into CyberGhost). As shown on its website, it additionally owns Webselenese, writer of VPN assessment web sites WizCase and vpnMentor, which poses an obvious battle of curiosity.

When reached for remark, a consultant for ExpressVPN mentioned that “ExpressVPN doesn’t immediately have interaction with, nor search to affect, the content material on any Webselenese website,” and pointed us to disclosure statements on the web sites in query — here’s one example. Even so, it is a good reminder to not take VPN critiques at face worth with out figuring out who’s behind them (Engadget is owned by Yahoo, which doesn’t personal any VPNs).

Diving deeper into the background of Kape’s possession will lead you to proprietor Teddy Sagi. Return far sufficient, and you will see he did prison time in Israel and was mentioned in the Pandora Papers, amongst different issues. Extra lately, headlines in regards to the billionaire have centered extra his companies within the online gambling and fintech arenas, in addition to his real estate ventures. An ExpressVPN consultant informed us that “Kape’s manufacturers proceed to function independently,” and our investigation bore that out — we could not discover any proof that Kape or Sagi have immediately tried to affect ExpressVPN’s software program or every day operations.

Nearer to the fast day-to-day operations of ExpressVPN was the corporate’s employment of Daniel Gericke as CTO from 2019 by way of 2023. Throughout that point, the US Justice Division introduced it had fined Gericke and two others for his or her earlier employment on a surveillance operation referred to as Mission Raven, which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used to spy by itself residents.

The revelation prompted a public response from ExpressVPN defending its decision to hire Gericke, arguing that “[t]he greatest goalkeepers are those skilled by one of the best strikers.” ExpressVPN’s consultant confirmed that the corporate nonetheless stands by that linked assertion.

Gericke parted methods with ExpressVPN in October 2023, per his LinkedIn profile. Whereas we do not know what we do not know, we will say that ExpressVPN has not notably modified its public-facing safety and privateness insurance policies throughout the time it has been related to Kape, Sagi, or Gericke.

In the long run, how a lot ExpressVPN’s historical past issues to you is a private alternative. If you happen to object to any present or previous actions by Kape Applied sciences or Teddy Sagi, there are different premium VPN choices you may want. If you happen to want extra info to make up your thoughts, we suggest studying by way of CNET’s 2022 deep dive on ExpressVPN’s corporate history.

Remaining verdict

ExpressVPN is the VPN we most frequently suggest to newbies. It takes zero coaching to make use of, and persistently will get previous filters on streaming websites. It additionally runs within the background with just about no impression. If something is definitely worth the excessive worth of admission, it is the wonderful speeds distributed evenly throughout the worldwide server community.

Nonetheless, for sure particular circumstances, ExpressVPN will not be the only option. There is no approach to arrange your personal server places, like NordVPN provides, and no double VPN connections, like you may construct for your self on Surfshark. Its company background is extra suspect than the entities backing Proton VPN, and in contrast to Mullvad, ExpressVPN would not work in China — it is so well-known that the federal government targets its servers particularly.

We recommend going with ExpressVPN for basic on-line privateness, for spoofing places in your house nation whereas touring, or when you repeatedly have to unblock websites in different nations. That encompasses 19 of each 20 customers, which is ok by us, as ExpressVPN is a good service. It is simply extra of a dependable previous screwdriver than a multi-tool.