Quick speeds and a low studying curve

ExpressVPN is nice at its job. It is easy 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 stable safety, the 2 finest issues ExpressVPN gives are quick speeds and a easy interface. Our checks confirmed solely a 7% common drop in obtain velocity and a 2% lack of add velocity, worldwide. And whereas the shortage 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 — but it surely beats most VPNs in a head-to-head matchup.

For this evaluate, we adopted our rigorous 10-step VPN testing course of, exploring ExpressVPN’s safety, privateness, velocity, interfaces and extra. Whether or not you learn straight by means of or skip to the sections which might be most essential for you, it is best to come away with all the data it’s worthwhile to resolve whether or not to subscribe.

Editor’s word (9/25/25): We have overhauled our VPN protection to offer extra detailed, actionable shopping for recommendation. Going ahead, we’ll proceed to replace each our best VPN list and particular person critiques (like this one) as circumstances change. Most not too long ago, we added official scores to all of our VPN critiques. Try how we test VPNs to study extra concerning the new requirements we’re utilizing.

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 foremost platforms the place it is obtainable. 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 modifications, await 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 you 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 “Good Location” is the server with one of the best mixture of being close by and unburdened.

Every thing else is crammed into the hamburger menu on the prime left. Right here, in seven tabs, you may discover the Community Lock kill swap, the 4 forms of content material blockers, the cut up tunneling menu and the choice to alter your VPN protocol. It’s also possible to add shortcuts to varied web sites, helpful in the event you usually use your VPN for a similar on-line locations.

To sum up, there’s nearly nothing right here to get in the way in which: no delays, no snags, no nested menus to get misplaced in. It might 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 similar 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 straight from the expressvpn.com obtain middle. Only some 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 depart it blocked always. Nearly each web site remains to be accessible by way of IPv4, but it surely’s helpful in the event you do must entry a selected IPv6 tackle whereas the VPN is energetic.

Android

Android customers can obtain ExpressVPN by means 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 a listing of places. On this listing, you may both search or scroll and may select particular person places inside a rustic that has a couple of. We related to as many far-flung server places as we may, however not a single one took longer than just a few seconds.

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

There are additionally just a few common safety instruments: an IP tackle checker, DNS and WebRTC leak testers and a password generator. These are additionally obtainable on the web site, however right here, they’re constructed into the app. Aside from the latter, we might suggest utilizing third-party testing instruments as a substitute — even a VPN with integrity has an incentive to make its personal app appear to be it is working.

iPhone and iPad

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

The interface will not be fairly as pleasing because the dark-mode Android app, but it surely makes up for that by chopping out a few of the litter. The tabs and options are related, although cut up tunneling and shortcuts are absent. Additionally, each cell apps make buyer assist much more accessible than their desktop counterparts — plus, cell is the one solution to ship e-mail assist 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 velocity check: Very quick averages

Connecting to a VPN nearly at all times decreases your velocity, however one of the best VPNs mitigate the drop as a lot as doable. We used Ookla’s velocity testing app to see how a lot of your web velocity 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 machine and an internet server by means of the VPN. Latency will increase with distance. It is most essential for real-time duties like video chatting and on-line gaming.

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

• Add velocity, additionally measured in Mbps, is the quantity of knowledge your machine can ship to the net directly. It is most essential for torrenting, for the reason that quantity of information you may seed determines how briskly you may obtain in change.

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

These are extraordinarily good outcomes. ExpressVPN is a winner on each obtain and add velocity. Irrespective 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 consumer load between servers to get rid of bottlenecks.

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

ExpressVPN safety check: Checking for leaks

A VPN’s core mission is to cover your IP tackle and make you untraceable on-line. Our job 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 means of beneath have led us to consider that ExpressVPN is at present leak-proof.

Obtainable VPN protocols

A VPN protocol is sort of a widespread language {that a} VPN server can use to mediate between your units 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 provides you a collection of three protocols: IKEv2, OpenVPN and Lightway. The primary two are stable decisions that assist the most recent encryption algorithms. OpenVPN has been absolutely open-source for years and is the only option if privateness is your purpose. Whereas IKEv2 began life as a closed undertaking 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 much like WireGuard, in that each attain for quicker speeds and decrease processing calls for by conserving their codebases slim. Nonetheless, Lightway was not too long ago rewritten in Rust to raised defend the keys saved in its reminiscence.

Finally, you may’t go mistaken with any of ExpressVPN’s protocol choices. 99% of the time, your best option will probably be to set the controls to Automated and let the VPN resolve which runs finest.

Testing for leaks

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

First, we checked the Home windows app with cut 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 fastened the vulnerability.

The truth is, 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 commonest explanation for VPN leaks is the usage of public DNS servers to attach customers to web sites, which may mistakenly ship searching 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 widespread flaws can result in VPN leaks: WebRTC visitors and IPv6. The previous is a communication protocol utilized in dwell streaming and the latter is a brand new IP normal designed to increase area availability. Each are good, however at present optionally available, so ExpressVPN mechanically blocks each to make sure there is no 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 straight, 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 straight. Utilizing WireShark, a free packet sniffer, we inspected what it appears like when ExpressVPN transmits information from one in all its servers to the web. The screenshot beneath exhibits a knowledge 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 instances, at all times getting the identical end result. This left us happy that ExpressVPN’s core options are working as meant.

How a lot does ExpressVPN value?

ExpressVPN subscriptions value $12.95 per thirty days. Lengthy-term subscriptions can convey the month-to-month value down, however the nice offers they provide are likely to solely final for the primary billing interval.

A 12-month subscription prices $99.95 and contains three months at no cost together with your first cost, costing a complete of $6.67 per thirty days. The bonus disappears for all subsequent years, elevating the month-to-month value to $8.33. It’s also possible to 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 degree.

There are two methods to check ExpressVPN at no cost 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 stable sufficient that it is price paying additional. Maybe not this a lot additional, however that depends upon what you get out of it. We suggest utilizing the 30-day refund interval and seeing how nicely ExpressVPN works for you. If it is a VPN you may get pleasure from utilizing, that runs quick and unblocks every part you want, that is price a server’s weight in gold.

ExpressVPN aspect apps and bundles

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

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

Beginning in 2025, new subscribers get an eSIM plan by means of holiday.com, a separate service linked to ExpressVPN. The baseline 1GB vacation eSIM plans final for five days and may apply to international locations, areas, or all the world (although it is not clear whether or not the bundle deal applies to the regional and international plans). Longer-term plans embrace bigger eSIM plans.

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

In contrast to a lot of its rivals, ExpressVPN would not at present provide antivirus or on-line storage companies, however there’s a complete bundle of ID safety instruments known as Id Defender. We have not reviewed any of those merchandise intimately, however this is a listing 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 id theft reimbursement and comes free with new ExpressVPN one-year or two-year subscriptions. It is not but obtainable to those that subscribed earlier than it launched in October 2024.

• Knowledge Elimination scans on your info in information brokerages and mechanically requests that or not it’s deleted. It is also free with one-year and two-year plans.

• Credit score Scanner is simply obtainable 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 present solely obtainable to new ExpressVPN prospects 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 mother or father firm) will make the trade much less aggressive, we do not consider 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 aimed toward informal customers as a substitute of legal professionals. You can see it for yourself here.

Within the introduction, ExpressVPN states that it doesn’t preserve both exercise logs (resembling a consumer’s searching historical past whereas related to the VPN) or connection logs (such because the length of a consumer’s session and their IP tackle, which can be utilized to extrapolate searching exercise). It then specifies the seven forms of information it is legally allowed to gather:

• Knowledge used to enroll in an account, resembling 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 resembling crash experiences, that are solely shared upon consumer request.

• IP addresses approved for MediaStreamer, which is just for streaming units that do not in any other case assist VPN apps.

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

• Knowledge voluntarily submitted for id theft safety apps.

Of these seven exceptions, the one ones that rely as purple flags are account information and advertising and marketing information. Each classes are extremely private and could possibly be damaging if mishandled. Thankfully, complying with subpoenas will not 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 in the event you ask ExpressVPN to delete your private information, you will not have the ability to 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 machine fingerprints and placement information if 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 might be higher if ExpressVPN did not gather any private information in any respect, its practices do not seem to pose a threat to something you do whereas utilizing the VPN — simply the ExpressVPN web site.

Privateness audits

VPN suppliers usually get third-party accounting corporations to audit their privateness insurance policies. The concept is {that a} well-known agency will not mortgage its popularity to lie on behalf of a VPN, so their outcomes will 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 may belief its privateness coverage.

The report is freely available to read. It is a excellent signal, although we’re looking 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 don’t have any arduous drives for long-term storage and return to a regular disk picture with each reboot. This makes it theoretically inconceivable to retailer consumer exercise logs on them, even when ExpressVPN wished to try this.

The KPMG audit, linked above, experiences 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 really persuade web sites that you simply’re someplace apart from your actual location. Our safety checks have already confirmed it may possibly disguise your IP tackle, but it surely takes greater than leak-proofing to idiot streaming websites today — Netflix and the others have gotten excellent at combing by means 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 totally different servers and see if we get caught. We checked 5 pattern places outdoors the U.S. to see if we a) obtained into Netflix and b) noticed totally 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 concern.

All the opposite places obtained 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 totally 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 international locations and territories. These places are moderately nicely 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 International 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 stands out as the area most frequently shafted by VPNs.

Nonetheless, many of those servers have digital places totally different from their actual ones. For these of you selecting a server based mostly on efficiency as a substitute of a selected IP tackle, ExpressVPN’s web site has a useful listing of which servers are digital. The unhealthy information is that it is a huge chunk of the listing. A complete of 63 ExpressVPN places are digital, or 38% of its total community.

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

Further options of ExpressVPN

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 in all probability disappoint energy customers. Having stated that, what they do embrace works nicely. On this part, we’ll run by means of ExpressVPN’s 4 substantial options outdoors its VPN servers themselves.

Community Lock kill swap

“Community Lock” is the title ExpressVPN provides to its kill swap (although it is known as “Community Safety” on cell). A VPN kill swap is a security characteristic that retains you from broadcasting outdoors the VPN tunnel. If it ever detects that you simply aren’t related to a professional ExpressVPN server, it cuts off your web entry. You will not have the ability to 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 visitors. The not too long ago found TunnelVision bug theoretically permits hackers to arrange pretend public wi-fi networks by means of which they redirect you to equally pretend VPN servers, which then harvest your private info. It is unlikely, however not inconceivable, and a kill swap is the easiest way 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. It’s also possible to toggle whether or not you may nonetheless have the ability to entry native units 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 a listing of internet sites recognized 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 in depth and open-source, they depend on after-the-fact reporting and may’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 part on the listing, uncheck it to permit every part by means 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 a listing of porn websites. It is a simple possibility for involved dad and mom, however solely works whereas ExpressVPN is related. As such, it is meant for use together with 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 machine getting on-line by means of two totally different IP addresses directly — one on your house companies and one for a location you are making an attempt to spoof. That is the place cut up tunneling is useful: it runs some apps by means of the VPN whereas leaving others unprotected. This may additionally enhance your speeds, for the reason that VPN must encrypt much less in whole.

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

ExpressVPN Aircove router

By now, it needs to be clear that we discover ExpressVPN to be a extremely dependable however usually unexceptional VPN service. Nonetheless, there’s one space through which it is a clear trade chief: VPN routers. ExpressVPN Aircove is, to our information, the one router with a built-in industrial 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, against this, will probably be immediately acquainted to anybody who already is aware of how you can use an ExpressVPN consumer. It even permits totally different units in your house to hook up with totally different places by means of the router VPN.

Aircove’s largest disadvantage 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 would possibly nonetheless discover the comfort well worth the one-time cost.

ExpressVPN buyer assist choices

ExpressVPN’s written assist pages are a few of the finest available on the market. Its dwell chat is extra of a blended bag, and sophisticated questions could trigger delays. Nonetheless, it’s not less than staffed with human brokers who purpose to answer precisely, reasonably than resolve your ticket as rapidly as doable.

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

Our first cease was expressvpn.com/assist, the written assist 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 wonderful, together with screenshots and clearly written steps; each features a video information for many 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 common issues, then delves into particular points you would possibly face on every working system. Every article clearly derives from an actual buyer want.

The dwell assist expertise

To get solutions on our refund query, we visited the account administration FAQs. This part acknowledged 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.

Dwell chat begins with an AI assistant, which isn’t too arduous to get previous — simply ask it a query it may possibly’t reply, then click on “Switch to an Agent.” We obtained 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 e-mail assist ticket. Annoyingly, there is no solution to go on to e-mail assist by means of the web site or desktop apps, although cell customers have the choice to skip straight 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 file 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 atmosphere for on-line privateness. The BVIs don’t have any legislation requiring companies to retain information on their customers, and the method for extraditing information is famously tough, requiring a direct order from the very best court docket.

In 2021, the BVI implemented the Data Protection Act (DPA) [PDF link], which prevents corporations based mostly within the territory from accessing information on their customers anyplace on the earth. It is an important privateness legislation in principle, modeled on best-in-class laws within the EU. Nonetheless, we could not discover any proof that its supervising authority — the Workplace of the Info Commissioner — has a pacesetter or employees.

In different phrases, whereas ExpressVPN will not 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 depends upon whether or not you belief the corporate itself. Let’s examine what the opposite proof says.

Safety and privateness incidents

Two vital 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 analyze, 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, pretend something, or collude with investigators. The Turkey incident remains to be the most effective 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 searching exercise was usually going on to their ISP, unmasked.

The bug solely impacted just a few customers, and to their credit score, ExpressVPN sprang into motion as quickly as they realized about it. The group 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 observed the bug earlier than they did.

Kape Applied sciences possession and administration questions

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

When reached for remark, a consultant for ExpressVPN stated that “ExpressVPN doesn’t straight interact 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 understanding 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 may see he did prison time in Israel and was mentioned in the Pandora Papers, amongst different issues. Extra not too long ago, headlines concerning the billionaire have centered extra his companies within the online gambling and fintech arenas, in addition to his real estate ventures. An ExpressVPN consultant instructed 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 straight tried to affect ExpressVPN’s software program or each 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 means 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 known 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 finest 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 are able to 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.

Ultimately, how a lot ExpressVPN’s historical past issues to you is a private alternative. Should you object to any present or previous actions by Kape Applied sciences or Teddy Sagi, there are different premium VPN choices you would possibly favor. Should you want extra info to make up your thoughts, we suggest studying by means of CNET’s 2022 deep dive on ExpressVPN’s corporate history.

Closing 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 nearly no impression. If something is well worth the excessive worth of admission, it is the wonderful speeds distributed evenly throughout the worldwide server community.

Nonetheless, for sure particular instances, ExpressVPN is probably not the only option. There is not any solution to arrange your individual server places, like NordVPN gives, 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 advise going with ExpressVPN for common on-line privateness, for spoofing places in your house nation whereas touring, or in the event you usually must unblock websites in different international locations. That encompasses 19 of each 20 customers, which is ok by us, as ExpressVPN is a superb service. It is simply extra of a dependable outdated screwdriver than a multi-tool.