ExpressVPN Review

ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs on the market, without a doubt. It’s very capable of delivering amazing experiences over time. It is based in the British Virgin Islands – a destination that is considered a privacy haven. For many, it’s even safer than Switzerland.

The VPN provider has over 3,000 servers which are well distributed worldwide. Like Surfshark, you can connect from over 90 countries globally. The servers are all RAM-based, meaning no data is stored. The no-logs policy is strictly followed, and so far, there aren’t any leaks. What’s more, there are 3rd party companies that audit ExpressVPN to find security flaws.

From our experience, ExpressVPN ranks among the top VPNs right now. While we could have enjoyed smaller fees and more simultaneous connections, there aren’t many things that can stop you from purchasing ExpressVPN as your next (or first) VPN provider.

Customer Experience

Every Time4VPN review starts with the customer experience since we believe that’s what matters the most when looking for the best VPN. ExpressVPN ranks very high in Trustpilot – it has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 11,000 reviews.

We decided to run a check through the reviews and identify patterns. It’s very good news that the majority of the reviews over the last few weeks are positive. However, many 5-star ExpressVPN reviews are written by first-time reviews, which indicates that not all reviews might be genuine. You should bear that in mind.

Some of the negative reviews are also suspicious (we can’t rule out black hat marketing). However, we didn’t like the fact that ExpressVPN’s team was not transparent over the problem resolution. We’d appreciate seeing more detailed responses and fewer canned messages.

There is an email and 24/7 live chat support, which is quite helpful. The documentation is also very resourceful.

Usability

ExpressVPN is available on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The BVI-based service provider has a very intuitive user experience on its Windows app. In fact, you can switch on/off ExpressVPN with a single click, and you can pick between smart locations, recommended locations, and all servers. Consider picking a smart location if you have no idea which country you want to log from.

Recommended servers and the other servers. The recommendations are based on your location, and you’ll get the best speeds when using them. The experience is similar on Mac OS, with the only exception you don’t get a Safari extension.

There is a very raw user interface for Linux users, which isn’t a big problem if you’re used to working with the OS. ExpressVPN works well on iOS and Android. The iOS app is very lightweight and intuitive, and the Android version follows suit.

It’s unfortunate you can’t access split tunneling on iOS. Another thing we didn’t particularly like about ExpressVPN is the number of simultaneous connections – only 5. In comparison, Surfshark and IPVanish have unlimited devices, and PrivateVPN, PIA, and ProtonVPN all offer twice as much as ExpressVPN.

Price

ExpressVPN price is quite steep, and it is undoubtedly the least attractive option for bargain hunters. Neither of the three plans is even close to the cheapest ones on the market (Surfshark and PrivateVPN come to mind).

With that being said, if you subscribe to a longer plan, though, the prices will drop significantly. There are three plans, as we stated – a monthly plan which is the most expensive – $12.95 per month, $9.99 per month on a half-year subscription, and if you get get the annual plan, you’ll have to pay $6.67 per month (or ~$80).

ExpressVPN doesn’t offer a free trial, but it comes with a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. For month-to-month subscription users, we can see that cheaper solutions like Cyberghost, Surfshark, and NordVPN are actually priced similarly, so the value-for-money factor vanishes a bit.

What we didn’t like about ExpressVPN is that you can only connect five devices simultaneously, which is the least we found in all our offerings. The industry standard is moving to 10, and some VPNs even go the distance and provide users with unlimited devices.

Security features

ExpressVPN is one of the most vigorously tested VPN providers globally. It has been audited by 3rd parties (such as Cure53). And the results are great.

When we see the features, it’s safe to say that it has almost anything you’ll ever need – standard AES-256 encryption, DNS leak blocking, IPv6 leak blocking, a kill switch, Smart DNS, and split tunneling.

ExpressVPN is the owner of its servers, which means your data is never at risk of 3rd party exposure (unlike VPNs with rented servers.)

By default, users connect to Lightway – ExpressVPN’s proprietary protocol, which grants higher speeds than OpenVPN. It is even open source.

Last but not least – there is split tunneling, even though it doesn’t support Apple devices (Mac OS and iOS.)

Streaming

ExpressVPN is a popular name in the VPN streaming world, and it is no surprise that it ranks among the best options on the market in this particular area. ExpressVPN for Netflix works great, and it unlocks many libraries, including Netflix US, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, etc.

On top of that, you can stream your favorite content from Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. We have to warn you that the latter is a bit troublesome for ExpressVPN, though.

You can also watch YouTube TV. However, we encountered some channels that detect ExpressVPN and block watching content. The good news is that you can utilize Smart DNS, which works perfectly on TVs.

While streaming, the speeds were consistently great, and we had no issues streaming Full HD and 4K content without buffering.

Torrenting

ExpressVPN torrenting capabilities are fine. Thanks to the AES-256 encryption and high speeds, you can download files without any issues. While the connection drops sometimes, you will never get leaked, thanks to the kill switch.

On top of that, having ownership over its servers (which are also RAM-based) guarantees your privacy when downloading from P2P torrent clients.

While we have to say it’s okay for the most part, ExpressVPN for torrenting isn’t perfect. There are no dedicated ExpressVPN P2P servers (unlike many other VPN providers), and ExpressvpN lacks port forwarding, which is crucial for seeding.

If you wish to seed, then consider Private Internet Access (PIA) or PrivateVPN.

Speeds

ExpressVPN speed is one of the highest on the market. The average speed loss on local servers was in the range of 5-12% from a couple of tests we made which is a very satisfactory number.

Considering the number of servers (over 3,000) and ExpressVPN’s country distribution, we were amazed by the consistent results this fast VPN provider scored when connecting to a farther location.

You can connect to any server in the world, from any place in the world, and you will barely lose 30-35% of your max speed which is superior to many of the top VPNs, including Surfshark and Cyberghost.

While ExpressVPN’s local speeds disappointed a bit (we expected a bit more), the cross-border speeds stunned us. We can safely say ExpressVPN is a great gaming VPN, and if you live in a remote country, it can grant you access to popular US websites without an issue.

Verdict

ExpressVPN continues to be one of the premier VPN providers in the industry. With over 3000 high-speed servers in 94 countries, robust encryption standards, and lightning-fast connection speeds, it’s perfect for opening streaming platforms, gaming, and safe browsing. And if you don’t mind spending some extra bucks and have less than five devices to connect, ExpressVPN can serve you more than well.