ExpressVPN did before the virtual private network (VPN) package in 2020 that offers great speeds and a reputation for reliability and security. The easy-to-use interface makes it a suitable choice for newbies just starting to learn about VPNs, and compatibility with multiple platforms adds to its value to a wide customer base. These factors more justify ExpressVPN's slightly above average pricing, starting at $ 6.67 per month.
We recommend ExpressVPN as an excellent choice for beginners and professionals alike. Learn more about How we review VPNs here.
Continue reading: The best VPN services for 2020
speed
- Average speed loss: 52% speed loss in Fall 2020 tests
- Number of servers: over 3,000
- Number of server locations: 160 in 94 countries (four in Hong Kong)
- Number of IP addresses: 30,000
I ran my ExpressVPN speed tests over a period of three days with both wireless and ethernet connections. Internet speeds in the United States vary widely by state and provider. For any speed test, the results depend on your local infrastructure. The hyper-fast internet service delivers higher speed results. This is one of the reasons we care more about the speed loss, which is typically half or more for most VPNs.
In the case of ExpressVPN, I was disappointed that the 2020 tests saw a 52% speed drop versus the unbeatable 2% speed drop in 2019. Make no mistake, ExpressVPN is still a speed demon. During my 2020 tests, my average speed without a VPN was 193 Mbps, and the global average speed of ExpressVPN was 93 Mbps. Top speeds averaging 122 Mbit / s between Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris were achieved on European connections.
Australian speeds outperformed Great Britain with an average of 101 Mbit / s and 86 Mbit / s respectively. However, Great Britain achieved the better individual high score between the two countries, peaking at 157 Mbit / s in a single test, compared to Australia's highest single-round score of 136 Mbit / s. Singapore's results were just three points ahead of the UK at 89 Mbps. In the US results, ExpressVPN's averages were lowered: the US speed averaged just 66 Mbit / s, although it reached up to 134 Mbit / s in a single test round.
After doubling down to check my gear and getting the same speed range on retest, my results were consistent with those of other websites whose automated speed tests I trust. I reached out to ExpressVPN to find out what was happening to the recent speed drops. The company looked into this and said that some of its internal tests showed speeds between 200 and 275 Mbps using the OpenVPN protocol - results well above my own.
"We believe one possible explanation is that there was network saturation between your ISP and our data center during the period you tested, which again should not be a typical result," said an ExpressVPN spokesman.
The company also said that speeds could be improved if it switched its OpenVPN infrastructure to Lightway, an internal protocol based on Wireguard that is currently under development.
Continue reading:: NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN: Speed, Security, and Price Compared
Security and privacy
- Jurisdiction: British Virgin Islands
- Encryption: AES-256, 4096-bit RSA key, Perfect Forward Secrecy
- No leaks detected
- Includes a kill switch
We think it's good that ExpressVPN is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, which is generally considered a privacy-friendly country due to a lack of monitoring sharing agreements with other countries. Although the British Virgin Islands is a territory of the United Kingdom, it is a separate jurisdiction from the United Kingdom with no data retention laws, the national high court of which has historically opposed inquiries from extranational business records.
The encryption is standard AES-256 and supports perfect forward secrecy. This means that the encryption keys are changed frequently to avoid security risks. The company offers a useful kill switch function that prevents network data outside of the secure VPN tunnel from being lost if the VPN connection fails.
ExpressVPN's lengthy privacy policy expressly opposes the keeping of logs to personally identify user data. As with almost any VPN, it collects maintenance-related data, including your choice of server location, total amount of data transferred, server connection time, and the app versions you have installed. You can choose to send the company's crash reports to help improve diagnostics.
One of the clearest ways a VPN provider can prove they are not keeping logs is to have their servers seized by the authorities. This is exactly what happened to ExpressVPN in 2017, when an investigation into the murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Korlov in 2016 prompted Turkish authorities to seize one of ExpressVPN's servers in order to look for logs of criminal conversations. Authorities went out of their way empty-handed, and since then ExpressVPN has had a reputation for not keeping logs.
In 2019, the company went into RAM disk mode, which means nothing is stored on hard drives. Not every VPN offers this. NordVPN, for example, only switched to full use of RAM disks as a security response after this year's breach. That said, around 3% of the ExpressVPN server fleet are virtual servers (which are often claimed to be less secure than physical machines), but according to the company, those virtual servers are only allowed to be used in countries where the network infrastructure is inadequate is supported, or those where hardware would be riskier, like in Turkey.
No IP address, DNS or other potentially user-identifying data leaks were detected during our tests. Nevertheless, we recommend a bit of caution here. Previously, the ProPrivacy auditors had found an IPv6 leak on MacOS and Windows during testing in 2019. This leak should come as no surprise, however. A technology built into most browsers called WebRTC that enables voice and video applications to run has been known to have problems with data leaks, even if you are using a VPN.
This type of leak can compromise your identity and location, but while it sounds complicated to the average user, it's easy to avoid. ExpressVPN's browser add-ons fill in most of the loopholes, and you can get them for free from the company's easy-to-use guide on how to disable WebRTC. You can also test for IPv6 leaks yourself independently of the ExpressVPN website by visiting a competing VPN (Private Internet Access) widely used IPv6 leak test for free (if you are fluent in the Internet we recommend classic standby mode, IPLeak).
Continue reading:: Norton Secure VPN vs. ExpressVPN: Security, Speed, and Price Compared
costs
The clean interface, easy-to-navigate server options, and one-click connection make ExpressVPN a welcome choice for VPN newbies. ExpressVPN has almost all of the configuration options you'll likely find in power-user VPNs, but it's miles friendlier for the privacy-conscious novice. ExpressVPN also offers 24/7 customer service support through live chat with an email option and a range of educational videos.
Setting up on desktop and mobile is a breeze. Not only does it work on most operating systems - desktop or mobile - but also on 10 media streaming consoles, nine brands of router, and even e-readers. ExpressVPN doesn't set any data limits, allows unlimited switching and torrenting of servers, and we had no issues accessing Netflix. However, unlike some of its competitors, you can only run five devices at a time with a single subscription.
The price is a little higher than many of its competitors, but we still believe it's worth it. ExpressVPN's best plan is $ 6.67 per month for an annual plan that includes three months of free. It offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay with credit card, PayPal or Bitcoin.
Continue reading:: IPVanish vs. ExpressVPN: Security, Speed, and Price Compared
