ExpressVPN Review 2024: Safe & Fast, But Is It Still Worth It?
- Our Score: 9.9/10
- Best for Torrent & Streaming
ExpressVPN is one of the most popular and trusted names in the industry. It’s known for being one of the safest, fastest VPNs around, so I wanted to see if it can live up to these claims. It’s not the cheapest VPN, but it often offers discounts that make it a better value for the money. Other decent VPNs offer similar security features for much cheaper. So, do you really need to pay that much for a VPN as good as ExpressVPN?
To find the answer, I performed extensive tests on desktop and mobile devices running Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. I tested its speeds while gaming, streaming, and torrenting. I also explored its security features, device compatibility, and its own Lightway protocol. To see if it’s still trustworthy, I dove into its privacy policy, independent audits, and company history.
My conclusion: ExpressVPN is tough to beat in almost every way. It’s definitely worth the price. It is one of the fastest VPNs I’ve ever tested, is incredibly easy to use, and has powerful security features. Plus, it’s one of the best VPNs for streaming securely, and it has the best VPN router app I’ve tried. There’s a money-back guarantee too, so you can test out all of ExpressVPN’s features risk-free. You have 30 days to get a refund if it’s not for you.
ExpressVPN Features — 2024 Update
| Price | 6.67 USD/month |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 Days |
| Does VPN keep logs? | No |
| Number of servers | 3000+ |
| Number of devices per license | 8 |
| Kill switch | Yes |
| Support | 24/7 Live Chat Support |
Confidentiality / Anonymity
According to its privacy protection page, ExpressVPN states that it “… does not collect logs of your activities, including browsing history, traffic destination, data content, or DNS queries. We also never store connection logs, connection timestamps, or session duration.”
They claim not to sell your personal information to third parties. Personal information such as your email address and payment data is only collected to create and maintain your account. Additionally, there is no need to worry about your data being hacked, as they utilize highly advanced features such as Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), VPN split tunneling, AES 256-bit encryption, and much more.
Speed and Reliability
As you’ve probably noticed by now, ExpressVPN proves to be a very effective tool, but the question remains: is it really fast? We don’t blindly trust the evaluations of our peers, so we undertook our own tests. We started with a base download speed of 95 Mbps, and after connecting to a server in the United States, our speed dropped to 85 Mbps. This means a speed loss of only around 10%! This is truly impressive considering that the average speed loss when using a VPN is between 40 and 60%. We then connected to a server in Australia and achieved a result of 59 Mbps. This means that even when connecting to a server on the other side of the world, our speed only slowed down by a total of 37%.
Platforms and Devices
With a single subscription, you are entitled to five simultaneous connections, regardless of the platforms chosen. ExpressVPN is also compatible with a wide range of devices, including Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux, routers, Chromebook, Kindle Fire, and Nook. It will also work on gaming consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. ExpressVPN also supports Chrome and Firefox extensions. Since last year, all applications and extensions are now available in over a dozen languages.
Server Locations
At the time of writing this report, ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers in 160 VPN server locations in 105 countries. This means they cover almost every continent, except Antarctica.
Customer Service
Customer support is probably one of ExpressVPN’s strongest points, with its 24/7 live chat feature and a set of video tutorials that you can watch directly on the help page or on its own YouTube channel. The most remarkable thing is that the support representatives are experts who can help you resolve any technical issues you encounter. Another way to contact support is by sending an email or submitting a support ticket.
Pricing
All ExpressVPN plans are covered by their unconditional 100% money-back guarantee. This means that if you are not satisfied for any reason and are still within the first 30 days of service, you can simply contact support and get a full refund. Their monthly plan is priced at €11.99, while their semi-annual plan costs about €8.99 per month. If you choose to sign up for a longer period, the savings can be significant. By paying in advance for a year, the monthly fee drops to just €7.99 per month.