ExpressVPN Review: The Premium Standard That Unblocks Almost Everything
ExpressVPN has long been the benchmark other VPNs are measured against: 3,000+ servers in 105 countries, rock-solid streaming unblocking and extras like split tunneling, malware blocking and a password manager.
Table of contents
- ExpressVPN's reputation — earned or inherited?
- Pricing — the premium question
- Server network: 105 countries
- Speed tests
- Streaming: what we managed to unblock
- Security: encryption, protocols, Network Lock
- No-logs policy and audits
- Extras: split tunneling, malware blocking, password manager
- Apps and devices
- Pros and cons
- Verdict: when paying more makes sense
- Try it yourself
Every market has its premium brand, and in VPNs that's ExpressVPN. It costs more than nearly everything else in our ranking — so the question this review answers is simple: what exactly are you paying for, and is it worth it?
ExpressVPN's reputation — earned or inherited?
Mostly earned. In weeks of testing we had fewer connection failures, fewer blocked streaming sessions and fewer "why isn't this working" moments than with any other service. ExpressVPN's engineering shows in the things that don't happen. Whether that reliability premium is worth roughly 1.5–2× the price of PIA or Surfshark depends on how much you value never having to think about your VPN.
Pricing — the premium question
| Plan | Price per month |
|---|---|
| Monthly | $12.95 |
| 24 months + 4 free | $3.49 |
$3.49/month on the long-term plan is the most you'll pay among our top picks. You do get extras bundled in — a password manager (ExpressVPN Keys) and ad/tracker/malware blocking — which softens the comparison if you'd otherwise pay for those separately. 30-day money-back guarantee, honoured promptly in our experience.
Server network: 105 countries
3,000+ servers is numerically modest next to PIA's 35,000, but coverage is what counts here: 105 countries, with consistently well-maintained capacity. ExpressVPN runs all servers in RAM (TrustedServer) — nothing is ever written to disk, so a seized or rebooted server holds nothing.
Speed tests
Using the in-house Lightway protocol on a 500 Mbps line:
- Nearby (Frankfurt): ~440 Mbps down, ping 12 ms
- US East: ~340 Mbps down, ping 95 ms
What stood out wasn't peak speed but consistency — repeat tests at different hours stayed within a narrow band, where cheaper rivals fluctuated.
Streaming: what we managed to unblock
Almost everything: Netflix (US, UK, JP), Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video. ExpressVPN remains the most reliable streaming unblocker we've tested — sessions survived for hours without mid-stream proxy errors, and we never needed to hop more than one server.
Security: encryption, protocols, Network Lock
AES-256 encryption, Lightway and OpenVPN protocols, and the Network Lock kill switch which blocked all traffic instantly whenever we forcibly dropped the tunnel. DNS leak protection runs every request through ExpressVPN's own encrypted DNS. All leak tests came back clean.
No-logs policy and audits
The no-logs policy has been audited repeatedly (KPMG, Cure53 among others), and the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction sits outside intelligence-sharing alliances. The TrustedServer RAM-only architecture is the strongest technical enforcement of "no logs" in this ranking.
Extras: split tunneling, malware blocking, password manager
Split tunneling lets chosen apps bypass the VPN (your bank's paranoid app, for instance). The threat manager blocks ads, trackers and malicious domains at the VPN level. ExpressVPN Keys is a genuinely usable password manager included free. One annoyance: the browser extension doesn't run a browser-only proxy — it activates the system-wide VPN.
Apps and devices
Native apps for everything including routers and Apple TV — the router app is the easiest whole-home VPN setup we've seen. 8 simultaneous connections. Protocol tinkerers note: you choose between Lightway and OpenVPN automatic selection; WireGuard isn't offered.
Pros and cons
Pros: best-in-class streaming unblocking · very consistent speeds · RAM-only servers, audited no-logs · polished apps incl. router & Apple TV · bundled password manager and malware blocking
Cons: priciest of our picks · extension activates system-wide VPN · limited protocol choice · 8-device cap
Verdict: when paying more makes sense
Pay for ExpressVPN if streaming reliability and zero-maintenance operation matter more to you than the absolute lowest price — it's the VPN that most consistently just works. If budget rules, PIA or Surfshark deliver 90% of this for half the money.
Try it yourself
If you want a VPN that just works — everywhere — this is it. Try ExpressVPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
