ExpressVPN and NordVPN are both leading names in the VPN industry and they are regularly featured in lists that focus on the best providers available. These popular VPN services are known for their high quality, but there is one that gets ahead in terms of speed, security and value for money. We will go through the features and advantages that they offer, but if you are trying to choose one of them, we can tell you that there is one winner that deserves your consideration. While they are both great options, we have to say from the start that ExpressVPN wins the competition due to its incredible speed and advanced security features. But before you make a decision, check our complete comparison between ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
Overview
ExpressVPN offers excellent software (desktop and mobile apps). The ease of use and high quality of the apps help this provider to stand apart from the competition. One of the highlights of ExpressVPN is the amazing speeds that it offers. Its performance is fantastic. They don’t keep logs of your activities and offer advanced features like split tunneling. They have a 30-day money-back guarantee and the customer supported can be contacted any time of the day via live chat. They are based in the British Virgin Islands and allow up to 3 connections at the same time. The protocols supported are PPTP, OpenVPN, IPSec/L2TP. In addition, ExpressVPN is one of the few services that can overcome Netflix’s restrictions.
NordVPN is based in Panama and they allow up to 6 simultaneous connections. Like ExpressVPN, NordVPN has easy to use apps and a 30 day money-back guarantee. They also offer 24/7 live chat support and will help you to get around the geographical restrictions imposed by Netflix. What sets them apart is the use of double-hop VPN servers, which offer stronger protection for your data. NordVPN doesn’t keep logs and it is one of the most reliable options to keep your privacy protected.
Speeds
Although in general, VPNs tend to slow down your connection due to the encryption that is applied to your data, the best VPN services are capable of offering a service that is fast enough to allow you to stream content or play online games. ExpressVPN takes the lead in this category and it offers impressive performance. While ExpressVPN is more expensive than NordVPN, it offers amazing results in terms of speed. NordVPN has managed to improve its performance over the years, but ExpressVPN is still the winner since it can pretty much max out your connection speed. While the speeds may vary slightly depending on your location and the server you connect to, overall, ExpressVPN is consistently fast and reliable.
NordVPN has boosted its speeds thanks to the addition of more servers. However, there are still some servers that are not very fast. You may need to switch between servers quite often in order to find one that offers the speed you want. There is no consistency as some servers are fast, while others fail to deliver good speeds. Unfortunately, some users will be disappointed with the speeds of the servers in Canada and the United States. ExpressVPN offers consistency, but with NordVPN some servers are quite fast, while others are rather slow.
Reliability
ExpressVPN is the winner in this category as well. With NordVPN, you may come across error messages and connection issues when you try to access certain servers. It is not a common problem, but it is something to keep in mind. On the other hand, ExpressVPN’s server network and apps work well and you are unlikely to experience errors or come across bugs.
Features
ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer good features, but NordVPN supports more options. ExpressVPN stands apart thanks to its split tunneling features that allows you to route some apps through VPN, while the rest of the traffic uses your standard internet connection. ExpressVPN also supports DNS to protect you against DNS leaks. In addition, it offers obfuscation features that allow you to bypass restrictions. ExpressVPN also works well with a variety of streaming solutions including BBC iPlayer and Netflix, which are known for imposing challenging blocks.
While NordVPN offers a larger selection of features, some of them don’t work as well as expected. For instance, the Tor over VPN features, which is set to offer a higher level of protection, can be unbearably slow. The double-VPN servers offer better performance, although their speed is not the best. Apart from the Tor over VPN and double-VPN features, NordVPN offers ad-blocking, although you would be better off getting a different ad blocker as the one NordVPN offers is not effect against some malware and ads. In spite of the issues with some of the features, NordVPN wins in this category, simply due to the fact that it offers more options.
Security
Security is one of the most important aspects of a VPN service. Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer strong protection for your data and the two of them feature a kill switch. However, they don’t work in the same way. NordVPN offers an app kill switch and a firewall kill switch with OpenVPN Windows app and the IKEv2 Mac OS app. The issues is that the OpenVPN for Mac only works as an app kill switch, meaning that your traffic is not being blocked via the firewall in case the connection drops. This could leave your IP address exposed to third parties. On the other hand, ExpressVPN comes with a kill switch for all leading platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux and routers. The kill switch can be easily set up on mobile devices and it will protect you from DNS leaks even when you switch network interfaces, like going from ethernet cable to WiFi while the VPN is running.
Pricing
ExpressVPN may be more expensive than NordVPN, but in the end, both providers offer good value for money. Currently, ExpressVPN’s yearly plan costs $99.95, which means that the price per month is $8.32. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so in case you are not entirely happy with the service, you can get a refund. NordVPN’s yearly plan costs $83.88, which makes the monthly price $6.99. They also offer a 30 day money-back guarantee, but some users have reported that before a refund is issued, it is necessary to go through a troubleshooting process, unlike ExpressVPN, which will give you your money back without asking questions.
NordVPN is cheaper and it offers more simultaneous connections, as well as more servers. However, as previously mentioned, not all servers offer fast performance. ExpressVPN may be more expensive, but all the features work well and the performance is fantastic. You can enjoy fast and consistent performance with ExpressVPN, as well as high quality software and advanced technology that will allow you to overcome restrictions. Both services support Bitcoin as method of payment.
Conclusion
ExpressVPN is the winner in most categories, but that doesn’t mean that NordVPN is not a good choice. These two providers offer strong security and will allow you to bypass restrictions. They don’t keep logs and are based in locations that are far from the reach of surveillance alliances and spying organizations. Both VPNs are recommended and since they offer 30 day money-back guarantees so you can test them to find out which is the best option for you.