ExpressVPN was established in 2009 and is registered in the British Virgin Islands with its headquarters in Hong Kong. It's owned by Kape Technologies, the parent company of Private Internet Access and CyberGhost, two other large VPN providers. ExpressVPN has wide application support, servers in over 100 countries, and additional features like ad and tracker blocking, parental controls, and a dedicated IP address for an extra fee.
Our Verdict
While ExpressVPN allows you to download torrents without a data limit, it leaks some DNS queries, so non-ExpressVPN DNS providers can see your IP address and some of the URLs you connect to. Thankfully, however, its kill switch works properly, so your traffic won't leak if you reboot your system or the VPN client crashes. While it requires you to register with an email address, you don't need to provide a password as you can use email sign-in links, and you can pay with Bitcoin for better anonymity.
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Accepts Bitcoin.
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Functional kill switch.
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Leaks DNS queries.
ExpressVPN leaks DNS queries, meaning that non-ExpressVPN DNS providers can see your personal IP address and some of the URLs you connect to. That said, the kill switch works properly, preventing your device from connecting to the internet in case your VPN crashes or your system reboots. Also, it doesn't leave you exposed to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Functional kill switch.
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Leaks DNS queries.
ExpressVPN has consistently slow download and upload speeds and mediocre latency. It's fine for everyday browsing, but it takes some time to download large files.
Changelog
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
ExpressVPN only has one tier and no other variants. You can purchase a dedicated IP address for an additional monthly fee.
Compared To Other VPNs
ExpressVPN has worse security than most competing VPNs since it leaks DNS queries. This is a serious security vulnerability because non-ExpressVPN DNS providers could see your IP address and which sites you connect to. That said, along with Perfect Privacy, Express was one of the only VPNs we tested that has a function kill switch.
Like Private Internet Access, another VPN that we tested, ExpressVPN is also owned by Kape Technologies, which privacy-minded users tend to criticize due to controversies about ad injection from its past. If that's a concern for you, consider other VPNs we've tested, but know that even VPN providers with a squeaky-clean record aren't infallible. Check out our article about VPN privacy for more details.
To see which services we recommend, check out our article on the best VPNs.
Test Results
You can pay for this VPN with Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit card, PayPal, and Bitcoin via Bitpay.
ExpressVPN sometimes sends system DNS queries to the default DNS provider instead of going through the VPN tunnel, exposing those queries. This matters if you want to keep which websites and services you connect to hidden from your ISP or your third-party DNS provider.
Unlike most VPNs we've tested, the kill switch works properly, so it'll prevent unencrypted traffic from leaving your system after a software crash or reboot.
Like most VPN services, this VPN doesn't implement BGP properly.
This VPN has consistently slow download speeds. While downloading large files might take a while, the speeds are fine for normal internet use.
This VPN has consistently slow upload speeds, so uploading files won't be fast, but it's suitable for regular internet use.
This VPN delivers decent latency performance on average. It's mostly consistent despite a few occasional latency spikes that could disrupt latency-sensitive applications like video calls or online games.
This VPN's native Linux app supports Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Raspberry Pi OS Buster, Mint, and Arch. You can also configure it manually.
It's also available on various platforms, including iOS, Android, smart TVs, and as Chrome and Firefox extensions. You can also install it on your router, so all your network traffic goes through the VPN.
ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol is open source.
