¬¬There’s no denying that ExpressVPN is one of the frontrunners in the world of VPNs.
But is it really “the best” VPN? In this video, I'll be reviewing ExpressVPN,
focusing on all the most important aspects like features, streaming performance, security,
privacy, server distribution, and pricing. For each aspect, I'll award a score
on a scale of 1 to 5 based on how ExpressVPN fares in that category.
Alright, let's get to it. The first aspect I'll look at is the features.
ExpressVPN is packed with loads of features for your security and convenience, and that's
one of my favorite things about it. During my testing, the first feature that impressed me
was the built-in split tunneling, which lets you choose which programs and apps use the VPN
connection you've set up and which ones do not. I really like this feature because I do worry
about opening my banking apps while my VPN is active. But despite how nice the feature is,
I feel there's still room for improvement. For instance, I believe you should also be able to
use the feature for IP addresses and URLs. You know how sometimes
you only need a VPN for a certain website? For instance, I tried to book an apartment
in Toronto on Facebook marketplace a couple of days ago. But because I wasn't in Canada,
the algorithm brought results based on my current location. If ExpressVPN's split tunneling would
allow me to select just facebook.com, I'd just do that to enable me to find apartments available in
Toronto. Makes sense when you think about it. Another feature that impressed me was the
built-in network lock. This feature blocks your internet traffic whenever something interrupts
your VPN connection. No questions asked! It just does its thing, which really makes sense to me.
MediaStreamer is another outstanding feature that I should mention. It's simply designed to improve
your streaming experience. With this feature, you can stream media and bypass geo-restrictions on
devices that don't support VPN. What do you need to do? Well,
just change the DNS address of the device, and it will act as though it's using a VPN
when you connect to geo-restricted websites. I believe this only works with US libraries,
though, but aren't those the libraries everyone is always trying to unblock anyway?
ExpressVPN also comes with "shortcuts," which is especially useful for people who use their
VPNs with only some apps. Like me, for example. I only use my VPN with Netflix most of the time,
so I could just create a shortcut for Netflix with the Shortcut feature.
As soon as I connect the VPN, I'd just click on the Netflix shortcut below the "connected" icon.
It makes life just a little bit easier. Finally, I should add that ExpressVPN is
not perfect when it comes to features. It's not the most feature-rich VPN I've tested.
It's not even close. It's missing some important features like multi-hop connections, ad blocker,
dedicated IP addresses, and malware protection. Not to mention it allows just five simultaneous
connections, which I don’t think is good enough. So therefore I’m awarding ExpressVPN a score
of 4 out of 5 for its limited range of features compared to its rivals.
Now let's see how ExpressVPN performs when it comes to streaming.
Personally, my major reason for subscribing to VPN services is to unblock streaming content.
That's what I use it for 80 percent of the time, and I'm sure it's the same for most of you too.
ExpressVPN is transparent about its streaming capabilities, which I like. It's clearly stated on
its website which services work with ExpressVPN. In fact, I tested the service with all the
popular streaming sites during my test. Netflix, Disney+, iPlayer, and Prime Video. Netflix has
recently upgraded its geo-blocking measures, so it has become harder for most VPNs to bypass them
as easily as before. But not ExpressVPN. I was able to access every Netflix
library I wanted during my testing. But I'd like to warn you that it's not
uncommon for any VPN service to lose access to a streaming site it has previously had success with.
Streaming sites are also always finding new ways to tighten their blocks, so don't be too shocked
if ExpressVPN someday loses access as well. But the difference between leading VPN services
like ExpressVPN and smaller providers is the sheer amount of resources at their disposal.
If a streaming site blocks them today, they will most likely find another way around
the block tomorrow. It's a never-ending cycle! I can’t really fault ExpressVPN in this category,
so therefore I am giving it a perfect 5 out of 5 in this category.
Moving on, let's see how ExpressVPN fares when it comes to security.
Did you know that your traffic is encrypted every time you connect to a VPN server?
That means that your data traffic becomes unreadable to those with no encryption keys. The
alternative is to guess the possible encryption key by trying every possible combination.
Now, here’s where I'm going with this. ExpressVPN uses military-grade AES 256-bit encryption,
which means that a hacker would need to guess a 256-bit-sized key to read your
data. Now this is pretty much impossible, no matter how gifted you are as a hacker.
But that's not all. ExpressVPN also uses Perfect Forward Secrecy,
which means that each time you connect, you are given a new session key. And after that,
a new one is dished out every hour. This literally means that even if a particular
connection is somehow compromised, the hacker only has one hour before he's booted out again.
ExpressVPN also comes with multiple protocols. And while the app often chooses
the most suitable protocol for you, there's an option to choose one by yourself if you want.
I recommend using either OpenVPN or Lightway, which is the company's proprietary VPN protocol.
Lightway performed admirably in my security and speed tests. It consumes less battery power and
bandwidth than OpenVPN and other protocols. I'm not sure why that is, but I'd like to
believe it's because it has fewer lines of code. Did you also know that ExpressVPN has recently
made Lightway open-source? This literally allows any interested person to examine its code. I love
this transparency and truly believe this is how every VPN company should operate. It helps them
gain the trust of their consumers. Again, I'll award ExpressVPN
5 out of 5 due to its super-solid encryption. Next, let's take a look at their privacy policy.
Privacy is a make or break for any company responsible for keeping users' data, and I believe
ExpressVPN perfectly understands this well. While other VPN providers make flimsy promises and
unverifiable claims, ExpressVPN goes above and beyond to prove they can back their promises.
To see anything regarding their logging policy, you'll need to do some digging,
as I did. And to be honest, I wish they’d make the info a little easier to find.
On the 'What is VPN' page, ExpressVPN bares it all regarding their stance on privacy.
The company says, "we don't keep connection or activity logs, and we never share your details
with anyone." I don't think anything is more reassuring than those words. Of course, a simple,
clear no-logging statement is also on the page. You'll soon discover that ExpressVPN doesn't keep
track of your login time, the IP address assigned to you, your original IP address,
your data traffic, or any data regarding your activities. I should also mention that
ExpressVPN keeps some minimal logs, like the data of your connection, your choice of server,
the amount of data used, and some other inconsequential pieces of information.
I also wish they would refrain from keeping any logs whatsoever, but I also understand
that without the IP, browsing data, and time, it's not possible to use any of the information
collected to connect any action to any user. Another positive sign is that the company
is located in the British Virgin Islands, a privacy-friendly location. The British Virgin
Islands doesn't have laws that require companies to submit users' data to the US or UK. The country
is also not a member of any surveillance alliance like the 5 Eyes or the 14 Eyes.
Did you also know that ExpressVPN has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers?
I'm not allowed to quote from the report, but it's freely available for anyone to read. But
my takeaway from the report is, ExpressVPN is truly as clean as they claim. No questions!
My only worry is that it has just been acquired by Kape,
a company with a shady past. Whether ExpressVPN will operate independently or not remains to be
seen. It remains a concern, though, so I’ll put ExpressVPN under the microscope for now.
Overall, ExpressVPN’s privacy policy is pretty darn good, but its new owners’ history is
something to be wary of. So, therefore, I’m giving it 4 points out of 5 in this category.
Now I'm gonna talk about ExpressVPN's servers and network coverage.
When you pay for a VPN service, you are paying for many things,
including its fleet of servers. They're the machines that drive your web traffic,
and generally speaking, I think nothing beats having a diverse server distribution.
Apart from ensuring you always have one server nearby, it also gives you
wider options for location spoofing. Do you wanna watch a local TV station in the UK?
Or maybe you want to see a news channel in Saudi Arabia? This is only possible with a VPN
service that has a diverse server distribution. ExpressVPN performs decently in this regard.
The company has more than 3300 servers across 94 countries while offering the best balance of
virtual and hardware servers. In fact, there are no VPN services that cover as many countries as
ExpressVPN. The company even has servers in often overlooked regions like Africa and South America.
ExpressVPN is also a great option for people living in repressive countries like Vietnam,
Turkey, Iran, and China. The country reportedly has dozens of obfuscated servers – the reason why
I think it's an excellent option for countries where there are internet restrictions. The
obfuscated servers also make it suitable for sidestepping regional VPN blocks. And if your
college or university restricts the use of VPNs, ExpressVPN may be a great solution.
I think ExpressVPN could try to increase the number of its servers, though. I mean, some rivals
offer up to 6,000 servers, and ExpressVPN keeps falling farther behind in terms of server count.
Overall, I'm giving it 4 out of 5 in this category.
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Finally, let's talk about the pricing. ExpressVPN has a very simple pricing
structure. You can only choose from three plans – monthly, six months, and yearly.
Like every VPN provider, the one-month plan is the most expensive, costing $12.95. The monthly plan
is overpriced, in my opinion, especially as rivals offer cheaper plans. But to the company's credit,
it gets better as you climb up the pricing tiers. The six-month plan costs just $59.94,
which works out at only $9.99 per month. It's still relatively expensive, but
it's not as bad as the monthly plan. I feel the yearly plan gives the best
value for money, and I’m sure you won’t argue. The yearly plan costs just $99.95 per year,
which works out at only $8.32 per month. Again, that's still more expensive than what a rival
like Surfshark offers, but it's better. And the yearly plan even comes with a free additional
3-month plan, so you'll get 15 months in total. It’s worth noting that cheaper VPN providers
usually increase their prices upon renewal. And since ExpressVPN's pricing structure
is likely to remain the same for a long time, I feel it's not as bad as it might
initially look when you compare the prices. It's also worth adding that ExpressVPN offers
a variety of payment methods. Apart from the traditional options like credit cards and PayPal,
you can also make payments with Bitcoin, Money, AliPay, WebMoney, Yandex, and more.
I'm especially pleased to see that it supports Bitcoin as it makes it more difficult to trace
anything back to you. I think this might appeal to you if you're big on anonymity.
Another nice thing I like is that every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
So, you could take advantage of this if you are only trying to test the service. Wondering how
it works? Well, it's not a free trial, so you will still need to make payments. But if you
change your mind within the first 30 days, you are entitled to a refund – no questions asked!
The good news is: The Cyber Lab viewers can get a special 30% discount on ExpressVPN.
All you have to do is, click the link I have shared in the description section below this video
and this deal will be automatically activated. With all that said, ExpressVPN gets 4 out of 5
in the pricing category. Its pricing structure looks straightforward,
but its plans are a bit on the expensive side. Overall, ExpressVPN is a great VPN provider.
It’s pricey and not as rich in terms of features as some of its rivals but I believe
it more than compensates for them with great streaming performance,
solid security encryption, and wide network coverage.
Its new owners have a shady past, so there are some doubts regarding its privacy policy. But I
believe if ExpressVPN can provide proof of being independent from Kape Technologies,
then users will have nothing to worry about. Now it's over to you. What do you think
about ExpressVPN? Do you think it's good enough for your browsing needs?
Which areas do you think the service needs to improve on? Let us know in the comments section.
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