ExpressVPN Review 2023: Features, Pros, Cons, Pricing, Speed Test

ExpressVPN is one of the most trusted VPN providers on the market.

Whether you’re looking for a VPN to access streaming sites from anywhere, enhance your anonymity online, or unblock censored content, ExpressVPN is just what you need.

Join me as I take deep dive into everything ExpressVPN has to offer you.

I tested ExpressVPN across multiple platforms focusing on the VPN’s streaming, torrenting, gaming, and speed capabilities, I also take a look at their security and privacy claims. The results are quite surprising…

Features Review & Testing

Streaming & Unblocking

ExpressVPN is great at unblocking all your favorite streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer.

Netflix	Hulu	Amazon Prime	HBO Max	Crunchyroll	BBC iPlayer
Peacock	DStv	PlutoTV	IPTV	Crackle	SkyTV
ESPN+	ProSieben	Discovery+	AT&T TV	Zattoo	Apple TV+
Paramount	6Play	Kodi	Now TV	Channel4	Youtube
RaiPlay	CBC Gem	Rakuten Viki	ITV	SlingTV	UKTV
Globoplay	Vudu	Crave	Hotstar

Say 👋 goodbye to Geoblocks and be unstoppable with supreme VPN speeds with “No Buffering”. ExpressVPN unblocks every VPN service available and the count is still growing, here is the list of most watched streaming services unblocked by ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN with Netflix

If you want to watch movies and shows unavailable in your Netflix region, I seriously recommend using ExpressVPN. During my tests, I unblocked 22+ Netflix libraries while using ExpressVPN, a seriously impressive number.

Streaming speeds were super fast, even when watching in Ultra HD, and I encountered no lag or buffering. ExpressVPN provides unlimited bandwidth and prevents ISPs from throttling your data, so it’s no surprise I was able to stream without issue.

👉Check out our test if you need more proof that ExpressVPN works with Netflix.

ExpressVPN with Disney+ (Unblocked)

Some Disney+ shows like Marvel’s Hit Monkey are exclusive to the US. Thankfully, unblocks Disney+ so you can watch every movie and show on the service, even if it’s not available in your region.

+ Hotstar is another tough streaming service that relentlessly blocks VPNs, cracking this service is hard but not for ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN with BBC iPlayer (Unblocked)

Normally, BBC iPlayer is exclusive to the UK. With ExpressVPN, however, you can watch BBC iPlayer no matter where you are simply by connecting to one of ExpressVPN’s UK servers.

ExpressVPN with Amazon Prime (Unblocked)

Amazon Prime is pro at blocking VPNs. With ExpressVPN, however, I was able to avoid Amazon’s block and stream my favorite shows completely buffer-free. During my test, I unblocked the US, Canadian, and German versions of Amazon Prime. I did, however, have issues unblocking Amazon Prime in the UK. I contacted ExpressVPN’s customer support, who quickly responded to my query, informing me that “Amazon Prime uses your billing address” when judging which region to connect you to. Keep that in mind when you’re using ExpressVPN with Amazon Prime.

ExpressVPN with Hulu (Unblocked)

I was able to unblock Hulu and watch shows in HD quality without any buffering while using ExpressVPN. This is a big boost, as the majority of other VPNs struggle to unblock Hulu.

I used ExpressVPN’s USA- New York server for my test. The page loaded instantly and titles started playing preview videos after just 2 seconds. I got similarly impressive results with all of ExpressVPN’s US server locations, including USA – Seattle and USA – Los Angeles -2.

ExpressVPN with HBO Max (Unblocked)

I feel 🤗 happy that ExpressVPN unblocked HBO Max (it’s an amazing collection of premium entertainment). The shows loaded instantly and every US server I tried (Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles) work great.

Other Platforms:

ExpressVPN also unlocks Crunchyroll, ESPN, YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu, and many more (check the table at the top of this section for a full list). Just be aware that some platforms take longer to load than others (depending on your internet speed).

ExpressVPN with Kodi

If you don’t own any of the above streaming service subscriptions, Kodi is a great choice. If you’re unfamiliar with Kodi, it’s an open-source P2P streaming stool where you can watch movies, listen to music, play games, and organize photos.

ExpressVPN has Kodi Add-on, via which I was able to watch anime series from Dramacol and GogoAnime Add-ons. These add-ons were unavailable in my home country, but ExpressVPN let me change my virtual location, so I could grab these awesome ads. There are tons of add-ons available, and with ExpressVPN you can get unrestricted access to them all (Kodi is an open-source P2P streaming tool).

have any of the above streaming service subscriptions, you can still watch the content for free with Kodi. ExpressVPN has a Kodi Add-on, and I was able to watch anime series, Tv-Shows, and Series through Dramacol and GogoAnime Add-ons. There are tons of add-ons available to watch everything (Kodi is an open-source P2P streaming tool).

MediaStreamer-SmartDNS

ExpressVPN has a Smart DNS called MediStreamer that helps you to unblock geo-restriction movies and TV shows. MediaStreamers comes in useful if you own a device that can’t run a VPN, such as a video game console. It can also enhance your streaming quality by offering faster speeds. Just note that MediaStreamer does not encrypt your connection, unlike the full ExpressVPN app.

No Logs Policy & VPN Background

ExpressVPN is registered in the British Virgin Islands, which has more privacy-centric laws concerning information disclosure than most countries. The BVI also has no data retention laws, which helps ExpressVPN stick to its no-log policy.

Number of Servers

ExpressVPN excels in maintaining healthy servers, as I never encountered any real connection issues. They also, maintain in hard-to-reach areas like Vietnam, Venezuela, and Turkey (a feature most other competitors don’t offer).

Diskless RAM Server

Do you know😄? All ExpressVPN servers are RAM-only to ensure privacy (known as Trusted-Server technology). By its nature, RAM will not store any kind of data once it’s restarted. This technology ensures

• No data storage
• Shorter data span (deleted after every session)
• Consistent software across the servers.

This technology ensures your privacy is protected🤗 even when any of the VPN servers are seized or compromised. But most VPN providers are still using Hard Disk Servers (which leads to 😢security issues).

ExpressVPN thoroughly reboots its servers every 1-2 weeks, ensuring that all the VPN servers are working without any VPN blocks. While some other VPN service providers offer dedicated IP to access some specific IP- accepted services (like banks, etc). ExpressVPN does not offer any dedicated or static IPs.

📝Note: All the ExpressVPN Server IPs will be changed frequently, so you will never get blocked anywhere.

Speeds

ExpressVPN has its own custom-built protocol called Lightway. Similar to NordLynx for NordVPN, ExpressVPN’s Lightway protocol delivered premium VPN speeds. While most of the servers have excellent response time (high🔥 speeds) if you connect to some distant servers (you might see slow speed🤷‍♂️ very usual).

To test the potential of the servers, we ran some speed tests. The results shocked me😮, take a look

You can see the speed of the US & UK servers for yourself, Smooth streaming or torrenting is guaranteed.

Even when you look at other servers in Singapore, Europe, etc. speeds are always more than 100Mbps, which is more than sufficient for Ultra HD quality streaming. The impressive part is that ExpressVPN does maintain 🏋️ equal upload speeds.

Lightway is one of many protocols ExpressVPN offers, as well as OpenVPN and IKEv2. And both Lightway and OpenVPN are available in both UDP and TCP. Speeds will vary depending on the protocol you choose. By default, it will be in automatic mode, though you can switch manually to find faster speeds.

Not sure of the difference between 👉OpenVPN and others say WireGuard👈? pick the right one for your usage with our OpenVPN vs WireGuard comparison.

ExpressVPN is great for gaming. The VPN helps boost your connection, providing you with unlimited bandwidth to reduce lag and ping. Just make sure to join a server close to the location of the game server to get the best possible connection.

📝Note:- All speed tests were performed with a base internet speed of 200Mbps (results may vary depending on your speed).

Built-in Speed Test

People often get 🤔confused about which VPN server to connect to. ExpressVPN solves this problem with its built-in speed test tool. With it, you can quickly know which server has the best speeds from your location.

You can choose the specific location of your test. If you want to unblock region-specific geoblocks, this will tell you the best servers available in that region. *This feature might not be available in the latest ExpressVPN app.

Torrenting

Torrenting lovers💓 find ExpressVPN very handy, as it fully supports P2P torrenting (file sharing). There are no bandwidth limitations on any server you connect to, making ExpressVPN a great choice for torrenting, However, there is no separate section specifying P2P torrenting servers for your convenience.

Every regular ExpressVPN server works as a P2P server. This VPN works with most torrent clients like uTorrent, BitTorrent, Transmission, Vuze, Deluge, and more. All the VPN protocols & security will keep you anonymous while torrenting, and speeds are impressive. Just note that there is no port forwarding feature for any devices except for routers.

Movies	Games	Anime	eBooks	Sports	Best
17 Best Torrent Sites	21 Best Torrent Sites	27 best Torrent Sites	19 Best Torrent Sites	9 Best Torrent Sites	21 Best Torrent Sites

🎯Tip: Before you start torrenting, connect to a country where torrenting is legal.

Security & Encryption

ExpressVPN is well known for its security and military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, a level of security commonly used by governments. ExpressVPN completely protects you from surveillance groups, not like other VPNs that claim no log and reveal your identity.

Our IP & DNS leak tests show that ExpressVPN is built for 🔐security at its core. Though it doesn’t have any built-in ⛔ad-blocker or malware blocker, there are a lot of convenient features. ExpressVPN encryption technology outperforms almost all no-log VPNs with its 256-bit AES encryption combined with RSA-4096 and SHA-512 authentication. It would take the world’s most powerful supercomputer millions of years to crack ExpressVPN’s encryption.

ExpressVPN has undergone several independent audits (Cure53 & PwC) to prove their claims of protecting their users’ privacy, releasing the audit reports regularly (PDF report).

• Cure53 is a cybersecurity team who checks for vulnerabilities that allow hackers to steal user data when visiting malicious websites. Since then ExpressVPN has been pushing its limits with new updates.
• PwC is a leading audit started that ExpressVPN’s privacy policies are completely true and safe. The audit results are open for anyone to check

ExpressVPN Other Essential Features

Network Lock (Kill Switch)

The Kill Switch has been a standard for all VPNs to block internet traffic (in case of VPN connection drops) in order to protect your privacy. This ensures that you are always protected, ExpressVPN calls it “Network Lock“. It’s working seamlessly during my test, though unfortunately, it’s not available for iOS😢.

Auto Connect

ExpressVPN offers this feature to ensure you are connected to a VPN on device startup, if your internet connection drops and comes back, or when joining an untrusted network.

Split Tunneling

This feature comes in handy to deviate some traffic from the VPN tunnel. With split tunneling, you can use your local connection for banking while using the VPN to stream content from another country. Banking often gets suspicious if your connection is registered in another country, so split tunneling can help avoid any issues. You can use split-tunneling to print or save bandwidth while downloading.

This feature can be enabled for specific apps (it’s quite simple to add or remove apps). Make sure that you are disconnected from the VPN while adding exceptions. You will find three options under this feature.

• Allow all apps to use VPN
• Do not allow selected apps
• Allow only selected apps

ExpressVPN is also compatible with Tor (The Onion Router). Tor is a special browser that encrypts all traffic within its network. Since it’s the only hub for the dark web, it allows activist to share their personal information.

ExpressVPN has its .onion website which is very useful for accessing blocked websites. As it is highly encrypted you will get a slower speed.

Threat Manager

Many online websites you visit will keep track of your online activities. This includes legitimate websites and those peddling scams and malware. Threat manager prevents all this by blocking trackers, allowing you to take back control over what companies know about you and what you do online. This feature is disabled by default.

Device Compatibility

ExpressVPN supports every platform and operating system. It has native app support for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and routers. All the setup files are available on the official website or your respective storefronts.

You can enjoy all the essential features and desktop-level experience on every platform. Some features might not be available on some platforms. Here is a quick overview of features on every device platform.

Feature	iOS	Android	Windows	macOS	Linux	Router
GUI	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌	✔️
Network Lock	❌	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Lightway	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Split Tunneling	❌	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️

You can also enjoy ExpressVPN via its browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. You can also install this VPN for your Oculus Quest (Metaverse).

For a quick guide installation, follow the steps below

Quick Installation & Setup

1. Visit the official ExpressVPN Website and sign up for a subscription. Right now you can get 3 extra months free with a 12-month ExpressVPN subscription. That’s a 49% saving!
2. Copy the activation code on the setup page.
3. Choose the platform on which you want to install the VPN and start downloading.
4. Install the app and enter the activation code to start browsing safely.

👉Check out our detailed guides for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS installation.

Simultaneous connections- 5 Devices

With ExpressVPN you can enjoy the same features & speeds across 5 devices at the same time. We have tested using a Laptop, Andoird, a desktop PC, an iPhone, and one of my game consoles.

ExpressVPN worked well on all the devices.

🎯Unlimited Connection Tip: Install ExpressVPN on your router to connect as many devices to ExpressVPN as you want.

Customer Support (Live Chat)

ExpressVPN believes maintaining services is as important as providing them, so it has 24/7 customer📞 support (Live Chat Support), an FAQs database, and tutorials and troubleshooting guides to help you out if you face any issues regarding the services.

All the customer agents are highly knowledgeable and can answer your questions immediately.

Finally! Pricing

ExpressVPN is available in three different subscription plans. So, you can own it for how long you want it.

• 1 Month: $12.95
• 6 Months: $59.94 ($9.99/Month)
• 15 Months: $80.04 ($6.67/Month)

You can quickly notice the price is quite low in the long run. So better if you opt for a 1-year plan, they accept your payment through 💳credit cards/ debit cards, and PayPal. If you prefer to stay anonymous pay through 🪙BitCoin You can save a lot of money if you take an annual subscription.

Whichever plan you opt for, there is a 30-day🧧money-back guarantee so you can get a refund if you are not satisfied with their service.

However, if you subscribe through other means like the App Store, ExpressVPN won’t process your refund (you need to contact Apple instead). I highly recommend you subscribe via the official website.

📝Note: iPhone users get a 7-day free trial program.

Will ExpressVPN Work in China?

Even though most premium VPNs don’t work in China, ExpressVPN still works in China. While the official site is blocked in China, you need to install the VPN before you board to China. But make sure that you enable Kill Switch & Leak protection to keep yourself safe while bypassing great firewalls.

Is ExpressVPN good value for money?

In simple words, yes. ExpressVPN is the best VPN you can get. As a premium VPN, you get what you are paying for, and most of its users never raise a complaint or issue to ExpressVPN’s customer service. Even though competitors like NordVPN 😖struggle to unblock some Netflix libraries, ExpressVPN has no such issues.

The company primarily focuses on security and services and is launching its new password manager, a free service as a part of a VPN subscription.

Get ExpressVPN for free

Another exciting offer from ExpressVPN is when you refer a friend and he/she purchases ExpressVPN, you both earn 30 days free, Great, Right?😍

Checkout ExpressVPN Video Review:

Conclusion

In simple words, ExpressVPN is the 🔥best VPN I have ever used, delivering superior VPN speeds free from buffering. Every single server I connected to works perfectly, and all their IPS are refreshed every week.

ExpressVPN is built for 🛡security & privacy, using military-grade AES-256-bit encryption. Also, its headquarters is in the British Virgin Islands for (privacy-friendly reasons). It has its SmartDNS (streaming services unblocked), and torrenting support, and is great for streaming and gaming. So what’s not to like? it’s a high-quality service, and you’ll likely say the same when you try it.

Overall it’s the 🥇best VPN service and is also recommended VPN by Reddit users (we recommend ExpressVPN over all other VPN services). Just note that ExpressVPN does not come with an ad blocker.

🎯Tip: Try ExpressVPN free for 30 days with their money-back guarantee.

FAQs Related to ExpressVPN