ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is one of, if not the, top Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in existence. They continually rank at the top of all lists and the security they provide is second to none. They have some tough competition from a few others, but keep ranking right up there with the best of them. They have also just announced their ExpressVPN Identity Defender Suite. It is a must have product.

ExpressVPN’s privacy policy and core server technology, TrustedServer, has been validated again in a new independent audit by KPMG just recently. KPMG International Limited is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations, in the world. The name “KPMG” stands for “Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler”. They are one of the top security auditors in existence.

With this latest assessment, KPMG has tested and verified ExpressVPN’s no-log policy and implementation of TrustedServer services. This means ExpressVPN users can be confident that their online activities remain private to us, and that we do not have sensitive information to share, even if compelled to. 

ExpressVPN leads the industry with 18 independent third-party audits completed to date, as we continue to prioritize transparency and trust across all services.

If you’re looking for the best VPN in terms of usability and a strong commitment to transparency and privacy this is your go-to. Even if you just want to take on the world of streaming content with a VPN that is easy to use with no complications, ExpressVPN is where you should look.

This is a perfect option for people who want to stream, watch sports, play video games, download content, publish content, and anything else you can think of online.

We apologize for this review kind of jumping all over the place, but we wanted to hit the high spots and go in-depth a bit in something that was not long and boring. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to use the Contact Us page and fire away.

One thing we don’t like, but is not a deal breaker, is that they are not outside of the agreements of Five Eyes and other organizations.

Location, Location, Location

Being located in the British Virgin Islands, it does not take them out of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes jurisdiction. For people who don’t know these are groups of countries who have agreed to work closely together to pool massive surveillance data and share it with the relevant parties. These countries are not monitored by any agency so they have permission to spy on people in the other countries Jurisdictions in the alliance.

The Five Eyes, or FVEY for short, is a group of countries consisting of the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Five Eyes gave rise to other alliances. The major ones are the Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes. Members of the nine eyes include the Five Eyes’ nations plus Denmark, Netherlands, France, and Norway. The Fourteen Eyes alliance consists of countries in the Nine Eyes alliance plus Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Sweden. All alliances actively share on matters of international intelligence even though their relationships may not be as tight as that of the countries in the five eyes.

These organizations developed after the Cold War started and have never ended. They were created to spy on the Soviet Union and other Communist nations. These countries were originally sourced to decrypt Soviet intelligence information. As we all know, these groups never are disbanded and continue on doing what they do.

Is ExpressVPN Worth the Money?

ExpressVPN is more expensive than many of its competitors but is definitely worth the cost if you spend a decent amount of time online. Even if that is just online shopping. All your information needs to stay safe. They have such a broad range of products and services, there is virtually a price point for everyone.

ExpressVPN is owned by Kape Technologies and reportedly has 4 million users. It is a Hong Kong company that is registered in the British Virgin Islands. This makes sense with Britain controlling Hong Kong for a century.

All of the security and speed tests were mostly great that have been done by 3rd party auditors. There has been a couple of speed issues and DNS leaks, but ExpressVPN acted quickly and corrected all the concerns. With hacking the way it is today, there is noway that a company can’t have a few hiccups. The bad guys are always a step ahead.

You can find VPN’s that are faster and a lower cost, but not in overall security and reliability. With over over 3,000 servers in 105 countries there is a server in almost every geographic area one would need. Whether you live somewhere or travel for a living. ExpressVPN has you covered.

We also recommend to not have a lot of browser tabs, or windows, open with any VPN as it will slow down the speed and possibly affect how your experience goes. Express is also a little slower when running AppleTV.

Payment Options for ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN, as you can see above, has a multitude of options to purchase its plans. Cryptocurrency is getting more popular and this company has been on that train for a while now.

The company also has its Aircove Router that allows you to connect unlimited devices to the service. Otherwise you are limited to eight simultaneous connections.

Many companies are going to unlimited connections and I am sure Express will eventually. But for now that is one of the things you may have to consider. With the Aircove router it will protect everything in your home, or where you travel, and that is a great bonus for many who travel.

ExpressVPN Has new Multi-Tiered Plans that started at the end of October, 2024. Get even more savings with the current Black Friday Deals going on.

1 Year & 2 Year Plans

On 25th October, for US customers, we are launching our 2Y plan at our lowest monthly price point. Ever. Together with 4 months free, that’s a massive 81% saving!  One year plans can be seen in the chart below.

ExpressVPN’s new 2 year plan now offers:

• More choice: Customers now have an additional option to suit their long-term privacy needs
• Greater affordability: This plan provides our best value yet, making our best-in-class VPN protection more accessible to a wider audience with an increased discount of up to 81% off.

Optional Add-Ons

Introducing Identify Defender: a suite of identity theft alert and protection solutions adding an extra layer of protection against fraud, stolen identity, data breaches. Not only does it help monitoring for these issues but also helps customers remove their data from sites that hold information on them. Identity Defender includes three products: 

1. ID Alerts (included in all subscriptions) 
2. ID Theft Insurance
3. Data Removal

More information will be available at ExpressVPN in the coming days. 

• Pricing 

Below is the summary of pricing and offerings based on the plan that customers choose:

Plan	1-month plan	1 year plan + 3 months FREE 68% off	2 year plan + 4 months FREE 81% off
Pricing	$12.95/month	$99.95 ($6.66/month)	$149.70 ($5.35/month)
VPN	Yes	Yes	Yes
Password manager	Yes	Yes	Yes
Advanced protection (ad blocker, tracker blocker, etc.)	Yes	Yes	Yes
ID Alerts (scanning tools – Dark Web, SSN, Change of Address)	Yes	Yes	Yes
ID Theft Insurance	No (but available as an add-on for $7.99/month)	Yes	Yes
Data Removal (scanning, removing, monitoring data broker removal service)	No (but available as an add-on for $7.99/month)	No (but available as an add-on for $4.39/month)	Yes
Dedicated IP	No (but available as an add-on for $7.99/month)	No (but available as an add-on for $4.39/month)	No (but available as an add-on for $3.49/month)

ExpressVPN has several offers that they give, but we try to give the best offer that they are running at the time. They have some really good offers around the holidays, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other times of the year. We use the Sportsbook field for offers on VPN’s as it makes the most sense. Sports gambling and VPN’s go hand in hand.

ExpressVPN provides malware blocking and other security with all of its plans. It’s password manager is as good as any you can find anywhere.

Express uses OpenVPN as well as Lightway (Its own) as VPN Protocols. Lightway and OpenVPN are supported on their Android, Linux, Mac, and Windows apps. Both are also available for routers configured to use ExpressVPN. The ExpressVPN iOS app only supports OpenVPN and IKEv1/2. The macOS and Windows apps have legacy support for L2TP, but we advise using this older protocol. The ExpressVPN Windows app also supports IKEv2.

We recommend the new and more lightweight Lightway protocol over OpenVPN. Open has some issues slowing speeds down on machines that run Windows.

ExpressVPN is available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Fire TV, Apple TV and routers.

Top Gaming VPN

A gaming VPN is a secure tunnel, or connection, between your gaming device and the internet. Gaming online with a VPN can help with optimizing speed and stability, provide security against DDoS attacks, and protect against ISP throttling.

ExpressVPN has some of the quickest ping’s in the industry.

Ping (latency) refers to the time it takes for information to be sent from your machine to a server and its response time to your requests. Ping is measured in milliseconds, so the lower the ping number, the faster the connection.

Shorter connection routes between your device and gaming servers are preferable. By lowering ping as the player can reduce any noticeable delays between your actions and what happens in-game. Using a quality VPN can help to shorten this route by connecting to a VPN server closer to the gaming server.

Below is a good starting point to know how things are and how to tell if you will have a good gaming experience.

You can get ExpressVPN for virtually all gaming devices and operating systems. ExpressVPN offers easy-to-use apps to enhance gaming on your platform of choice. The ExpressVPN app for compatible routers lets you secure every device in your network, including gaming consoles that can’t install a VPN directly.

No matter if you use a desktop, laptop, XBox, Playstation, Switch, Steam, Meta Quest, Discord and many others. It is also compatible with all operating systems that are used. Android, Mac, iOS, and Linux are all compatible.

Our Recommendation

It is impossible to go over everything that ExpressVPN offers to its customers. There is just so much. From your own personal router to use at home or travel with to just knowing you are secure streaming shows, sports, and other things. It is just well worth the extra few bucks a month to get this service.

Don’t let a few dollars keep you from getting max protection and peace of mind. If you have ever had your identity stolen then a VPN is a must. Shoot, even if you haven’t there is no need to take a chance. There are other great options out there, but overall this is the best option you can find.

Even though they are located in the prying eyes of the group of nations that have agreed to spy and share information if they get it, this VPN is worth it and well worth what you pay.