NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which One is More Worth Buying?

ExpressVPN is Faster than NordVPN on Nearby Servers

To test NordVPN and ExpressVPN local speeds, we used the app’s automatic server selection feature. In NordVPN, this is called ‘Quick Connect’. In ExpressVPN, it’s named ‘Smart Location’.

The table below shows a comparison of NordVPN and ExpressVPN’s speed performance.

We found that ExpressVPN’s speeds are slightly faster on local connections. When using it, our download speeds dropped by just 3% to 97Mbps. NordVPN caused our speeds to slow to 95Mbps, an 5% drop. The speed difference is minimal, and both are sufficient for almost all web activities.

NordVPN is Faster for Long-Distance Connections

To stream geo-blocked video content in HD and 4K, a VPN needs to have fast download speeds on international connections.

We recorded ExpressVPN and NordVPN’s download speeds while connected to servers in four different continents from our test location in the US. Here’s a table showing our results:

Our findings show that NordVPN generally outperforms ExpressVPN on international servers. Although the speed differences are not that stark, NordVPN consistently delivered faster content loading times, and we encountered no buffering issues.

Identical Ping Speed for Gaming

ExpressVPN and NordVPN are two of the best gaming VPNs we’ve tested. Both services increased our ping time to just 8ms, which was unnoticeable in use.

We played a variety of fast-paced PC games, including CS:GO and PUBG. In every case, the added latency wasn’t noticeable. We didn’t experience any input lag and all games loaded quickly.

The more server locations a VPN has, the greater the variety of web content libraries you can access. ExpressVPN used to have a larger server network, but after NordVPN’s recent expansion, they’re now neck and neck. ExpressVPN has 164 locations in 105 countries, while NordVPN has 142 locations in 110 countries.

Not only do both VPNs have many cities and nations to choose from, but those options are also distributed more evenly than most. It’s common for VPNs to ignore the Global South, but NordVPN and ExpressVPN offer plenty of IP addresses in South America, Africa and southern and central Asia. You should have no issue getting a NordVPN or ExpressVPN IP address for most countries.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN can each get around VPN blocks on Netflix and other streaming services. In fact, we’ve tested them with every top streaming platform, and both NordVPN and ExpressVPN unblocked them all. This pattern held true no matter what server location we tried.  

Each of these VPNs can get into Netflix, and they maintain enough of your download speed to watch HD videos without buffering, even over long distances. As long as you have at least 30 Mbps down to start, you’ll get ideal video quality using either service.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN both allow torrenting. ExpressVPN permits BitTorrent traffic on every server, while NordVPN restricts it to its P2P servers. Torrenters shouldn’t worry, though, as these servers are available in 105 countries — nearly the entire NordVPN network.

Thanks to their minimal impact on your download and upload speeds, torrenting with NordVPN or ExpressVPN is easy. Either one lets you seed quickly and reap the speed rewards. Both are good for Tor network.

A VPN kill switch is a non-optional security feature that ensures you’re actually getting VPN protection. While active, the kill switch cuts off your internet access if your VPN connection drops. This not only prevents you from accidentally broadcasting information, but also prevents hackers from setting up fake VPN servers to entrap you. 

NordVPN and ExpressVPN both have kill switches built in. NordVPN goes further by adding an app-level kill switch. Instead of automatically terminating your internet connection, you can set NordVPN to just cut off specific apps. This is convenient for sensitive activities like banking and torrenting. 

Having a strict no-logs policy means that a VPN promises not to save activity logs (the actual information on what users do) or connection logs (peripheral information that can be used to deduce user activities). Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN make their no-logs commitment clear in their privacy policies: read ExpressVPN’s privacy policy and NordVPN’s privacy policy.

Promises can be broken, but we don’t have to take either VPN’s word for it. Both use RAM-only servers that lack hard drives, so any information they save gets deleted about once every hour. Each provider has also undergone regular independent audits to confirm their privacy policies, and they’ve published the results.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN both come with built-in blockers that prevent your browser from loading ads and block domains associated with scams and malware. ExpressVPN calls its blocker Threat Manager and includes parental controls; you can’t control which sites the parental controls block, but you can turn them off while keeping everything else functional.

NordVPN includes Threat Protection on all devices and adds Threat Protection Pro on macOS and Windows. All versions of NordVPN can block static ads and malware sites, but the Pro version goes further by catching more trackers and frequently blocking video ads. It’s also got some limited antivirus capability, as it can scan downloads to detect threats.

Although both VPN services come with VPN protocols that you can’t find anywhere else, these proprietary protocols do differ in nature. NordVPN includes NordLynx, which is essentially the WireGuard protocol with extra steps to counter its one weakness — the need to temporarily log users IP addresses.

On the other hand, ExpressVPN Lightway is an entirely new protocol created from the ground up. Each of these protocols is very fast, and both are mostly open-source. However, if you want to use WireGuard specifically for your VPN connections, choose NordVPN and do it through NordLynx.

One of NordVPN’s biggest advantages over ExpressVPN (and all other competitors) is the free-to-use software called NordVPN Meshnet. Meshnet can form a secure tunnel between your device and any other device with NordVPN installed. The process is automatic if you own the second device, and all it takes is a simple friend request if someone else owns it.

The applications for this feature are nearly endless. Meshnet can share files between devices without needing third-party cloud storage. You can use one of your own devices as a VPN server to access sites from your home country while traveling, or set up a protected gaming server to play Minecraft or Stardew Valley with friends around the world.

A double VPN connection is a nice precaution when you’re doing something online that could be dangerous if exposed. The double VPN sends your requests through two servers instead of one before moving them on to your internet service provider (ISP). On the off chance that one server is faulty, the other one can still protect you. 

ExpressVPN doesn’t have double VPN servers. NordVPN has them in nine countries, but you can’t toggle where the intermediary connection is, so be prepared to trade a bit of speed in exchange for your online security. 

Installing a router VPN has two main benefits. First, any device that connects through a VPN router gets protected with encryption, making simultaneous connection limits irrelevant. Second, devices that don’t support VPN apps can still use a VPN tunnel via a router.

Both VPNs can be installed on routers, but ExpressVPN gains an advantage with ExpressVPN Aircove. This router comes preinstalled with ExpressVPN and includes a dashboard that lets you change which server the router uses to connect. You can even make different devices on the router connect to different places.

You can also install NordVPN on a router, but it’s a more time-consuming process. You’ll need to get a router with compatible firmware, download a NordVPN configuration and install it on the router control panel.

Split tunneling is a VPN feature that sends some internet traffic through a VPN server while other traffic goes unprotected. If you’re trying to get on a site that auto-blocks VPNs, or if you need to improve speeds temporarily for a non-sensitive activity, it can be helpful. ExpressVPN and NordVPN both have split tunneling, but not on all platforms.

NordVPN offers split tunneling on its Windows and Android apps only, including Android TV. ExpressVPN limits it even more — you can find it only on Windows, plus macOS 10 and below.

Split tunneling is a VPN feature that sends some internet traffic through a VPN server while other traffic goes unprotected. If you’re trying to get on a site that auto-blocks VPNs, or if you need to improve speeds temporarily for a non-sensitive activity, it can be helpful. ExpressVPN and NordVPN both have split tunneling, but not on all platforms.  

NordVPN offers split tunneling on its Windows and Android apps only, including Android TV. ExpressVPN limits it even more — you can find it only on Windows, plus macOS 10 and below.

The number of simultaneous connections is the limit for how many devices you can connect through a single VPN account at once. ExpressVPN allows 8 simultaneous connections on all plans, while NordVPN surpasses it by offering 10.

One of the biggest reasons to choose NordVPN over ExpressVPN is that ExpressVPN is more expensive in almost every case; arguably, it’s overpriced, though it’s not the costliest VPN of all.

Both VPNs cost about the same for one month at a time: $12.95 for ExpressVPN and $12.99 for NordVPN. After that, things diverge. One year of ExpressVPN costs $6.66 per month, compared to $4.99 per month for NordVPN — even NordVPN’s Ultimate plan is slightly cheaper, coming in at $7.99 per month for a year.

NordVPN also has a two-year plan, where the Basic VPN service goes for just $3.09 per month. However, in ExpressVPN’s defense, it does have a six-month plan costing $9.99 per month, so it offers a little convenience that NordVPN doesn’t provide. 

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