NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which Is Better? (Latest Test Results) (2024)

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’.

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.

Both VPNs provide ample speed for most online activities, but ExpressVPN offers a slight edge in raw download speeds.

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.

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.

Xbox and PS5 don’t support VPN apps, so we had to install the VPNs on our router to use them there. ExpressVPN was much easier to configure, as it’s one of the only VPNs to have a router app.

This meant we could use an online interface to easily change between server locations, like Egypt, to get easier gaming lobbies. With NordVPN, we had to manually download and configure OpenVPN files, which was more difficult and time-consuming.

ExpressVPN and NordVPN work with US Netflix and both VPNs unblock a similar amount of other Netflix libraries. In total, ExpressVPN streams 18 regions. NordVPN can access 17.

However, ExpressVPN offers access to more popular Netflix libraries than NordVPN. Only with ExpressVPN could we stream content from sought-after regions like South Korea, India, and the Netherlands.

You can see the exclusive Netflix regions accessible through each VPN in the table below:

In all, ExpressVPN and NordVPN are excellent VPNs for streaming geo-blocked Netflix content. We prefer ExpressVPN as it works on more of our devices.

Using both NordVPN and ExpressVPN, we accessed all popular American streaming services on every server, including HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, and Prime Video.

Here’s a table showing how well the VPNs performed at unblocking US streaming services:

No matter which VPN you choose, you’ll be able to stream popular US streaming sites and apps from anywhere.

In our experience, NordVPN works more often than ExpressVPN with UK streaming services, like BBC iPlayer.

We successfully accessed the platform across a range of devices using all of NordVPN’s UK servers.

Previously, we had to rely on ExpressVPN’s browser extension or Smart DNS tool to access BBC iPlayer. Though the VPN app worked effectively in our most recent tests, there’s no guarantee it always will in the future.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN support other UK content platforms like Channel 4 and ITVX. They also offer extensive server networks in the UK, providing a wide range of UK IP addresses for reliable access.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN are both very private VPN services. Neither service collects any information that could identify you from your online activity.

However, ExpressVPN retains slightly more information than NordVPN. It logs the date of connection, server location, and the total amount of data transmitted during the network session.

Here’s a table showing what information NordVPN and ExpressVPN log:

Still, neither service collects personally-identifiable activity data. Both VPNs have been subject to external audits to confirm this, with the most recent audits conducted in 2024.

In short, NordVPN and ExpressVPN can be trusted with your most sensitive web traffic.

Both VPN companies are located in privacy-friendly jurisdictions: the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for ExpressVPN and Panama for NordVPN.

Panama and the British Virgin Islands are located outside of international intelligence-sharing alliances, like the Five Eyes, where companies are not compelled by law to store any sort of user information.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN are both based in privacy havens.

However, NordVPN has admitted that, if ordered by a court of law, it could start keeping activity logs of specific users under criminal investigation. This is unlikely to ever be implemented, though, and would be noted in the VPN’s monthly transparency reports to inform its users.

But it’s still worth considering if you’re a privacy-focused user. ExpressVPN has not said either way what action it’d take in the same situation.

The main difference between NordVPN and ExpressVPN in terms of security lies in their choice of VPN protocols and encryption methods.

NordVPN uses WireGuard (NordLynx) and ChaCha20. WireGuard is an open-source VPN protocol that’s used by many other VPN services. We consider it best-in-class due to its balance between strong security and fast speeds.

ExpressVPN instead uses its proprietary Lightway protocol with AES-256 for encryption. Lightway has performed extremely well in our speed and security tests, but it’s simply not as trustworthy as a widely-used protocol like WireGuard.

Both VPNs also include Perfect Forward Secrecy, a 4096-bit RSA key, and SHA-512 HMAC authentication.

To test how well both VPNs encrypt network traffic, we analyzed our data packets using Wireshark. As you can see in the screenshots below, both VPNs successfully encrypted our web data. Our traffic was shown as random strings of text and not plain text.

Alternatively, both VPNs allow you to manually select other protocols, like OpenVPN. For the best performance, we recommend sticking with the automatic protocol selection.

A kill switch stops your IP address from leaking outside of the VPN tunnel if your connection drops.

To verify that the VPN’s kill switches work as advertised, we tested them using our bespoke kill switch testing tool. This monitors IP address leaks after an unexpected internet disconnection.

We found that ExpressVPN’s macOS client leaked our true IP address when changing server locations. Although the app did warn us about this issue, we would prefer if the leak didn’t occur in the first place.

By contrast, NordVPN’s kill switch successfully prevented our IP address from leaking on every platform.

Here are our full kill switch test results:

NordVPN’s kill switch is also more customizable than ExpressVPN’s. As well as the system-wide option, its app kill switch allows you to set kill switch rules for specific apps. This is useful if you need certain apps to always maintain network access, such as for cloud syncing and file-sharing.

ExpressVPN includes a free ad and tracker blocker called Threat Manager in all its VPN apps.

In contrast, NordVPN’s ad and tracker blocker, known as Threat Protection, is only available with its more expensive ‘Plus’ tier subscription.

These features are designed to enhance your browsing experience by blocking advertisem*nts across a variety of websites, including popular platforms like Google, Twitch, and YouTube.

Our VPN ad-blocking tests found that Threat Protection and Threat Manager both block 60% of ads. Additionally, we discovered that Threat Protection is more effective at blocking analytic trackers, whereas Threat Manager excels in filtering out social trackers

You can see how NordVPN’s ad and tracker blocker performed in the graph below:

ExpressVPN comes with a limited amount of bonus features. Both it and NordVPN have split tunneling and RAM servers, but NordVPN also includes a lot more.

Most significantly, it has an excellent double VPN feature and its dedicated IP address functionality was excellent at avoiding CAPTCHAs on search engines.

Here’s a table comparing the advanced features included by NordVPN and ExpressVPN:

We were particularly impressed with NordVPN’s remote device access feature. Called Meshnet, this allows you to securely route your traffic through any of your other devices. For instance, you can set up your PC to act as a VPN server when you’re away from home.

That said, all of these features come at a cost. NordVPN’s customization options make the app feel cluttered and less accessible for beginners compared to ExpressVPN.

But if you’re an advanced user that wants even more configurable options, though, PIA is a good alternative to NordVPN.

NordVPN’s cheapest monthly price is $3.29, compared to ExpressVPN’s cheapest price of $3.29 per month. NordVPN is initially significantly cheaper than ExpressVPN on a multi-year plan.

However, NordVPN’s prices increase significantly once your initial subscription period expires. For instance, its 12-month price increases from $4.99/month to $8.29/month after the first year.

This makes it almost the same price as ExpressVPN, whose 12-month plan costs $8.33 after the first year.

If you’re not ready to sign up for a multi-year VPN subscription, then there’s not much of a price difference between ExpressVPN and NordVPN from the outset. ExpressVPN costs just an extra 94¢ a month.

Both VPNs offer a genuine seven-day free trial when signing up on Android. ExpressVPN also offers this on iOS, whereas NordVPN does not.

Although the VPN free trial can only be initiated from a mobile device, we found that you can sign into other devices, like Windows and Fire TV, afterward.

NordVPN and ExpressVPN also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, which can be initiated on any device. It’s a no-questions-asked policy, which essentially becomes a VPN free trial.

You can make the most of the refund policy to effectively use ExpressVPN for free and try NordVPN without paying.

NordVPN has servers in 111 countries, while ExpressVPN’s server network consists of 106 countries.

Though the vast majority of countries are covered by both, NordVPN is the only VPN of the two that lets you get an IP address from some notable regions, like the UAE and Nigeria.

Here’s the number of countries covered by NordVPN and ExpressVPN in each continent:

However, ExpressVPN provides more specific city-level locations — triple the amount of NordVPN. This is particularly useful for appearing to be from a specific US city to avoid sports blackouts.

NordVPN, on the other hand, has a much larger number of servers, with over 6,328 compared to ExpressVPN’s 3,000.

Typically, the benefit of a larger server network is to minimize server congestion and improve performance. However, we didn’t notice any difference in our testing given that ExpressVPN’s 3,000 10Gbps servers have more than enough bandwidth.

ExpressVPN is more user-friendly than NordVPN on every platform and device. You can connect to an ExpressVPN server by pressing the large connect button.

NordVPN is less intuitive. The connect button is small and hidden in the top right corner. The interface is also cluttered with advanced options, which you may or may not want to see.

All of ExpressVPN’s apps look almost identical across operating systems, too, so it’ll feel familiar even when switching between its mobile and TV app.

Here’s a video of us connecting to both NordVPN and ExpressVPN side-by-side:

ExpressVPN’s Windows and macOS apps are a lot easier to use than NordVPN’s. ExpressVPN’s apps are minimalist, consisting of a large connection button and a simple list of server locations.

NordVPN’s desktop apps instead use an interactive map visualization of servers. We think this adds complexity without adding much functionality.

Confusingly, NordVPN has two separate apps available for macOS. The App Store version includes Double VPN and obfuscated servers but doesn’t have a working kill switch. The one available on the NordVPN website has a kill switch but doesn’t have the other features.

We prefer ExpressVPN’s mobile apps to NordVPN’s. ExpressVPN’s iOS and Android apps look almost identical to the desktop versions. NordVPN looks and functions differently.

ExpressVPN keeps the same large connection button and simple user interface. On a smaller mobile screen, NordVPN has to bury many of its options in tabs and settings screens. We found it hard to find certain options, like changing DNS servers or connecting to a dedicated IP address.

That said, we don’t particularly like the design of ExpressVPN’s Android app. It shows you stats on the home screen about the length of your VPN session and the IP address of your VPN server. We don’t think these are useful. You can hide them, but they are enabled by default.

NordVPN also allows you to use its app in dark mode, whereas ExpressVPN doesn’t. We found ExpressVPN to be too bright to use at night when switching between apps.

ExpressVPN is a better choice for Firestick, Android TV, and Apple TV devices. It stands out due to its compatibility with an extensive range of content libraries and a user-friendly interface.

Unlike NordVPN, ExpressVPN’s Fire TV app also includes a kill switch. This function adds an extra layer of security, especially useful when concealing Kodi streaming activities from ISPs. In contrast, NordVPN lacks this feature, potentially exposing your IP address during internet connection losses.

Previously, we criticized ExpressVPN’s TV app design as it was difficult to know which button is selected. Thankfully, the VPN has responded to feedback and now the apps are permanently in dark mode. This change enhances the contrast, significantly improving visibility and ease of navigation within the interface.

Both VPNs include a Smart DNS feature with every subscription. Smart DNS connects you to a DNS proxy server in a different country. It can be set up on devices that don’t allow VPN apps, like Smart TVs and game consoles.

However, we found ExpressVPN’s Smart DNS tool (named MediaStreamer), is much better than NordVPN’s.

MediaStreamer works with over 100 streaming services and changes proxy servers depending on the service you open. For instance, it redirects you to a UK DNS server for BBC iPlayer and a US one for US Netflix.

By contrast, NordVPN’s Smart DNS only works with American streaming services. Plus, it only streams two content platforms. You can see how both services compare in the table below.

If you plan on using a VPN to watch geo-blocked content on a Smart TV or games console, then ExpressVPN is the better choice.

ExpressVPN’s browser extensions are far more fully-featured and secure than NordVPN’s. ExpressVPN’s extension is a controller for the desktop app, which needs to be running for the extension to work.

This means that even traffic outside your browser, like messaging and cloud syncing, is also included in the VPN tunnel. With NordVPN, only the traffic inside your browser is routed to a VPN server.

ExpressVPN’s Chrome extension looks just like the desktop app.

ExpressVPN’s extensions also include browser-specific privacy and security features. By default, the add-on will block WebRTC, prevent HTML5 geolocation leaks, and force unsafe websites to use HTTPS.

Of the above features, NordVPN’s browser extensions only block WebRTC.

ExpressVPN is a much better VPN to use on a router. Unlike NordVPN, it has a native app for many Asus, Linksys, and Netgear routers. It is simple to install, set up, and use.

To streamline the setup process, ExpressVPN offers its own Aircove range of routers, which come with the VPN app pre-installed. This conveniently saved us approximately half an hour, as it eliminated the need for manual configuration on a third-party router.

It has a GUI for changing servers, selecting VPN protocols, and connecting specific devices to different server locations. You simply use it in the same way you’d use any other ExpressVPN app.

With NordVPN, there’s no app to use. Instead, the installation process is complicated and you’ll have to download a new file every time you want to change server location.

With ExpressVPN, you can download torrent files using all 3,000 servers in 106 countries.

Unlike NordVPN, every one of these servers is optimized for P2P activities, ensuring a fast connection for torrenting regardless of the server you choose.

NordVPN requires you to connect to specific P2P servers to download torrent files from that location.

These servers are not immediately visible and are located at the bottom of the server list, which meant we missed them the first few times we used the VPN for torrenting.

Additionally, when we connected to a non-P2P server, our traffic was rerouted through P2P servers in the Netherlands or Canada.

This rerouting resulted in slower speeds, as the P2P traffic had to travel through additional servers, which were also further away.

To secure P2P connections, both VPNs use either AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption and come with a robust kill switch. This ensures your real IP address won’t leak outside of the VPN tunnel, even if your connection drops.

Disappointingly, neither VPN includes port forwarding.

Port forwarding is an advanced P2P feature that lets you bypass your router’s NAT firewall. In most cases, this will increase the speed of your connection.

That said, NordVPN and ExpressVPN downloaded torrent files faster than almost every other VPN. Using our 10MiB/s connection, NordVPN recorded an average bitrate of 9.8MiB/s and ExpressVPN was 9.4MiB/s.

Still, if you want to port forward and seed torrent files faster, PIA is a better choice than ExpressVPN.

Here’s how quickly we were able to download a 20GB torrent file compared to when we had no VPN connected:

As you can see, NordVPN and ExpressVPN add virtually no time to torrenting, even when downloading large torrent files.

You can also view us speed testing NordVPN and ExpressVPN in real-time in the video below. Both VPNs finish downloading the file at almost exactly the same time.

NordVPN used to be a reliable option in China, but its performance has gotten much worse. It hasn’t worked in China since March 2022.

On the other hand, ExpressVPN has also experienced a drop in performance, yet it manages to function intermittently. In our tests, ExpressVPN has been able to access blocked websites in China 14% of the time over the past three months.

We particularly liked how the VPN service maintains an updated list of compatible servers on its website, just in case your connection stops working.

As you can see in the video below, ExpressVPN is one of the only VPNs that work in China without the need for manual configuration.

To measure the punctuality and knowledge of both VPN’s customer support departments, we asked them a range of questions. We recorded how long it took to get the correct answer.

Here’s how NordVPN performed:

Here’s how ExpressVPN performed:

As the table shows, we were able to get an answer from NordVPN’s customer support much quicker than with ExpressVPN.

This is mainly because NordVPN uses an automated chatbot. We don’t typically like these, but NordVPN’s is an exception. It’s much more knowledgeable than the ones from other VPN services.

We particularly like how it provided the answer in the conversation window. Other chatbots often just send a link to a support page.

ExpressVPN exclusively uses human live chat agents. Although we usually prefer this, ExpressVPN’s support department takes too long to respond. They also clearly follow a conversation script, which adds even more waiting time.

For more advanced questions that the chatbot can’t answer, you’ll get put through to a human NordVPN support agent. Even then, they responded almost a minute faster than ExpressVPN.