NordVPN Vs ExpressVPN

NordVPN Vs ExpressVPN

It’s safe to say that we are currently in the age of the internet. The internet and the online world, in general, have grown to such huge proportions in recent years. We have seen a huge spike in the number of things we do online.

The number of people that are going online has also increased immensely. And this trend is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. But while all this is a good thing, several problems have arisen too. The number of cyber threats has increased and online security has become so much of an issue. This is why VPNs have become so much of a necessity.

NordVPN is a better VPN service than ExpressVPN. It outmatches and outperforms ExpressVPN’s features and capabilities. It has superior features to ExpressVPN. It has better speeds, a better server network, security features, and privacy policies. 

What we’re going to do in this article is put these two VPN services in a head to head comparison. We will extensively analyze their features and capabilities under several categories and see which one is the winner in each one of them.

In the end, we will declare the overall winner who will thus be the recommended VPN service. If you’re on the hunt for a VPN this is sure to be an insightful read for you. So sit back, relax, and read on to find out more.

NordVPN

You might not be so much of a cybersecurity enthusiast or a VPN aficionado, but if you’re reading this, chances are that you’ve at some point in time across NordVPN.

It is one of the world’s most popular VPN services and rightly so. Ever since NordVPN was created in 2012, it has been providing users from all over the world with reliable and amazing online security solutions.

This is no surprise. NordVPN has built quite a name for itself in the industry among its peers. It’s one of the most sought after VPN services and one of the major factors contributing to this is its credibility. Most VPNs nowadays just sell their services without a care in the world of people’s concerns and needs.

Even more, engage in shady operations that compromise their users’ security. Not NordVPN however. It is one of the most trustworthy and credible VPNs out there. This fact has been proven to be true.

It is located in Panama. This country is outside the jurisdiction of the countries that make up the 3 major surveillance alliances i.e. The 5, 9, and 14 Eyes Alliances. These alliances usually require VPNs located under their jurisdictions to keep user logs. The good news is that Panama has zero logging laws and therefore NordVPN isn’t legally required to keep any logs.

Perhaps one of the reasons why NordVPN stands out from the other VPN services is the features it provides. It offers multiple features and functionalities at a relatively fair price. It is a solid VPN service and for this reason, it isn’t wise to overlook it.

It has excellent security features and protocols. All of the security features it has in place are foolproof. They are some of the best in the VPN business. NordVPN boasts of military-encryption protocols that are virtually uncrackable and impossible to bypass.

Even the best hacker in the world or the best supercomputer wouldn’t be able to bypass NordVPN security protocols. This ensures that the data of users are safe from all online threats.

When it comes to privacy, NordVPN is at the top of its game. Nowadays it isn’t so easy to trust VPNs with our data. It can therefore be so confusing to pick the right VPN. You’ll be happy to know that you can trust NordVPN with the privacy of your data.

Unlike most other VPN services, NordVPN has a proven no-logs policy. It’s fully compliant with this policy. It doesn’t monitor, track, collect, and keep its users’ data. So with NordVPN, your privacy is assured.

One distinguishing factor of NordVPN is that it has a large server network spread out all over the world. Maintaining such a huge fleet of servers is no joke. It requires a lot of time and resources.

NordVPN manages to do this seamlessly so one cannot help but wonder just how well equipped the service is. It also has fast and stable speeds.

It has an excellent customer support and is extremely easy to use. It supports all manner of online activities such as surfing, streaming, and torrenting.

Overall, NordVPN is one of the few VPN services that combine affordability with functionality and top performance. If you are looking to cop a VPN for yourself, NordVPN is probably the best VPN choice for you.

Some of its pros and cons include:

Pros of NordVPN

• It has fast and stable speeds that are stable from any place on earth.
• It has a verified no-logs policy.
• It has a large fleet of servers spread out all over the world.
• It has exceptional security protocols that are foolproof and impregnable.
• It has excellent customer support through live chat, emails, and text.
• It is extremely easy to use.
• Its Panama jurisdiction is a huge plus.

Cons of NordVPN

• It’s a little bit costly.
• Some servers don’t work for torrenting.
• Some servers are prone to slow and fluctuating speeds.

ExpressVPN

You’ve probably come across or heard of this VPN service before. It is arguably one of NordVPN’s biggest competitors, and rightly so. It was founded in 2009, making it one of the purveyors of VPN services.

Ever since then, NordVPN has been providing users with reliable online security solutions. It is equally as popular and widely used as NordVPN.

ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands. This means that it is outside of the jurisdictions we’ve discussed above. It is therefore not legally required to keep logs and for this reason, with ExpressVPN your privacy is a sure bet.

The VPN market is a tough one. With a lot of competition in the market, ExpressVPN has found a way to stand out from all the rest. It combines affordability with professional features, delivering the best quality and performance.

ExpressVPN has exceptionally amazing security features that ensure the safety of users’ data. It boasts of strong encryption protocols that are impossible to bypass. No one can crack these encryption protocols and for this reason, ExpressVPN is one of the most reliable VPN services for security purposes.

Express VPN also has a vast server network, currently at 3000+ servers that are spread out in 94+ countries. This is quite an impressive network and comes in handy to users all over the world.

When it comes to privacy, it has a simple and clear policy explaining that it doesn’t keep any user logs. Unlike the competition that usually has vague privacy policies, this isn’t just a marketing tool it uses. It goes into great detail explaining exactly what information it does and doesn’t collect. Recently, it had its servers and databases audited to confirm that it follows its own privacy policy.

One standout feature is that it has great customer support through 24/7 live chat. This support isn’t the typical basic, outsourced, and first-line support you often encounter on other services.

ExpressVPN provides experts that can talk to you and resolve just about any technical issues you might be having. If you run into a problem then you don’t have to wait for a day or two for support response.

ExpressVPN also has amazing speeds that are stable. No matter your location on earth or the time of day, with ExpressVPN you should be able to obtain the best speeds for all manner of online activities. Activities like streaming, surfing, and torrenting are possible when using this VPN service.

And to cap it all off, ExpressVPN is a reasonably priced service. It offers a wide array of features for the prices it offers.

All in all, just like NordVPN, ExpressVPN is an excellent VPN choice for you. Here are some of its pros and cons:

Pros of ExpressVPN

• It has some of the best speeds in the industry. The speeds are stable and do not fluctuate.
• It has excellent security features that ensure that users’ data is safe and secure.
• It’s located under privacy-policy-friendly jurisdictions i.e. British Virgin Islands.
• It has excellent server coverage.
• It has amazing customer support, which usually responds promptly.

Cons of NordVPN

• It has above-average pricing.
• It has a limited number of simultaneous connections.
• Some servers do not provide stable speeds.

NordVPN vs ExpressVPN: Which One Is Better?

Just so we’re clear. It’s worth mentioning that NordVPN and ExpressVPN are great VPN services. But just like any other company, both of them have different features and capabilities.

This accounts for the difference in performance between them. So it’s only natural that one of them is bound to be a better VPN choice than the other, and that is exactly what we will try to analyze in this article.

Both of them claim to have the best privacy policies, security protocols, speeds, prices, and overall top performance. But which one among them is the better choice?

We’re going to put these two VPNs in a head to head comparison. We will analyze each of their features and capabilities and determine which one is the winner in each category.

In the end, we will declare the winner who will be the top choice for all your online security solutions.

So sit back, relax, and read on to find out more. If you’re looking to choose between these two VPNs, this is sure to be an enlightening read for you.

1. Pricing

When choosing between VPN services, one of the most important factors to consider is the prices. Different VPNs will have different price ranges.

Their prices will almost always depend on the range of features that they offer. The majority of VPNs that have more features are much pricier than those with fewer features.

The best VPN will always be budget-friendly. It will have an affordable price for the range of features it offers. No matter what pricing plan you settle on, it should always be able to deliver top performance.

There are quite a lot of free VPN services out there, but if we’re to be entirely honest, very few of them (if any at all) can be trusted.

If you didn’t already know, by using a free VPN you’re putting yourself in more danger than if you were not using a VPN at all.

Free VPNs are notorious for having privacy and security breaches. Their performance is troubling and their overall reliability is poor.

So the best VPN option for your choice should always be an affordable one, with a variety of features offered.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are reasonably priced VPNs. Being that they have quite a lot of features and capabilities, the prices they offer are budget-friendly.

Notably, for both of them, the long-term plans are much more expensive than the short-term ones.

NordVPN has a monthly, annual, and bi-annual plan. The monthly plan is at $11.95, the annual plan at $6.99 per month, and the bi-annual plan is at $3.71 per month. Considering the breadth of features offered by this service, this is quite affordable. The long-term plan is recommended because you enjoy the best discounts.

For all of these plans, NordVPN offers:

• Excellent speeds with no bandwidth limits or throttling.
• No-logging of user data.
• A huge server network to work with.
• Streaming and torrenting capabilities.
• Excellent security features.
• Worldwide access.
• Amazing customer support.

NordVPN also has a 30-day money-back guarantee for any users that don’t like the product. It is more reasonably priced than other VPNs out there.

ExpressVPN too has an amazing price range. It offers amazing features for all of its pricing plans. It has a monthly, semi-annual, and annual plan. The monthly plan is at $12.95, the semi-annual plan at $10 per month, and the annual plan is at $8.33 per month. 

It’s worth mentioning that ExpressVPN offers three months free for the annual plan, making it a good choice.

For all of these plans, ExpressVPN offers:

• A large number of servers to choose from.
• Excellent speeds with neither bandwidth limits nor speed throttling.
• A large server network to work with.
• Excellent security protocols to ensure users’ online safety.
• Good customer support.
• Access from any corner of the world.
• Streaming and torrenting capabilities.

ExpressVPN also has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Because NordVPN offers quite steep discounts for long-term plans, it narrowly wins in this category.  So if you’re looking for the most affordable choice overtime, NordVPN is the best choice.

Plan	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Monthly	$11.95	$12.95
6-month	–	$10 per month
1-year	$6.99 per month	$8.33
2-year	$3.71 per month	–

2. Speeds

No matter where you are on earth and what time of the day it is, a fast and stable speed is bound to be one of your most important factors whenever you are online.

Slow and unstable speeds are usually a headache and no one wants this. They normally render most online activities impossible. To be completely honest, we all desire to have the very best of speeds whenever we’re online.

But while this is our desire, we cannot afford to ignore some things. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) set bandwidth limits to throttle the speeds of their users. It’s quite a common occurrence.

This creates a situation in which a user obtains slow speeds that fluctuate too much. With such a connection, doing anything worthwhile on the internet is impossible.

Luckily, we have VPNs to combat this situation. VPNs route all your traffic through an encrypted tunnel making it impossible for ISPs to impose bandwidth limits and throttle speeds. 

A good VPN will always provide you with fast and stable speeds no matter where you are on earth.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are at the top of their game when it comes to speed. They are widely popular because of the amazing speeds they provide users. We carried out speed tests to determine which one among them is the fastest.

Firstly, we connected to servers in the UK. NordVPN recorded speeds of 166Mbps while ExpressVPN recorded speeds of 130Mbps. We then connected to servers in Germany. NordVPN recorded speeds of 154Mbps while ExpressVPN recorded speeds of 107Mbps. We proceeded to connect to servers in the U.S. NordVPN recorded speeds of 158Mbps while ExpressVPN recorded speeds of 110Mbps.

As you can see, NordVPN speeds are a little bit faster than ExpressVPN. One of the reasons for this is that NordVPN uses a WireGuard security (NordLynx) protocol which provides some of the fastest speeds available. While other VPNs use OpenVPN protocol which is slower than WireGuard, NordVPN uses a combination of both and is therefore faster.

So the winner in this category is NordVPN.

Server country	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
UK	166Mbps	130Mbps
Germany	154Mbps	107Mbps
U.S.	158Mps	110Mbps

3. Servers

When deciding on the best VPN choice, the server infrastructure is one of the most important things to consider. Different VPN service providers have different server networks.

This is one of those factors that either make a VPN service the best choice or humble it as a small service. The performance of a VPN normally depends on its server network. So whenever you’re choosing a VPN, you should always be careful and pick one that has good global server coverage.

A good VPN choice will always have a lot of servers. Such a VPN is usually less likely to experience server crowding which is quite common.

Server Crowding occurs when too many people connect to a particular server and end up overpowering its capabilities. This leads to slow speeds and flimsy performance which is frustrating.

A good VPN choice will also have a good server distribution all over the world. This gives access to everyone, even those in the remotest of places. Such a VPN will allow users to access the most suitable server for their location for the best performance.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN have amazing server networks. They are some of the most well-known VPNs when it comes to server networks.

Currently, NordVPN has astonishing 5500+ servers in 60+ countries. No matter where you are on earth, with this service you can obtain top performance. Speeds are fast and consistent and you get a variety of servers you can choose from to effectively spoof your location.

ExpressVPN too has an amazing server network. It currently has 3000+ servers in 90+ countries worldwide.

While its server number cannot compare to that of NordVPN, its server distribution is something to marvel about. ExpressVPN too provides top performance with its server network.

In this category, NordVPN is the winner owing to the sheer size of its server network.

	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Servers	Over 5500	Over 3000
Locations around the world	Over 60 countries	Over 90 countries

4. Security

In recent years, the internet and the online world have grown to become quite a dangerous place for innocent users. Just one wrong move whenever you are online could have devastating effects on you.

The internet is a place that crawls with all manner of criminals and for this reason, security is a top concern for most people whenever they’re online.

A majority of hackers as well as other cybercriminals have intensified their activities and have discovered multiple ways they can attack unsuspecting internet users.

Because of this reason, VPNs have become an inexcusable necessity. Using the internet without VPN protection is quite risky and can have a lot of consequences. VPNs provide security by encrypting your data and making it illegible to anyone who may try to access it.

They also route all your encrypted online traffic through an encrypted tunnel which is impossible to crack. No one can therefore have access to this data.

If a VPN doesn’t have airtight security protocols in place, the results can be far-reaching. Most VPNs have lax security measures that are easy to bypass. So before picking a VPN, it’s wise to do some research.

The best VPN choice for you is one that has multiple layers of security to ensure the safety and security of your data. Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are excellent in terms of security.

Security Feature	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
OpenVPN with L2TP, SSTP, PPTP	Yes	Yes
AES-256 encryption	Yes	Yes
DNS and IP leak protection	Yes	Yes
Killswitch	Yes	Yes
Double VPN	Yes	No
Onion over VPN	Yes	No
WireGuard	Yes	No
CyberSec	Yes	No
Obfuscation	Yes	No

Both of them use OpenVPN with additional protocols of L2TP, SSTP, and PPTP. They also have military-grade encryption with AES-256 bit protection. They also have DNS/IP leak protection and an additional Kill switch feature.

NordVPN however pulls ahead of ExpressVPN because it has additional layers of security. These are DoubleVPN, Onion over VPN, CyberSec, WireGuard, and Obfuscated servers.

So in terms of security, NordVPN is the undisputed winner.

5. Privacy

In modern years, privacy breaches and spying have become so common. Most people desire a certain degree of anonymity and privacy whenever they’re online. This is why VPNs are such an essential tool.

They protect people against privacy pirates. But while most VPNs are effective in this regard, others are a privacy hazard and have been known to share user data with third parties.

One of the major things that determine whether a VPN is privacy friendly is its logging policies. Logging policies determine whether a VPN tracks collects, and keeps the logs of its users.

Most VPNs claim that they don’t keep users’ logs when they do. The best VPN choice will therefore have a strict no-logs policy that it can back up.

Jurisdictions also play a role in privacy. Countries that are part of the world’s major surveillance alliances are not good locations for VPNs. This is because such countries legally require VPNs to keep user logs.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are excellent choices for privacy. The good news is that both of them have been audited before and proven to be compliant with their no logs policies. NordVPN is located in Panama which is a private haven while ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands which is also good for privacy.

So in this category, we will declare a tie between the 2 VPNs.

	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
No logs policy	Yes	Yes
Jurisdiction	Panama	The British Virgin Islands

6. Streaming

Streaming is one of today’s most popular pastimes. This popularity has attracted a lot of online threats and for this reason, VPNs are a must.

Most streaming services geo-restrict their content making it impossible to access them in certain areas. VPNs unblock these restrictions and allow users to stream their favorite content.

A good VPN for streaming will have top speeds, great unblocking capabilities, and excellent security. Lucky for us, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are quite adept at these.

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN can unblock Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu. NordVPN could additionally unblock HBO and Disney+.

Because NordVPN has better speeds, security protocols, and unblocks more streaming platforms, it is the winner in this category.

Streaming Service	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Netflix	Yes	Yes.
Amazon Prime	Yes	Yes
Hulu	Yes	Yes
BBC iPlayer	Yes	Yes
Disney+	Yes	No
HBO	Yes	No

7. Torrenting

Torrenting and P2P file sharing are quite risky. This is because torrenting apps usually display the IP address of users and anyone who’s connected to the network can see this information.

It is therefore easy to be attacked. This is why VPNs are essential for torrenting. They enable one to mask their real IP and avoid being attacked.

The best VPN for torrenting will have excellent speeds that support sharing and downloading large files. Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are excellent VPNs for torrenting. They have excellent speeds for this purpose.

NordVPN however pulls ahead because it has dedicated P2P servers, specifically designed to support torrenting activities. ExpressVPN lacks this option.

	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
P2P servers	Yes	No

So in this category, NordVPN wins.

All in all, as you can see from the above, NordVPN is the best VPN choice for all your online activities. It outranks ExpressVPN in multiple feature categories and is, therefore, the best-recommended choice.