NordVPN vs ExpressVPN

NordVPN and ExpressVPN are one of the most famous VPNs in the industry that offer their users a multitude of servers.

Still, the question remains, which VPN works better between NordVPN vs ExpressVPN?

The brief answer is – both services are viable online privacy options, but NordVPN is a clear winner in terms of pricing, server network and overall performance. 

The summary of our comparison is as follows:

Let’s explore how we compared both.

Pricing, Payment Options, and Refunds

NordVPN is much affordable than ExpressVPN. The service delivers a comprehensive list of privacy features alongside attractive discounts that make it much cheaper than ExpressVPN.  For instance, the two-year plan is available at the cost of $4.99/month and three year plan is available at the cost of $3.49/month.

On the other hand, ExpressVPN monthly plan is accessible at the cost of $8.32/month that makes it a relatively expensive provider than NordVPN. If we compare the refund policy of both these services, they offer 30-day money back guarantee. Based on comparatively lower cost, NordVPN holds an edge over ExpressVPN. However, these services accept various payment methods including Bitcoins as well.

Related Reading: Cheapest VPN Service Guide for 2020

Privacy and Data Logging

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN have a strict no-logging policy.Likewise, both services hail from safe jurisdictions i.e. Panama and British Virgin Islands (BVI). 

NordVPN has a user-friendly privacy policy, since the provider does not record IP address, time stamps, bandwidth, or traffic logs of any kind.

Their privacy statement is highly reassuring because it is hard to come across service providers that actually take the step of minimizing data logging of users.

ExpressVPN has always been known as one of the best in the industry in terms of its logging policy. Visiting the privacy policy page of the provider, it is immediately clear that no type of data that could lead to exposure of user identity or activities is being logged by this VPN:

Coupled with the fact that ExpressVPN is located in the BVI, these are good reasons to trust the provider to keep your privacy intact.

Server Network

If we compare the server spread of both NordVPN and ExpressVPN, the former offers 5000+ servers and the latter provides 3000+ servers worldwide. It means, NordVPN is one of those few VPNs that have the largest server network in the world.

NordVPN only offers it services in 59 countries but has more server locations than ExpressVPN overall. That said, both services can unblock geo-limited content throughout the world.

You can use the following table to see server locations offered by both providers:

So, NordVPN not only has more servers, but the entire network is powered by physical servers, making it the winner in this round.

Security

On security front, NordVPN has wider range of features as compared to ExpressVPN. However, both the providers offer same kind of tunneling protocols to their users. But, they apply different RSA keys in general. The former uses RSA-2048 while ExpressVPN uses RSA-4096 that is twice as secure.

NordVPN supports various tunneling protocols like OpenVPN, PPTP, SSTP and IKEv2 too. The industry standard OpenVPN protocol uses 256-bit military grade encryption by default. You can also experience its other features like internet kill switch as well.

If we discuss ExpressVPN security-wise, it delivers kill switch feature by the name of “Network Lock” to its subscribers.

Speed

ExpressVPN offers faster connection speeds as high as 27.17 Mbps than NordVPN. Both these services do not disappoint when it comes to checking their speeds through online speed tests. The speeds of providers were checked on Speedtest.net site while using 30 Mbps internet connection. Check details of our VPN speed tests.

ExpressVPN is considerably a faster service than NordVPN because the BVI based service clearly outperformed the Panama based service during the speed test.

Customer Support

Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN deliver impressive support through email, tutorials and live chat features. 

In case you visit either NordVPN or ExpressVPN official site, you will find its customer support feature that includes 24/7 live chat, setup guides, email, FAQs and much more. All these features help average users solve their queries in the right way.

App Usability and Interface

ExpressVPN offers a much improved and highly responsive VPN client than NordVPN. If we compare the apps of NordVPN and ExpressVPN, both services have a simple user interface.

Besides, the NordVPN app is visually appealing and it works considerably well without any bugs while also being simple enough to use.

On the other hand, ExpressVPN app is also simple, appealing without being excessively fancy, and is free from any kinds of bugs. The responsiveness of ExpressVPN apps for different devices makes it a pleasure to use it and attain privacy. You can connect to any server of your choice within seconds.

The app offers the most needed options like Smart location, Recent location, Select location, and the main Connect button.

Overall, ExpressVPN is more efficient than NordVPN due to its faster connectivity feature.

Features and Compatibility

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN provide various privacy features like split tunneling, kill switch, mulit-logins and others. You can safeguard your digital whereabouts through a kill switch feature even if the VPN app suddenly stops working. Besides, you can use 256-bit encryption that helps you protect your crucial data from snoopers and other unwanted personnel.

On features front, both NordVPN and ExpressVPN looks quite similar. However, the latter has differentiated itself from the former through branding. This is because ExpressVPN offers an internet kill switch by the name of Network Lock.

But, NordVPN provides 6 multi-logins benefit as compared to ExpressVPN that offers 5 multi-logins feature. Moreover, NordVPN provides a dedicated IP address that is clearly an edge over ExpressVPN as the British Virgin Islands based provider does not deliver a dedicated IP feature.

In terms of compatibility, these two services supports numerous operating systems and devices including routers, gaming consoles, smart TVs and so on.

Unblocking Strength

Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN allow you unblock famous streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and others. During testing different VoD services, we were able to access every geo-blocked sites and services almost without any hassle.

However, ExpressVPN is a reliable option due to its excellent streaming speeds than NordVPN.

Availability in China

You can use both NordVPN and ExpressVPN within China. That said, the official site of ExpressVPN is banned in the country but it offers an alternate site to its Chinese netizens. On the other hand, NordVPN is another useful way of accessing international services while residing in China. Still, ExpressVPN holds an advantage since it is included in the list of best VPNs for China.

Availability in Singapore

NordVPN is better for Singapore as compared to ExpresssVPN. 

NordVPN has more than 86 servers in Singapore, while ExpressVPN has only 3. There’s no question here that NordVPN is the superior choice when it comes to service within Singapore.

Torrenting

ExpressVPN has more p2p-enabled servers than NordVPN. The latter is another good choice for torrenting because of the good logging policy, jurisdiction, security, and large server network. However, for MacOS users, Nord VPN is not as secure for torrenting because of the lack of a system-wide kill switch.

ExpressVPN, on the other hand, has a great kill switch feature in addition to an excellent jurisdiction, and logging policy. Although both VPNs are excellent for torrenting, ExpressVPN is a slightly safer choice for torrrenting owing to the fact that it has more servers for torrenting and also because of its highly responsive Network Lock (kill switch).

Final Verdict: NordVPN is the Winner!

The winner for this comparison is NordVPN which has proven to be better than ExpressVPN on account of pricing and server spread.

Although NordVPN managed to beat ExpressVPN, it is important to remember that ExpressVPN is the toughest competitor it has met so far. To read more about expressVPN, check out the full review of ExpressVPN.

In fact, you can’t go wrong with either VPN as far as quality and performance are considered. As long as you know what to expect from an either VPN provider, you’re good to go.

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