ExpressVPN Plans and Pricing

If you’re on the internet, you need to assume that you’re being watched. Right now, your internet service provider is handing your private data over to third-party marketers and advertisers — and that’s the best-case scenario.

As more folks become aware of just how at-risk they are online, they’re increasingly looking to protect themselves using virtual private networks — or VPNs for short.1 Through some pretty high-tech maneuvering, these programs scramble and shield your data from prying eyes and malicious intentions — all for less than you’d usually spend on lunch.

In this article, we’re going to be looking at one such service that consistently finds itself at the top of the heap — ExpressVPN. But as with any highly rated service, I always want to ask — is it all just hype, or is it really worth it?

Connected to ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN Overview

ExpressVPN has been a solid VPN for years. It spent some time at the top of our list of the best VPNs, but it moved down in ranking when better VPNs came along. Nonetheless, ExpressVPN is still one of the best out there, and you can read our in-depth ExpressVPN review for the reasons why.

ExpressVPN may lack the bells and whistles offered by other VPNs, but it’s solid core features and state-of-the-art security more than makes up for that. Just look at this hit-list of features.

Express VPN at a Glance

• Private, Encrypted DNS
• RAM-Only Servers
• Kill Switch Functionality
• Low Latency
• Support for Multiple Devices
• 24/7 Live Support

ExpressVPN Subscription Costs

Similar to how most VPN services structure their pricing, ExpressVPN has a base, month-to-month cost, but if you sign up for longer subscription durations, that month-to-month price decreases.

So how much does ExpressVPN cost? That depends on the length of your subscription. Monthly, it costs $12.95, which is a bit pricey. You can offset the month-to-month cost by paying six months in advance. That’s about $60 or $9.99 per month.

The real value, though, is in the 12-month plan, which costs $100 or $8.32 per month. But since it includes three months free for a total of 15 months, the math works out to just $6.67 per month. Not bad. Also, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee with ExpressVPN.

Here’s a quick look at their subscription durations and costs:

ExpressVPN Price Breakdown

For context, if you look at the plans for SurfShark — one of the cheaper options out there — a 12-month subscription costs only $3.99 per month, and if you sign up for two years, the price drops further to $2.49.

Since you’ve probably got that amount rattling around in your car’s cup holder, you might be wondering why you should consider paying that much more for ExpressVPN. The simple answer is — you get what you pay for. Like I said above, it’s easily one of the most secure and simple-to-use VPNs available. Do you want a hamburger, or do you want a steak? Both are great — they’re just different.

ExpressVPN Payment Options

If your answer is steak, ExpressVPN has several unique ways to pay — good news for folks who really want to protect their privacy. Rather than having to cough up your easily identifiable credit card information, ExpressVPN gives you the option to pay with bitcoin cryptocurrency. And while choosing this method won’t guarantee complete anonymity (the blockchain Bitcoin is based on is publicly available), it’s far easier to obfuscate than plunking down your debit card.2

Purchasing ExpressVPN with Bitcoin

ExpressVPN isn’t unique in this regard — there are a handful of other services that accept bitcoin — but it’s reassuring to see this option. It means they’re prioritizing privacy.

But with prices ranging between $12.95 to $8.32 per month, it is a little steep when you consider that another top-ranked service like NordVPN drops to almost half of that with their one-year package. ExpressVPN does offer a perk to make the price a little more palatable, though.

ExpressVPN Guarantee

No matter which subscription package you select, ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. That’s great news if you’re a little wary of forking over nearly $100 for a yearlong plan for a service you’re not even sure you’ll enjoy using. This means that you can realize the maximum savings with ExpressVPN while putting it to the test yourself for nearly a month risk-free.

This is obviously a helpful tool you can utilize when shopping around for a VPN — especially considering some services only offer these types of guarantees for a week or two, and only then for their longest-duration subscription packages. It also speaks to how confident ExpressVPN is in their service. They’re so sure you’re going to like it, they’ll let you fiddle around with it for a month before you make your ultimate decision.

Sometimes, though, ExpressVPN will take things even further.

ExpressVPN Discounts

Aside from the three extra months that come with their 12-month subscription, ExpressVPN occasionally runs special deals and promotions. We often see the best deals around Cyber Monday, the Monday right after Black Friday. You also have a good chance of finding deals on or around special holidays such as Christmas, the Fourth of July, and New Year.

That being said, we don’t encourage waiting months to get online protection. If you happen to be shopping around close to Cyber Monday, good for you. But if not, the three free months is as good as it gets on normal, non-sales-holiday days.

The Best ExpressVPN Subscription

I’m not a huge fan of commitment. It took me nearly a year to research which truck I wanted to buy. But in this case, I have to say ExpressVPN’s year-long subscription is clearly the way to go. This wouldn’t be my recommendation if ExpressVPN didn’t come with the 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied, but since it does, it is. A month is more than enough time to get a comprehensive understanding of whether any VPN service will be right for you. You’ll figure out where the friction points are — if there are any — as well as find out if it doesn’t offer something you later learn you really want or need.

So when you’re trying out ExpressVPN, here are some of the features you’re going to find.

ExpressVPN Advanced Features

TrustedServer

ExpressVPN’s servers are RAM-only, meaning traffic or user data is never written to a hard drive. Additionally, every one of their servers is completely erased and reloaded every time they’re reset.

Split Tunneling

ExpressVPN users can configure which devices or what traffic is routed through the VPN and what goes over standard ISP. There are certain specific circumstances where this can come in handy, including streaming foreign media or connecting to peripheral devices.

Private DNS

Your computer’s DNS requests are handled directly by ExpressVPN, so there’s never a risk of leaks or exposure. This means there is no way for your ISP to censor your internet activity.

Kill Switch

ExpressVPN will terminate your internet connection should the VPN service be interrupted for whatever reason. This is a critically important function for folks like torrenters, who never want to run the risk of exposing their true IP address.

ExpressVPN Overall Value

As you can see, ExpressVPN packs in a lot of power for the price. Are they for everyone? No, probably not. There are certainly cheaper options out there, and ones that feature more highly specialized purposes. However, two thoughts on that.

First, when I say “ExpressVPN costs more,” we’re talking about dollars per month. Yes, it’s “more” but in the scheme of things, we’re not talking about figures that are going to break most peoples’ banks. For context, the difference between NordVPN $5 per month versus ExpressVPN’s $8 is $36 over the course of a year. When you think about it that way, it really is splitting hairs over the cost.

Want to see how these two powerful VPNs measure up? Head over to our NordVPN vs ExpressVPN guide.

And second, ExpressVPN really does offer a lot for the price. They have one of the most secure services on the market and offer access to one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced server networks out there. At the end of the day, if you value security, privacy, and ease-of-use, you’re not going to be disappointed spending the extra couple of dollars for ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN FAQs