Overview of ExpressVPN vs NordVPN
All it takes is a few minutes of research to figure out what the top VPNs are. An overwhelming majority of review sites will rightly steer you towards either NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
You probably know that much already if you’re on this page, but what’s next? Which is the better choice?
The answer should really be some variation of “depends,” but we all know fighting is fun, so let’s see some blood in this battle of ExpressVPN vs NordVPN!
Security
In the blue corner, we have the Panama-born NordVPN, brandishing some military-grade AES-256-CBC encryption, Double VPN, TOR over VPN, a strict no-logging policy and no DNS or IPv6 leaking.
And in the red corner, we have ExpressVPN with the same AES-256-CBC encryption, an effective no-logging policy, as well as no DNS/IPv6 leaks.
The two are very equally matched, but NordVPN’s additional security features mean the judges score this round of ExpressVPN vs NordVPN in favor of the latter. The Double VPN can give you that extra edge in cases where the privacy if of utmost importance – for example, if you’re a journalist in China reporting some anti-governmental news.
TOR over VPN (or Onion over VPN) is another powerful security feature that sends your encrypted traffic through the TOR network, especially useful if you’re a leader of a revolution in Iran.
Speed and performance
Round 2 – Fight! Both competitors boast a huge number of servers, covering a variety of locations. NordVPN has 5,000+ servers in over 60 countries, while ExpressVPN has 2,000+ in more than 90 countries.
Ultimately, while these numbers are impressive, they’re not necessarily conclusive. The number of servers and locations is important to make sure you have a stable connection all over the globe and the speed doesn’t drop drastically when you’re switching from one server to another.
Our speed testing shows a close fight – performance differences between NordVPN and ExpressVPN are rather negligible. In the end, ExpressVPN has a better jab and wins this particular round.
Ease of use
Both tools are very user-friendly and easy to like. ExpressVPN is a bit more simple, but NordVPN is hands-down the better-looking of the two.
It has another important advantage as well – NordVPN’s options tab offers more choices, yet is very intuitive at the same time. A nice uppercut from NordVPN to end the 3rd round of ExpressVPN vs NordVPN.
Torrenting and P2P
Speed and security are of primary importance for torrenters, but in this case, there are other considerations. P2P is available in all ExpressVPN countries and only 36 NordVPN countries – so a clear victory, right? Well, not quite.
NordVPN only offers P2P in countries where the law is lax in this regard; furthermore, they optimized hundreds of servers for P2P in particular. You can choose these from the list of “Specialty Servers” on the NordVPN client.
We reckon this one’s a draw!
Netflix and other entertainment platforms
While speeds are important for Netflix users, one should also take a look at reliability. While ExpressVPN wins slightly on speed, reliability is a whole different matter.
NordVPN has over 1,000 servers in the US alone – around two-thirds of what ExpressVPN has in total. As such NordVPN is the more reliable choice for Netflix, as well as BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO, Kodi, etc.
Don’t get us wrong, ExpressVPN will still probably beat everyone else, but this round goes to Nord.
China and other restricted countries
It’s hard to keep up with the VPN blocking efforts of China and the absolute majority of providers give up, even though the market for VPNs is constantly growing – 100 million or 14% of all of China’s online population uses one or another.
That’s not the case with either ExpressVPN or NordVPN. Both services have a constantly growing server list, making it harder for the government of China to keep up. Furthermore, both have obfuscated (stealth) servers to beat Deep Packet Inspection (DPI).
Having said all that, it seems that ExpressVPN works both more consistently and with greater performance in China. The same is true for some other restricted countries as well (albeit not all of them).
Round 6 of ExpressVPN vs NordVPN ends with the former winning.
Compatibility
Both have apps for all the main platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The latter two clients are well-crafted for the touchscreen, user-friendly and functional. NordVPN’s Linux version lacks GUI but that’s not a big issue for the average Linux user.
Yet ExpressVPN offers two custom apps for Ubuntu and Fedora, which is already much more than most other VPN developers care to deliver. What is more, ExpressVPN not only offers Chrome and Firefox, but also a Safari app.
ExpressVPN blows the round-defining punch with its router client, which makes it easier for less tech-savvy users to take advantage of their VPN at the router level, the two most important being:
- the router acting as a funnel, so all devices that use the traffic going through the router are not counted in the simultaneous devices limit
- split tunneling allows you to split the traffic not by app but by device
Pricing
This one’s easy – if you buy NordVPN for longer than a month, it becomes WAY cheaper than ExpressVPN.
A brutal beatdown, the judge should probably step in…
NordVPN vs ExpressVPN – which is better?
The battle of the titans – ExpressVPN vs NordVPN – goes the distance. Each trade blows on security and performance, but while the overall features are slightly in NordVPN’s favor, ExpressVPN wins due to its reliability in China and other restricted countries.
That doesn’t mean NordVPN is bad – there are plenty of good reasons to prefer it over ExpressVPN in certain situations!
Read our full reviews:
Both of these VPNs are extremely good choices. It’s hard to choose between them and depending on what you want and need, either of them may be appropriate. The bigger server number, the great speed (test it to see how they do in your country – in mine they did great), the level of security, nice torrenting options, price, etc; all of these things make me put NordVPN at the top spot. Express is very good but honestly, do I really need to pay $5+ more for it when NordVPN offers me everything I need? I wonder. Some say that ExpressVPN has better security and is very reliable in China and other restricted countries. I guess if you’re living in those countries or working there and would like to remain anonymous you should choose ExpressVPN. Otherwise, Nord should do well.
On another note, ExpressVPN accepts paypal at this time while NordVPN doesn’t anymore. Is paypal a good thing or a bad one when it comes to a VPN service? I think paying with a cryptocurrency is the most anonymous so I can understand why Nord isn’t using Paypal anymore. So, I guess if you want really good VPN services, you can choose either of these two (depending on your specific requirements) and you won’t be sorry.
It’s a tough comparison on this one. For someone who has used both VPNs, I can be in a better position to share my experience. They all are great for reasons you mentioned in the article except for Nord, all P2P traffic is routed in a specific location that affects your browsing session and this is a drawback for me. I hope they fix this soon but also an interesting thing about them is that they offer Ikev2 protocol which results in a faster connection and drains the battery much slower. Nord offers a free trial but Express does not, what they do is that you can test out ExpressVPN for a whole month – and get your money back when you’re done if you aren’t satisfied
I didn’t notice any drop-in speed during usage of both. The only drawback with express is their poor customer service of 5 hours per day which makes it difficult getting your issues solved quickly
For the price, I give it to Nord and this is the only thing that made me prefer Nord to Express in this comparison. Express VPN is damn expensive for me otherwise, they are both great
I’ve had a test on both NordVPN and ExpressVPN when I was in a dilemma in buying either one of the two. I have to say that the torrenting ability and the widespread server of NordVPN convinced me to purchase NordVPN. It’s alsso way cheaper than ExpressVPN.
Express vpn separate app works better than the chrome extension. VPN itself is THE BEST I’ve used, but the extension is just not good enough, doesn’t make the experience any easier or faster. Lacks ‘Speed test function. Nord which is the best alternative, in this case, wins for me. Nords reddit reviews are great too
These two VPN giants are just too hard to choose between for me! They are both strong across the board, and which one you should pick always depends on what features are the most important to you at the end of the day.
Express VPN vs. NordVPN is really the clash of the titans (and I don’t mean that awful remake from a few years back). I use Express VPN but I almost went with NordVPN. You can’t go wrong with either one, but for me, Express wins out, regardless of the price.
It’s difficult to differentiate between the two on features. But clincher is pricing, which favors NordVPN. Nord also offers 6 devices against 3 by Express.
If you don’t live in a heavily restricted country, then NordVPN is the best choice. Though it can be a little expensive, but I believe that it’s worth every penny. It’s a great service!
Both of them do have amazing features. Awesome research!
But I still prefer NordVPN for my device.
Hi Brandi,
Yes, they’re both great choices and, ultimately, a matter of preference!
If NordVPN > ExpressVPN based on this comparison, why the numer 1 of the BEST VPNs on your site is still ExpressVPN. It should be NordVPN then.
Thanks for pointing it out. The page hadn’t been updated, but it’s fixed now.