NordVPN vs ExpressVPN 2019: Gods of VPN World
- Salman Ahmed
- August 16th, 2018
Since consumer behavior is changing towards online privacy and security, it is essential to find out which VPN service is the best among 100’s of VPN available in the market.
For this our tech experts decide to compare the two best VPN providers which are NordVPN vs ExpressVPN. Meanwhile, if you want more information about other providers, check out this VPN Comparison Guide (with a listing of 180+ names).
There is no doubt ExpressVPN and NordVPN are two top-notch VPN services in the market right now. So if you are looking which VPN service is the best among them, then you are at the right place.
At Onlineprivacytips.co, we did the extensive testing of both VPN services that help you to decide which VPN is best for you according to your requirements.
Therefore, without wasting your time let’s see main step-by-step features that allow you to differentiate between the performance of providing security and privacy of both VPN providers.
ExpressVPN | NordVPN |
Provide fast speed servers | Feature to provide six simultaneous connections. |
BVI based organization-enables high users security and privacy | Headquarter is located in Panama |
Supports Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Amazon Fire devices | Supports Android, iOS, Windows and Mac OS |
ExpressVPN | NordVPN | ||
Pros | Pros | ||
Best VPN service in providing fastest server network | Offers double hop VPN servers | ||
Zero traffic log policy | No traffic log policy | ||
Exceptional 24/7 customer support service | Great 24/7 customer support | ||
Unblocks different streaming and downloading website while maintaining user high security and privacy | Efficiently unblocks different streaming and downloading website | ||
User Friendly App | User Friendly App Works with Netflix | ||
30 days money back guarantee | Provides 30 days money back guarantee | ||
Cons | Very costly as compared to NordVPN | Cons | Sometimes servers speed fluctuates. |
When choosing a VPN service, costing plays a vital role in decision making. However, there is no doubt that best services always put a little extra weight on your pocket, but totally worth it. For NordVPN pricing starts at $11.95 per month.
This is very expensive for many users. However, to avail 24% discount, you can avail NordVPN bi-annual subscription. It means the price goes down to $9 per month from $11.95 per month. For half-yearly (six months) you need to pay only $54. Subscription for longer period lowers the price in case of NordVPN.
If you are going for NordVPN annual subscription, you will able to get an almost double discount as compare to bi-annual subscription, which is 41%. This means you only need to pay $6.99 per month.
However, if you are looking for more cheap pricing, I would recommend you to go for NordVPN two years subscription. Two years subscription offers whopping 66% discount. It means you pay only $3.98 per month and $95.75 in total.
ExpressVPN price seems to be little more expensive as compare to NordVPN. If you are going for ExpressVPN, there are three deals to avail: monthly, yearly and bi-annually. If you plan to go for a monthly package, it will cost you around $12.95 per month. However, as you for long-term subscription, you can avail further discount.
If you are planning to subscribe bi-annual deal, you get a 22% discount. After discount price, the monthly price goes down to $9.99 monthly and $59.95 in total for six months.
Moreover, if you are looking for a most affordable package, then I would recommend you to go for ExpressVPN yearly package that gives you a straight 35% discount. The yearly package will cost you $8.32 per month and in total $99.95 for 12 months.
So its clear that when you talk about NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN. The Panamanian God tends to be more pocket-friendly.
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Plan | Price | Plan | Price |
1 Month | $11.95 | 1 Month | $12.95 |
6 Months | $9 | 6 Months | $9.99 |
1 Year | $6.99 | 1 Year | $8.32 |
Without testing VPN services to its maximum potential does not come up with actual results. Therefore, I found test results from one of the most reliable sources in the VPN industry. This testing involves maximum download and upload speed of ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
The test was executed on multiple servers in different locations of both Gods of VPN industry on a 50Mbps connection.
For ExpressVPN speed, all servers perform amazingly well. However, servers that are at large distance had lesser speeds. The maximum average speed was analyzed at 45Mbps, shows the decrease of 4% in connection speed as compare to internet speed without VPN.
When you talk about NordVPN speed, the results are very close to ExpressVPN. This God of Panama offers at 43Mbps, a decrease of 5% speed. Very close competition between both VPN’s, but ExpressVPN won the speed competition.
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
NAT Firewall | Yes | NAT Firewall | Yes |
DDoS Protection | Yes | DDoS Protection | No |
Static IP Address is Possible | Offers Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London IPs | Static IP Address is Possible | No |
Address Allocation | Shared | Address Allocation | Shared |
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Simultaneous Connections | Offer 6 Connections at a time | Simultaneous Connections | Offer 3 Connections at a time |
OS Applications | iOS, Mac OS, Android and Windows | OS Applications | iOS, MacOS, Windows, Android, Linux and Amazon Fire |
Setup Devices (Manually) | Linux, set-top boxes and routers | Setup Devices (Manually) | Set-top Boxes |
Split Tunneling | No | Split Tunneling | Yes |
Other Features | Offers extension for Chrome and Firefox | Other Features | Offers extensions for browsers (Firefox, Safari, and Chrome) |
If you talk about features offered by both NordVPN vs ExpressVPN, the first major win regarding providing self-installing feature goes to ExpressVPN.
It provides a self-installing feature for complicated OS like Linux, which is easier to use as compared to the manual method provided by other top VPNs.
Moreover, ExpressVPN also offers auto or self-installing app for routers. On the other hand, NordVPN provides detailed step-by-step information to install their VPN on 25-29 different types of routers.
If you compare simultaneous connection feature, NordVPN offers double that of ExpressVPN.
It means if you install VPN on your router, it showed as one connection but based on simultaneous connection feature is backed by three (ExpressVPN) and six (NordVPN) connections and switches accordingly.
Additionally, if you talk about NordVPN, it also offers malware security and track blocker for digital advertisements, and it can be set up on the app.
TV Channels Unblocking Capabilities | |||
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Netflix | Netflix | ||
Hulu | Hulu | ||
BBC iPlayer | BBC iPlayer | ||
Channel 4 | Channel 4 | ||
ABC | ABC | ||
ITV | ITV | ||
CBS | CBS | ||
Sky Go | Sky Go | ||
Amazon | Amazon | ||
NBC | NBC |
Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are the supreme leaders of VPN industry regarding unblocking live and streaming channels. The only challenge faced by ExpressVPN is with ABC channel.
If you compare both VPN regarding unblocking different streaming channels, according to our tech experts testing, ExpressVPN performs a bit more efficient then NordVPN.
For further testing in order to reveal about how phenomenal these both Gods of VPN are, we tested both for Netflix unblocking capabilities.
The results were amazing and in favor of users. NordVPN offers “Obfuscated Servers” feature to bypass “The Great Fire Wall.” ExpressVPN on the other hand offers the same feature with a different name to its users.
This God British Virgin Island offers it with the name “Stealth Servers” features, which easily bypass geo-restrictions in resilient locations.
Moreover, both VPN offers DoubleVPN feature, which allows users two different servers to get anonymous completely. In short, both ExpressVPN and NordVPN are super capable of unblocking Netflix and also works great in China. Therefore, it’s a tie when it comes to unblocking Netflix.
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Servers | 62 Countries | Servers | 94 Countries |
Total Number of Servers | 5100+ | Total Number of Servers | 2000 |
ExpressVPN offers more country servers, but NordVPN has an enormous amount of dedicated servers overall. The major difference between these two VPNs is that ExpressVPN provides location-based server, which NordVPN does not offer.
On the other hand, NordVPN offers server feature that ExpressVPN does not offer, which works as a VPN chaining mechanism.
It means that when you are using a NordVPN service, it will direct your traffic through servers, providing double encryption. It makes NordVPN more secure as compared to ExpressVPN.
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Based In | Headquarter is based in Panama | Based In | Headquarter is based in BVI |
Connectivity Logs | Zero connectivity logs while using NordVPN | Connectivity Logs | Rare connectivity logs while using ExpressVPN |
Crypto Payment Options | Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Ripple, Gridcoin, Dash, and Monero | Crypto Payment Options | You can also pay by using Mint and Bitcoin |
Login Required | Email id | Login Required | Email id |
Since both VPN providers headquarters are not located in “Five Eyes” countries. Therefore both are free to follow any security agencies restrictions to share users data when it is required. This makes NordVPN and ExpressVPN superior from all other VPN services.
Both VPN providers are based where there is no strict policy to share data with different state agencies. However, in the case of NordVPN, there are some copyright laws to follow if the company provides their service in that region. For this reason, NordVPN doesn’t offer any server in Panama, which makes it free to follow those copyright policies.
Comparatively, NordVPN contains a better privacy policy than ExpressVPN as it keeps zero traffic logs. We know now you think that almost every VPN service mentioned that they keep zero traffic log.
However, if you tested these VPN services, you would find out that they don’t keep an activity log, which is very different from the traffic log.
Moreover, regarding connectivity log, out tech experts found out that ExpressVPN keeps connectivity log, but NordVPN does not. These connectivity logs include websites visited data downloads and download protocols and sources.
It means by tracking a server connection from its origin, different security agencies and government institutions can find you from where you are located at (such as home, office, etc.), which VPN breaks this tracking.
However, by keeping connectivity logs, there is a high probability of being tracked by these government agencies while using VPN service.
It means regarding privacy, NordVPN is safer than ExpressVPN as it doesn’t keep connectivity logs of its users. Overall both NordVPN and ExpressVPN are top notch VPN services.
This is why according to our tech experts, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are best for those users who depend on torrent and other streaming services to entertain themselves.
NordVPN | ExpressVPN | ||
Data Encryption | AES-256 | Data Encryption | AES-256 |
Protocols | OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP, PPTP | Protocols | OpenVPN, L2TP, SSTP, PPTP |
Control Channel Encryption Feature | RSA-2048 | Control Channel Encryption Feature | RSA-4096 |
The technology used for Cloaking | Obsfproxy | The technology used for Cloaking | Cipher block chaining |
App Security | Automatic Wi-Fi protection, kill switch | App Security | Automatic Wi-Fi protection, kill switch |
DNS Security | Private DNS | DNS Security | Private DNS |
Extra Security Feature | Double-Hop routes | Extra Security Feature | No |
Conclusively, both NordVPN vs ExpressVPN are top-notch service providers. Overall the reason we think a user choose ExpressVPN over NordVPN is only when the server of that specific location where you are located at is not available in NordVPN list.
Regarding dedicated double security, server, and encryption services, NordVPN is a winner as ExpressVPN doesn’t offer this kind of services.
And when you talk about premium security, ExpressVPN leads the VPN industry and have the edge over NordVPN as well due to its powerful encryption channel. Regarding efficiency in privacy, NordVPN is way better than ExpressVPN because of zero log policy.
Moreover, both NordVPN and ExpressVPN works fine in some of the most restricted countries where most of the VPN services failed to work such as China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. However, ExpressVPN performance is slightly better as compared to NordVPN.
In short, if you use VPN service for unblocking video channels and streaming services, then according to our tech experts, ExpressVPN should be your preference.
However, if you use VPN service individually to unblock Netflix content list, then NordVPN should be your choice.
It means both VPN services are superior and best services among all other VPN services available in the market. However, according to our tech expert analysis, we think NordVPN is better than Express VPN as it has zero log policy, economical and offers a smooth experience.
We hope that you would find this article helpful regarding NordVPN vs ExpressVPN to decide whether which VPN service is better for you according to your needs and requirements.
In case if you still have any query or confusion, feel free to contact us by shouting your comment below.
I don’t have anything against Express, but I prefer Nordvpn. I’m a loyal guy in general, so I’m using Nord for about three years now. I had some difficulties in the past, but their support always seemed to react to my problems immediately and never left me standing until all my issues were resolved. I’d say that’s a top notch customer service, don’t you think?