ExpressVPN vs NordVPN (2026): Prices, Audits and Features

ExpressVPN and NordVPN are the two most-searched VPN brands. On verified data, they are also two of the three highest-scoring services we track. They differ in ways that matter more than the marketing suggests:

• how you can pay
• what the plan renews at
• which platforms get split tunneling
• how each company handled the incidents on its record

The table above comes from both providers’ data records. The sections below explain what the rows mean.

Pricing today

ExpressVPN’s order page shows only one term: “2 Years + 4 Months”. You pay for all 28 months up front. On 31 October 2026 the prices were:

• Basic: $2.99 a month, or $83.72
• Advanced: $4.49 a month, or $125.72
• Express Pro: $7.49 a month, or $209.72

The tiers differ in how many devices they allow, 10, 12 and 14, and in the extras bundled in. ExpressVPN’s support page says monthly and 12-month plans exist. Their prices are only shown at checkout, so our data layer does not record them. That is why the comparison table shows “not published” for the monthly plan.

We loaded NordVPN’s pricing page the same day, during its Black Friday promotion. It listed 27-month plans for its three tiers:

• Basic: $3.49 a month, or $94.23
• Complete: $3.99 a month, or $107.73
• Prime: $6.99 a month, or $188.73

Its 15-month plans cost $4.99, $5.99 and $8.99 a month. Its monthly plans cost $14.99, $19.99 and $29.99.

The renewal prices decide the long-run cost. ExpressVPN Basic renews at $99.95 a year, which is $8.33 a month. NordVPN Basic renews at $139.08 a year, which is $11.59 a month. Say you buy each Basic plan once and renew it once. Over three years, ExpressVPN costs about $184 and NordVPN about $233.

Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee for first purchases made directly. App-store purchases follow Apple’s and Google’s rules.

They differ on payment. NordVPN accepts cryptocurrency and sells prepaid cards that you can buy with cash. ExpressVPN removed cryptocurrency as a payment option in August 2026. It takes cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay only.

Privacy and audits

Both companies sit outside the intelligence-sharing alliances, the groups of countries that share intelligence. ExpressVPN is operated by Express Technologies Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands. NordVPN is operated by nordvpn S.A. in Panama.

Both run every server in RAM, so nothing persists across a reboot. Both publish transparency reports instead of a warrant canary. A transparency report lists the requests for user data a company has received. A warrant canary is a notice a company takes down if it receives a secret government order. NordVPN announced in 2024 that it was phasing its canary out.

On audits, NordVPN has the longer run of assurance engagements. In an assurance engagement, an outside auditor checks whether a company does what its policy says. PwC carried out NordVPN’s in 2018 and 2020, and Deloitte every year from 2022 to 2025. The latest was completed in December 2025.

ExpressVPN has KPMG audits of its privacy commitments from 2022, 2023 and 2025. PwC audited its policy and TrustedServer technology in 2019. ExpressVPN also has a much longer list of technical audits. Cure53, Praetorian, F-Secure and Nettitude have examined the Lightway protocol, the apps and the infrastructure repeatedly.

NordVPN’s assurance reports are available only to logged-in customers. ExpressVPN publishes several of its reports openly.

The incident records are different in kind. NordVPN has two incidents:

• 2018: a breach of a rented server in a Finnish datacenter. NordVPN disclosed it in October 2019.
• October 2024: under a Panamanian warrant, NordVPN disclosed the user data it held. That was account data, not activity.

ExpressVPN’s record has four entries:

• 2017: a server seizure in Turkey yielded no data.
• 2021: a disclosure about its CIO’s earlier work on a UAE surveillance program.
• 2024: a Windows split-tunneling bug sent some DNS requests outside the tunnel.
• 2025: a Windows bug let remote desktop (RDP) traffic bypass the VPN for about three months.

DNS requests are the lookups that turn website names into addresses. The last two incidents are app bugs rather than policy failures. Both were fixed within days of being reported and were independently verified. ExpressVPN disclosed both itself.

Security and protocols

A protocol is the method a VPN uses to build its encrypted connection. ExpressVPN’s default protocol is Lightway, its own design. It is written in Rust and has an open-source core. Since January 2025 it has used a hybrid post-quantum ML-KEM key exchange by default. Post-quantum encryption is designed to resist attacks by future quantum computers. WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 are also available.

NordVPN’s default is NordLynx, its version of WireGuard with a double-NAT layer added. It also offers OpenVPN, IKEv2 and NordWhisper, which is for networks that block VPNs. NordVPN’s post-quantum key exchange is an opt-in toggle that only works with NordLynx.

A kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN connection drops. ExpressVPN’s kill switch, Network Lock, is on by default on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. It is always on for iOS. It blocks IPv4, IPv6 and DNS traffic outside the tunnel.

NordVPN’s protection varies by platform. Windows has an internet kill switch and an app kill switch. Linux and Android have system-wide protection. The Apple App Store builds have VPN bypass prevention. IPv6 is the newer type of internet address. NordVPN does not support IPv6 at all, and it has made no official statement on whether its apps block it.

Split tunneling lets you choose which apps or websites use the VPN and which do not. It is the clearest gap in features. ExpressVPN offers it on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. NordVPN offers it on Windows, Android and Android TV only.

Obfuscation hides the fact that you are using a VPN, which helps on networks that block VPNs. It is automatic on every ExpressVPN server. NordVPN provides it through a separate list of obfuscated servers running NordWhisper.

NordVPN adds Double VPN, Onion over VPN and Meshnet. Double VPN is a multi-hop feature: it sends your traffic through two servers instead of one. ExpressVPN has no multi-hop feature.

Port forwarding opens a port so that other computers can connect to yours. Neither offers it on its standard servers. NordVPN has it only through a paid dedicated-server add-on. ExpressVPN has it only on its router app, outside the tunnel. Torrent users who need an open port should look at Private Internet Access instead.

Streaming claims

ExpressVPN’s official support guide and dedicated pages claim support for twelve services. They are Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, HBO Max, YouTube TV, DAZN, Paramount+, ESPN+, Crunchyroll and Peacock.

NordVPN’s VPN pages make no claims for single services. Its SmartDNS help article lists Netflix Originals, Paramount+, Peacock and the US versions of Prime Video, Disney+ and MAX.

A smart DNS service changes the location that streaming services see, on devices that cannot run a VPN app. Both include one. ExpressVPN calls its service MediaStreamer, and NordVPN calls its service SmartPlay.

We have not yet tested streaming access for either provider. Treat the counts as claims, and use the 30-day refund as your test window.

Apps and devices

The platform lists are nearly identical. Both have:

• apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV
• browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge
• router support

ExpressVPN also sells its own Aircove router with the VPN built in. NordVPN allows 10 simultaneous connections on every tier. ExpressVPN allows 10 on Basic, 12 on Advanced and 14 on Express Pro.

Open-source code is public, so anyone can check it. Only NordVPN’s Linux client and ExpressVPN’s browser extension and Lightway core are open source. The main apps on both sides are closed.

Support and refunds

Both run 24/7 live chat, email support and large help centers. Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on first purchases made directly. If you bought through an app store, Apple’s and Google’s refund rules apply instead. We have not yet measured response times for either.

Alternatives

If price decides it, Surfshark costs less than both and allows unlimited devices. See NordVPN vs Surfshark.

If transparency decides it, Proton VPN has fully open-source apps and a free tier. See ExpressVPN vs Proton VPN.

If you torrent, Private Internet Access offers port forwarding and open-source apps. See NordVPN vs Private Internet Access.

Mullvad offers a flat price with no email on your account. See Mullvad vs NordVPN.

Which should you buy?

If the two services cost the same, the choice would come down to your devices. Apple users get more from ExpressVPN. It has split tunneling on macOS and iOS, and a kill switch that behaves the same everywhere. Windows and Android users lose nothing with NordVPN. They gain Meshnet, Double VPN and a cheaper way to pay anonymously.

At today’s prices, ExpressVPN is cheaper on the long plan and far cheaper at renewal. NordVPN is the only one of the two you can buy month to month at a price shown before checkout.

How we compared them

Every row in the table comes from the two providers’ data records. We checked those records against their official pricing, feature, server, policy and audit pages on 31 October 2026. Scores come from our published methodology, with speed left out until our lab measures it. Read the full ExpressVPN review and NordVPN review for the detail behind each line.