CNET’s key takeaways
- ExpressVPN is as as simple to use as a VPN can get, making it a great choice for beginners
- At $13 per month, $100 for the first 15 months (then $117 per year) or $140 for the first 28 months (then $150 per year), it’s more expensive than its competitors
- As a professional VPN reviewer, it’s my go-to pick for streaming comfort content from Hungary
As someone who’s moved back and forth between two continents over the past 17 years, I often find myself pining for certain aspects of another time or another location. Now that I’m back in the US, there’s an excitement and raw energy that I miss after living in Hungary and traveling throughout Europe.
A similar feeling comes up when I’m trying to stream a specific show or movie online and it’s not available. Depending on where I’m located, I’ll only be able to access streaming content that’s available in my region. That means that if I’m at home in the US, I can’t watch a lot of the content that I would be able to watch if I were in Hungary. But with ExpressVPN, I can.
And as much as I love streaming Bluey on Disney Plus at home with my daughter, sometimes I need a little break. That’s when I retreat to the den, where I’ve connected my Roku to ExpressVPN, which changes my IP address to register my connection as originating from an entirely different part of the world. Suddenly I have access to Hungarian shows like Rise of the Raven and The Informant, or movies like Hadik and Riviera East, on Netflix. I can even stream US content like Kindergarten Cop or Primal Fear on Netflix’s Hungarian library along with other titles that also aren’t currently available on Netflix in the US.
I’ve been testing the best VPNs in a professional capacity for over a decade, and no matter how many VPN services I’ve tested and used, I always gravitate back to ExpressVPN. Others like NordVPN and Surfshark are also user-friendly and excellent for streaming, but neither one can quite match ExpressVPN’s ease-of-use across platforms (including routers) or the depth and breadth of its geo-unblocking capabilities.
My experience with ExpressVPN
There’s no VPN in my experience that runs as smoothly, performs as seamlessly across platforms or unblocks streaming content as expertly as ExpressVPN. Whenever I test a VPN for streaming, I invariably run into at least one hiccup. VPNs often have trouble unblocking content on Hulu, Disney or Amazon Prime Video — sometimes across all platforms and sometimes only on a specific operating system. Or sometimes a VPN may struggle to unblock a specific country’s library on Netflix.
But with ExpressVPN, I’ve been consistently able to access all the content I want across all the devices I test on and all of the streaming services I try. I did run into a minor issue attempting to stream certain titles on Netflix through ExpressVPN’s Apple TV app upon first testing it a day or two after it was released in 2023. However, ExpressVPN quickly addressed those issues and my streaming experience on the provider’s Apple TV app has been flawless ever since.
I really like ExpressVPN’s minimalistic app and how it delivers a consistent experience across platforms. It’s not quite as chock-full of extra features as others like NordVPN or Surfshark are, but ExpressVPN is the best choice for beginners because it’s about as simple to use as a VPN can possibly get — no learning curve required.
What I find especially impressive is how easy ExpressVPN is to use on a router. I have ExpressVPN’s Aircove router and I love the slick, intuitive router app interface that comes with it and how it lets me easily drag and drop my devices into different categories of servers. For instance, I have one group set to connect to Hungary to stream Hungarian content, one for privacy that I set to my nearest location for optimal speeds, another for streaming content in other countries and one set to not connect to the VPN.
My Aircove router setup gives me maximum flexibility because I can connect any number of devices to the VPN at any time, even devices that don’t offer native VPN support. This means that I can bypass ExpressVPN’s eight simultaneous devices limit and unblock geo-restricted streaming content on my Roku Streambar.
The specs
- Price: $13 per month, $100 for the first 15 months (then $117 per year) or $140 for the first 28 months (then $150 per year)
- Number of servers: 3,000-plus in 105 countries
- Speed: 18% speed loss in 2025 tests
- Apps available for: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Chromebook, Android, iOS, FireTV, Android TV, Apple TV, routers
- Streaming compatibility: Netflix, Disney Plus, Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus and others
- Jurisdiction: British Virgin Islands
CNET’s buying advice
ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPNs on the market. But if you want the best option for nearly any use case and don’t mind paying extra, ExpressVPN is a worthy investment. In addition to being perhaps the easiest VPN to use and the best VPN for streaming, ExpressVPN’s privacy and transparency are also first-rate.
There are other similarly well-rounded VPN providers out there, including NordVPN, Surfshark and Proton VPN, that offer a nice balance of privacy and usability. NordVPN is a great option if you want the fastest possible speeds out of your VPN or if you want extra privacy protections through features like Tor over VPN. Surfshark is an excellent option if you want a premium VPN experience without having to pay for an expensive VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN. Proton VPN is great for privacy-conscious users who also like to stream content, although its apps are somewhat less user-friendly than other premium VPN apps. If you want top-notch privacy with cheap and flexible pricing and don’t care much for streaming, then Mullvad is what I would recommend.
While it’s expensive, ExpressVPN representatives tell me that a full overhaul of its pricing structure is imminent, which will hopefully make the service a much better value for budget-minded users. Right now, ExpressVPN’s best value subscription is its annual plan, which costs $100 for the first year and renews at $117 annually after the initial term. That’s less than what you’d pay for a year if you paid month-by-month at the $13 monthly subscription rate and cheaper than the two-year plan that costs $140 total for the first two years combined and renews at $150 per year after the introductory term. But for the most well-rounded VPN available, ExpressVPN is still worth it, whether you’re a beginner or seasoned VPN user because it’s incredibly good at everything it does.
Read the full article here