Surfshark vs ExpressVPN in 2024

Surfshark and ExpressVPN are well-known names in the VPN industry and are trusted by many users worldwide. Surfshark is one of the top choices for VPNs, as it offers a wide selection of servers across the globe, many additional security-focused features, and excellent unblocking geo-restriction capabilities. Additionally, it offers unlimited simultaneous connections and competitive prices. ExpressVPN is also a reliable VPN due to its robust security toolkit and user-friendly interface. It also has an extensive list of servers, but compared to Surfshark, there are fewer features and higher prices.

Both VPNs successfully secure users’ digital footprint and ensure privacy, so it might be difficult to distinguish which option is best. I tested both to help you understand the difference between them and if you should choose Surfshark or ExpressVPN. I looked into their server lists, features, prices, security toolkits, and speed. As well as that, I checked their unblocking capabilities, read their privacy policies, and the overall ease of use. Read on and learn more about both VPNs’ capabilities in this Surfshark vs ExpressVPN comparison.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN comparison: specifications

Surfshark VPN and ExpressVPN are excellent and trustworthy VPN providers that keep you safe online. However, Surfshark VPN offers better discounts and prices than ExpressVPN. On the other hand, both VPNs have a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test the service first and a wide selection of VPN servers. Surfshark VPN has WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols available, while ExpressVPN has Lightway, OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP, and PPTP, so you’ll be able to choose the best one for your needs with both VPN providers. If you’re interested in unlocking streaming services, Surfshark VPN and ExpressVPN can unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and other popular services.

Pricing comparison of Surfshark and ExpressVPN

Surfshark and ExpressVPN offer different duration plans: monthly, 1-year, and 2-year plans. Both providers offer a better price and additional free months when purchasing long-term plans. With Surfshark, you can get four extra months when buying a long-term plan, while ExpressVPN offers up to 6 extra months. Even though ExpressVPN has more payment methods available by allowing to pay with Apple Pay, Surfshark has better prices overall.

Surfshark delivers better value for less

With Surfshark VPN, you can choose from three plan options that include different features as well as their length:

• Surfshark Starter: $15.45/month for a monthly plan, $2.99/month for a 1-year plan, and $1.99/month for a 2-year plan.
• Surfshark One: $17.95/month for a monthly plan, $3.39/month for a 1-year plan, and $2.49/month for a 2-year plan.
• Surfshark One+: $20.65/month for a monthly plan, $5.99/month for a 1-year plan, $3.99/month for a 2-year plan.

By purchasing Surfshark One, you also get Surfshark Antivirus, Surfshark Alert, and Surfshark Search. Surshark One+ also includes an additional service, Incogni. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a 7-day free trial is available on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

ExpressVPN falls short on price and features

ExpressVPN only has one plan type, but you can choose its duration. Purchasing long-term plans offers better prices:

• Monthly plan for $12.95/month
• 1-year plan for $6.25/month and four extra months for free
• 2-year plan for $4.99/month and six extra months for free

Besides better prices, long-term plans also include additional features not included in the monthly plan. The 1-year plan includes ID theft insurance, covering restoration costs if your identity is stolen (available for US users only). If you take a 2-year plan, apart from the ID theft insurance, you also get a data removal tool. ExpressVPN has a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it before committing to a long-term plan.

However, Surfshark’s 2-year plan offers even more value at just $2.19/month, with additional features like Antivirus and support for unlimited devices.

Speed comparison

It is well-known that using a VPN can decrease your internet speed, but it should not be noticeable. To investigate which VPN provider performs better in terms of speed, I connected to different Surfshark and ExpressVPN servers and went to trustworthy speed test tools such as speedtest.net. Below, you can find the Surfshark and ExpressVPN speed test results.

Surfshark VPN

ExpressVPN

Both Surfshark VPN and ExpressVPN are generally fast VPN providers, and you shouldn’t experience noticeable speed drops. My speed stayed comfortable with 400+ Mbps with different Surfshark and ExpressVPN servers. This is more than enough to browse online and stream content freely without any buffering issues. However, Surfshark was a bit faster than ExpressVPN, as it retained about 91% of my original speed, while ExpressVPN’s average speed retention rate was 89%, which is still a great result. Additionally, after connecting to a random US server, my speeds stayed at 184 Mbps with Surfshark and only 92 Mbps with ExpressVPN. This makes me believe that Surfshark is a better option in terms of speed.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN: which is more secure?

When it Comes to security, Surfshark and ExpressVPN are both trustworthy providers that ensure privacy. They use the most secure encryption methods, such as AES-256 and ChaCha20, ensuring that your internet traffic cannot be tracked. Both providers also offer a variety of protocols that guarantee that your connection stays safe and stable at all times.

ExpressVPN and Surfshark VPN have a kill switch, which is a necessary security tool. Using a kill switch will disconnect you from the internet if your connection gets interrupted, ensuring you will not browse online without protection. Another essential feature is DNS and IP leak protection, ensuring you are truly secure online and your actual location is invisible. Apart from these necessary features, both VPNs offer a variety of additional security-focused features. ExpressVPN offers split-tunneling, a password manager, a Threat Manager, an adblocker, Smart DNS, and ShuffleIP, which you can use with any of ExpressVPN’s subscriptions. Surfshark has an even longer list of additional features. By subscribing to any of Surfshark’s plans, you get CleanWeb, split-tunneling, NoBorders, Camouflage mode, Cookie pop-up blocker, Rotating IP, Pause VPN, and many more. All Surfshark and ExpressVPN additional features will help you to increase your online privacy and personalize your VPN connection.

Privacy

Surfshark is based in the Netherlands, a member of the Nine Eyes surveillance alliance. The alliance can store, track, and share your online activity with other alliance members. However, Surfshark’s privacy policy assures users that no data is logged. On the other hand, ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands and is not a member of any surveillance alliances.

Logging

Surfshark and ExpressVPN have strict no-logs policies that are independently audited. Both VPN providers cannot track, store, or share your internet activity and are not obliged to comply with any data requests. Surfshark and ExpressVPN are secure and private VPNs that do not keep any logs.

Server locations

Surfshark and ExpressVPN have many servers compared to other VPN providers. Surfshark has 3200+ servers in 100+ countries, while ExpressVPN offers an undisclosed number of servers in 105+ countries. With both providers, you can connect to servers from Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Both VPN providers have fast speeds as they updated their servers from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps. Not all Surfshark’s and ExpressVPN’s servers are physical. Some of their servers are virtual, meaning that the IP address of the server that you’re connected to is physically located in another country.

ExpressVPN does not offer any specialty servers, but its servers are P2P friendly, and obfuscation is automatically enabled. On the other hand, Surfshark has a variety of specialty servers:

• P2P servers. Surfshark is a great choice for torrenting as its specialized P2P servers are designed to safeguard you while torrenting. Surfshark has P2P servers in all X countries, so you’ll have no issues finding the best server.
• Obfuscated servers. Connecting to an obfuscated server will hide that you’re using a VPN overall, making your connection even more private. To get obfuscation with Surfshark, you only need to use the OpenVPN protocol.
• Static IP. Connecting to a static IP server will give you the same IP address every time. Surfshark has Static IP servers that you can use with other customers at no additional cost.

Double VPN servers. A double VPN server routes your traffic through two different VPN servers, meaning your data is encrypted twice. To use it, connect to Surfhsark’s MultiHop servers.

Features comparison

Smart DNS

Surfshark has a Smart DNS feature, and ExpressVPN offers a MediaStreamer feature. These features are great if you’re looking for alternatives on how to stream content on devices that do not support VPN apps natively. However, Surshark’s Smart DNS will only allow access to a few US streaming services. ExpressVPN’s MediaStreamer will unlock a limited amount of UK and US streamings.

Split tunneling

Both providers offer split-tunneling features, and they perform equally well. I tested Surfshark’s Bypasser and ExpressVPN’s split-tunneling features by excluding some websites and apps from the encrypted VPN tunnel. Both features worked well, as my IP address was not changed when accessing these specific services only.

Adblocker

I’ve tested Surfshark’s and ExpressVPN’s adblockers on both Chrome and Firefox using the Adblock, D3ward, and CoverYourTracks tests. Both VPN providers provide strong protection against tracking on Chrome and Firefox. However, the ad-blocker results differ when different tests are used. The Adblock test revealed that Surfshark’s CleanWeb blocked 64/100 ads while ExpressVPN blocked 75/100. On the other hand, the D3ward test showed that CleanWeb blocked 93/100 ads, and ExpressVPN blocked only 87/100 ads.

Dark Web monitoring

Surfshark offers an additional feature, Surfshark Alert (available with Surfshark One and One+ plans), which monitors your email, credit card, and ID for any breaches. If your personal details end up on the Dark Web, Surfshark Alert will inform you so you can take action. ExpressVPN also has a separate product, ID Alerts, which works similarly to Surfshark Alert. However, the ID Alerts feature is only available for US users.

Streaming comparison – Netflix/Streaming comparison

I was pleasantly surprised that both Surfshark VPN and ExpressVPN performed exceptionally well in terms of streaming. To test this, I switched between Surfshark’s and ExpressVPN’s servers and tried accessing various geo-restricted streaming services in some regions. To my surprise, I had no issues with Surfshark and ExpressVPN, as they unlocked all major services. I was able to stream content on different Netflix libraries, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and other services. Since both providers are generally fast VPNs, I did not experience any slow speed or buffering issues. I was also able to stream in HD quality.

Device compatibility

You will have no issues protecting various operating systems and devices with Surfshark VPN or ExpressVPN. Both providers support all major computer and mobile device operating systems as well as smart TVs. Additionally, these two VPNs support many routers and even consoles. Even though both providers support many devices, Surfshark is compatible with more routers and consoles. You can even set up Surfshark VPN on Apple Vision Pro, Oculus Quest, or Nvidia Shield. Additionally, Surfshark allows unlimited simultaneous connections, while ExpressVPN allows only up to 8 devices.

Desktop app

Using Surfshark and ExpressVPN desktop apps is fairly easy, even if you’re new to VPNs. All you have to do is download and install the VPN app on your desktop device and log in to your account. Once logged in, you can simply connect to a VPN server and browse the internet securely. Additionally, you will find all the features that will enhance your VPN experience by going to the VPN settings.

Mobile app

Surfshark and ExpressVPN are also easy to use on mobile devices. Once you have downloaded, installed, and logged in to your VPN account, you can find the list of servers on the main page. By going to VPN settings, you will also find additional features and other app settings, similar to desktop applications.

Torrenting: Surfshark or ExpressVPN?

Both Surfshark and ExpressVPN are suitable VPNs for torrenting. Surfshark has P2P servers in all 100 countries, so you’ll definitely find a suitable server. ExpressVPN doesn’t have much information regarding torrenting, so I contacted their customer support and found out that all their servers are optimized for P2P sharing. Additionally, both VPNs have necessary security features like kill switch and split tunneling that are important to ensure total security and privacy. ExpressVPN even allows port forwarding on their routers, while Surfshark does not recommend setting up port forwarding.

To test out which provider performed better in terms of torrenting, I downloaded a 5.27 GiB Ubuntu 24 client while connected to the closest Surfshark and ExpressVPN servers. Surfshark performed well as the client downloaded in 6 minutes, and the speed reached 18 Mbps at its peak. I was surprised to see that ExpressVPN performed even better if we’re focusing on speed. The client downloaded it in only 4 minutes, and the speed reached 26 Mbps at its peak.

China

It is well known that China and several other countries have strict internet restrictions, and a VPN can help bypass them. That’s why I examined Surfshark’s and ExpressVPN’s performance in China. Unfortunately, I discovered both VPNs have difficulties in China. Even though connecting in China using ExpressVPN or Surfshark is possible, you might still experience issues as the government tends to block IP addresses quite frequently. ExpressVPN and Surfshark don’t provide built-in Tor over VPN features but support manual Tor over VPN configuration, which might help when using a VPN in China.

Surfshark has Camouflage mode and NoBorders, and ExpressVPN offers built-in StealthVPN. These features will help hide the fact that you’re using a VPN, which is necessary in countries like China. On the other hand, Surfshark suggests using their manual connection methods for customers in China, which increases the likelihood of successfully using the VPN. ExpressVPN does not offer manual connection methods for Chinese users and only suggests regular troubleshooting steps.

Customer support

Surfshark and ExpressVPN provide email and 24/7 live chat support, so you will have no issues finding answers to your questions. Additionally, they both have public knowledge bases available, so you can find solutions without contacting anyone.

To test the quality of customer service, I contacted representatives of both VPN providers. I was surprised by the quality and tone of voice of Surfshar’s customer support specialist. The whole chat was fast, very friendly, and effective, as the agent answered all my questions. Surfshark also has its own chatbot available. If you want a real person to help you, all I had to do was ask to redirect me to one, and I was immediately transferred.

While you do not need to go through any chatbots with ExpressVPN, the experience was not as good as Surfshark’s. The tone of voice was more formal, and it took a bit longer for ExpressVPN’s representative to get an answer. However, the support agent answered my questions, and I believe that they’re able to solve any issues as well.

Surfshark VPN vs ExpressVPN – which is better?

Surfshark VPN and ExpressVPN are strong VPN providers that will perform well and increase online security. It might be difficult to distinguish the better option between the two providers, so I carefully tested both of them by looking into what they offer and how they perform. Even though both are reliable VPN providers, Surfshark VPN proved to be the better option.

Surfshark VPN performed better than ExpressVPN in almost all categories. The provider guarantees fast speeds and a wide selection of servers, including specialty servers. Surfshark also has more features than ExpressVPN and still offers better prices.

Even though ExpressVPN did not perform as well as Surfshark, it still is a trustworthy VPN provider that guarantees security and privacy. Additionally, you will have no issues accessing streaming services while connected to ExpressVPN, and it even works better than Surfshark when torrenting.

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FAQ

Is Surfshark better than ExpressVPN?

Yes, Surfshark is better than ExpressVPN because it offers better prices, a broader server list, and more security-focused features. Additionally, there are more plans to choose from with Surfshark. Even though ExpressVPN is also a reliable VPN provider, Surfshark is better as it offers better value for money overall.

Which is faster Surfshark VPN or ExpressVPN?

Surfshark VPN is faster than ExpressVPN. Both provide excellent speeds, and there are no noticeable speed drops, but Surfshark is a bit faster. Surfshark speeds stay 400+ Mbps at all times, retaining 91% of the original speed, which is more than enough to enjoy a fast and buffer-free browsing experience.