Disclosure: This Proton VPN vs ExpressVPN comparison has affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you subscribe. Neither provider pays us.
These two get compared constantly, and for good reason — Proton VPN is the privacy-first pick from the team behind Proton Mail, while ExpressVPN is the long-running “just works everywhere” default with one of the best support reputations in the industry. Neither is the budget option. Proton is built around auditable transparency and a genuinely useful free tier; ExpressVPN is built around consistency, obfuscation, and streaming reach. Here’s how they actually stack up.
Pricing and refunds
Proton VPN’s Plus tier runs around $9.99/mo month-to-month, around $4.99/mo on the 1-year plan (around $47.88 billed upfront), and around $2.99/mo on the 2-year plan (around $71.76 upfront). Proton also sells Unlimited, a bundle that adds Proton Mail, Drive, and Pass, starting at around $12.99/mo and dropping to around $7.99/mo on the 2-year term. ExpressVPN’s Basic tier costs around $12.99/mo month-to-month, with Advanced at around $13.99/mo and Pro at around $19.99/mo for more simultaneous connections; its discounted 2-year plan brings Basic to roughly $2.49/mo (plus four bonus months), renewing at around $99.95-$199.95/year — check that renewal number before you commit, since it’s not the headline price.
| Proton VPN | ExpressVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | ~$9.99/mo (Plus) | ~$12.99/mo (Basic) |
| Longest-term promo | ~$2.99/mo (2-yr Plus) | ~$2.49/mo (2-yr Basic + 4 months) |
| Free tier | Yes — unlimited data, 1 device, 5 countries | No |
| Refund window | 30 days, no justification needed | 30 days, first-time customers only |
| Device limit | 10 (Plus/Unlimited) | 10-14 depending on tier |
Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Proton’s applies cleanly across all paid tiers with no conditions attached. ExpressVPN’s is restricted to first-time purchasers — if you’ve claimed a refund before, or you bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play, you’ll need to go through the store’s own refund process instead of ExpressVPN’s.
The free tier nobody else really matches
This is Proton’s single biggest differentiator: it’s one of the only VPNs from a major, audited provider offering a genuinely unlimited-data free plan, not a capped trial. Real limitations apply — one device, a choice of five server countries, no Secure Core, streaming-optimized servers, or P2P. It’s a legitimate everyday VPN for basic privacy and public Wi-Fi, just not a competitor to the paid tier. ExpressVPN has no free plan; the closest equivalent is the 30-day refund window if you remember to cancel.
Server networks — and a number worth flagging
ExpressVPN’s network is consistent everywhere you look: 214 server locations across 113 countries, one of the more geographically spread networks in the industry (useful for an exit point in a less-common country). Proton’s numbers are less consistent across its own materials — recent blog posts put the network at over 20,000 servers in 145+ countries, but Proton’s own pricing page describes Plus-plan access as “2,000+ servers in 10+ countries,” and third-party trackers cite anywhere from 127 to 130+ countries. That’s a real inconsistency worth knowing about — treat the higher figures as marketing copy and the lower, plan-specific numbers as closer to what you’ll actually get.
Speed: no clean winner in 2026 testing
Don’t trust a single source claiming a decisive winner — the independent tests disagree with each other. CNET’s 2025 testing had Proton losing 16% of baseline speed versus ExpressVPN’s 18%, a slight edge to Proton. Tom’s Guide named Proton VPN the fastest it tested in 2026. But CyberInsider’s city-by-city testing (updated February 2026, 1,000 Mbps line) split down the middle: ExpressVPN won Seattle (718 Mbps vs. 698) and New York (612 vs. 524), while Proton won Los Angeles (582 vs. 444) and a UK route (614 vs. 551). Both are fast, well-optimized services where the winner depends on your route and server load that day, not a settled ranking.
Streaming
ExpressVPN is the stronger pick here by most current reviews, with CyberInsider crediting it as the streaming and torrenting category winner and citing 20+ unblockable Netflix regional libraries. Proton’s streaming access is more limited and gated to paid tiers — sources put its unblockable library count anywhere from roughly 4 to 10 depending on when the test was run, itself a sign that Proton’s streaming reliability fluctuates more than ExpressVPN’s. If unblocking a wide spread of regional Netflix catalogs is your main use case, ExpressVPN is the safer bet.
Jurisdiction and no-logs audits
Proton VPN operates under Proton AG, headquartered in Geneva/Zürich, Switzerland. Its no-logs policy has now been independently audited five consecutive years by Securitum, with the most recent audit conducted on-site at Proton’s Zürich HQ in May 2026, finding no browsing, DNS, traffic, or user-identifying logs. ExpressVPN is owned by Kape Technologies (Israeli-British origin, based in the British Virgin Islands), and its TrustedServer infrastructure — RAM-only, wiped on every reboot — has now been through 23 total third-party audits, the most recent a KPMG ISAE 3000 review assessing the system as of February 2025 and published in June 2025, which found no logging issues. Both companies have a real, recent, named-auditor track record; neither is relying on an old or vague “audited” claim.
Worth noting for context: ExpressVPN is currently named in an active 2026 US class-action lawsuit alleging illegal auto-renewal billing practices, which is still working through the courts as of this writing — it doesn’t affect the product’s privacy claims, but it’s a fair thing to know before you hand over a card number for an auto-renewing plan.
What each one has that the other doesn’t
Proton’s extras: fully open-source, independently auditable apps; Secure Core, which routes traffic through hardened servers in privacy-friendly countries (Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden) before it exits to the wider internet; and tight integration if you already use Proton Mail, Drive, or Pass. ExpressVPN’s extras: its proprietary Lightway protocol, built for speed and for slipping past deep packet inspection in restrictive countries like China and the UAE; a dedicated router app; and 24/7 live chat support that consistently gets rated among the best in the industry for actually resolving issues instead of routing you to a help article.
Which one should you buy?
Editor’s pick: if Swiss jurisdiction, open-source code, and a real free tier matter most, go with Proton VPN; if broader streaming unblocking and 24/7 live support matter more, go with ExpressVPN.
If Swiss jurisdiction, open-source code you can inspect, and a real free tier for casual use matter to you, Proton VPN is the better fit, and it’s cheaper at every paid tier. If you travel to or need reliable access in restrictive countries, want the broadest Netflix-library unblocking, or just want the support team to actually answer the phone at 2 a.m., ExpressVPN is worth the extra few dollars a month. Both have passed recent, named third-party no-logs audits, so neither is a trust gamble — this comes down to whether you value price-plus-transparency or reach-plus-support more.
FAQ
Is Proton VPN’s free plan actually usable, or is it a bait-and-switch?
It’s genuinely usable for basic privacy — unlimited data, no ads, one device, a choice of five countries. You won’t get streaming servers, Secure Core, or P2P support, but as a no-cost everyday VPN for public Wi-Fi it’s one of the few free tiers from an audited provider that isn’t a crippled trial.
Which one is faster?
There’s no consistent 2026 winner. CNET and Tom’s Guide lean toward Proton; CyberInsider’s city-by-city testing came out split roughly 50/50 by route. Test both during your refund window on your own connection rather than trusting one review as final.
Why do Proton’s server-count numbers vary so much between sources?
Proton’s own materials aren’t fully consistent — recent blog posts cite 20,000+ servers in 145+ countries, while its pricing page describes Plus-tier access as “2,000+ servers in 10+ countries,” and third-party trackers land in between. Treat the plan-specific figure as the realistic one for what you’ll actually get.
Is ExpressVPN’s Kape Technologies ownership a privacy concern?
It’s worth knowing about, but ExpressVPN’s TrustedServer architecture and its 23-audit track record (most recently KPMG, June 2025) are independent of who owns the parent company. Whether ownership structure matters to you is a personal threat-model call, same as jurisdiction questions for any VPN provider.
Sources consulted: protonvpn.com/pricing and protonvpn.com/blog/no-logs-audit (Proton pricing, refunds, audit history); expressvpn.com/support/manage-account/what-is-expressvpns-refund-policy and expressvpn.com/blog/kpmg-2025-no-logs-policy-audit (ExpressVPN refund policy, KPMG audit); cyberinsider.com/vpn/comparison/expressvpn-vs-protonvpn (server counts, February 2026 speed testing, streaming comparison); and CNET and Tom’s Guide 2025-2026 VPN speed-test coverage (cross-referenced for the speed section).
