ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN vs. Surfshark: the ultimate VPN provider comparison

Surfshark vs. ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN at a glance

Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN are three of the best VPN providers in the industry today. We need to go in-depth to establish the differences between them. But before we dive in, let’s look at some of the key things they offer.

Now that we’ve covered some differences and similarities, let’s look at each of the VPNs more closely.

Privacy

First and foremost, a VPN is a privacy tool. The providers we’re comparing today recognize that and have privacy as a priority. Surfshark VPN, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN all have strict no-logs policies and headquarters in countries with no data retention laws. You’d expect nothing less from premium VPN providers.

No-logs policies

A no-logs policy means that a company keeps no logs about your activity online. As a result, your data usage, connection time stamps, or IP addresses aren’t tracked, and information isn’t stored. The company only keeps the necessary information to provide a quality service without infringing on your privacy.

All three VPN providers we’re comparing today have had their no-logs policies backed up by independent auditors, proving their legitimacy. ExpressVPN even had its servers seized by Turkish authorities, but they couldn’t get any information from the servers, proving ExpressVPN’s no-logs claim once more.

Headquarters locations

Any reputable VPN service provider must be based in a country with no data retention laws. This means the law doesn’t require them to keep any information about customers, which is a must for maintaining a no-logs VPN policy.

NordVPN headquarters are located in Panama, ExpressVPN headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, and Surfshark headquarters in the Netherlands. Neither of these countries has data retention laws, which is why they’re perfect locations for a VPN provider to call home.

Server locations

The number of servers and their locations can make or break your VPN experience. Server crowdedness and how close you are to the server are key factors in determining connection speed. 

More servers in more locations mean that you’re more likely to find an uncrowded server nearby, no matter where you are. ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark have widespread server networks. So your choice may simply depend on who has more servers in locations you’ll be connecting to most frequently.

NordVPN has the most servers out of the lot yet the least locations available. That’s because they offer loads of servers in North America and Europe, with 1970+ servers in the US alone. 

Surfshark has the most server locations out of the lot, with servers in 100 countries. This makes Surfshark a great choice in regions such as South America, Asia, Africa, or the Middle East, since it has the most server locations in these areas. 

ExpressVPN also has an impressive server infrastructure. But it has fewer servers in fewer locations when compared to Surfshark, even though it’s close. It does have more available locations but significantly fewer servers when compared to NordVPN.

*A small portion of Surfshark and ExpressVPN servers are virtual. All NordVPN servers are physical.

Streaming performance

There are two types of people in this world: those who know the pain of a buffering screen in the middle of their favorite show, and those who don’t. Thankfully, a VPN is unlikely to slow your connection down to a point where you can’t watch video content online. So as long as your internet is working fine, buffering shouldn’t be an issue.

We can look at Netflix recommendations for a rough idea of the speed you need to watch movies and TV shows. But keep in mind that the number may vary slightly for other streaming services.

Some streaming platforms may not work very well with smaller VPN providers. Thankfully, this is not the case with Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN. They all work great with major streaming platforms, so you shouldn’t have any issues watching your favorite shows and movies while protected by a VPN.

Connection speeds

Your connection speed depends on much more than server crowdedness and location. Encryption, server bandwidth, your own network setup, and other things play a role in determining your VPN connection speed.

Running a speed test is the easiest way to see which of the three VPN providers is the fastest. So we booted the Ookla Speed Test tool and compared average speeds on a local server as well as servers in Dallas, Tokyo, and Sydney to see how well each VPN service provider does.

We used the fastest protocol for each provider to get the best speeds. We used WireGuard with Surfshark, while with NordVPN and ExpressVPN, we used their proprietary protocols, NordLynx and Lightway.

Before connecting to a VPN, we ran a speed test to determine a baseline speed. It’s used as a reference point to see how much a VPN connection affects the connection speed. 

• Download speed — 288.51 Mbps;
• Upload speed — 289.27 Mbps;
• Ping — 5 ms.

The results on a local server were nearly identical, with only slight deviations either way.

International VPN servers were a whole different story, though. Surfshark and NordVPN showed similar results. You would expect it to be close between the two since NordLynx is built around WireGuard, the protocol that Surfshark uses.

ExpressVPN, on the other hand, had slightly lower download speeds on all international servers. But the upload speeds were through the roof, with the average upload speed on international servers doubling that of Surfshark or NordVPN.

Keep in mind that download speed has the biggest impact on your browsing experience. But if you upload large files online regularly, the difference in upload speed is something worth noting.

VPN protocols

VPN protocols are sets of rules that determine how data moves between your device and the VPN server. Without diving into too much detail, these protocols make it possible for users to establish a secure connection to the internet. 

WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN are considered to be the best VPN protocols due to their speed and security features. Some companies have created their own protocols, as ExpressVPN did with Lightway or NordVPN with their NordLynx, both of which have been tested and proven to be great options.

OpenVPN is the slowest out of the lot, but it’s been around for a long time and is a reliable, secure workhorse. IKEV2 is quick and great option for mobile devices because it automatically reconnects when switching networks. WireGuard is the fastest VPN protocol available today, which is why NordVPN chose to build NordLynx around it.

OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard are widely used by premium VPN providers. Lightway, on the other hand, was created by ExpressVPN and is only available with their services. They made the right choice by making Lightway open-source so it could be tested openly. Much like the other protocols mentioned above, Lightway has no known vulnerabilities.

Customer support

In an ideal world, you would never need customer support. But newsflash — we don’t live in an ideal world. Sometimes things go wrong, and when they do, you want a good customer support team ready to help you out.

Thankfully, you won’t have any issues with either of the VPN services we’re comparing today. Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN all offer extensive knowledge bases, 24/7 live chat support, and email ticketing systems. 

This means the help center provides answers to common questions, and if you have an issue you can’t resolve yourself, customer support agents are ready to help at any time.

Reaching a live chat customer support agent is a quick and painless experience with any of these providers. The agents seem knowledgeable, and if you have questions they can’t solve on the spot, these questions are forwarded to a ticketing system. Either way, you can rest assured your issue won’t go unsolved.

For those of you who like video content, each provider has extensive guides on YouTube. So if you don’t feel like reading help desk articles, these guides will answer your questions on the most common issues.

Audits

In the VPN world, independent audits are there to establish if company claims are true. Every company can have its own claims for what a VPN can do, but they’re empty words if they can’t be backed up.

Bonus points if the audits are made by well-known and reputable auditing companies such as Cure53, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), or Deloitte.

Such audits show that a company is willing to stand behind its product and can be trusted. As you would expect from premium VPN providers, Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN have all undergone multiple audits over the years.

Surfshark audits

Launched in 2018, Surfshark is the youngest company out of the three. While some may not even think about audits in the first years of development, Surfshark started early with a 2018 audit of their browser extensions by Cure53. 

A 2021 Cure53 audit of the entire infrastructure followed, topped off by an assurance report by Deloitte that verified Surfshark’s no-logs VPN policy. No critical issues were found during these audits, and any minor issues were quickly resolved.

NordVPN audits

NordVPN has put an extra emphasis on proving their no-logs claim, as their no-logs policy has been audited three times already. The first two audits were completed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2018 and 2020, with an assurance report from Deloitte in 2022.

VerSprite completed an audit of NordVPN’s apps in 2019, while Cure53 audited app and infrastructure security in 2022. Just as with Surfshark, any detected vulnerabilities were quickly sorted, and no critical issues were found.

ExpressVPN audits

As you might expect, ExpressVPN has also had a thorough shakedown by independent auditors. Their no-logs claim was approved by a KPMG audit in 2022, with PricewaterhouseCoopers having audited their privacy policy back in 2019. 

They underwent a security audit by Cure53 in 2022, as well as a Cure53 audit of Lightway, (their proprietary protocol), also done in 2022, which was the second time that Lightway had been audited.

Security and encryption

Encryption

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)-256 is the magic combination of numbers and letters you should look for in every VPN provider. It’s the best encryption algorithm available today —  no surprise that Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN all use it. 

Kill Switch

A Kill Switch is an additional safety measure used by many VPN providers. It shuts down your internet connection if your VPN connection drops. This ensures that no sensitive data is leaked if something goes wrong with your VPN.

Cloaking technology

During regular VPN use, your traffic is hidden, but it’s still possible to tell that you’re using a VPN. In countries with oppressive censorship, you might want to hide that you’re using a VPN. That’s where cloaking technology comes into play.

NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN all have obfuscated servers. Simply connect to one of such servers and browse the internet freely in areas where many basic freedoms are restricted.

Extra features

Ad and pop-up blockers

Both Surfshark and NordVPN have ad and pop-up blocking features. They’re part of Surfshark’s CleanWeb package and NordVPN’s Threat Protection. ExpressVPN also has a Threat Manager feature, but it doesn’t block ads or pop-ups, only trackers.

Split tunneling

When you establish a VPN connection, it encrypts all of your data. You can set up a split tunnel if you want some apps or websites to stay unaffected by the VPN. This is particularly handy for using banking apps, accessing wireless devices, or excluding data-heavy apps from the VPN.

Double VPN

A double VPN routes your traffic through two different VPN servers instead of one. It does slow down your connection speed but makes the connection even more secure. Using a double VPN for your everyday activities is not recommended due to the drop in speed, but it’s a great option when you need that extra bit of privacy.

Surfshark calls its double VPN service MultiHop, while NordVPN sticks with the Double VPN name. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, doesn’t offer a double VPN option at all.

GPS spoofing

A regular VPN connection hides your IP address, which is the main indicator of your location online. But it doesn’t change your GPS location. You’ll need a GPS spoofing feature to trick your GPS into thinking you’re somewhere else.

Surfshark offers this feature for Android users, ExpressVPN has it available for macOS, iOS, and Linux, while NordVPN doesn’t have a GPS spoofing feature at all.

Dedicated IP

If you want to use a VPN but always have the same IP address that only you can use, a dedicated IP is your only option. This helps avoid frequent CAPTCHAs and issues with certain apps that arise when you constantly change and share your IP address. 

Both NordVPN and Surfshark offer a dedicated IP option, which is a paid service separate from the base VPN package. Surfshark does offer static IPs with all of its plans, which also never change, but you do have to share them with other users. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, doesn’t offer options for dedicated or shared IPs.

Price

Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN are all premium VPN providers. But not all of them come with a premium price tag. Each provider has different price points for their plans, and you’ll get a hefty discount if you choose to commit to a long-term subscription.

The price for short-term plans is identical with each of the three providers. It’s with the long-term plans that you start seeing the difference.

Surfshark vs. ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN recap

Surfshark has the most widespread server network and is the only one to offer unlimited simultaneous connections. This makes Surfshark a great choice if you use many different devices or want to share your account with a family member.

NordVPN has the most servers, most of which are in North America and Europe, which makes NordVPN a great choice in these regions. Both Surfshark and NordVPN also have an impressive fleet of extra features.

ExpressVPN may have fewer extra features than the two other providers, but it’s great at providing a secure and private online experience. ExpressVPN also had the highest upload speed by far on international servers during our speed test.

Surfshark vs. NordVPN vs. Express VPN — which one should you choose?

There is no wrong choice to make between Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN. They are three of the best VPN providers out there, yet all provide a unique package to the user. Most importantly, all of them do a good job of keeping you safe and private online, which is the main reason for using a VPN. 

FAQ

Does Surfshark work with Netflix?

Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN all work great with Netflix, allowing you to watch your favorite shows and movies privately.

Is Surfshark better than ExpressVPN?

Both ExpressVPN and Surfhark are great choices for a VPN, each having unique strengths. Surfshark has more extra features, while ExpressVPN had a higher upload speed during our speed tests.

Is Surfshark better than NordVPN?

Surfshark and NordVPN offer a similar VPN experience. Surfshark has servers in more countries, which makes it a great option for regions such as South America, Africa, Asia, or the Middle East. NordVPN has more servers in North America and Europe, making it a great choice for these regions.