PureVPN vs. ExpressVPN

When it comes to VPNs, we don’t want to take our chances with a service that will log our web activity and IP addresses, significantly slow down our browsing speeds and cost a fortune, and we assume you’re on the same page. Here, we’re putting the popular VPNs PureVPN and ExpressVPN head to head. Which performed better in terms of speed and security, and which one is right for you? We have the answers, straight from our dozens of tests.

What You’ll Get with PureVPN and ExpressVPN

Let us make one thing clear: no matter if you choose ExpressVPN or PureVPN, they’re both really solid options with strict logging policies, ideal privacy jurisdictions and tons of servers all across the world. Here’s more of what they have in common:

• Non-member: Based in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, respectively, ExpressVPN and CyberGhost will never give the government customer data because they can’t be forced to, legally. Neither country is a member of Five Eyes, Nine Eyes and 14 Eyes, surveillance alliances that countries like the U.S are in, so that’s a win in both of their books.
• Number of servers: Both VPNs are expansive with over 2,000 servers each.
• Kill switch: We don’t expect our VPNs to fail but if they did, both ExpressVPN and PureVPN would’ve also shut down our web browsers so our activity would remain hidden from our ISP.

• Split tunneling: In order to decrease our bandwidth and increase our browsing speeds, we routed some traffic through ExpressVPN or PureVPN and some directly to the public Wi-Fi network. After all, there’s nothing we need to hide about reading articles from The New York Times!
• Netflix: Now, we can’t say this will always be the case, as Netflix often blocks VPN servers, but we were able to watch Netflix on both ExpressVPN and PureVPN without a hitch.

• AES-256: Our web activity and IP addresses were encrypted using the most trusted method, AES-256, with both VPNs.
• Unlimited server switches: We didn’t have to worry about hitting a ceiling as far as the number of servers we connected to with neither CyberGhost nor ExpressVPN.

How PureVPN Is Better

Comparing VPNs isn’t a zero-sum game. Rather, VPNs have their individual pros and cons, so we wanted to break down the ways in which PureVPN is better, with ExpressVPN to follow.

• More countries: Both VPNs have pretty extensive reaches, but PureVPN has servers in 180 countries compared to 148 with ExpressVPN.
• Cheaper: If you’ve read our list of the best cheap VPNs, then you know that money is always a factor in our decision-making; we’re living in a material world, after all. While neither PureVPN nor ExpressVPN made this list, when comparing the two, PureVPN is cheaper regardless of the time length you sign up for.

• Twice as many simultaneous connections: We rarely find ourselves using 10 devices at once, and if we do, you may want to call someone. That being said, if multiple people are sharing one PureVPN subscription, they’ll be able to connect up to 10 devices at the same time, compared to only five with ExpressVPN.

If you want to do a deeper dive, read our PureVPN review, which highlights the entire testing process in detail.

How ExpressVPN Is Better

Okay, now let’s flip the switch. Here are the ways that ExpressVPN knocked the socks off of PureVPN.

• Doesn’t log bandwidth: Both VPNs had pretty strict privacy policies, not logging our IP addresses or web activity, but unlike PureVPN, ExpressVPN didn’t keep track of the total amount of bandwidth we used while connected, increasing our overall privacy.
• Dynamic IP addresses: Every time we connected to ExpressVPN, we got a new IP address, but with PureVPN, we got the same one each time. That made us easier to trace online, which is obviously a bad thing for a VPN to do. Considering the fact that nearly three-quarters of Internet users in the U.S are concerned about their online privacy,1 this is a huge win in favor of ExpressVPN.
• Unlimited devices: Sure, we could only connect five devices at a single time to ExpressVPN, but we could connect as many devices as we wanted overall, unlike PureVPN which capped this number at 10.
• Compatible with more devices and browsers: This is an area where personal preference reigns supreme. While both VPNs cover the most popular types of devices like Macs, Windows, iOS and Android devices, ExpressVPN worked with more types of devices and browsers compared to PureVPN.
• Compatible with gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox: ExpressVPN is a better option for gamers, while PureVPN works with streaming services like Roku and Fire TV Stick. For more options, check out our lists of the best VPNs for gamers and the best VPNs for Fire TV Stick.

• Higher app ratings: Whether we were connected to ExpressVPN on our iOS or Android devices, the apps worked better than those of PureVPN, and other customers seemed to agree with us.
• Speed on Windows and Macs: We tested ExpressVPN and PureVPN from our private Optimum network in Brooklyn. Now, although we pay around $80 a month for speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps,2 but we rarely get those speeds, if ever. That being said, we didn’t want to know our Internet’s speed so much as the difference in speed when we connected to ExpressVPN and PureVPN. And what we found is that ExpressVPN affected our speed much less than PureVPN, which proved to be slower on both Mac and Windows computers.

To learn more, read our ExpressVPN review.

Which VPN Is Right For You?

PureVPN may be cheaper and allows for more simultaneous connections but if we had to choose one, we’d pick ExpressVPN over PureVPN. That’s because it logged less of our data, worked on more of our devices, and had more user-friendly apps. However, if you’re looking to save money or want more simultaneous connections, PureVPN might make more sense. If you’re still not sure, let’s break it down here and now.

The good news is that both VPNs have money-back guarantees of about a month each, so there’s no risk to trying out either one and seeing which you like best. Happy privacy!