Spending more on a VPN can be a double-edged sword. Some VPNs offer less and cost more — others are amazing. When it comes to Astrill VPN vs ExpressVPN, many are familiar with the fact that they’re not the cheapest. Although, ExpressVPN is still way more affordable. There’s plenty to like about both, though.
From strong privacy and lightning speeds to a myriad of security features, torrenting prowess, unlimited bandwidth, and timely support. During our testing, we were more impressed with ExpressVPN compared to Astrill VPN. It costs considerably less and simultaneously offers more, so it’s definitely on the amazing side.
Astrill VPN has the advantage of being a better VPN for China, and if that’s your primary concern, you have your answer. For the rest of the answers, it’s wise to stay with us. We have multiple Astrill VPN vs ExpressVPN tests ahead. Let’s carve our path and meet the victor.
ExpressVPN vs Astrill VPN: Quick Comparison
| 🏆 ExpressVPN | Astrill VPN | |
| Our Current Ranking 📋 | #2 | TBD |
| Prices 🤑 | Starting at $4.99/mo | Starting at $12.50/mo |
| Money-Back Guarantee 🪙 | 30 days | No |
| Free Version/Free Trial 🆓 | No/7 days on iOS/Android | No |
| Logging/Jurisdiction 🕵️ | No/British Virgin Islands | No/Seychelles |
| Protocols 🌐 | OpenVPN, Lightway, Lightway Turbo | OpenVPN, OpenWeb, StealthVPN, WireGuard |
| Servers 🏠 | 3,000+ in 105 countries | 300+ in 56+ countries |
| Specialty Servers ✅ | Dedicated IP | Dedicated IP |
| RAM-Only Servers 🛡️ | Yes | Yes |
| Working With Netflix 📺 | Yes (US, UK, JP, CA, …) | Yes (US, UK, …) |
| P2P Allowance ↔️ | Yes | Yes |
| Customer support ☎️ | Live chat, email | Live chat, email |
| Concurrent Connections 📟 | 8 | 5 |
Applications & Ease of Use
Astrill VPN and ExpressVPN work on a vibrant palette of devices and systems, but ExpressVPN is slightly better. In a recent Firestick VPN ranking, we haven’t mentioned Astrill VPN because it doesn’t natively support this device. ExpressVPN, fortunately, does.
Main desktop and mobile systems are there too, and we don’t need to mention each. Both providers also come with router support, which is handy for protecting your home network from nasties. In this ExpressVPN vs Astrill VPN duel, you’ll be interested in their simultaneous connections.
Neither is jaw-dropping. ExpressVPN comes with eight, and Astrill VPN has only five.
Astrill VPN’s ease of use is… well, not great. The tiny desktop client is a bit annoying. It’s unintuitive, sluggish at times, and poorly designed. Astrill VPN’s mobile clients are a bit better but don’t expect enjoyable VPNs for iPhones, Android phones, and other devices.
ExpressVPN’s tiny desktop client is a bit larger. It’s minimalistic but imagined and realized way better. The connection button is right there, and you can find the server you want in seconds. We love that its apps look the same, and we’re not joking, the same across all supported devices and systems.
If you’re a VPN newbie, ExpressVPN will impress you with its usability and smoothness. Astrill VPN’s design will make you connect to a server and quickly close the app, just to avoid tinkering with it too much.
Winner: ExpressVPN
From ease of use, simultaneous connections, and device compatibility — ExpressVPN takes it all. Users will appreciate more its Firestick TV and Apple TV apps that Astrill VPN lacks. Its snappiness and overall premium feeling make ExpressVPN one of the top flagship VPN services on the market.
ExpressVPN vs Astrill VPN Price Comparison
Look at flagship phones, cars, hardware, and so on — they all cost a fat pile of cash.
ExpressVPN begs to differ, despite its notoriety for higher prices. Well, those days are nearly done, as ExpressVPN’s new deal enters the room to freshen the air. The 24-month plan is now 61% off thanks to 4 free months, dwindling the price to a tiny $4.99 a month.
Don’t forget a 30-day money-back guarantee to ensure a risk-free purchase. As you can also notice, the old 48% off deal with 3 free months for the annual plan is now the second-best deal. It’s pricey because it’s $6.67/mo. Luckily, ExpressVPN has a fresh new deal to consider.
Inflation or not, Astrill VPN’s prices haven’t moved an inch or dollar — or cent. The 24-month plan with no free months stands proudly at $12.50 a month, while the half of this length is $15 a month. There’s the monthly plan at $30, which makes Astrill VPN look quite silly.
You don’t have to think twice to conclude that it’s the most expensive VPN that threads our world. Just imagine spending $300 upfront for 24 months with Astrill VPN. Think about this — you don’t even get a money-back guarantee and there’s no adequate free trial.
You can only buy it and pray to God you’ve made the right decision. Oh, and let’s not forget that only five devices can be protected, which is less than CyberGhost which protects seven at a nearly six times cheaper price.
Both VPNs offer some extras. ExpressVPN has dedicated IPs at $3.99 a month per IP. Astrill VPN charges you $5 a month. The latter has a VIP add-on with optimized latency and speed for gamers and users in Asia. 100 GB of VIP traffic is a whopping $10/mo, for example.
Winner: ExpressVPN
Astrill VPN is solid, but it’s an expensive toy to play with. ExpressVPN is excellent and in comparison, its price is quite affordable. Lest we forget ExpressVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee and an awesome, 61% off introductory deal. Spend less and get more — ExpressVPN won’t disappoint you.
Features Analysis
Astrill VPN’s redeeming factor is the number and quality of features. At the price, however, we can’t say Astrill brings nothing we’ve seen so far on the table. ExpressVPN has always been a tad shorter than its rivals in this aspect, but we can’t say it lacks too much.
Let’s first address the basic features we tested in our ExpressVPN vs Astrill VPN duel:
- 256-bit encryption
- Automatic VPN kill switch
- Split tunneling
- Ad-blocking and tracker protection
- OpenVPN protocol
These are shared features and they work across the board in both VPNs. ExpressVPN does offer parental control, which blocks porn sites (you can also unblock them with this VPN). The VPN includes a variety of privacy tools for ID Theft Protection, along with a dark web monitor for data breach alerts.
On top of that, it leverages Lightway and Lightway Turbo protocols to improve your security and speed. The latter is especially interesting, as it creates multiple VPN tunnels to ExpressVPN’s servers for faster throughput.
Astrill VPN, however, offers MultiHop, which ExpressVPN lacks, and there are three excellent protocols:
- OpenWeb
- Stealth VPN
- WireGuard
WireGuard is well-known, but the latter two are rarely seen in VPNs. They’re designed to obfuscate your traffic and help you overcome censorship in China, Russia, Turkey, and other countries. We found a few convenient features useful in Astrill VPN — VPN sharing is one.
It allowed us to share the VPN connection with other devices by making our computer a hotspot that other devices would use. Another feature, Smart Mode, automatically connects you to the VPN server suitable for sidestepping censorship. Not to mention, Astrill VPN uses an app kill switch.
We used it to block only specific apps if the VPN is off, like our Brave Browser and torrent client.
Winner: Astrill VPN
Astrill VPN is not more secure than ExpressVPN — both are exquisite. Much to ExpressVPN’s detriment, Astrill VPN includes more features, most notably MultiHop (double encryption), Smart Mode, and VPN Sharing, neither of which exist in ExpressVPN. Ultimately, Astrill VPN is more feature-rich.
Do Astrill VPN and ExpressVPN Store Logs?
If privacy is your primary concern, be happy that neither ExpressVPN nor Astrill VPN retains logs. For one, they’re based in the British Virgin Islands and Seychelles respectively. As privacy-friendly, off-shore locations, they’re perfect for a VPN headquarters. Checking their privacy policies is enough to be at peace.
ExpressVPN and Astrill VPN don’t store logs of your IP address, visited websites (browsing history), geolocation, DNS requests, connection metadata, and so on. No VPN is 100% no-log, which means they must retain certain information to ensure their services run properly.
However, this information is either in an anonymized form or it’s kept for very short on the server, after which it’s promptly removed. Astrill VPN and ExpressVPN use RAM-only servers, so a simple flick of the restart button will remove all “evidence” and wipe things clean.
In our Astrill VPN vs NordVPN evaluation, we criticized Astrill for the lack of third-party audits.
Unfortunately, 2026 sings the same song. Meanwhile, ExpressVPN has gathered 20+ third-party audits, some of which are concerning its privacy policy. Others are related to ExpressVPN’s Lightway protocol, applications, and other security parameters of the VPN.
To be clear, we don’t think Astrill VPN’s claims are false because it lacks a single third-party audit. We just say that ExpressVPN has the exact proof of its claims. Astrill VPN might be trustworthy, and we believe it is, but no entity outside the company has officially confirmed it.
Winner: ExpressVPN
While we appreciate Astrill VPN’s jurisdiction and minimal logging, ExpressVPN scored a point because of its countless third-party audits. Its no-logs policy has even been proven in court at one point. That said, we would choose ExpressVPN for ultimate privacy protection.
Which VPN is Faster? (Speed Test Comparison)
Speed tests are up next and here, we discovered that ExpressVPN was faster.
Before we explain all the nuances, let’s first describe our testing procedure. At the time of testing, we were in Belgrade on the network with 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds.
The screenshot below will give you a full picture. Before we tested Astrill VPN vs ExpressVPN, we opened their apps and set the protocol to the fastest one. It was Lightway/Lightway Turbo in ExpressVPN and WireGuard, as the most potent option in Astrill VPN.
With everything in place, we tested both VPNs for three days in a row, three times a day, and on three server locations: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. You can observe that we emphasized long-distance servers to measure their speed retention percentages.
| ExpressVPN | Astrill VPN | |
| Download Speed Retention | 76% | 64% |
| Upload Speed Retention | 91% | 48% |
The table above shows exactly that; average download and upload speed retentions from our best speed test results. We can immediately see that ExpressVPN was noticeably faster. Astrill VPN was, for some reason, very slow when uploading videos on YouTube.
| UK DL/UL Speeds | US DL/UL Speeds | Japan DL/UL Speeds | |
| ExpressVPN | 46.25/9.53 Mbps | 42.04/9.34 Mbps | 32.06/8.65 Mbps |
| Astrill VPN | 45.21/5.02 Mbps | 36.26/6.32 Mbps | 19.45/3.11 Mbps |
ExpressVPN fared better and was also an adequate VPN for gaming. If you’ve missed it, and you likely haven’t, glance at the table above where we outlined our best speed test results of both VPNs from all three testing locations. Now, we have a full and well-painted picture.
We haven’t addressed their latency but in our tests, we haven’t noticed any difference. Both ExpressVPN and Astrill VPN gave us higher latency on servers in the US and Japan (230 ms and more), with the UK server hovering around 40 ms on average.
Winner: ExpressVPN
Speed tests are all about math. The one with the higher numbers wins, except for latency. Since latency was nearly identical and ExpressVPN had faster download and upload speeds, we must award ExpressVPN the victory as the speedier, more reliable provider.
Streaming & Torrenting Performance
First up, we’ll analyze their streaming prowess.
Astrill VPN performs okay and is mostly dependable on Netflix, especially on popular libraries. It unblocks just a few libraries and occasionally struggles with BBC iPlayer. At least it’s suitable for watching ITV abroad, but don’t expect extreme streaming prowess from it.
ExpressVPN is a few notches ahead. It employs a stellar browser extension with location spoofing, also capable of overcoming streaming geo-blocks. Its apps are also fantastic, and across all devices, they work with 15+ Netflix catalogs, BBC iPlayer, Hotstar, Hulu, and other famous streaming giants.
With ExpressVPN we also enjoyed a free live stream of the Super Bowl at the season’s end and managed to unblock our hometown channels overseas. ExpressVPN also includes MediaStreamer a.k.a. Smart DNS, which aids streaming on non-VPN-compatible devices.
Torrenting is an equally satisfying experience in Astrill VPN and ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN doesn’t have any delicacies like port forwarding, SOCKS5, etc. However, its unrivaled speeds won’t result in slowdowns, making download times prompt. Astrill VPN’s slower speeds won’t bother you either, as you’ll likely use a nearby VPN server to maximize torrenting speed.
Astrill VPN does pack a few extras like SOCKS5 and port forwarding which are often used for P2P file sharing. It’s a nice addition overall, but it didn’t make the world of difference for us, especially on the performance front.
Winner: ExpressVPN
Despite Astrill VPN’s handy torrenting features, it performs identically to ExpressVPN. Streaming, on the other hand, goes entirely to ExpressVPN, which ultimately leads to this provider’s victory in this round.
Server Locations
Their server fleets offer a breadth of qualities such as:
- RAM-based server infrastructure
- 10 Gbps ports
- Dedicated IP addresses
- Forward Secrecy
However, there’s a huge discrepancy in numbers:
- Astrill VPN has 300+ servers in 56+ countries
- ExpressVPN has 3,000+ servers in 105 countries
With ten times more servers in nearly two times more countries, ExpressVPN trumps its opponent pretty clearly. Neither VPN excels in server variety, as we don’t get specialty servers for Onion over VPN, torrenting, streaming, and other online activities.
In our experience, such servers aren’t needed either way. Regular servers work just fine.
ExpressVPN lets you connect to any server and do anything you want online — making WhatsApp calls in the UAE, playing video games, and so on. The same applies to ExpressVPN. Astrill VPN’s country spread is pretty weak, and with only 56+ of them, it’s way behind the competition.
ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Proton VPN, and many others already offer at least 105 countries on their lists.
Winner: ExpressVPN
This round wasn’t too hard to judge — it’s one of the easiest, to be exact. With more servers in more countries, ExpressVPN’s location span is far greater. If you need an extensive server fleet that excels in quality as well, ExpressVPN is an obvious pick.
Do They Work in China and Other Censored Countries?
At the beginning of our Astrill VPN vs ExpressVPN 2026 comparison, we mentioned Astrill VPN’s main advantage — squashing censorship. This VPN works wonderfully in censored regions and is particularly famous by Chinese tourists and residents looking for more online freedom and privacy.
Having tested it first-hand, we can confirm that its StealthVPN and OpenWeb protocols are immaculate. While we mostly used OpenWeb, testing StealthVPN was successful and we could overcome the Great Firewall with pretty much every attempt. Speeds were exemplary, as well.
It’s worth noting that Astrill VPN’s VIP add-ons truly work as advertised — shame for the price. We tested 100 GB of VIP traffic in China and enjoyed stable and reliable performance, with the option to use MultiHop to double our encryption and achieve better anonymity.
ExpressVPN works in China, but not as before. Obfuscation applies to each connection, but it’s willy-nilly, working on one occasion and then suddenly stopping. ExpressVPN’s performance in China is “okay”, but don’t expect miracles in 2026, as the Great Firewall is ever so stronger.
Other countries pose no threat to ExpressVPN. As one of the leading VPNs for Qatar, the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and Iran, it’ll be just fine. However, Astrill VPN’s advanced obfuscation methods make it generally more suitable for countries with decreased levels of online freedom.
Winner: Astrill VPN
Astrill VPN takes the reins in the last round by defeating ExpressVPN in the battle against censorship. We’ll admit that ExpressVPN doesn’t perform as well as it did, while Astrill VPN honored us with an impeccable display of power in China and other censorship-ravaged regions.
Conclusion: ExpressVPN is Better Than Astrill VPN
The dust has settled — hopefully, it didn’t make you cough too much. Now that we’re in the clear, we can see why ExpressVPN took the victory. In the majority of cases, ExpressVPN will be a far more enjoyable companion. It’s a VPN you can use for traveling, streaming, gaming, or simply browsing the web in privacy.
You’ll enjoy its elementary applications and the fact that it’s available on all devices. A single click on the connection button will render you anonymous while you perform your regular online tasks. Astrill VPN does the same, but at an enormous price that shatters the image of this truly powerful VPN.
Astrill VPN’s anti-consumer practice, i.e., the lack of a refund policy and a free trial does it no good. Its sky-high prices also don’t make it better than the rest, as it still lost to ExpressVPN in the majority of rounds, except for bypassing censorship in China that most people won’t care about too much.
If you live frugally and stay clear of frivolous spending, ExpressVPN’s budget-friendly 24-month plan will scratch your itch. Don’t overspend on Astrill VPN unless you’ll spend the next year or two in China.