Surfshark vs ExpressVPN 2026 Comparison

This Surfshark vs ExpressVPN duel highlights all you must know about both VPNs. We tested them side by side, and in the battle, ExpressVPN emerged victorious. However, this quick conclusion is insufficient for the final decision. You still want to know all the details and how they really perform.

That’s why this ExpressVPN vs Surfshark 2026 comparison exists. We tested their ease of use, security, privacy, streaming, and more. After each, we assigned points to the winner and used them to determine the overall better VPN. Should you get a cheap VPN (Surfshark) or go for ExpressVPN? Let’s find out.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN: Overview

ExpressVPN won the duel. However, there are a few nuances we’d like you to know about. We advise reading until the end before spending money. Here’s a table showcasing both VPNs’ most important features for quicker reading:

	ExpressVPN 🏆	Surfshark VPN
📋 Our Current Ranking	#2	#5
🔖 Starting Prices	$2.79-$3.49 monthly	$1.78-$1.99 monthly
💸 Money-Back Guarantee	30 days for all plans	30 days for all plans
🆓 Free Version/Free Trial	No/3 days	No/7 days
📓 Logging/Jurisdiction	No logging/British Virgin Islands	No logging/Netherlands
🔐 Protocols	OpenVPN, IKEv2, Lightway, Lightway Turbo, WireGuard	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN
🌐 Servers	3,000+ in 105 countries	4,500+ in 100 countries
🔝 Specialty Servers	Dedicated IP	Dedicated IP and Static IP, MultiHop
⛔ Ad Blocking	Yes	Yes
💾 RAM-Only Servers	Yes	Yes
📺 Working With Netflix	Yes (15+ catalogs)	Yes (30+ catalogs)
🔽 P2P Allowance	Yes	Yes
📱 Concurrent Connections	10-14	Unlimited

Apps and Ease of Use: ExpressVPN vs Surfshark

In terms of apps, Surfshark and ExpressVPN do well, from compatibility to ease of use. You can expect them to work on all desktop and mobile platforms, like Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. They also support Smart TVs, gaming consoles, routers, Firestick, Apple TV, and plenty more.

Ease of use is on ExpressVPN’s side, with its user-friendly apps that look stunning. You’ll see a sleek-looking app with a big connection button connecting you to a server in seconds. From here, you can access the server list underneath and pick from one of thousands of servers. Settings are also easily reachable.

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Surfshark looks more modern. Its apps are brimming with features and options that give out a premium feel. These are snappy and responsive apps that won’t take long to connect. Surfshark’s more lavish apps are less simplistic. However, we would lie if we said we had a tough time getting around.

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It’s good to know that both providers support browsers, offering VPNs for Chrome as excellent extensions with WebRTC leak protection and bank-grade security. Let’s finally address their simultaneous connections. ExpressVPN has 10 in the Basic plan and goes up to 14 in the range-topping Pro plan. Surfshark supports unlimited simultaneous connections, no matter the plan.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN: Price Comparison

Many interested in an ExpressVPN vs Surfshark comparison think of price as the most vital factor. We value cheap VPNs, but sometimes, expensive means better. We know ExpressVPN is more expensive, but let’s see by how much.

💰 Surfshark Prices

Starting with Surfshark, it offers flexible plans. You have 2-year, 1-year, and monthly deals, all discounted except for the latter. The 2-year plans are very affordable, starting at $1.78 per month with 3 extra months. The lowest-tier plan lacks certain features. This brings us to the plan in the middle.

The Surfshark One plan has the best value and all of the features we’ll address. Interestingly, Surfshark’s 1-year plans are also discounted, with 3 free months on top. It’s hard to overpay for this VPN, even if you spend more on the One plan at $2.08 per month with all the security extras.

That isn’t the case with its expensive monthly plans that go over $15.40 for everything the service has to offer. Since we addressed its discounts, you can use our Surfshark coupon to claim them or click the blue button instead.

Before you do, know that it has a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans. This is backed by a 7-day trial through mobile devices. Surfshark has no free plan, but at least it’s affordable, so you won’t have to spend a fortune.

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💰 ExpressVPN Prices

ExpressVPN’s new pricing structure took the world by storm. Instead of costing nearly seven monthly quid, it now starts at $2.79 monthly for the biennial Basic plan with 4 free months and a 78% discount. Even the Advanced plan at $3.59 monthly is affordable for what it actually offers.

The Pro plan at $5.99 per month is pricier, but as the range-topping plan, it offers everything in ExpressVPN’s arsenal, including 14 simultaneous connections, 5 days of free eSIM, and more. ExpressVPN also has annual plans with decent discounts and 3 free months, but at notably higher prices.

Compared to Surfshark, we can see ExpressVPN’s downfall. It’s noticeably more expensive per month in its introductory pricing structure and when renewing. The provider has a risk-free 3-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. We have a handy free trial guide for ExpressVPN to test it.

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ExpressVPN vs Surfshark Features: Which VPN is Safer?

Moving on in this Surfshark vs ExpressVPN analysis, we’ll examine their features. By this, we mostly mean security features that will influence the quality and security of your VPN connection, starting with shared features.

🟢 Shared Features

Starting with the shared features, they have a lot in common. Here are the most important shared features that include mostly the basics, like:

• Kill Switch. Both offer it to protect you against data leaks if the VPN connection breaks. Their kill switches are system-level, with no advanced functions. Surfshark had some kill switch issues before, but now, both VPNs work reliably.
• Post-quantum encryption. Both VPNs use this advanced encryption standard to amplify protection against quantum computer attacks. The base of this technology is still 256-bit encryption, widely used in the VPN industry.
• Blocking ads. Surfshark titles its ad blocker CleanWeb, while ExpressVPN calls it Advanced Protection. Both tools block ads, trackers, and malicious sites.
• Split tunneling. It splits the VPN connection into two parts. One part won’t be tunneled; the other will. Good for online banking, shopping, and gaming.
• Advanced security protocols. Surfshark relies mostly on WireGuard to ensure proper performance and unbreakable security. ExpressVPN uses Lightway Turbo, a proprietary solution that does the same, but in our book, a tad better.

🔴 Unique Features

Our recent test of ExpressVPN highlighted some of its strange choices. The VPN doesn’t have many advanced features while costing you a premium. That’s not the case with Surfshark, which will inevitably take this round. Bear with us.

❌ Parental Control and Web Content Blocker (ExpressVPN and Surfshark)

ExpressVPN has Parental Control, which people with children will love. It blocks porn sites, so if you want to use Pornhub, XNXX, or any other sexually explicit site, it’ll do its job fine. But you can’t choose which website you want to block, and, for some reason, torrent sites will also be blocked.

For instance, it would be good to block gambling sites as well since this activity isn’t child-friendly. Surfshark has something similar, but better: Web Content Blocker. It lets you choose which sites you want to block: adult, drugs, gambling, malware, phishing, and platforms you don’t want to see.

↔️ Dynamic MultiHop (Surfshark)

MultiHop routes your connection through two servers in different countries. It doubles your encryption and makes you impossible to track. Surfshark allows you to choose which servers to use as entry and exit locations.

This is a huge advantage of this VPN in the ExpressVPN vs Surfshark duel. ExpressVPN’s lack of MultiHop is concerning and should be addressed. MultiHop is a security/privacy feature, so don’t expect great speeds and performance. You’ll get that in our fastest VPNs for 2026 instead.

🦠 Antivirus (Surfshark)

Antivirus is an optional feature in Surfshark, unavailable in the lowest-tier plan. The mid-tier plan and above offer Antivirus that works like a Swiss clock. It detects 99.99% of the threats on your devices and promptly removes them. It’s in Surfshark’s app, so you don’t have to download a separate client.

Coupled with its ad-blocking abilities, this Antivirus will let you protect your device all around. We tested this antivirus against a few dedicated solutions, and it was just as good at detecting and removing threats.

🔄 IP Rotation (Surfshark)

Finally, we’ll mention IP Rotation found in Surfshark. This is like MultiHop at first, but at a second glance, nothing like it. It rotates your IP periodically, but doesn’t break your VPN connection. Let’s say you get a British IP address by connecting to the server. Surfshark rotates your IP addresses from the UK every few minutes.

You still have your UK IP and retain your connection stability. However, due to this rotation, you’re impossible to track because you’re a new person every few minutes.

🎁 ExpressVPN vs Surfshark: Other Extras

Both VPNs have some good extras to explore, like ID theft protection on Surfshark’s side, and its Search browser for anonymous browsing. Meanwhile, ExpressVPN recently introduced its ExpressAI, built for privacy-first prompting and with the 5 AI models. They’re not exactly VPN features, as you see.

But both VPNs offer something extra that increases their value for money. In general, based on their offers, Surfshark is more focused on cybersecurity and privacy, while ExpressVPN branches out into other aspects with ExpressAI, a reliable eSIM from Holiday, or even its email relay service.

Do Surfshark and ExpressVPN Store Logs?

Before we proceed with this Surfshark vs ExpressVPN evaluation, let’s first analyze their jurisdictions. Surfshark is in the Netherlands, a Nine Eyes country. ExpressVPN is in the British Virgin Islands. It’s more privacy-friendly, with no involvement in data-collection alliances.

This is a big advantage, as ExpressVPN’s country won’t force it to store logs and hand them out. On the other hand, the Netherlands is an EU country. EU privacy laws aren’t the best, and its countries are known for keeping tabs on their users.

📜 Privacy Policy Analysis

Despite the differences, neither of these VPNs keeps logs. Surfshark is a no-log provider despite its far-from-the-best jurisdiction. It was in the British Virgin Islands, but after moving to Holland, nothing changed, and logging remained minimal.

This means it keeps only service-vital information, such as your email, technical info for troubleshooting, and things like that. It doesn’t store any timestamps, visited websites, IP addresses, DNS requests, or other sensitive information.

ExpressVPN does the same. It doesn’t keep private information, so it has no idea what you’re doing online. Your location, IP address, connection timestamps, download history, and visited sites won’t end up on ExpressVPN’s servers.

Now that we mentioned servers, both providers base them on RAM. This volatile memory’s data is lost after each shutdown. A simple restart is enough to wipe them clean, preventing unwanted logging and data retention. What about security audits?

Both have them. Surfshark has a few from Cure53 and Deloitte. ExpressVPN has over 20 audits from different companies, with KPMG confirming its no-log policy multiple times. The last audit was at the start of 2026, so it’s very recent.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN Speed Tests

We all want a neck-breaking VPN with speed reductions in the realm of a few percent. The reality tells us that’s nearly impossible given all the things going on – encryption, server distance, etc. However, some VPNs are faster than others, and this margin can be large. Let’s compare these two.

Below is our native internet speed. At the time, we were in Belgrade. From here, we tested both providers for three days in a row, three times a day, using three server locations: the UK, the USA, and Japan.

We noted the best results we got using ExpressVPN and Surfshark. Keep in mind, we also haven’t used manual protocol selection. Instead, we kept everything on Automatic to let the providers decide which protocol is best for speed and overall stability. Below is the table that displays average speed losses on both sides.

	Download Speed Loss 📥	Upload Speed Loss 📤
Surfshark	27%	32%
ExpressVPN	24%	9%

The table above shows us that ExpressVPN is faster than Surfshark. The margin for download speeds isn’t high, with ExpressVPN being 3% faster. However, the upload speed loss is more dramatic in Surfshark, making ExpressVPN 23% faster.

For more information about our performance evaluation, refer to the table below. You can see the exact download and upload speeds we achieved with both VPNs for each tested location, but the result is still the same.

	UK (DL/UL)	US (DL/UL)	Japan (DL/UL)
Surfshark	306.48/16.97 Mbps	253.79/12.47 Mbps	191.07/10.90 Mbps
ExpressVPN	298.82/18.50 Mbps	274.61/18.35 Mbps	206.33/16.73 Mbps

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN for Streaming and P2P

A bit of occasional entertainment won’t hurt. There’s no better way to entertain yourself than streaming blockbusters. Some even like torrenting, while others love gaming with VPN protection. In this Surfshark vs ExpressVPN comparison round, we’ll focus on the first two, as these activities are far more popular.

🎥 Streaming Tests

Both providers excel at streaming and unblocking. ExpressVPN and Surfshark work with Netflix, but the latter has an edge. ExpressVPN unblocks roughly 15 libraries, whilst Surfshark can unblock 30 or more. This provider has serious streaming prowess visible from the plane.

Regarding other streaming services, both are equally impressive. We noticed they can unblock even more hard-to-get ones like Hulu, Sky Sports, ESPN+, and dozens more. Streaming performance is excellent, too, with 4K footage being buttery-smooth. Surfshark was a bit inconsistent at times.

A few slowdowns forced us to use a lower resolution and drop from Ultra HD to Full HD. One thing we also like about both is Smart DNS. It’s easy to set up on non-VPN-friendly devices and watch content primarily on US streaming services.

	Surfshark	ExpressVPN
Netflix US	✅ Works	✅ Works
Prime Video US	✅ Works	✅ Works
BBC iPlayer	✅ Works	✅ Works
Sky Sports	✅ Works	✅ Works
HBO Max	✅ Works	✅ Works
Paramount+	✅ Works	✅ Works
YouTube TV	✅ Works	✅ Works

🧲 Torrenting Tests

Torrenting is nothing special for premium providers like Surfshark and ExpressVPN. We listed them as some of the best premium VPNs, so it’s not strange. Both VPNs have fully P2P-optimized server networks, allowing you to use all servers to download in P2P. ExpressVPN is a speck faster, but not by a huge margin.

Besides, when torrenting, you’ll likely use a nearby server to avoid performance drops. In this case, it doesn’t matter which provider you pick, Surfshark or ExpressVPN. The experience is great, speed- and security-wise on both sides.

ExpressVPN vs Surfshark: Server Locations

If you need a heap of servers, look no further than these fierce rivals.

• Surfshark has 4,500 servers in 100 countries.
• ExpressVPN has way more than 3,000 servers in 105 countries.

Surfshark has roughly 50% more servers than ExpressVPN. However, ExpressVPN has 170+ locations, more than Surfshark. ExpressVPN’s server distribution is a bit better, particularly in the USA, where it offers over twenty, while Surfshark has ten or so locations. Variety-wise, Surfshark takes the lead.

It has Static IP and Dedicated IP servers. However, ExpressVPN also has dedicated IP addresses purchasable as an add-on. We value these, but we rarely use them. Both providers have 10 Gbps server ports and support Onion Over VPN connections, a gold standard for use with Tor and the dark web.

Bypassing Censorship: Which VPN Does It Better?

Which VPN to choose for battling censorship, ExpressVPN or Surfshark? Luckily, both work as intended. We found that they have obfuscation that works slightly differently. ExpressVPN applies it out of the box, so you don’t have to tweak a single thing. Surfshark has NoBorders for combating censorship.

This feature masks your VPN connection, making it look like a regular one. This allows you to bypass the Great Firewall of China and use the provider freely. Yes, ExpressVPN works in China too, showing incredible results in the process. We tested Surfshark in China as much as we’ve tested ExpressVPN.

In terms of reliability, they’re pretty much on par, with a few minor inconveniences here and there, as the Great Firewall is still a massive threat to freedom of speech and VPN providers. Other countries are fine. These providers also work in Iran, the UAE, Qatar, Russia, Turkey, and other censored countries.

Surfshark vs ExpressVPN 2026: Conclusion

Concluding this in-depth comparison, we can confidently say that ExpressVPN has outperformed Surfshark. This isn’t a knockout win but a solid one.

⭐ ExpressVPN is Better for:

• Privacy and jurisdiction
• Streaming performance
• Speeds and performance
• Server locations (more countries)

⭐ Surfshark is Better for:

• Simultaneous connections (it offers no limits)
• Price (it’s far cheaper)
• Security features (antivirus, Multi-hop, etc.)

The providers were a tie in apps and compatibility and bypassing censorship. As a whole, ExpressVPN is better if you don’t mind a higher price. If you do, Surfshark is a great money-saving alternative. If we were you, we’d consider quality first. Judging by our in-depth comparison, the former is a winner.

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