ExpressVPN review

The short answer

ExpressVPN is a paid VPN run by Express Technologies Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands and owned by Kape Technologies. On the evidence, its privacy setup is one of the most checked in the industry. KPMG, PwC Switzerland, Cure53 and Praetorian have all reviewed parts of it, and in May 2026 the company said it had completed 27 independent audits. The questions are about people and ownership more than technology: who Kape is, and a 2021 revelation about a senior executive's past.

Tunnelcheck hasn't tested ExpressVPN. This page relies on ExpressVPN's own documents, audit summaries and news reporting, linked under Sources. Read how we review for our method.

Who owns ExpressVPN and where is it based?

ExpressVPN was founded in 2009 by Peter Burchhardt and Dan Pomerantz, according to Wikipedia. Its terms of service name Express Technologies Ltd. as the operator and say the agreement is governed by British Virgin Islands law. The company describes the BVI as having no mandatory data retention law for VPNs.

In September 2021 Kape Technologies agreed to buy ExpressVPN for a reported $936 million. Kape also owns CyberGhost and Private Internet Access. Kape began life as Crossrider, whose software for building browser extensions was widely misused by adware makers before it changed course in 2016 and renamed itself in 2018. In 2023 Unikmind, a company owned by Kape's majority shareholder Teddy Sagi, took Kape private, and it left London's AIM market on May 31, 2023. As a private company, Kape now publishes less financial information than it once did. See who owns your VPN for the full map.

Does ExpressVPN keep logs? What the audits say

ExpressVPN says it doesn't log your activity or your connections. Its server system is called TrustedServer, and that system was the subject of KPMG's 2025 review. A no-logs claim is only as good as the checking behind it.

KPMG's 2025 work followed ISAE (UK) 3000 Type 1. ExpressVPN says KPMG gave reasonable assurance that its systems worked as designed and found no issues with its safeguards against activity logging. A Type 1 engagement checks how controls are designed at one point in time; it doesn't test whether they kept working over months. The reports are on ExpressVPN's Trust Center behind KPMG's terms-of-use screen. Our VPN audits tracker sets this against other providers.

Security features and protocols

ExpressVPN's protocol page lists four ways to build the tunnel. A protocol is the rule set the app uses to encrypt and route your traffic; our VPN protocols explainer covers the basics.

• Lightway. ExpressVPN's own protocol, open source on GitHub, rewritten in the Rust language in early 2025 and audited by Cure53 and Praetorian. It includes post-quantum protection by default using ML-KEM, the method the US standards agency NIST selected.
• WireGuard. ExpressVPN runs its own build, which starts each connection with a post-quantum key exchange. It's available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and Apple TV.
• OpenVPN. The older open standard, over UDP or TCP.
• IKEv2. Offered on iOS only.

ExpressVPN's kill switch is called Network Lock. The company says it blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops. See our kill switch guide and split tunneling guide.

ExpressVPN's track record

The 2017 Turkey seizure. Turkish authorities investigating the December 2016 assassination of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov seized an ExpressVPN server in early 2017. TorrentFreak reported in December 2017 that the server yielded nothing useful and that ExpressVPN told investigators it held no logs that could tie the IP addresses to a customer. This is one of the few public cases where a no-logs claim met a real investigation.

The 2021 Gericke disclosure. In September 2021 Reuters reported that Daniel Gericke, a senior ExpressVPN executive, was one of three former US intelligence operatives who had entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Justice Department over hacking work for the United Arab Emirates. A Reuters investigation in 2019 had linked that UAE program to surveillance of activists and journalists. ExpressVPN said it hadn't known about the investigation, called the UAE campaign "completely antithetical to our mission", and kept him in his role. Some staff and outside critics objected. The record doesn't show any link to ExpressVPN user data; it's a question of judgment you can weigh for yourself.

The 2024 DNS bug. BleepingComputer reported in February 2024 that Windows app versions 12.23.1 to 12.72.0, released between May 2022 and February 2024, sent some DNS requests (lookups of site names) to the user's normal DNS server, usually the ISP, when split tunneling was on. ExpressVPN put the share of Windows users affected at about 1%. It pulled split tunneling, fixed the bug, restored the feature in version 12.74.0, and says an independent audit in March and April 2024 verified the fix. Our leak test guide shows how to check for this kind of problem.

Streaming and torrenting with ExpressVPN

Torrenting. We found no ExpressVPN page that sets out which servers allow P2P traffic. Its terms forbid using the service to upload, download or distribute copyrighted content without the owner's permission, and require lawful use. A VPN hides your downloads from your internet provider but doesn't make copyright infringement legal. See is torrenting illegal.

Streaming. ExpressVPN publishes guides to streaming with its app. Streaming services, though, usually forbid watching another country's catalog, block VPN IP addresses and change what works without notice. No VPN can promise access. See why streaming services block VPNs.

Apps and devices

ExpressVPN now sells three tiers. Its order page lists 10 devices on Basic, 12 on Advanced and 14 on Express Pro, and its terms say a subscription covers up to 14 devices depending on tier. There are apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple TV and routers. In 2026 the company also launched other products, including the ExpressKeys password manager and ExpressMailGuard email masking, which Cure53 has reviewed.

Apple's privacy label for the iOS app says ExpressVPN collects your email address and a user ID linked to you, used for marketing and app functions, plus anonymous usage and crash data. That's account data, separate from VPN activity.

Price and refund

When we read the order page on 2026-11-13, it showed prices only in Israeli shekels, set by the reader's location. Since prices vary by region, we haven't printed a figure. See the official pricing page. The page did confirm that plans auto-renew annually at a stated renewal price and that sales tax may be added at checkout.

ExpressVPN's terms give new subscribers a 30-day money-back guarantee if they buy directly. It doesn't cover renewals or redemption codes, and App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores' rules. See our checked VPN prices page.

Who ExpressVPN suits, and who should look elsewhere

• Suits: people who want the deepest published audit trail and an open-source protocol they can inspect.
• Suits: users on many platforms, including Apple TV and routers.
• Look elsewhere if Kape's history or the Gericke episode is a deal-breaker. Mullvad and Proton VPN have different ownership models.
• Look elsewhere if you need a clearly stated torrenting policy with port forwarding.

Comparisons: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN and Surfshark vs ExpressVPN.