The premium VPN marketplace is oversaturated with many providers, so much so that the majority of them end up falling flat on their faces. When selecting a new provider, it’s sometimes too hard to decide on one, as most of them promise the best performance, top-grade security, and whatnot. However, if you’ve done your research and narrowed down your choice to two providers – ExpressVPN and IPVanish – you might be wondering which VPN is better.
IPVanish is an American provider with a somewhat troubling history, including leaking user-related data to the FBI. With that past history being long behind us, IPVanish took drastic measures and became a safe and secure provider that many users enjoy. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, is a textbook example of a perfect VPN with a no-logs policy, awesome performance, and rock-solid security.
In this IPVanish vs ExpressVPN comparison for 2024, we’re going to take a look at these two products, examine them side-by-side, and see which one is a better VPN and why. I’m going to compare them in terms of user experience, streaming, torrenting, bypassing censorship, and even price.
This is going to help you determine which provider you want based not solely on their performance but also on your financial possibilities. Without further ado, let me start my IPVanish vs ExpressVPN comparison to see who emerges victorious.
IPVanish vs ExpressVPN: Apps & Ease of Use
The duel between IPVanish and ExpressVPN will start with the comparison of their applications, ease of use, and overall user experience. In this regard, I can say both providers do an amazing job, with IPVanish revamping its application recently to make it even smoother and better.
Device compatibility of both providers is solid, although ExpressVPN still supports more devices and platforms, especially when talking about routers. This is surely a number one router VPN as it can be installed on a variety of models and firmware.
Other than that, it’s important to mention that both providers have native clients for all desktop and mobile platforms. They include Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. Moreover, the providers support Fire TV Stick with native apps downloadable from Amazon.
Here, IPVanish has one advantage and that’s the number of simultaneous connections. ExpressVPN has 8, which I always criticize as being too low, while IPVanish offers unlimited simultaneous connections per subscription. A much better result, you’ll agree.
IPVanish
But what about ease of use in this IPVanish vs ExpressVPN comparison? Well, that’s what I intend to talk about as well. I will start with IPVanish. Take a look at the screenshot below – that’s how its application looks on Windows, which I’ll use to compare the two VPNs.
The app looks a bit complicated at first, especially with this cheap-looking monochrome world map on the right. On the left, you have connection information, while in the top-right corner, there’s a connection button that’s present regardless of the menu you’re in.
Opening the server list is done by clicking on the Locations button (underneath home) where you can find the entire server list that you can sort by several parameters. You can connect to a server by double-clicking on its location, which is more than convenient.
Even better is that IPVanish shows how many servers it offers in each location along with their load, allowing you to choose the fastest one easily. The Settings menu of IPVanish is rather simple as well, and all VPN-related settings are scattered across two menus.
In the Connection and Protocol menus, you will find the most crucial features, such as a kill switch, leak protection, and the ability to change protocols. The app will also allow you to change its behavior if you want, and you can enable or disable WiFi protection and stuff like that.
Overall, the application is indeed easy to use despite looking a bit intimidating for beginners who will run it for the first time. The mobile app is a bit simpler, I’d say, with the dark theme serving as a great eye-saving option.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is one of the most advanced VPNs on the market. In my review of ExpressVPN, I talked more about it and explained why it’s my favorite provider. One of the reasons is its simple-to-use app that makes this complex VPN a treat for beginner’s eyes.
This is the entire interface of ExpressVPN. It’s this small orange window on the left, while the window on the right is a server list that can be opened using the three horizontal dots next to the Selected Location option.
The server list is crafted masterfully, especially when checking All Locations. Here, you’ll see that countries are listed according to their continents, which makes finding the one you want easy, as long as you know a thing or two about geography.
ExpressVPN lets you connect to a server location by double-clicking on it, and the connection is established in a second – literally! In fact, I found its connection times much shorter than IPVanish’s times, which makes ExpressVPN a lot smoother and more responsive.
Opening the Settings menu is done by clicking on the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner. Much like IPVanish, all important settings can be found in two menus – General and Protocol. In the General menu, you can find a kill switch and split tunneling.
Enabling or disabling these options is a one-click job, and the same applies to protocol selection. You can change the protocol by clicking on the one you want, although I recommend choosing the option that says “Automatic” for the best performance.
Who Wins?
In this round of the IPVanish vs ExpressVPN duel, ExpressVPN WINS. It has just 8 simultaneous connections compared to IPVanish’s unlimited connections. However, it offers better device compatibility, it’s easier to use, and supports gaming consoles better than its rival (this is the best VPN for Xbox Series X that we could test).
Security & Privacy: IPVanish or ExpressVPN?
When choosing a new VPN, it’s crucial to select a VPN that lets you browse the web anonymously and safely. Will ExpressVPN and IPVanish be able to provide such an experience? In this round of comparison, we’ll talk about it in-depth.
Security Features
Security features among VPN providers are often “shared”. This means many providers offer the same features, with a few exceptions of special features and functionalities here and there. IPVanish and ExpressVPN are no exception and you can find some repeating features as well.
Both providers come with AES-256 encryption, which is great because this is the strongest level of encryption a VPN user can get. Also, both providers have an automatic kill switch, IP/DNS leak protection, and RAM-based servers, making sure your security is never jeopardized.
In fact, in my IPVanish review, I confirmed that this VPN shows no IP/DNS leaks, which you also saw in my ExpressVPN test. Furthermore, I should mention that both providers support OpenVPN and they offer split tunneling, albeit, with one major difference that I’ll mention in a second.
What Are the Differences?
There are a few differences in this IPVanish vs ExpressVPN duel that I’d like to discuss. I just mentioned split tunneling and said that both providers offer it. However, if you’re using IPVanish on Windows, you must think I’m crazy or I’m smoking crack.
Unfortunately, IPVanish offers split tunneling only on Android, whereas, ExpressVPN has this feature on all platforms, making itself much better from the get-go. There’s a difference in terms of protocols as well. You see, IPVanish offers WireGuard and that’s very commendable.
This new protocol brings much better speeds, shorter connection times, and rock-solid security, although many of these factors depend on the provider’s server infrastructure. On the other hand, we have ExpressVPN’s in-house protocol called Lightway.
Lightway is even better. It’s significantly faster with the highest level of security that one can aspire to, with the added ability to bypass censorship and efficiently unblock geo-restricted websites. This makes ExpressVPN a more advanced provider in terms of security compared to IPVanish.
Another feature we should mention is called Advanced Protection. On iOS and Android, it’s also known as Threat Manager. It’s an advanced ad blocker that can also rid you of ads, pop-ups, and malicious sites. We like this feature a lot, especially because of how refined and reliable it is.
ExpressVPN even includes Parental Control. As its name implies, it’ll help you block adult/gambling sites to prevent your young ones from accessing them. To further help the cause, ExpressVPN includes an app called Keys. It’s a secure password manager for storing your passwords and generating new ones.
ExpressVPN also has something called Private DNS, which is its own DNS service used to mask your online activities and prevent tracking by your ISP or third-party DNS services. On paper, there aren’t many differences but in practice, I can assure you ExpressVPN makes better use of them than IPVanish.
Is There a No-Logs Policy?
A no-logging policy is yet another crucial factor of a VPN service. I’m very strict in this regard and I’m quick to discard a provider that shows even minimal signs of logging. IPVanish is currently a no-log VPN and it even has a third-party audit by Leviathan Security on its privacy policy.
At the time of writing this comparison, the provider stores no logs of your online activities, DNS requests, browsing history, IP addresses, and other sensitive information. Its logging practices are minimal and consist only of the necessary information for the service to function.
For example, the provider stores information related to your email and payment method to be able to charge you for subscriptions. Then, there’s troubleshooting information for improvement and maintenance, which is benign and can’t be traced back to you.
IPVanish isn’t bad in this regard now but if we take a look at it a few years back, we’ll see a big leaking incident. While under the previous owner, the provider leaked connection information to the FBI to help and arrest a suspect, which was found out by the users later in the court documents.
This was a punch to the stomach not only to this VPN but also to those who used it up until that moment. The silver lining is that IPVanish used to store connection logs and clearly stated it in the privacy policy, so it technically didn’t violate anything as that info was available on its servers.
Moving on to ExpressVPN, we can see a clean slate. The provider had no history of leaking and its no-logs policy is so strict, that even Turkish authorities couldn’t extract a single bit of info after seizing its servers amidst the assassination of Andrei Karlov.
The provider stores no info about your IP addresses, DNS queries, geolocation, browsing history, or anything similar. Plus, there’s an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers which makes ExpressVPN that much more trustworthy for those looking to achieve the highest level of online privacy.
Aside from PwC, which is the biggest auditing firm, ExpressVPN has been audited two more times at the time of writing this comparison. We’re talking about KPMG and Cure53. Cure53 even audited Surfshark at one point, which speaks volumes about how important these third-party evaluations are.
Important to mention is that ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, while IPVanish resides in the US – at the center of the 5 Eyes alliance. The jurisdiction is, once again, on ExpressVPN’s side, as the United States is one of the worst countries to operate a VPN service in.
Who Wins?
In this part of the ExpressVPN vs IPVanish comparison, ExpressVPN WINS again. It has better security features and doesn’t have a history of leaking user-related data like IPVanish. It’s simply more secure and it’s based in the British Virgin Islands rather than the United States where its rival is located.
ExpressVPN vs IPVanish Streaming Test
Netflix Test
As always, my focus is Netflix. That’s because this is the most popular streaming platform with millions of users. Conversely, this platform offers different libraries based on the user’s location, which makes the experience different in each country.
Also, these libraries are very hard to unblock, especially when talking about Netflix US, Canada, and Japan. Since these are considered the best libraries, I’ll try to unblock all three of them with both providers to see which one is going to be a better Netflix VPN.
The results are below and you see that ExpressVPN works with all three libraries, whereas, IPVanish unblocked only Netflix US.
ExpressVPN
- Netflix US (Grey’s Anatomy): OK
- Netflix Canada (Midnight in the Switchgrass): OK
- Netflix Japan (Naruto Shippuden): OK
IPVanish
- Netflix US (Grey’s Anatomy): OK
- Netflix Canada (Midnight in the Switchgrass): NOT WORKING
- Netflix Japan (Naruto Shippuden): NOT WORKING
Other Streaming Platforms
People who don’t have a Netflix account will most likely enjoy streaming on other services. To avoid making these tests too long, we decided to test BBC iPlayer and Hotstar, as both of these streaming platforms are free but hard to unblock.
That’s why they’re formidable challenges for both premium and free VPNs. The results of my tests are below, so let’s see how well these providers perform when it comes to unblocking platforms that aren’t Netflix libraries.
ExpressVPN
- Hotstar : OK
- BBC iPlayer : OK
IPVanish
- Hotstar : OK
- BBC iPlayer : OK
Who Wins?
This round of comparison is pretty close but ExpressVPN WINS by being a better VPN for Netflix. While IPVanish works with Netflix US, it can’t unblock Netflix Japan and Canada. ExpressVPN works with all of these libraries, making it a clear winner.
IPVanish vs ExpressVPN Speed Comparison: Which One Is Faster?
We all hate slow VPNs with unstable connections. They’re obnoxious, and despite being able to secure your connection, they aren’t very satisfying to use due to how bad of an impact they have on your overall experience.
In this part of the IPVanish vs ExpressVPN duel, I will talk about how fast or slow these providers are and we’ll see which provider is faster. However, before I do that, I need to talk to you about my testing parameters. You should know that I’m located in Europe with internet speeds that look like this:
These are my internet speeds without using a VPN. I tested these providers for 3 days straight, 3 times a day, using 4 server locations. I used servers in the UK, the US, Australia, and Japan, to cover both near and distant countries for the most authentic results.
I set the protocols to Automatic in both providers, making sure they decide which is the best protocol for achieving the best performance. This will ensure that the results are as authentic as possible, as the majority of users use automatic protocol selection without tweaking any settings.
The speed test results are compiled and you’ll see the best results for each provider. Let’s take a look at them together.
IPVanish
UK:
US:
Australia:
Japan:
ExpressVPN
UK:
US:
Australia:
Japan:
Who Wins?
Being a much faster provider, ExpressVPN WINS this round as well. It offers faster speeds in all 4 locations. Plus, its connection times are much shorter and it showed more stable connections across the board, resulting in a far better experience.
Torrenting: Are IPVanish and ExpressVPN P2P-Friendly?
Downloading torrents safely and anonymously with a VPN is something you should always think about. Torrenting is frowned upon in many countries, and despite downloading copyright-free files, you still aren’t safe because torrent sites themselves aren’t particularly secure.
For that reason, you need a safe and secure VPN like ExpressVPN or IPVanish. Thankfully, both of these providers exhibit more than decent torrenting performance, with ExpressVPN having a slight edge due to the fact that it’s faster.
When using a server in my country or a neighboring country, I had no issues downloading torrents at full speed. The speed reduction wasn’t present and my upload/download speeds achieved their peaks pretty quickly.
IPVanish also showed great results and I can’t complain about this despite its slower performance than ExpressVPN. Once again, tested with a server in my country or the closest country, IPVanish didn’t prevent me from achieving nearly maximum speeds.
The situation changed a bit when connecting to a server overseas, where both providers showed a speed reduction. However, ExpressVPN’s reduction was less noticeable due to it being faster. Is this a big deal for torrenting? Actually, it isn’t.
Why would you use a distant VPN server for torrenting? It makes no sense. That’s why the provider must perform well while torrenting on closeby servers and since both of them do, the result should be clear as day.
Who Wins?
Both ExpressVPN and IPVanish perform well in terms of torrenting and all of their servers are P2P-friendly. Therefore, this round of comparison is a DRAW.
Are ExpressVPN and IPVanish Working in China?
Finding a provider that works in China reliably is quite a challenge these days. China actively blocks thousands of websites and VPN providers, and if you’ve heard of the Great Firewall, you’re not the only one. It’s real and it’s stronger each day!
With very few VPNs working in China as we speak, it’ll be interesting to see if these two could make a name for themselves. In our numerous tests of both providers in this country, we found that IPVanish couldn’t work properly no matter what our testers tried.
Sure, it offers WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2, but none of these protocols seem to phase the Great Firewall of China. On the other hand, ExpressVPN works in this country flawlessly without having to set any parameters, tweak any settings, or anything similar.
Our friends in this country simply got ExpressVPN, connected to a server in a foreign country, and boom – it worked flawlessly! ExpressVPN has obfuscation technology that works in conjunction with Lightway to bring amazing performance in all censored countries.
Aside from China, it will work in countries like Iran, Turkey, and Russia, for example. IPVanish will work in Turkey and Russia, but if you try using it in Iran, you’ll see that it fails to work. Therefore, if you’re looking for a VPN to bypass censorship, I think you should avoid IPVanish.
ExpressVPN is better in this regard and so is NordVPN which I reviewed recently, which is a great alternative to IPVanish as well.
Who Wins?
It’s clear as day that ExpressVPN WINS this round of the duel. It works in China and all other censored countries, while IPVanish fails to deliver any kind of performance within the Chinese borders, as it’s blocked by the Great Firewall.
Server Fleets: ExpressVPN vs IPVanish
So far in this IPVanish vs ExpressVPN duel, the latter scored some great wins over its rival. But is the situation going to be any different when talking about their servers and server distribution? Let’s find that out now.
IPVanish (2,200+ servers in 49 countries)
IPVanish is by no means a small VPN. It has around 2,200 servers in 49 countries and 75 worldwide locations. These are all solid numbers considering that the provider offers servers in all the popular countries, such as the US, the UK, Canada, and some European countries.
The majority of this network is stationed in the US and in North America alone, we have 1,300+ servers. Compared to Europe with just 500+ servers and South America with only 30+ servers, it’s clear that IPVanish focused on the domestic area mostly.
It’s also important to state that the provider has no specialty servers – neither does ExpressVPN. That isn’t important, to be honest, and I’d rather focus on the number of servers and server distribution. Unfortunately, server distribution isn’t the best considering the number of server locations.
With just 49 countries, you can expect a smaller number of locations in Africa and South America, for example. Compared to its more prominent rivals like CyberGhost or ExpressVPN, IPVanish does lack some countries and even servers.
ExpressVPN (3,000 servers in 105 countries)
Speaking of ExpressVPN, this provider has 3,000 servers in 105 countries and 160+ locations around the globe. You’ll agree that its server fleet already sounds more impressive if you’re looking to bypass geo-restrictions and you need a lot of VPN locations to work with.
ExpressVPN’s server fleet is also US-focused with 20+ locations in this country. However, you do get a LOT of servers in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The provider offers a few virtual locations as well and I think it’s great in places where a VPN can’t have a physical server infrastructure.
This provider also has 10 Gbps servers throughout the entire network, which is logical because it’s much faster. 10 Gbps servers are going to be upgraded to 20 Gbps servers soon, making sure ExpressVPN is faster than any other VPN – as it always has been.
But performance aside, ExpressVPN is simply larger and has almost twice as many countries as IPVanish. 49 compared to 105 is still a HUGE difference and 75 locations compared to 160+ in ExpressVPN are in a completely different league.
Who Wins?
This round goes to a provider with a bigger server fleet, thus, ExpressVPN WINS this round easily. It has significantly more countries, more servers, and more locations, making it a clear winner of this round.
Customer Support: IPVanish vs ExpressVPN
Customer support of a VPN service is quite important for fixing the issues that might occur. With these providers, you aren’t going to experience that many issues, though. Both IPVanish and ExpressVPN are fairly reliable and chances are you won’t need their customer support that much.
Still, this is important if you have any questions or minor issues that need urgent fixing. Luckily, both providers have 24/7 live chat support which is fast to respond and very helpful. I’ve had no issues with either of them, even when talking about email support.
In fact, email support was more than correct, with the response from both teams coming in at under 30 minutes each time, regardless of the time I contacted them. ExpressVPN’s support in terms of self-help is a bit better I’d say, but most people will go straight for the live chat support.
That’s not to say that IPVanish doesn’t offer how-to guides, FAQ sections, and an awesome Help Center section. ExpressVPN does that as well and it even has a YouTube channel with videos uploaded relatively frequently. IPVanish doesn’t have a YouTube channel which isn’t a big deal.
The most important factor, as said, is the presence of 24/7 support through live chat, and that works perfectly for both providers. You can use it to get help regarding minor issues, while more severe issues are routed through email support, which, as said, is still fast on the trigger.
Who Wins?
This part of the IPVanish vs ExpressVPN comparison ends up in a DRAW. Both providers have awesome customer support through live chat that’s available 24/7. Thus, both of them are going to be more than dependable in your time of need.
Pricing Comparison: How Cheap ExpressVPN and IPVanish Are?
The final comparison in this duel is maybe the most important one – it’s the price of these providers. If you’re looking for a good affordable VPN provider, neither ExpressVPN nor IPVanish are considered the cheapest VPNs. Although they do offer some special discounts to make them more affordable.
Here’s how much IPVanish will cost you:
As you can see, its cheapest plan is the annual plan at around $2.49 a month or about $68 upfront for the first two years. You also get 3 free months. This provider offers two more plans but they’re quite expensive and definitely not worth the asking price with the level of quality that this provider displays.
At $3 a month for the annual plan, this isn’t the cheapest VPN but it’s still fairly affordable. This plan also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and 3 free months, the same as the two-year plan. The monthly plan, however, offers NO money-back guarantee, so you can’t get a refund if you don’t like the VPN. Besides, it’s a whopping 13 bucks a month, which won’t make you happy.
Keep that in mind if you decide to test out IPVanish. How will ExpressVPN respond to this pricing? Well, here’s its pricing structure that hasn’t changed in years.
This provider offers the annual plan at $6.67 a month which is its cheapest plan. Keep in mind that we’re talking about a 49% discount compared to the monthly plan plus 3 FREE months on top of that. So, essentially, you’re paying for 12 months and you get 15 months instead, which is very generous.
Compared to IPVanish, ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans rather than just long-term packages. This means that you can get even its monthly plan, and if you want a refund for any reason, you can get it without any conditions.
On the other hand, the reality is that ExpressVPN is more expensive than IPVanish. The price difference is justifiable because we’re talking about a much better VPN. However, looking at it purely from a price standpoint, users on a budget will definitely prefer IPVanish.
Who Wins?
IPVanish WINS this round of comparison by being a lot cheaper VPN than ExpressVPN. Both providers offer the annual plan as the cheapest deal, yet, IPVanish is still a lot more affordable if you’re on a very limited budget and you don’t have the space to “stretch” a bit and pay more for a better VPN.
Conclusion: ExpressVPN Wins!
With all comparisons out of the way, this IPVanish vs ExpressVPN duel has come to an end. If we do the math, ExpressVPN takes the win with a score of 8:3, which makes it a far better choice overall. But should you absolutely always get ExpressVPN and not IPVanish?
Well, the only limiting factor can be the price, which is undoubtedly more expensive for the BVI-based provider. However, if you don’t have a very limited budget, I think this is a far better provider in terms of performance, streaming, security, server fleet, and overall user experience.
IPVanish managed to perform on par with its rival when it comes to customer support and torrenting, and it’s cheaper, which might play a crucial part in your selection. Still, the difference in all other factors is so large that I think you should save a bit of money and get ExpressVPN.
This provider outperformed its rival significantly when it comes to unblocking Netflix, providing significantly better speeds, offering better device compatibility, and being more reliable. IPVanish does have unlimited simultaneous connections which is a better quality and it’s great for power users.
If you just need a provider for safeguarding your online privacy and you don’t mind average performance, the American provider is decent. But if you want that and many other benefits that this provider won’t give you, the only viable choice is to get ExpressVPN and enjoy it to the fullest.
FAQ
We think it’s clear as day that ExpressVPN is a better provider from this comparison. But let’s clear up a few more things in case you need more information.
Do ExpressVPN and IPvanish offer a free trial?
They don’t. It’s good to know you’ll get a 30-day refund policy, though. This means you can get a refund in the first 30 days in the case of dissatisfaction. IPVanish isn’t the best in this regard, as its refund policy applies only to the annual and 2-year plans.
ExpressVPN’s policy covers all plans – the monthly one included. On top of that, you can get its 7-day free trial through the iOS or Android app if you’re keen on testing it. You’ll need to provide your payment info but at least you can cancel it in these 7 days and not get charged.
Can I use these VPNs on my Smart TV?
Yes, you can. They support Android Smart TVs natively, so you just need to install them through Google Play. If you have a TV from LG or Samsung, either use SmartDNS from ExpressVPN or install the VPN on a router. IPVanish doesn’t offer SmartDNS, just so you know.
Is IPVanish keeping logs?
No, it doesn’t in 2024. Its past incidents were a bit troublesome because of keeping logs. It’s a trustworthy VPN now but you can never be sure with US-based services. This is why we recommend ExpressVPN and its offshore location that screams privacy.
