VPN Comparison

You’re deciding between the two biggest names in VPNs. Every comparison article you’ve read says the same thing: “both are great, pick your priority.” But after spending a full week testing both on the same hardware, the same server locations, and the same streaming platforms — I can tell you the honest answer is more complicated. Still, NordVPN is faster on nearby servers. ExpressVPN has more independent audits. Neither is open-source. And with ExpressVPN’s new tiered pricing launched in June 2026, the value equation just shifted. ...

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Mullvad has no affiliate program — all Mullvad recommendations in this article are unbiased. VPNReview has no financial relationship with Mullvad. Four thousand seven hundred servers across 100+ countries. One VPN. And another with just 800 servers it owns outright. And both pass leak tests. Still, both publish audit results publicly. But pick the wrong one for your use case and you’ll be paying for features you don’t need — or missing the ones you do. ...

Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. ProtonVPN — starts at $0 (free) to $12.99/mo with 4,700+ servers in 100+ countries Mullvad has no affiliate program — all Mullvad recommendations in this article are unbiased. Two VPNs dominate the privacy conversation in 2026, and they couldn’t approach the problem more differently. ProtonVPN builds a Swiss-protected ecosystem — 4,700+ servers across 100+ countries, streaming optimizations, and a genuinely unlimited free tier funded by paid subscribers. Mullvad takes the opposite path: flat €5/month pricing, anonymous signup with no email required, and a server network of roughly 800 machines it owns outright. ...

ProtonVPN’s Swiss jurisdiction has been audited three times for no-log compliance since 2020 — zero violations found. And Surfshark runs 4,500+ servers across 100 countries and doesn’t cap device count. And one prioritizes verifiable privacy at the architecture level. The other prioritizes feature breadth and unlimited connectivity. But these are two different philosophies competing for the same user. And depending on what you actually need, the wrong pick costs you either more than you should pay or more privacy than you intended to give up. ...