By: Matt | Last updated September 1, 2020 
Connecting through a virtual private network gives you a sense of security and privacy and it is a great way to protect yourself online, especially when you are connecting through a public, unsafe network. But not all VPNs are equally good and efficient, so you must do some research in order to find a reliable provider.
One of the most commonly asked questions is whether to opt for a free or a paid VPN. If you know you are going to connect to public networks rarely and you don’t really need the benefits VPNs have to offer, then you can do just fine with a free VPN. But if you know you’re often surfing the web from unsecure networks, you might want to access geo-locked content and you stream or torrent a lot, you might want to consider a paid VPN. Paid VPNs don’t have as many limitations as free ones (in terms of bandwidth, servers and more), they are more reliable when it comes to protection and they are faster.
ExpressVPN – The best paid VPN on the market right now
ExpressVPN is definitely ‚in the big league’. It is one of the most widely used VPNs in the world and it’s been around for approximately 10 years. It is based in the British Virgin Islands.
ExpressVPN has a very large number of servers spread all over the world. There are over 1,500 servers for you to choose from, placed approximately 100 countries. All the areas of the globe are pretty much covered, from US and Canada, to South and Central America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa.
How much does ExpressVPN cost?
ExpressVPN offers 3 plans: 1-month plan, 6-month plan and 12-months plan.
The 1-month plan is priced at $12.95/month.
The 6-months plan is priced at $9.99/month.
The 12-months plan is priced at $8.32/month.
All 3 plans include the 30 days money back guarantee offered by ExpressVPN. They also come with 24/7 customer support and unlimited bandwidth.
You can pay for your subscription via PayPal, cryptocurrency, credit cards and more.
ExpressVPN has support for all major protocols and it automatically chooses the best one for your network, unless you are setting it otherwise. This VPN has support for OpenVPN with TCP/UDP, for PPTP, SSTP, L2TP/Ipsec.
This VPN has a user-friendly interface and you can choose a server even based on a city.
The security aspect is taken quite seriously by ExpressVPN. The VPN uses 256-bit AES encryption with the OpenVPN protocol and their website is secured with SSL 4096-bit CA. The problem with high encryption is that it usually slows down your connection, but ExpressVPN is really impressive in that regard and managed to do really well in performance tests. It also delivers its promise of 99.9% uptime.
Just like any reputable VPN provider, ExpressVPN doesn’t keep logs on its customers either.
This VPN is good at unblocking restricted content and works with streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, HBO and others.
The only disappointing thing about ExpressVPN is the fact that it only allows 3 simultaneous devices, which is below the average of 5. Not to mention there are VPN providers out there that allow unlimited connections.
ExpressVPN is versatile and has apps for all the common devices and operating systems: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Apple TV, Fire TV and more.
The 24/7 customer support is offered via live chat and the response times are more than decent.
Overall, ExpressVPN has all the atributes of a reliable, competitive and high-quality VPN: it is fast, it unlocks geo-restricted content, it has a no-logging policy and an impressive number of servers worldwide. If you don’t mind its price (which is not among the most affordable ones on the market) and if you’re not bothered by its policy regarding the number of simultaneous connections allowed, then you should definitely try out ExpressVPN.
