VyprVPN and ExpressVPN are both big names in the VPN industry. As such, choosing one over the other is not an easy decision.
VyprVPN is a Swiss-based VPN service provider that promises to unblock the internet, and circumvent even the sturdiest firewalls, including the “The Great Firewall of China.” If you’re looking for a reasonably-priced VPN that doesn’t compromise on value, then VyprVPN might be your best bid.
ExpressVPN is a trusted VPN service provider based in the British Virgin Islands. Extensive server coverage and rock-solid security make ExpressVPN one of the best VPNs on the market. For this reason, the service is an ideal option for users looking to browse anonymously, and unblock a wide range of restricted websites.
How to Choose a VPN
There’s an array of factors one should put into consideration when choosing a VPN. You don’t enter a fashion boutique and pick any clothing in sight. By the very breadth, you shouldn’t buy every VPN you come across. There are different types of VPNs on the market, with various features. And so, understanding the reason why you need the VPN and the features that are crucial to you goes a long way in ensuring you choose the one that suits you.
For instance, a router-based VPN is ideal when protecting numerous devices. If you want to stream content that is geographically blocked, then you should choose a VPN that can unlock such content.
If you’re the kind of person who travels regularly, the odds are that you use public Wi-Fi networks most of the time. In that case, you need a VPN that has top-notch security and can connect to servers situated all over the globe.
There are lots of other crucial factors you should consider when choosing a VPN. In this article, we’ll cover more elements, and we shall juxtapose VyprVPN with ExpressVPN. In each case, we’ll indicate which is better of the two. Read on to get more insight into how to choose a VPN.
Connection Speed
VPNs tend to slow down your internet, and it all stems from the encryption process. However, the degree to which a VPN slows down your internet should be negligible. Nobody wants a horrible browsing experience occasioned by a slow VPN.
We carried out three tests at different intervals. The first test was in the morning, the next in the afternoon, and the last was late in the evening. Here are our findings:
Local Connection Speeds (US)
| VPN | MORNING | AFTERNOON | EVENING |
| VyprVPN | Without VPN: 74.46 MbpsWith VPN: 68.99 Mbps | Without VPN: 76.52 MbpsWith VPN: 71.06 Mbps | Without VPN: 98.44 Mbps With VPN: 93.03 Mbps |
| ExpressVPN | Without VPN: 74.46 MbpsWith VPN:71.08 Mbps | Without VPN: 76.52 MbpsWith VPN: 73.16 Mbps | Without VPN: 98.44 Mbps With VPN: 95.09 Mbps |
VyprVPN recorded a drop of approximately 5 Mbps as opposed to ExpressVPN, which reduced the download speed by about 3 Mbps.
International Connection Speeds (US to the UK)
| VPN | MORNING | AFTERNOON | EVENING |
| VyprVPN | Without VPN: 74.46 MbpsWith VPN: 66.14 Mbps | Without VPN: 76.52 Mbps With VPN: 68.21 Mbps | Without VPN: 98.44 MbpsWith VPN: 90.12 Mbps |
| ExpressVPN | Without VPN: 74.46 Mbps With VPN: 69.32 Mbps | Without VPN: 76.52 Mbps With VPN: 71.18 Mbps | Without VPN: 98.44 Mbps With VPN: 93.12 Mbps |
With VyprVPN, speeds dropped by around 8 Mbps, while ExpressVPN, 5Mbps.
Connection Speeds Winner: ExpressVPN
Pricing
In an ideal world, everybody wants to save a penny on any purchase they make. But at the end of the day, we all look forward to getting value for our money.
A cheaper VPN may not translate to better value. Therefore, the service of the VPN you settle on buying should be commensurate with the price.
The beauty of it is that most VPN providers have varied subscription packages to suit different customer needs. As a result, it is advisable to opt for a plan that falls within your budget. The monthly and annual plans are the most common plans among most providers.
VyprVPN offers monthly, annually, and bi-annual price plans. You pay $12.95 billed every month for the monthly plan, $3.75 billed $45 every year for the annual plan, and $2.50/month billed $60 every two years.
ExpressVPN has three price plans; monthly, six months, and annual. The monthly option goes for $ 12.95 billed every month, the yearly plan costs $ 8.32 per month (billed $99.95 after every 12 months), and the six months plan costs $9.99 per month, billed $59.95 half-yearly.
It’s worth noting that both providers have a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you feel dissatisfied with their services, and you would like to discontinue.
Pricing Winner: VyprVPN
Privacy
The cardinal reason for using a VPN is to conceal your online undertakings from the snooping eyes. A virtual private network that doesn’t guarantee you absolute privacy protection isn’t the best hence not worth your buck.
Beware, some providers use third-party servers, which might compromise on your privacy. Luckily, both VyprVPN and ExpressVPN do not use third parties, and they don’t keep logs of your activities. This means your data is safe when routed through both VPNs.
To further improve the user’s privacy, the provider’s area of operation matters a great deal. Ideally, the provider you choose should operate in a country where there’s a clean record of privacy protection. In this case, both VyprVPN and ExpressVPN are located in privacy-friendly jurisdictions.
Cryptocurrency is a new-fangled invention that has taken the technology world by storm. It has extreme privacy protection and can be used to pay for services while maintaining absolute anonymity.
Bitcoin is an excellent example of cryptocurrency. Unlike VyprVPN, ExpressVPN supports Bitcoin technology. As a result, that gives it an edge over the former.
Privacy Winner: ExpressVPN
Features
Features are substantial on a VPN. However, you should underscore quality in every feature the VPN has. Besides, what defines the quality of a given element is its functionality.
Having tons of features isn’t an assurance that the VPN is of good quality. Heaping features on a VPN may result in an intricate interface that scares users and may hence hamper usage.
Providentially, both VyprVPN and ExpressVPN are not laden with features. What’s more, they both have an inherent ability to circumvent firewalls and allow you access to geographically blocked content.
Routing all your data through the VPN tends to slow your internet. That’s the point at which split-tunneling comes in handy. It is a functionality that allows you to choose which data goes through the VPN and which one accesses the internet directly. That means the speed of your internet is probable to remain at the optimum most of the time.
Of the two, ExpressVPN is the one that supports split-tunneling in addition to other essential features.
Features Winner: ExpressVPN
Encryption
VyprVPN comes with multiple VPN protocols. What’s more, it allows you to decide on your ideal level of encryption and protection.
VyprVPN provides OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP/IPsec protocols. Additionally, it uses AES 256 bit encryption, which is a highly secure technology that protects you against hacking. AES-256 is undeniably the best level of protection you could ever find in a VPN service.
Chameleon is another feature that VyprVPN has. Chameleon makes encrypted traffic look like typical SSL, thereby making it possible to bypass firewalls and other software engineered to block VPN traffic.
ExpressVPN, on the other hand, has AES-256 bit encryption, too, and just as VyprVPN, it offers OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP/IPsec protocols. It also has an inbuilt ability to circumvent firewalls and hardware, which block access to content. Therefore, in terms of encryption, both VyprVPN and ExpressVPN are comparatively excellent and worth your penny.
Encryption Winner: Tie
Simultaneous Connections
When choosing a VPN provider, it’s wise of anyone to opt for the one that allows more than one connection for every account at the same time.
If you have a couple of users, a single link will, undoubtedly, not satisfy their needs when they are surfing the internet at the same time. More so, purchasing an account for each user may force you to pay through the nose. And again, you may not like the hassle of having to troubleshoot multiple accounts should an emergency of grave magnitude strike.
Therefore, to be on the safe side, ensure the package you choose can support multiple concurrent connections. And this should not scale up latency or occasion a severe drop in both the upload and download speeds of your internet.
VyprVPN allows three connections for the basic package and five links for the premium package. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, allows a maximum of five concurrent connections for every account.
Simultaneous Connection Winner: Tie
Torrent Support
VPNs are exceptional tools for file sharing your files while you enjoy maximum protection against hackers and copyright trolls.
While some torrentors use VPNs to share copyrighted content anonymously, we, however, do not advocate infringement on any content copyright laws.
VyprVPN supports BitTorrent, which is a peer-to-peer protocol, which allows you to download and upload files. Additionally, you can transfer massive amounts of files without going through the central server since BitTorrent is a decentralized P2P file transfer system. That translates to high-speed data transfer.
ExpressVPN also allows P2P file-sharing on its servers. Moreover, it goes out of its way to guide you on how to make the most of their service using peer-to-peer uTorrent application. Note that uTorrent can be saved on an external storage device and run directly from it.
In a nutshell, both BitTorrent and uTorrent are matched and are sure to give you great torrenting experience.
Torrent support winner: Tie
Global Server Coverage
Widespread global server coverage guarantees you music and video streaming, gaming, and an array of other services that might have restricted access.
Tech-savvy users will always give preference to a VPN provider that covers a broad geographical area. With such, you can still connect to another VPN server within your proximity when the server in your country is, for some reason, temporarily unavailable.
Again, VPN users experience bandwidth fluxes. The lower the number of servers, the more likely the fluctuations, and this is due to traffic overload. In this case, users streaming HD (High definition) content may experience poor image quality.
VyprVPN has a total of over 700 servers in more than 70 global locations. The provider owns and manages all its servers.
ExpressVPN covers over 90 countries and has a total of more than 3000 servers. That’s undoubtedly a colossal coverage by any standards. The provider runs its own DNS on every VPN server, so you can safely browse in less-secure areas.
Global Server Coverage Winner: ExpressVPN
Multi-Platform Support
It is vital to find out which platforms the VPN you look forward to purchasing supports. At any rate, users will have different types of devices running on different operating systems.
Additionally, the devices will have various applications, some of which may not be supported by particular VPN service. If you want to enjoy diversity, it’s advisable to choose a VPN service that can run on a computer, a smartphone, a router, and about any device that connects to the internet.
Both VyprVPN and ExpressVPN have fantastic compatibility with such devices, computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc. They are all compatible with iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, Linux, AppleTV, Routers, and can be installed on browsers.
However, VyprVPN doesn’t have any browser extensions. Extensions add functionality to your browser, and you may not be pleased to find some of your installed browser extensions unable to work as they should. Also, VyprVPN only routers with the tomato firmware.
Multi-Platform Support Winner: ExpressVPN
Customer Support
Nobody wants a product or service for which help isn’t readily accessible when the need arises. That’s where customer support comes in handy. VPNs, like any other service, can’t operate effectively without a reliable, devoted, and competent customer service.
Both VPN providers have email ticketing and live chat services through which you can present your complaints and queries. Hardly do they give roundabout feed once you’ve put through your questions.
Ticketing is an impressive tool that helps you in making follow-ups on your queries. Live chat makes work much easier since you chat one on one with the online support team, often, 24/7. And most respond rapidly.
We tried on four different occasions to seek help from both providers. We carried out two tests during the day and two in the dead of night. Our main objective was to ascertain which of the two is better in terms of customer support, especially during odd hours. Both lived to our expectations.
Customer Support Winner: Tie
Verdict
Before declaring the winner, we would like to state in no uncertain terms that the two VPN providers are fantastic service providers, each with a commanding client base.
Both VPNs continue to serve their respective clients with utmost dedication. However, as seen from this survey, ExpressVPN, which has been in the industry for a more prolonged spell, vis-à-vis VyprVPN, has a competitive edge over the latter.
However, there’s still room for improvement for both parties as far as we are concerned. We would like them to wow customers with such essential features as ad-locks and many more in the future. All said and done, the undisputed winner in this particular contest is ExpressVPN.
