Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 4, 2026 · Updated November 4, 2026
People look past ExpressVPN when the renewal price is a multiple of the headline rate, when they want a free tier or a flat monthly price, or when they would rather not pay for bundled extras. Most go first to Proton VPN, Surfshark or CyberGhost, privacy-focused buyers to Mullvad or IVPN.
Short answer: The closest replacements for ExpressVPN in our VPN services ranking are Proton VPN, Surfshark and CyberGhost. Choose Proton VPN if you want a free plan to test with and a renewal price printed beside the offer. Each of the 11 options is a ranked entry in Best VPN Services in 2026; the notes explain how it differs from ExpressVPN and where ExpressVPN still wins.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.
ExpressVPN's order page shows Basic at 2.49 euros a month, billed 69.72 euros for the first 28 months. It then renews at 79.95 euros a year, about 6.66 euros a month, or more than two and a half times the headline figure. Advanced renews at 109.95 and Express Pro at 179.95 euros a year.
The 30-day money-back guarantee applies to first-time users, and ExpressVPN's refund page says anyone who has already received a refund is ineligible. Subscriptions bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play are outside the guarantee and go through those stores instead.
The three tiers add an AI assistant, an email relay, a password manager and an eSIM allowance on top of the VPN, and the device limit rises from 10 to 12 to 14 with the tier. A buyer who wants only the tunnel pays for the whole suite.
Ordered by how well each fits a team leaving ExpressVPN; our own placement among 12 ranked products is in the last column.
| # | Alternative | Headquarters | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Proton VPN | Switzerland | you want a free plan to test with and a renewal price printed beside the offer | #2 |
| 2 |  Surfshark | Netherlands | you have many devices and want no connection cap on one account | #11 |
| 3 |  CyberGhost | Romania | you want a longer refund window and a stated annual renewal at a lower price | #10 |
| 4 |  Mullvad | Sweden | you want one flat price with no renewal step and anonymous payment | #1 |
| 5 |  Private Internet Access | United States | you want unlimited devices and renewal amounts stated next to each term | #9 |
| 6 |  IPVanish | United States | you want unlimited devices and tiers that add antivirus or storage as options | #8 |
| 7 |  hide.me | Malaysia | you want a free plan with no data cap and a promise that the renewal price stays the same | #6 |
| 8 |  Windscribe | Canada | you want to pay per location instead of for the full server list | #4 |
| 9 |  IVPN | Gibraltar | you want an account with no email or name and several payment routes | #3 |
| 10 |  TunnelBear | Canada | you want a small free allowance and a lower entry price in US dollars | #7 |
| 11 |  PrivadoVPN | Iceland | you want a free monthly data allowance and a low long-term rate | #5 |
Offers a free plan for one device at a time, against ExpressVPN's none. VPN Plus is $9.99 a month, or $3.49 on the 24-month term billed $83.76, renewing at $83.88 every 12 months. It covers 10 devices and, per its page, servers in 140+ countries.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want a free plan to test with and a renewal price printed beside the offer.
Starter and One are both €2.49 a month, billed €67.23 for the first 27 months, with One+ above them. Its page puts no limit on simultaneous devices, where ExpressVPN caps tiers at 10, 12 and 14. The renewal price is given only as depending on the chosen plan.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you have many devices and want no connection cap on one account.
The two-year plan is 2.19 euros a month, billed 61.32 euros for the first two years and 61.32 euros each year after. Long plans carry a 45-day refund window, longer than ExpressVPN's 30, while the one-month plan is 11.99 euros with 14 days. Seven devices are covered.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want a longer refund window and a stated annual renewal at a lower price.
One rate of €5 a month including VAT, whether you pay for one month, a year or a decade, so no promotion ends and nothing renews higher. Accepts cash, Monero and Bitcoin. The refund window is 14 days, with none for cash payments. There is no free plan and no bundled suite.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want one flat price with no renewal step and anonymous payment.
Prices are printed per term: $11.95 for one month, $3.99 a month on one year billed $47.88 and renewing at the same amount, and $2.03 a month on three years plus four months, renewing at $81.20 every three years. One account covers unlimited devices. Its page calls the software open source.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want unlimited devices and renewal amounts stated next to each term.
Vendor website → · Detailed Private Internet Access write-up
Essential is $2.19 a month, billed $52.56 for the first two years, with Complete at $2.79 adding antivirus and Advanced at $3.29 adding 1TB cloud storage. The monthly Essential plan renews at $14.99. Every plan lists unlimited devices and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want unlimited devices and tiers that add antivirus or storage as options.
A free plan with unlimited data but one connection and 8 locations, against 10 connections and 92+ locations on Premium. Its page promises that a plan renews at the same price and duration. The 30-month plan is 69.99 euros, and one month is 11.99 euros.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want a free plan with no data cap and a promise that the renewal price stays the same.
Pro is $9.00 a month or $69 a year, and Build-a-Plan is $1.00 per location per month with a $3 minimum, each location adding 10GB of monthly bandwidth. Free plans exist. A config generator covers OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard, and one account has no connection limit.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want to pay per location instead of for the full server list.
Operated by IVPN Limited in Gibraltar, with no email address or name asked at sign-up. Payment can be by card, PayPal, cash, cryptocurrency or voucher code. Compare its current price on its own pricing page before you decide.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want an account with no email or name and several payment routes.
A free plan allows 2GB of secure browsing. The Unlimited plan starts at $3.33 a month with unlimited devices, and Teams is $5.75 per user per month for two or more users. Prices are shown in US dollars. Its page lists country and city selection among the paid features.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want a small free allowance and a lower entry price in US dollars.
Gives 10GB free every 30 days. Paid plans run $1.11 a month on 24 months, $1.33 on 12 months and $10.99 for one month, with antivirus available as a $1.99 monthly add-on. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies to paid plans.
Switch from ExpressVPN if you want a free monthly data allowance and a low long-term rate.
Stay with ExpressVPN if you already pay a renewal price you accept, you use the apps on up to 10 to 14 devices, and you value its pages that list servers in 113 countries and 24-hour live chat. Its privacy policy states that it keeps no logs of browsing history, DNS queries or IP addresses, and it points to a KPMG audit. A buyer already on a long term gains little from switching mid-term.
ExpressVPN's cancellation page says you cannot cancel inside the app. You must use the ExpressVPN website or the Apple or Google store where you bought it. Turn off renewal before the term ends, because plans renew automatically, and check which route your subscription used.
A VPN holds no documents or projects to carry across. What you move are settings: split-tunneling lists, kill-switch choices and any router setup. ExpressVPN publishes OpenVPN manual setup guides for Windows, Mac and Linux, but those credentials are tied to your account and do not move to another provider.
Overlap the two for a few weeks. A new provider's refund window runs from 14 days at Mullvad to 45 days on CyberGhost's long plans. Reinstall apps on every device, then cancel ExpressVPN once the replacement works on your router, TV and phone.
Only if you are a first-time user within the first 30 days, and not if you have received a refund before. Subscriptions bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play are excluded and refunded only by those stores. Refund terms can also vary by plan or promotion, per its refund page.
Go to the ExpressVPN website or the app store where you bought it, because the app itself cannot cancel. Its cancellation page lists separate steps for each purchase route and was last updated on November 2, 2026.
Basic renews at 79.95 euros a year after the first 28 months, Advanced at 109.95 euros and Express Pro at 179.95 euros. Those are the renewal prices on its order page, against headline rates of 2.49, 3.99 and 6.49 euros a month. Amounts are in euros with sales tax added at checkout.
There is no account export described on the pages we read. ExpressVPN lists manual OpenVPN setup for Windows, Mac and Linux, which uses your account credentials for its own servers. A new provider needs its own apps or its own configuration files, so plan to set each device up again.
Its privacy policy says it keeps no logs of browsing history, DNS queries or IP addresses, but the pages we read did not describe retention of account data after cancellation. Ask support in writing for account deletion. The policy names Kape Technologies PLC as its ultimate holding company.
Device apps, router setups and any dedicated IP you bought as an add-on do not transfer, so the address changes. ExpressMailGuard aliases, ExpressKeys passwords and the eSIM sit in the same bundle and need replacing separately if you used them.
Every price, plan limit and product statement about ExpressVPN here was read on the vendors' own pages on November 4, 2026. Either can change at any time, so read the figures as of that day.
Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page.
Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed November 4, 2026.
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