Fastest And Secure VPNs In 2024: Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark Compared

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) serve as essential tools to protect our online activities.

However, the need for speed in VPN services is as important as security itself.

NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark – giants in the VPN world, each vying for the title of fastest and most secure VPN.

In this comprehensive analysis, we will delve into the speed, performance, and efficiency of these three giants to reveal who is the fastest among them.

In this article, the comparison between Nordvpn and Expressvpn and Surfshark will be long and in-depth between these giant companies, so this table will present you with the quick most important differences between these three services.

	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Simultaneous connections	Unlimited	6	5
Server countries	100	60	94
No. of servers	3200+	5700+	3000+
Protocols	OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard	OpenVPN, IKEv2, NordLynx (WireGuard)	OpenVPN, IKEv2, Lightway
Price of the cheapest plan	$1.99/month	$3.99/month	$8.32/month
Cookie pop-up blocker	✔︎	✔︎	✘
Ad blocker	✔︎	✔︎	✘
Independent audits	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
10 Gbps servers	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
24/7 support	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Money-back guarantee	30 days	30 days	30 days

Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark Compared :Quick info

Nordvpn

NordVPN was founded in 2012. As for who founded it, it is unknown information, but it is said that it was founded by childhood friends.

Founded in Panama, a country known for its privacy-friendly laws, the company has grown into one of the most powerful and popular VPN services globally.

NordVPN focuses on strong security measures, a large server network, and easy-to-use cross-platform apps.

Many security audits of the company's services were conducted by several external parties, such as Price Waterhouse, Deloitte, VerSprite, and Cure53, and no problems were found in the service in terms of security and privacy.

Expressvpn

ExpressVPN was founded in 2009 by Peter Burkhart and (Dan Pomerantz).

The company is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is known for its user-friendly data privacy laws.

ExpressVPN is known for its focus on privacy, high-speed connections, and an extensive network of servers spread across several countries.

ExpressVPN is one of the top-tier VPN services in the VPN industry.

ExpressVPN has been subjected to numerous security reviews and audits from third-party security firms such as KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Cure53, as well as an audit from Cure53.

Suefshark

Founded in 2018, Surfshark was founded by a group of friends whose identities have not been prominently publicized.

Surfshark originated in the British Virgin Islands, similar to ExpressVPN, and this site was chosen due to its favorable privacy laws.

Surfshark is competitively priced and cheap, with unlimited simultaneous connections, strong security features, and an easy interface.

Despite being relatively new, Surfshark has been gaining popularity in the VPN market.

Surfshark took a proactive stance in 2018 by initiating audits, a step often overlooked by others in their early developmental stages.

Cure53 conducted an audit of their browser extensions, giving Surfshark an early advantage.

In 2021, Surfshark underwent a comprehensive audit by Cure53, examining their entire infrastructure.

A Deloitte assurance report corroborated Surfshark's adherence to a strict no-logs policy. Throughout these audits, no significant issues were uncovered, and any minor concerns that arose were quickly addressed and resolved.

Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark Compared: Security and Encryption

The primary reason for using VPNs is security, and for companies like Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark they never compromise in their services when it comes to security and protection.

Nordvpn, Expressvpn, and Surfshark all use the best encryption and protection algorithms, in addition to many security and protection features such as Kill Switch or obfuscated servers, which provide additional layers of protection for your security.

# For Surfshark, it is located in a country that is considered a member of the 9-Eyes Alliance, but audits and reviews from third parties for security have proven that they do not collect any user data.

All the mentioned companies support zero-logging, which means that they do not keep any user browsing history or network traffic, and no one can see or access it.

Security feature	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
VPN protocols	OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard	OpenVPN, IKEv2, NordLynx (WireGuard)	OpenVPN, IKEv2, Lightway
Data encryption	AES-256	AES-256	AES-256
Cloaking technology	Obfuscated servers	Obfuscated servers	Obfuscated servers
App security	Kill Switch	Kill Switch	Kill Switch (desktop and routers only)
DNS status	Private DNS	Private DNS	Private DNS

All the companies we compare in this article use the highest levels of encryption currently available.

AES-256 encryption is considered one of the strongest encryption protocols currently available and is used by governments to protect data confidentially.

Surfshark

Encrypting Protocols: Supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard protocols for secure connections.
Data Encryption: Employs AES-256 encryption, a robust standard for securing data.
Cloaking Technology: Provides obfuscated servers, which help in bypassing restrictions or censorship.
App Security: Offers a Kill Switch feature, which cuts off internet access if the VPN connection drops, to prevent data leaks.
DNS Status: Utilizes Private DNS for enhanced privacy and security.

NordVPN

Encrypting Protocols: supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and NordLynx (based on WireGuard).
Data Encryption: Also uses AES-256 encryption for securing data transmissions.
Cloaking Technology: Offers obfuscated servers similar to Surfshark for evading network restrictions.
App Security: provides a Kill Switch for maintaining security, ensuring data protection even if the VPN connection fails.
DNS Status: Implements Private DNS servers for improved privacy.

ExpressVPN

Encrypting Protocols: Supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and Light way protocols for secure connections.
Data Encryption: employs the robust AES-256 encryption method for securing user data.
Cloaking Technology: utilizes obfuscated servers, similar to Surfshark and NordVPN.
App Security: provides a Kill Switch, but this feature is available for desktop and routers exclusively.
DNS Status: Utilizes Private DNS servers for added privacy and security, similarly to the other providers.

Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark Compared: VPN protocols

VPN protocols are sets of rules and processes that govern how data is transferred from your device and encrypted over a virtual private network (VPN).

VPN protocols determine how devices connect to the VPN server, authenticate each other, and ensure secure data transfer.

For encryption protocols such as WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN, they are considered among the best VPN protocols due to the security and speed features that these protocols enjoy.

As for companies like ExpressVPN or NordVPN, they have developed their own encryption protocols, and both have been tested and proven to be strong in encrypting data.

Protocol	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
OpenVPN	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
IKEv2	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
WireGuard	✔︎	✔︎ (NordLynx)	✘
Lightway	✘	✘	✔︎

OpenVPN: An open-source protocol known for its security and flexibility. It's widely used and supports various encryption algorithms.

L2TP/IPsec (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec): It combines the best features of L2TP and IPsec to provide strong security. It's often used on older systems and devices.
PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol): One of the earliest VPN protocols. It's less secure than others and not recommended due to vulnerabilities discovered in its encryption.
IKEv2/IPsec (Internet Key Exchange version 2 with IPsec): Known for its stability and ability to quickly re-establish a connection if the VPN is temporarily disrupted. It's commonly used on mobile devices.
SSTP (Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol): Developed by Microsoft, it's integrated into Windows and uses SSL/TLS encryption, making it effective at bypassing firewalls.
WireGuard: A newer, lightweight, and fast protocol known for its simplicity and strong security. It's gaining popularity for its efficiency.

For encryption and security, Surfshark, NordVPN, or ExpressVPN use the strongest encryption algorithms, and they have proven this through speed, security, and reliability tests.

Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark Compared: Privacy

Basically, a VPN is a software or tool used for privacy, and our service providers understand this, so they make user privacy a top priority.

Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN all make privacy a top priority, so they use strict rules to keep no logs or private data from users while using their services.

# No logs means that no party, even VPN service providers, can track, collect or record traffic passing through their servers in any way, such as:

The IP addresses visited
Browsing history
Session information
User bandwidth
Connection timestamps
Network traffic
Or any other similar information

It is important to research the headquarters of the VPN company you are using, as the presence of the VPN provider company in a country that respects privacy and does not require data retention is a good thing to preserve the privacy of its customers.

As for Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN, they are all located in countries that do not require them to collect, provide, or retain any data, so the three companies’ locations are ideal for building a VPN company in.

NordVPN in Panama: Privacy Policy
ExpressVPN in the British Virgin Islands ;Privacy Policy
Surfshark in the Netherlands: Privacy Policy

Nordvpn vs Expressvpn vs Surfshark Compared: Server locations

ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark all have many servers spread around the world, so you won't suffer from server congestion or server throttling due to heavy usage.

Surfshark offers more than 3,200 servers distributed in 100 countries around the world.
NordVPN offers more than 3,000 servers distributed in 60 countries around the world.
ExpressVPN offers more than 5,700 servers distributed in 94 countries around the world.

NordVPN give the majority of its servers in North America and Europe, with over 1,970 available for the US alone.

Surfshark has more reach around the world, and will be a suitable choice in regions like South America, Asia, Africa, or the Middle East.

ExpressVPN has fewer servers than its predecessors, but this does not mean that it is not good, on the contrary, it has a strong structure of servers spread around the world.

For All NordVPN’s servers, they are real servers, while Surfshark and ExpressVPN only a small part of their servers are virtual servers.

Nordvpn and Expressvpn and Surfshark Compared: Connection Speeds

One of the basic features or basic conditions through which you can say that a VPN is good or bad is the connection speed, and here many VPN service providers fail in terms of speed.

VPN speed test was conducted on June 21, 2023, and to ensure optimal speeds, the fastest protocols offered by each service were used.

Specifically, WireGuard was used with Surfshark, while NordLynx and Light-way, the proprietary protocols of NordVPN and ExpressVPN respectively.

Before starting a VPN connection, a speed test was performed to determine the baseline. This served as a reference point to measure the impact of a VPN connection on speed:

Download speed: 288.51 Mbps
Upload speed: 289.27 Mbps
Ping: 5 ms

Speed type	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Local server download speed (Mbps)	264.73	278.62	256.63
Local server upload speed (Mbps)	252.15	259.74	263.94
Local server ping (ms)	45	7	21
International server download speed average (Mbps)	246.44	246.69	232.55
International server upload speed average (Mbps)	116.51	102.48	232.31
International server ping average (ms)	241	230	240

Results from local servers showed minimal discrepancies, barely diverging in either direction.

However, when connecting to international VPN servers, results varied widely.

Surfshark and NordVPN showed similar results, which is to be expected given that NordLynx is built on WireGuard, the protocol used by Surfshark.

Conversely, ExpressVPN showed slightly lower download speeds across international servers. Surprisingly, upload speeds increased dramatically, averaging twice the upload speeds compared to Surfshark or NordVPN.

Extra features

Feature	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
Ad blocker	✔︎	✔︎	✘
Cookie pop-up blocker	✔︎	✔︎	✘
Split tunneling	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Browser extensions	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Smart DNS	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Double VPN	✔︎	✔︎	✘
GPS spoofing	✔︎ (Android only)	✘	✔︎ (iOS, macOS, and Linux only)
Dedicated IP	✔︎	✔︎

Nordvpn vs. Expressvpn vs. Surfshark Compared: Plane And Price

After everything we mentioned previously, we have confirmed that Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN are considered among the best VPN service providers on the Internet, but regarding prices, each VPN provider has a different opinion.

If your goal is to get a cheap VPN, then surfshark is right for you, as it provides very good price plans compared to other competitors.

For only 1.69/Mo you can get a two-year subscription plan that supports features such as Secure VPN, Ad blocker, and Cookie pop-up blocker.

Plan length	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
1 month	$9.99/month	$12.99/month	$12.95/month
12 months	$3.99/month	$6.49/month	$8.32/month
24 months	$1.99/month	$5.79/month	—
Money-back guarantee	30 days	30 days	30 days

Most platforms support payment via PayPal or Visa Card, in addition to other payment methods such as digital currencies like bitcoin, Qiwi, and more.

All VPN providers support a full refund 30 days before the start of the subscription, which is good if you do not like the service.

Nordvpn And Expressvpn And Surfshark Compared: Customer support

Customer service is one of the most important components necessary for every company that wants to spread and expand over the Internet.

For VPN service companies, customer support service is one of the most important and necessary means in which these companies must put a great effort.

Fortunately, for giant companies such as Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN you will not face any problem in this aspect, as each company provides many ways to contact them, such as:

Forum, guidance posts, problem-solving, and answering common questions.
Direct support via live chat.
Ticket systems via e-mail.
A YouTube channel dedicated to explaining features, additional features, and updates.

Customer service	Surfshark	NordVPN	ExpressVPN
24/7 live chat	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Email support	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Ticket support	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Phone support	✘	✘	✘
Searchable knowledge base	✔︎	✔︎	✔︎
Video guides	✔︎ YouTube	✔︎ YouTube	✔︎ YouTube

The only feature that is not supported is support via mobile phone, but as for the methods of assistance and support, it may be sufficient to a large extent.

Conclusion

Have you reached this point in the article, then you are very confused about which of the previous VPN options is right for you.

Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN are considered some of the best VPN services on the Internet, or even better, they are the top VPN services on the Internet.

In the article, we mentioned many comparisons between Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN, so your choice depends on your needs, and each of them provides you with what you need.