TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: Which is better in 2024?

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a great way to improve your online privacy. Unfortunately, providers’ websites are usually either too light on details or packed full of jargon and technical information. Don’t worry; we’re here to help. Our team has extensively tested two popular services, TorGuard and ExpressVPN, to see what they have to offer and how well they perform in real-life scenarios.

At Comparitech, we believe you can’t provide an accurate review of a VPN without trying it yourself. We’ve personally used TorGuard and ExpressVPN for all sorts of tasks, from streaming to torrenting, and have gathered our findings below. Before that, though, let’s begin with a brief rundown of what we liked about each service.

Summary: TorGuard vs ExpressVPN

TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: Price comparison

TorGuard has two subscription tiers: Anonymous VPN ($9.99 USD per month) and Anonymous VPN Pro ($12.99 per month). The Pro plan includes a dedicated IP address and allows four additional connections, but not everyone will need these (or feel that they justify a 30 percent price increase). ExpressVPN, meanwhile, has just one tier, which costs $12.95 per month.

Straight off the bat, we can see that TorGuard offers more flexibility in terms of subscription length. That said, signing up for longer periods of time can net you a fairly hefty discount. For instance, Anonymous VPN customers save around $10 on the three-month plan, but nearly $220 with the three-year plan. This drops the average monthly cost to just $3.88, which is around 60 percent off.

ExpressVPN, meanwhile, offers a 50 percent discount and three months free with one-year subscriptions, effectively lowering the price to $6.67 per month. That’s a significant reduction but a fair bit above what TorGuard customers pay. To its credit, ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back so that you can try the service out risk-free and see what it’s capable of. TorGuard has a seven-day guarantee, which is shorter than most of its competitors, though still very much appreciated.

TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: Features and functionality

No matter which device you use, these VPNs have an app for it. Both offer simple installers for Linux, although TorGuard has an edge here since it supports specialist distros like REDHAT, FEDORA, and CentOS, in addition to more common ones such as Ubuntu. That said, unlike its rival, ExpressVPN does have browser extensions for Vivaldi and Brave. Further, it’s the only major VPN to offer its own firmware, making it relatively easy to install on a router.

For a long time, ExpressVPN only permitted five simultaneous connections but it’s recently increased this to eight for annual subscribers, bringing it in line with TorGuard’s standard allowance. Anonymous VPN Pro subscribers can connect up to 12 devices at once, but as we mentioned above, this costs extra. TorGuard and ExpressVPN are both able to block ads automatically. However, ExpressVPN also protects against malicious websites and trackers, plus it has the option to block adult content while connected.

To its credit, TorGuard has one feature that we’ve never seen in any other consumer VPN: the ability to execute batch and AppleScript files before and after connection, as well as once you’ve disconnected. If you’re comfortable doing a little coding, this makes it possible to tailor your setup and do just about anything, from launching programs to deleting files depending on your needs. Still, this kind of advanced functionality does seem a little at odds with its novice-friendly UI.

Streaming and Netflix comparison

One of the most popular reasons people use VPNs is to access their usual streaming services while traveling abroad. ExpressVPN has historically done very well in this area, and recently improved its abilities even further. In fact, this time around, it was able to access every platform we tested it against. It even worked with a variety of popular Netflix catalogs!

Unfortunately, TorGuard didn’t fare quite so well. Its standard servers only worked with a handful of US-based streaming services and were easily detected by the vast majority of the platforms we tried. TorGuard does have some dedicated IP addresses that are optimized for streaming, but these cost an extra $7.99 USD per month, per country. That’s very expensive considering most other VPNs can help you use geo-blocked services straight out of the box.

China

China restricts access to huge portions of the internet, and if you’re visiting, you won’t be able to use popular sites like Google, Wikipedia, or Facebook. Additionally, most VPNs are blocked entirely, meaning your online activities will almost always be monitored by the government.

Luckily, TorGuard and ExpressVPN are two of the few services that still work in China. TorGuard users can pick one of the stealth-optimized servers in Hong Kong then activate the Stealth Proxy feature in the settings menu to browse the web as though they were back home. Meanwhile, ExpressVPN takes care of everything in the background, so there’s no need to change anything – it just works, even in places with strict digital censorship.

TorGuard offers a stealth proxy service for $14.99 per month, but this isn’t necessary to bypass Chinese internet restrictions at the time of writing. However, if you really need full control over your connection and want the extra customization, it may be worth considering.

Setup and interface

ExpressVPN’s desktop apps are well-designed, with a clean, novice-friendly interface and separate pages for location selection and settings. Thanks to a couple of buttons on the main screen, you can quickly connect to the best available server or the last server you used, though newer versions of the app no longer display multiple recently-used locations.

TorGuard has a similar interface, though it lacks the ability to choose a server for you. On the location selection page, you can filter servers by continent, proxy support, or whether they use a dedicated IP address. We’d have liked the ability to search for a location directly, but scrolling through the list isn’t a huge issue.

The settings menu provides plenty of customizable options, and we’re glad to have them. That said, most of the settings outside of the General tab will be too advanced for beginners and the protocol selection option is hidden in a menu that’s only accessible from the main page. Additionally, some servers only support OpenVPN, while others only support WireGuard.

ExpressVPN and TorGuard both offer mobile apps too. These are essentially identical to their desktop versions, except users have to manually set up the kill switch. TorGuard actually has one feature that is only available on mobile – tapjacking protection. This prevents shady apps from tricking you into clicking on things by obscuring the screen.

Servers and performance

Generally, paid VPNs tend to have around 60 server locations to choose from. TorGuard has a few less than this, which is fine since it accounts for all of the most in-demand locations like the US, Germany, and Australia. ExpressVPN can get users an IP address from 105 countries, and is actually the provider with the most supported locations at the time of writing.

What’s particularly interesting is that, despite this, TorGuard has a couple of locations that its rival doesn’t: Russia and Bahrain. These may not be highly sought-after, (there aren’t many services that are only available in these countries), but expats will definitely find them useful for regaining access to content from back home.

Let’s take a look at all of TorGuard and ExpressVPN’s supported locations:

Every VPN will slow down your connection to some degree, but providers have been really focusing on minimizing their impact in the last few years. The good news is that both of these VPNs are fast enough for any day-to-day task, including torrenting, streaming, and video calling.

There is a significant difference in terms of consistency, though. ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPN services we’ve tested, consistently delivering top-tier speeds across all of the servers we connected to. Although TorGuard provided reasonable speeds, we did notice that some servers were quite a bit slower than others, even when using those in nearby countries.

TorGuard and ExpressVPN: security rundown

Both services support OpenVPN, which has long been the VPN industry’s go-to protocol. TorGuard lets you connect via WireGuard on some servers, where ExpressVPN supports IKEv2 and has its own custom-built Lightway protocol. Lightway was designed to be as fast and efficient as possible, and can even keep you safe while switching networks. This protocol has been audited twice, so you can be sure that there are no nasty surprises hidden in the code.

These VPNs keep your data hidden from snoopers using 256-bit AES encryption. This is currently uncrackable, taking the strongest computers in the world hundreds of years to break. TorGuard uses 2048-bit keys, which are the industry standard. ExpressVPN’s keys are twice as long, making them even tougher to crack.

Finally, both providers include a kill switch. This stops sending data the second your connection to the VPN is lost, preventing you from accidentally browsing the web without protection. However, this feature isn’t available in either Android app (though it can be replicated using Android’s built-in settings).

Privacy

It’s important to know where your VPN is based since this determines which country’s legislation it has to follow. ExpressVPN operates out of the British Virgin Islands, a privacy-friendly location with no mandatory logging laws. TorGuard’s headquarters is in the US, which is a Five Eyes country, meaning any of the other members could theoretically find out what you get up to online.

Luckily, there’s no need to worry about this. Neither of these VPNs stores any logs that could identify you. In fact, TorGuard doesn’t keep any logs at all! ExpressVPN, on the other hand, only records the date (but not time) you connect, which country you’re in, bandwidth used, and your chosen server location.

The problem is that some providers simply lie about the logs they keep and how privacy-conscious they really are. That’s a huge concern since you’re relying on your VPN to shield your activities from hackers and possibly even repressive governments. To prove that it’s not overselling its privacy credentials, ExpressVPN has had its privacy policy, Lightway protocol, and apps independently audited. At the time of writing, TorGuard hasn’t been externally audited, though it has mentioned that it plans to do so in the near future.

Users can sign up for either service anonymously. ExpressVPN accepts Bitcoin but TorGuard has the advantage here as it accepts a wide range of cryptocurrencies as well as gift cards for other companies. For example, you could pay for TorGuard with a BestBuy gift card, meaning you won’t have to provide payment info or other data that could link you to the account.

Customer service

VPNs are actually quite complex pieces of technology and they have to support all kinds of different devices and protocols. The best providers know that, occasionally, things go wrong. First-class customer support system will get you connected again as soon as possible.

TorGuard and ExpressVPN both offer assistance via live chat. This is almost always the quickest way to get help, though if you’re experiencing a more complicated issue, you can always submit a support ticket. Each provider offers a list of frequently asked questions and a searchable knowledge base with guides to getting set up or resolving common problems.

You’ll find a wide variety of video tutorials and setup guides on ExpressVPN’s YouTube channel. TorGuard’s channel has a handful, but hasn’t been updated in years so the info may no longer be current. There is a support forum built into the website, though, allowing you to ask questions, read about recent updates, and suggest new features.

The winner: ExpressVPN

TorGuard and ExpressVPN are both exceptional services with a lot to offer. That said, after rigorous testing and careful consideration, we’ve decided that ExpressVPN comes out on top.

There are a few reasons for this. First, it offers more than twice as many server locations. It’s also capable of accessing just about every major streaming service as standard, with no additional charges. Further, ExpressVPN has been audited and has shown its commitment to improving its privacy offering by introducing new tools like automatic tracker-blocking. It might not offer the same level of customization as TorGuard, but there’s no denying that ExpressVPN is the more versatile service.

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Methodology: accurately comparing TorGuard and ExpressVPN

Our goal was to thoroughly examine every aspect of TorGuard and ExpressVPN so that we could see which was best overall. As such, we had to carefully consider what they had to offer in several areas, where they could use some work, and ultimately, which would best meet the needs of an average user. Here’s a brief rundown of what our team looked out for:

• Network: The more server locations, the more content you can theoretically access. It also helps reduce the average distance to your closest server, which lowers latency and helps prevent issues like rubberbanding, lag, or sporadic disconnection.
• Speed: We ran multiple tests across several locations to find out which VPN had the highest average speed. This way, providers with ultra-fast servers in one country and poor performance everywhere else wouldn’t be unfairly represented.
• Everyday suitability: Ideally, you’d never have to disconnect the VPN. In other words, services should be able to handle tasks like streaming, video calling, playing online games, and torrenting without any issues.
• Security and privacy: To adequately protect your data, VPNs must use uncrackable encryption and include additional safeguards like DNS leak protection and a kill switch. We require them to follow a no-logging policy and strongly prefer providers that have been independently-audited.
• Ease of use: We checked to see if each service had apps for multiple platforms, a robust customer support offering, and a novice-friendly design.
• Value: Do these VPNs charge a reasonable amount for the features they offer? Are there any trial periods, long-term discounts, or seasonal sales you can take advantage of? Finally, is it as easy to take advantage of the money-back guarantee as they claim?

Want to learn more? Check out our methodology post; it has an in-depth explanation of how we test VPNs at Comparitech.

Related:

• ExpressVPN vs NordVPN
• Surfshark vs ExpressVPN

TorGuard and ExpressVPN: Frequently Asked Questions