Best VPN for Windows | ExpressVPN, NordVPN or Surfshark?

What is the best VPN for Windows?

We have reviewed the VPNs of ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark. All the major VPN providers have support for Windows. You can easily download the WIndows client from the VPN providers site and install it like any other application. Once you have installed the application you have to sign in. If you don’t have an account you can sign up to the VPN providers and try for 30 day’s. Remember if you want to cancel your subscription you have to get in touch with customer support, because they don’t offer an option in the GUI to just cancel.

Once installed the principle of all the apps are just the same. You can connect to several server locations worldwide and you have some different options. In this review we take a look at the features the VPN providers offer on Windows. Please note that the options may differ per platform. I.e. the Windows platform is more open than MacOS or iOS. If you want to know the options on iOS you can read our review on the best VPN for iPad.

Windows is an open platform when it comes to the applications. So this means almost al the options a VPN provider has to offer are available within the application. Lets start the review.

ExpressVPN Windows application

 4.8/5

Score 4.8

Installing the ExpressVPN software is easy. Just go to the website and download the latest software. After installing the application you can login to the application with your usename and password or by using a link which ExpressVPN will send by mail. By clicking on the link you activate the application and you don’t have to use user credentials. This makes it much more easier than resetting passwords, etc. Once logged in the VPN looks like this:

3000 servers in 94 countries
Unlimited devices, 5 connections at a time
Best VPN for streaming like Netflix, Prime, HBO, Channel4 and sport channels
Fast speeds
Private DNS
Their own lightway protocol
AES-256-GCM encryption
Kill switch when VPN is disconnected
Always on feature
Split tunnel for local network and applications
Browser exentions support
TrustedServer - protects every server with diskless servers
No advertisement blocking
No dedicated IP support
No multihop support

ExpressVPN is very know for their reliable and fast VPN servers. ExpressVPN is very good in censored countries where VPNs are forbidden. The strongest point of this VPN that the VPN is so extremely reliable and the unblocking of content worldwide is so good. In terms of features the other providers NordVPN and Surfshark do a better job. The split tunnel configuration can’t be configured by yourselfs, but if enabled it will whitelist the whole RFC 1918 networks (10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 and 192.168.0.0/16). You cannot manualy configure this based on IP addresses. In the background ExpressVPN offers all the major features like private DNS and TrustedServer which is very good. Overall because of the unblocking of geo-content, torrenting worldwide and the reliability of the VPN we rate ExpressVPN as the best VPN.

ExpressVPN speedtest

The ExpressVPN offers lots of location arround the world. The overall speeds of the ExpressVPN application is just terrific. We tested with a 100 Mbit down and upload speed, from Amsterdam:

Server locations	Download speed	Upload speed	Ping
Netherlands (nearest)	98,2	98,0	9
Belgium	91,1	89,5	28
Singapore	86,4	84,0	103
Australia	85,0	84,8	132
USA - NYC	85,3	84,4	114
UK	91,8	91,2	82
Italy	96,8	89,8	69
Canada	93,1	92,2	140
Argentina	91,4	90,5	160
Brazil	89,5	88,2	150
Japan	93,9	91,7	142
India	90,8	90,1	111

ExpressVPN pricing

ExpressVPN comes with different subscriptions. Overall the price of ExpressVPN is more expensive as the other VPN providers. If you look at the most important characteristics of a VPN like stability, speeds and reliability we have to rate ExpressVPN very high and would definitly recommend ExpressVPN.

NordVPN Windows application

 4.5/5

Score 4.5

NordVPN is a very populair VPN provider. Downloading the VPN software of NordVPN is very easy, you can just go to the website of NordVPN and download the application. When using the application you need to login with credentials and a subscription. You can have a 30 day not good money back guarantee. When installed the application you get security tips which help you to configure the application. We think this is a very need feature and helps beginners to have the best security.

Here is an impession of the user interface:

5300 servers over 60 countries
Fastest VPN
Streaming services are widely supported
Kill switch based on applications and internet
Split tunnel based on networks
Userfriendly interface
Multi Factor authentication
Automatic connect (on Windows start or Wi-Fi connection)
Language selectable from the app
Block ads and malicious websites
Invisibility feature on LAN
Custom DNS servers configurable from the application
Torrenting only works on specific servers
The specific server roles (torrenting and Darknet) are not described really well
The apps is sometimes a little bit slow
Doesn't work very well with other VPN clients on your Windows computer

NordVPN has more features than ExpressVPN. The most important feature in our eyes is the blocking of advertisements and maclicious websites. But we also like the userfriendly interface where you get tips on how to configure the application. In rare occasions it is helpfull that you can protect your VPN from being seen. NordVPN was also the only application which provides Split tunnel based on networks which you can configure yourself. the Mult Factor Authentication is also a very need feature.

NordVPN speedtests

NordVPN offers lots of location arround the world. The overall speeds of the ExpressVPN application is just outstanding, the best we have seen. We tested with a 100 Mbit down and upload speed, from Amsterdam:

Server locations	Download speed	Upload speed	Ping
Netherlands (nearest)	98,4	98,2	8
Belgium	92,1	90,5	28
Singapore	88,4	88,0	90
Australia	83,0	81,8	132
USA - NYC	87,3	86,4	121
UK	92,8	91,2	67
Italy	94,8	89,8	62
Canada	94,1	92	140
Argentina	91,7	90,8	160
Brazil	89,6	88,2	156
Japan	93,7	92,7	172
India	92	90,7	112

NordVPN pricing

NordVPN comes with different subscriptions. NordVPN offers a very competitive price for their VPN services.

Surfshark Windows application

 4.3/5

Score 4.3

Surfshark is relatively new in the VPN market, active since 2018. Surfshark offers a very competitive VPN based on features and price to quality ratio. However the application is less smooth than the others. Streaming services work but not alway’s as good as you might hope. From a user friendlyness perspective Surfshark offers a very good VPN. You can download the Windows application from the website and install it like any other Windows application. Like the other applications you need a subscription but you have a 30 day not good money back guarentee as well.

Here is an impression of the user interface:

Unlimited speed and bandwidth
CleanWeb - no ads, trackers, malware and phishing attempts
Surfshark WireGuard protocol
Private DNS & leak protection
Kill switch
Auto connect
Camouflage mode - stay always private
Surfshark One (antivirus, search and alert) extra license needed
Static IP
Multihop support
Speeds and stability could be better
Split tunnel only based on URL or Single IP
Be aware that if you use both an ad blocker extension and this functionality that some sites are not accessable

Surfshark offers a VPN with alot of features. It offers more features than ExpressVPN and NordVPN. However we have been using the VPN for a while and the speeds are not alway’s very good. So loading of videos takes a while or you have connection errors. We have seen this with Netflix, Haju and Channel4. This is a big con for us and that’s why we think Surfshark needs to work on better speeds and a better network worldwide. Also the multihop functionality has been very slow in more eastern countries where it is very acceptable in more western countries. Overall if you are not a hardcore user and use VPNs for simple tasks and want to have good protection Surfshark could be very usefull.

Surfshark speedtests

Altough the speedtest were very promising and the results below are very good we saw several disconnect errors and crashes of the applications. Please keep this in mind when buying Surfshark.

Server locations	Download speed	Upload speed	Ping
Netherlands (nearest)	93,4	93,2	12
Belgium	89,7	89,5	42
Singapore	83,2	80,1	104
Australia	76,0	75,8	178
USA - NYC	84,3	79,6	149
UK	87,8	84,2	83
Italy	88,8	85,8	90
Canada	87,1	85,2	144
Argentina	85,5	81,9	194
Brazil	81,6	80,2	217
Japan	85,4	77,3	182
India	88,2	84,7	156

Surfshark prices

Best VPN for Windows - overall conclusion

We reviewed the three top VPN providers ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark. All the three VPN providers offer a very good VPN with worldwide coverage. However their are some differences. We see ExpressVPN offers less features than the NordVPN and Surfshark but is very stable and very good with the streaming services, torrenting and in censored countries. Also the alway’s on, split tunnel and kill switch work very good, and we find these the most important features. NordVPN offers a very fast VPN with a very userfriendly user interface. And then there is Surfshark which is the cheapest VPN but we have notices some hiccups with streaming services.

So if we had to choose a VPN services we would go for ExpressVPN. If your very keen streaming services or torrenting we would recommend ExpressVPN because the speeds are very good and the VPN is very reliable. ExpressVPN is also known to be the best VPN in censored countries.

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