TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: which VPN is better?
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TorGuard vs ExpressVPN target distinctly different audiences. ExpressVPN excels as an all-around performer with exceptional streaming capabilities and a user-friendly design, while TorGuard appeals to tech-savvy users seeking advanced customization and robust torrenting features.
To determine which provider offers better value, I conducted a comprehensive comparison examining speed performance, security protocols, streaming compatibility, privacy policies, server networks, and pricing structures. Both services were tested across multiple devices and use cases to ensure accurate, real-world insights.
Whether you're a VPN newcomer seeking simplicity or an experienced user demanding granular control, this detailed breakdown will help you choose the right provider. Continue reading to discover which VPN truly deserves your investment.
TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: overview
When comparing TorGuard vs ExpressVPN, both rank among the best VPNs available. ExpressVPN excels in streaming, security, and support, while TorGuard offers better pricing and Linux options.
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| ⭐ Rating: | ||
| 🥇 Overall rank: | #4 out of #41 | #21 out of #41 |
| 🖥️ Servers: | 3,000+ servers in 105 countries | 3,000+ servers in 50 countries |
| 📖 No logs policy: | No logs | No logs |
| 💵 Price: | From $2.49/month | from $4.00/month |
| 🔥 Coupons: | ExpressVPN coupon 80% OFF | TorGuard coupon 50% OFF |
| 🔒 VPN protocols: | Lightway, OpenVPN, IKEv2 | WireGuard, OpenVPN, OpenConnect |
| 🍿 Streaming services: | Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more | Youtube |
| 🖥️ Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS |
| 📥 Simultaneous connections: | 14 | 8 |
| 💁🏻 Support: | Knowledge base, FAQs, email, 24/7 live chat | Ticket, email, support center |
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Key differences between ExpressVPN and TorGuard VPN
Both VPNs are strong, but they’re built for different types of users. One focuses on simplicity and streaming, while the other leans into customization and torrenting power.
Choose ExpressVPN if:
- You want the best streaming experience. It easily unblocks major platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, with fast, high-quality playback. Everything works out of the box without extra setup.
- You prefer a simple, beginner-friendly app. The interface is clean and easy to navigate, making it ideal if you don’t want to deal with complex settings or manual configurations.
- You value consistent performance and reliability. While speeds are similar overall, ExpressVPN delivers more stable results across servers, which matters for everyday browsing and streaming.
- You want stronger privacy assurances. It’s based in the British Virgin Islands, uses RAM-only servers, and has been independently audited, offering more transparency and trust.
- You need responsive customer support. With 24/7 live chat, you can get help instantly instead of waiting for email replies.
Find out if it's worth your money in our detailed ExpressVPN review.
Choose TorGuard if:
- You prioritize torrenting and P2P performance. It offers faster and more stable torrenting speeds, plus a SOCKS5 proxy for better file sharing and location spoofing.
- You want advanced customization options. TorGuard gives you more control over settings like encryption and configuration, which is ideal for experienced users.
- You’re looking for a lower price. It’s generally more affordable across most plans, making it a better pick if budget is your main concern.
- You don’t mind a more complex interface. The setup isn’t as beginner-friendly, but it rewards users who are comfortable tweaking settings.
We spare no effort to test the products & their features. All information is gathered by our in-house research team & fact-checked by our team of experts. Discover the ins and outs of our testing procedures.
Speed, performance, and streaming: TorGuard vs ExpressVPN
For our speed comparison, we set ExpressVPN’s proprietary Lightway protocol against TorGuard’s use of the WireGuard protocol. We put them to the test with servers around the world to see which one would come out on top.
- Baseline: 1ms ping/ 457Mbps download/ 470Mbps upload
| ExpressVPN (Lightway) | TorGuard (WireGuard) | |
| Canada (download/upload) | 250Mbps/ 450Mbps | 454Mbps/ 476Mbps |
| Germany (download/upload) | 241Mbps/ 241Mbps | 472Mbps/ 467Mbps |
| The UK (download/upload) | 252Mbps/ 441Mbps | 446Mbps/ 106Mbps |
| The US (download/upload) | 256Mbps/ 444Mbps | 436Mbps/ 436Mbps |
To get a clearer picture of our winner, we averaged the download and upload results for each provider across all server tests. Here’s the final average for ExpressVPN vs TorGuard:
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Average download | 241Mbps (53% retained) | 371Mbps (81% retained) |
| Average upload | 379Mbps (81% retained) | 292Mbps (62% retained) |
As you can see from the test results, TorGuard has a faster average download speed, and ExpressVPN clearly has a faster average upload speed. Download speeds are what matters the most when browsing and streaming, though.
While both VPNs proved they can deliver impressive performance, TorGuard consistently delivered faster speeds to a global audience.
Netflix and streaming performance
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Netflix | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Amazon Prime Video | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Hulu | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| HBO Max | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Disney+ | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| BBC iPlayer | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
If streaming geo-blocked content is one of your top priorities, ExpressVPN is the better choice. This streaming VPN can easily unlock shows from around the world and offer fast, high-resolution streaming.
Express VPN can easily help you access various libraries on Netflix, like those in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Japan. You can easily switch servers and view what each country has to offer.
ExpressVPN also works with other favorite platforms, like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. You can also enjoy its SmartDNS feature known as Media Streamer. This feature lets you easily stream on devices that don’t directly support a VPN app.
TorGuard, on the other hand, makes streaming a little complicated. TorGuard cannot access streaming platforms with its Standard plan. If you want TorGuard to even attempt to unblock your favorite shows, you will have to pay more for its Pro plan.
With TorGuard’s Pro plan, you’ll get access to a dedicated IP address optimized for streaming. Still, it’s hard to justify the higher price tag for a feature that comes standard with other top VPN providers.
Torrenting
Both TorGuard and ExpressVPN support torrenting, though neither offers dedicated P2P servers – their regular servers handle file sharing just fine. Both TorGuard and ExpressVPN work for torrenting. Neither one has dedicated P2P servers, but their existing servers support this kind of file sharing.
If a solid torrenting proxy is important to you, TorGuard has the edge with its SOCKS5 proxy, which ExpressVPN lacks. This gives TorGuard stronger P2P support and better location spoofing.
In our speed tests, ExpressVPN’s performance was inconsistent when downloading P2P files, while TorGuard tended to deliver faster and more stable speeds. Overall, if torrenting is your priority, TorGuard is the stronger VPN for torenting.
Plans and pricing
ExpressVPN and TorGuard both offer different pricing options. ExpressVPN offers 3 subscription durations, while TorGuard offers 6.
As with most VPNs, the longer you subscribe for, the lower the monthly price gets.
| Plan | ExpressVPN | TorGuard |
| Free version | No | No |
| Monthly | $12.99/month | $5.49/month |
| 3-month plan | - | $3.66/month |
| 6-month plan | - | $2.75/month |
| 1-year plan | $3.99/month | $2.75/month |
| 2-year plan | $2.49/month | $2.49/month |
| 3-year plan | - | $2.14/month |
ExpressVPN offers three plan tiers: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. Higher-tier plans add a password manager, eSIM, more device connections, and an upgraded version of the Threat Manager.
TorGuard takes a similar approach, offering three tiers: Standard, Pro, and Ultimate. With upgraded plans, you get a dedicated IP address, streaming support, more device connections, and enhanced privacy features.
Comparing the two, ExpressVPN is more expensive. It only offer comparable pricing with the 2-year plan.
It’s worth noting that each VPN has a different money-back guarantee. ExpressVPN doesn’t offer one, while TorGuard has a 7-day refund period.
If you want to get the best possible deals for either VPN, we’ve got the latest coupons to help you out. Check out our TorGuard coupon codes and our ExpressVPN coupon codes.
Server locations
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Number of servers | Undisclosed | 3,000+ |
| Total countries | 105 | 50 |
| Specialty servers | No | No |
Even though ExpressVPN no longer lists its total numbers of servers worldwide, it has an impressive fleet of RAM-only servers with both virtual and physical locations. It’s also in the process of updating from 1Gbps servers to 10Gbps servers, promising better performance for users around the globe.
With ExpressVPN, you can use its Smart Location tool to automatically connect you to the best server based on where you are. While you might not know how many servers you get to choose at a specific place, this VPN’s algorithm will do its best to match you with the one for the best performance.
Lastly, ExpressVPN outrivals TorGuard in the number of available server locations. As the latter offers nearly two times smaller countries' selection, ExpressVPN is a better VPN choice for traveling, streaming, and overall browsing.
Features overview
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Split tunneling | ✅ Yes | Only on Android |
| SmartDNS | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Kill switch | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Ad blocker | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
When it comes to features, TorGuard and ExpressVPN are pretty evenly matched. Both providers have most of the essential extras that users want and need in a VPN.
Split tunneling
With split tunneling, you have total control over what activity is sent through the encrypted tunnel and what is not. Split tunneling lets you choose exactly what apps or websites connect to the VPN and use its IP address. This feature makes it easy to multitask while maintaining both a local and VPN connection.
If you need a VPN to access streaming sites but want to use your faster, local connection for other sites, split tunneling is the perfect tool.
With ExpressVPN, you can use its split tunneling feature on Android, Windows, and older macOS versions (it won’t work on macOS 11 or above). With TorGuard, this feature is only available on Android.
SmartDNS
For avid streamers, a SmartDNS feature is a must-have. SmartDNS unblocks geo-restricted content on devices that aren’t compatible with a VPN itself. While it won’t give you all the security and privacy benefits, it will navigate around geo-restrictions to stream your favorite content on any device.
SmartDNS is a popular feature for smart TVs that don’t support a VPN app. ExpressVPN has MediaStreamer, which makes it easy to stream from your favorite device without sacrificing access or quality.
TorGuard also offers a SmartDNS feature. It also offers convenient guides on how to set it up on various devices.
Kill Switch
If you want to make sure you’re never without VPN protection, you’ll want to make sure you choose a provider with a reliable kill switch.
If you’re connected to your VPN and your connection drops, the kill switch will sever your connection to the internet completely. This keeps you from accidentally browsing unprotected since you might not even notice your VPN disconnected.
For ExpressVPN, you’ll find this feature under the name Network Lock. It can easily be turned on and off from the settings. During our tests, it remained fully functional, allowing no IP leaks.
With TorGuard, you can find it in settings as App Kill. Here, you can fully customize your kill switch and choose which apps it should close in case of an emergency.
Ad blocker
Both ExpressVPN and TorGuard offer ad blockers built-in to their VPN services. A VPN ad blocker is a great protection against malware and tracking attempts that lurk in pop-up ads. This feature can also give you an overall faster browsing experience, as these malicious ads can eat up your bandwidth.
TorGuard can block ads on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows. You can easily enable this feature in the settings.
ExpressVPN has Threat Manager, a new feature that keeps you safe from tracking attempts. It's available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, routers, and smart TVs.
When testing TorGuard vs ExpressVPN features, it’s a pretty close call. While TorGuard has a more advanced ad blocker, ExpressVPN outperforms in the other categories. For example, its split tunneling is available on nearly all major devices. So, considering it all, ExpressVPN includes a better package of features.
TorGuard vs ExpressVPN: which is more secure?
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Encryption | AES-256 | AES-256 |
| HASH | SHA-512 | SHA-512 |
| RAM-only servers | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Member of Fourteen Eyes alliance? | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| No-logs policy | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Kill switch | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Ad blocker | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| DNS leak protection | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
When comparing TorGuard vs ExpressVPN, both providers have excellent security suites to keep you and your data safe.
One main difference between TorGuard and ExpressVPN is where they are headquartered geographically. TorGuard is based in the United States, making it part of the Fourteen Eyes jurisdiction. ExpressVPN is free of any problematic alliances since it is located in the British Virgin Islands.
For users who prioritize their privacy, choosing a VPN beyond data collection laws can be a comfort. Although both VPNs have strict no-logs policies, privacy enthusiasts might feel safer with a non-US-based company like ExpressVPN.
Infrastructure
ExpressVPN, under its TrustedServer technology, offers its users an extensive fleet of RAM-only servers. This coveted technology wipes all data clean every time it is rebooted. Logs are non-existent to hackers or any other interested third party.
While there are rumors online about TorGuard using diskless servers, this is not confirmed by the company itself. Hopefully, we will see TorGuard embrace this extra secure technology in the future. For now, ExpressVPN has the better infrastructure.
Privacy
Both TorGuard and ExpressVPN use AES-256 encryption to keep your online activity protected. Military and governmental organizations choose this encryption protocol for its strength – it would take millions to billions of years to crack. VPN users can feel confident that their activity is being encrypted to the same degree.
TorGuard gives its users some advanced control over the encryption protocol in use. Since AES-256 is so powerful, it can hog a lot of processing power. If you need to lessen the burden on the device, you can switch to AES-128-bit encryption instead.
Even though it might look like less secure encryption, it would also take millions to a billion years to crack through a brute force attack. It still hasn’t been breached to this day, making it a legitimate alternate encryption protocol.
Logging
Both ExpressVPN and TorGuard follow strict no-log policies to protect user privacy.
ExpressVPN has even gone the extra mile to prove it. In addition to its RAM-only server network and location outside Fourteen Eyes jurisdiction, it has also been independently audited. KPMG found everything checked out with ExpressVPN’s no-log policy.
While TorGuard also has a no-log policy, it has yet to undergo an independent audit.
Wrapping up, we see ExpressVPN offers all the same great security protection as TorGuard with the added bonus of independent audits and a privacy-friendly location.
Platforms, interface, and ease of use
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| Supported OS | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Other devices | Android TV, Fire devices, routers | Kodi, Android TV, Fire devices, routers |
| Browser extensions | Chrome, Firefox | Chrome, Firefox |
| Simultaneous connections | 14 | 16 |
Both ExpressVPN and TorGuard have impressive apps and interfaces for the main operating systems. While ExpressVPN has a better overall design, TorGuard has the advantage of being excellent for Linux.
ExpressVPN allows for up 14 simultaneous connections, depending on the plan. TorGurad, on the other hand, allows you to connect 8 different devices all at the same time. If you go for its Ultimate plan, you get upgraded to 16 simultaneous connections.
Desktop apps
Both ExpressVPN and TorGuard have apps for all the major operating systems. If you’re a Linux user, TorGuard even has a GUI app just for you. It includes a functional kill switch and a smooth user experience.
ExpressVPN is compatible with Linux and has even released a GUI for ease of use.
When it comes to macOS and Windows, both VPNs have great apps that function smoothly. ExpressVPN seems catered towards beginners, with a simple and easy-to-navigate interface.
TorGuard’s priority seems to be advanced customization for the user, making it a better fit for those who already know their way around a VPN. It seems to be for those less concerned with simplicity and more focused on full control of advanced settings.
Mobile apps
Both ExpressVPN and TorGuard have great mobile apps for both Android and iOS. These apps are all pretty easy to navigate and work without major issues.
For both providers, you’ll only find split tunneling on the Android apps due to regulations set by iOS itself.
Customer support
| ExpressVPN | TorGuard | |
| 24/7 Live chat | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Phone | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | |
| Articles or guides | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| FAQ/forums | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
With articles, community forums, and other resources, both ExpressVPN and TorGuard have a vast knowledge base for their customers. TorGuard is also eager to send you to its official YouTube channel, where you can find tutorials, informative clips, and how-to videos.
The biggest difference is with individualized support. ExpressVPN has 24/7 live chat available, meaning you can get personal help from an expert whenever you need it.
TorGuard, on the other hand, can’t guarantee the same service. You can contact its support team by email and hope for a pretty quick turnaround time. It mentions the possibility of live chat, but it’s not available 24/7.
TorGuard vs ExpressVPN – which one wins?
ExpressVPN stands out for streaming, privacy, features, and support, with a more user-friendly and consistent experience. TorGuard leads in pricing, torrenting, and customization for advanced users.
Overall, ExpressVPN is the better choice thanks to its all-around performance, stronger privacy assurances, and ease of use.
| Feature | ExpressVPN | TorGuard | Verdict |
| Pricing | TorGuard is more affordable across most plans, making it the better choice for budget-focused users despite ExpressVPN’s competitive long-term deal. | ||
| Speed | TorGuard delivers faster average download speeds, making it better for everyday use. | ||
| Privacy | Both offer strong security, but ExpressVPN stands out with independent audits, RAM-only servers, and a privacy-friendly jurisdiction outside the Fourteen Eyes alliance. | ||
| Features | While both are well-equipped, ExpressVPN provides a more polished feature set with broader device support and better overall usability. | ||
| Streaming | ExpressVPN easily unblocks major platforms and delivers high-quality streaming, while TorGuard requires upgrades and still struggles, making ExpressVPN the clear winner. | ||
| Torrenting | TorGuard is better for torrenting thanks to its SOCKS5 proxy and more stable P2P speeds, giving it an edge over ExpressVPN. | ||
| Support | ExpressVPN offers 24/7 live chat and more responsive help, while TorGuard relies mainly on email, making ExpressVPN more reliable for support. |
FAQ
Which is cheaper – TorGuard or ExpressVPN?
TorGuard is cheaper than ExpressVPN. When committing to an annual plan with TorGuard, you can get it for a starting price of $4.00/month. Meanwhile, you would pay for ExpressVPN starting from $2.49/month.
Which VPN is faster – TorGuard or ExpressVPN?
TorGuard offers faster download speeds, while ExpressVPN has better upload speed retention.
Is TorGuard better for gaming than ExpressVPN?
ExpressVPN is overall better for gaming than TorGuard. While TorGuard can work for gaming, it will depend on the server you choose. ExpressVPN can deliver consistently faster speeds on servers across the world. Plus, since TorGuard struggles with streaming, ExpressVPN is a must if you’re looking to play any geo-blocked games.
