ExpressVPN vs NordVPN: one of them renames its top plan depending on which country you ask from
How to read this page: every number below was read from the vendor’s own public pricing page on the date shown, and the pages are re-checked daily. Currencies differ because that is what each vendor showed an EU visitor. Some links on this page are affiliate links — if you subscribe through one we earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Per our method, that never changes a number or a verdict. Source links always point to the vendor’s plain page.
Prices as this vendor showed them to a visitor in the United States — USD. A reader elsewhere may be quoted a different figure — we publish what we were served, never a conversion.
Plan
Price
What the page says
Basic
$2.99/mo
US read 2026-09-06: '$2.99 /mo'. EU read 2026-09-07: '€2.49 /mo Save 80%' on a '2 Years + 4 Months' plan — 'Billed €363.72 €69.72 for first 28 Months. Then autorenews at €79.95 annually.'
Advanced
$4.49/mo
US read 2026-09-06: '$4.49 /mo'. EU read 2026-09-07: '€3.99 /mo Save 73%' — 'Billed €419.72 €111.72 for first 28 Months. Then autorenews at €109.95 annually.'
Express Pro
$7.49/mo
US read 2026-09-06: '$7.49 /mo'. EU read 2026-09-07: '€6.49 /mo Save 67%' — 'Billed €559.72 €181.72 for first 28 Months. Then autorenews at €179.95 annually.'
Source: https://www.expressvpn.com/order · read 2026-10-13 (UTC) · ⭐ THE DISCOUNT BASIS IS NOW READ (2026-09-07, EU egress). Every headline rate is a first-term rate on a 28-month plan, and the page prints all four numbers it takes to understand it: the list total, the discounted first-term total, the monthly equivalent and the yearly renewal. The Price column holds the US read of 2026-09-06; the basis below was read in euros.
What this vendor quotes in each market, as its own page printed it — not one price converted three ways.
Prices as this vendor showed them to a visitor in the United States — USD. A reader elsewhere may be quoted a different figure — we publish what we were served, never a conversion.
Plan
Price
What the page says
Basic
$3.49/mo
EU read 2026-09-07: 'Save 69% — €3.49 per month, + 3 EXTRA months. €312.93 → €94.23 for the first 27 months. VAT may apply. Renews at €139.08/year.' US read 2026-08-28: '$3.49'.
Complete
$4.49/mo
EU read 2026-09-07: 'Save 75% — €4.49 per month. €493.83 → €121.23 for the first 27 months. Renews at €219.48/year.' US read 2026-08-28: '$4.49'.
Prime
$7.49/mo
Source: https://nordvpn.com/pricing/ · read 2026-08-28 (UTC) · Prices as shown to an EU visitor. Intro prices apply to the first term only; every plan renews at the standard yearly rate, which the page states beside each price. No monthly-billing plan appeared in the term selector we drove. ⭐ THE DISCOUNT BASIS AND THE RENEWAL ARE NOW READ (2026-09-07, EU egress). Each card prints four numbers: a struck 27-month total, the discounted first-term total, the monthly equivalent and the yearly renewal — and the page names the trap itself, 'Savings: intro vs. renewal prices.'
What this vendor quotes in each market, as its own page printed it — not one price converted three ways.
Plan
United States USD · 2026-08-28
United Kingdom GBP · 2026-08-28
EU EUR · 2026-09-07
Basic
$3.49
£2.59
€3.49
Complete
$4.49
£3.39
€4.49
Prime
$7.49
—
—
Ultimate Max
—
£6.29
—
What the record says
Start with the part that is simply arithmetic. Both of these vendors set a price per country and quote it in that country's money, so the two ladders can be subtracted rather than converted. At the entry tier ExpressVPN Basic reads $2.99 and NordVPN Basic reads $3.49. Over twelve months that is $99.95 against $41.88.
One rung up the pattern holds: ExpressVPN Advanced at $4.49 against NordVPN Complete at $4.49. So on the two tiers where the ladders line up, the cheaper subscription is the same one in every market we read.
Then there is the top of NordVPN's ladder, which is where a straightforward comparison stops being straightforward. The plan is not called the same thing in different countries. Our American reading returned Prime at $7.49. Our British reading returned Ultimate Max at £6.29. Our Spanish reading returned Ultra at €6.59. Those are three names on one vendor's pricing page, read on the same days.
That matters more than it sounds. A reader who has read a review of NordVPN Prime and goes looking for it from London will not find that name on the page. Whether the three are the same product with different labels or genuinely different bundles is not something a pricing page settles, and we are not going to assert it — what we can say is that the name you are shown depends on where you are shown it, and that a recommendation naming one of them does not transfer cleanly to the others.
ExpressVPN does not do this. Basic, Advanced and Express Pro came back under those names from all five countries, with only the figure changing. Its top tier reads $7.49 in this edition's market, and it is the same plan name a reader anywhere else would be quoted.
Beyond the price tag
Entry tier
ExpressVPN Basic $2.99 against NordVPN Basic $3.49 — $99.95 against $41.88 across a year, a difference of $-58.07.
The middle rung
ExpressVPN Advanced reads $4.49; NordVPN Complete reads $4.49. Both names hold in every market we read, so this is the one comparison on the page that needs no footnote about labels.
The top plan, and its three names
NordVPN's highest tier came back as Prime at $7.49 in the United States, Ultimate Max at £6.29 in the United Kingdom and Ultra at €6.59 in Spain. Read on the dates beside the tables. We do not claim they are the same bundle — only that the name is not stable across borders.
ExpressVPN keeps its labels
Basic, Advanced and Express Pro were returned under those names from all five countries; only the figure moved. Its top tier is $7.49 here.
Why the subtraction is legitimate
Both vendors quoted the local currency in every market we read — dollars to the United States, pounds to the United Kingdom, euros to Germany, France and Spain. Two figures in one money, so the gap is a difference rather than a conversion.
What neither figure includes
These are the rates each page showed for the plan as advertised. Neither reading records what happens when an introductory term ends, so this page does not state a renewal price for either vendor — a VPN ladder is exactly where that gap matters, and we would rather leave it open than guess at it.
Questions people actually search
Which is cheaper, ExpressVPN or NordVPN?
ExpressVPN at the entry tier in every market we read: $2.99 against $3.49, or $-58.07 less across a year. One rung up it is $4.49 against $4.49. Both vendors quote local currency, so the comparison holds outside the United States too.
What is NordVPN's top plan called?
It depends where you ask. Our reading holds Prime at $7.49 in the United States, Ultimate Max at £6.29 in the United Kingdom and Ultra at €6.59 in Spain, all read on the same days. If you are following a recommendation that names one of them, check what your own country's page is offering before assuming it is the same thing.
Are these the prices I will pay after the first term?
Not necessarily, and this page will not pretend otherwise. What we hold is the rate each pricing page advertised on the date beside the table. Neither reading captured a renewal rate, so neither is stated here — in this category that is the figure most worth checking on the vendor's own page before you commit.
Does either have a free tier?
Neither ladder in our reading carries a plan priced at zero. That is what we captured from the two pricing pages rather than a survey of everything either company offers.
THE VERDICT, ONE MORE TIME
Our pick on price: ExpressVPN at $2.99 against $3.49 — cheaper at entry in every market we read, by $-58.07 over a year.
The entry tiers are directly comparable because both vendors quote the currency of the market they are read from. ExpressVPN Basic is $2.99 and NordVPN Basic is $3.49; one step up, ExpressVPN Advanced is $4.49 against NordVPN Complete at $4.49. ExpressVPN is ahead at both rungs in this edition's market.
Both ladders come from each vendor's own pricing page, read from five countries in turn, with the date of each reading printed beside its table. The three NordVPN plan names quoted together are pinned to the markets they were read from, so that sentence stays true in every edition. Differences are computed from two figures in one currency and never across two. The method →
Found a price that no longer matches the vendor’s page? Tell us — corrections are dated and stay on the page.