ExpressVPN vs Proton VPN: the whole ExpressVPN ladder sits below Proton's first paid rung
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.
What this vendor quotes in each market, as its own page printed it — not one price converted three ways.
Plan
United States USD · 2026-10-13
United Kingdom GBP · 2026-10-13
EU EUR · 2026-10-13
VPN Plus
$9.99
£7.99
€9.99
Proton Unlimited
$12.99
£10.39
€12.99
Proton Free
$0
£0
€0
What the record says
Most comparisons in this category line up entry against entry. This one is more lopsided than that: ExpressVPN's most expensive plan is cheaper than Proton VPN's least expensive paid plan, in every market we read. Express Pro is $7.49 here; Proton VPN Plus is $9.99. The difference between them is $2.5, and it runs the direction that makes the whole ExpressVPN ladder the cheaper option.
Its three rungs are $2.99, $4.49 and $7.49. That is a narrow band, and it means picking the wrong tier costs you comparatively little. Proton's paid ladder starts higher and climbs to $12.99, but that top row is a bundle of Proton's other services rather than a VPN tier, so it is not really the same kind of thing.
The reason the comparison can be made at all is that both vendors set a price per market and quote the money of that market. Neither exports one dollar figure worldwide, so the difference above is a subtraction of two figures in one currency and this page reads the same in its American, British and European editions.
Where the argument turns around completely is at zero. Proton VPN publishes a free plan, present in all five of our readings at $0. ExpressVPN publishes nothing at that price. If the budget is nothing, the price comparison above is irrelevant — there is only one vendor in the conversation, and what its free tier restricts is a product question rather than a pricing one.
Neither reading holds a renewal rate, and in this category that omission is doing more work than usual. The advertised monthly figures on both pages are attached to committed terms; what either vendor charges when a term lapses is not something our capture records, so this page does not state it for either.
Beyond the price tag
The comparison that decides it
ExpressVPN's top tier $7.49 against Proton's cheapest paid tier $9.99 — a difference of $2.5, with the dearer ExpressVPN plan on the cheaper side. True in every market we read.
The full ExpressVPN ladder
$2.99, $4.49, $7.49 — a narrow band, so choosing the wrong rung is an inexpensive mistake. Across a year the entry is $99.95.
Proton's paid rung
VPN Plus reads $9.99, or $119.88 across a year. The row above it, $12.99, carries Proton's wider suite and is not a VPN price.
The row ExpressVPN does not have
Proton VPN opens at $0 in all five markets we read. ExpressVPN's ladder holds nothing priced at zero, so on the question of using a VPN without paying there is no contest — only one vendor answers it.
Both quote your currency
Dollars to the United States, pounds to the United Kingdom, euros to Germany, France and Spain, from both vendors. Every difference here is arithmetic within one currency.
What is missing on purpose
No renewal figure appears for either vendor, because neither reading captured one. On multi-year VPN terms that is the number most likely to differ from the one advertised, and it belongs on the vendor's page rather than in our guess.
Questions people actually search
Which is cheaper, ExpressVPN or Proton VPN?
ExpressVPN, and unusually the answer does not depend on which tier you pick: every plan on its ladder is priced below Proton's cheapest paid tier. Its top plan is $7.49 against Proton VPN Plus at $9.99, a difference of $2.5.
Does either have a free plan?
Proton VPN does — $0, present in all five markets we read. ExpressVPN's ladder carries no zero-priced row in our reading. If paying nothing is the requirement, that settles it regardless of the paid comparison above.
Is Proton Unlimited a fair comparison?
Not against a VPN subscription. $12.99 buys Proton's other services alongside the VPN, so it should be measured against what you would otherwise pay for those separately. This page keeps it out of the verdict for that reason.
Will these prices hold after the first term?
We do not know, and neither page told us. Both figures are what was advertised on the date beside the table, against the committed terms each vendor was offering. The renewal rate is the thing to confirm before subscribing, and it is not in our record.
THE VERDICT, ONE MORE TIME
Our pick for a paid subscription: ExpressVPN — its entry is $2.99 and even its top plan, $7.49, undercuts Proton's cheapest paid tier at $9.99.
The comparison that decides it is not entry against entry but ladder against rung. Every tier ExpressVPN sells in this edition's market is priced below Proton VPN Plus, so a reader choosing on cost does not have to work out which tier they need — all three answers are cheaper. Both vendors quote local currency, so this holds in every edition rather than only in dollars.
Both ladders come from the vendors' own pricing pages, read from five countries in turn, each table carrying its reading date. Differences are computed from two figures in a single currency and nothing is converted. A tier absent here is absent from our reading rather than from the vendor's catalogue. The method →
Found a price that no longer matches the vendor’s page? Tell us — corrections are dated and stay on the page.