ExpressVPN vs TorGuard in 2024: VPN Comparison

By Arthur Sabayi

Last update: July 3, 2024

Quick Summary: ExpressVPN vs TorGuard

Quick Summary: ExpressVPN vs TorGuard

The main differences between ExpressVPN and TorGuard are that ExpressVPN is faster, cheaper and more user-friendly — it also has a bigger server network, offers better privacy and can unblock more streaming platforms. Get your subscription and enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Overall Rating 9.1 / 10

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Winner!

ExpressVPN tops our best VPNs list. It’s fast, has a large server network, and has proved that it doesn’t log user data. On the other hand, TorGuard VPN is one of the few services that lets you modify the VPN’s functionality through VPN scripts, which is a dream for advanced users. If you’re unsure about which one to go for, this ExpressVPN vs TorGuard VPN article is for you.

I’ll compare ExpressVPN and TorGuard VPN based on security features, privacy, connection speeds, streaming support, OS compatibility and usability, server network and more. By the end, you should know which VPN comes at the top in each category so you can make an informed decision. Let’s get into the TorGuard-ExpressVPN matchup!

1. 

   Overall Rating 9.1 / 10

   Get 49% Off ExpressVPN
   Money-Back Guarantee

   30 Days

   Worldwide Server Amount

   Over 3,000 servers in 105 countries
2. 

   Overall Rating 6.7 / 10

   TorGuard
   Money-Back Guarantee

   7 Days

   Worldwide Server Amount

   82 locations in 49 countries

ExpressVPN vs TorGuard: Comparison at a Glance

Before we dive into the finer details of this comparison, here’s a quick overview of each VPN’s strongest points.

My Expert Opinion: Is ExpressVPN or TorGuard Better?

ExpressVPN is better than TorGuard. Unblocking streaming services with ExpressVPN was instantaneous compared to TorGuard, which failed to unblock Max and others. ExpressVPN is also faster and can handle buffer-free streaming and online gaming without lags.

TorGuard is compatible with a smaller range of devices and lacks a smart DNS option for smart TVs that don’t support VPNs. ExpressVPN uses RAM-only servers, which are better for privacy, and it has been audited by trustworthy independent firms. TorGuard has yet to transition to RAM-only servers and hasn’t been audited.

Security was the only area where TorGuard impressed me well enough to tie with ExpressVPN, as it offers similar encryption and IP leak protection through reliable VPN protocols. Depending on the subscription you choose, TorGuard also supports more simultaneous connections than ExpressVPN, but its other flaws kept it off our best VPN for multiple devices list.

I Recommend ExpressVPN For:

• Users on a budget: ExpressVPN may be one of the costlier VPNs, but it’s still significantly cheaper than TorGuard.
• Streamers and gamers: ExpressVPN is more adept at unblocking geo-restricted streaming services, and it runs fast without buffering.
• New users: ExpressVPN has user-friendly apps that are compatible with more devices than TorGuard VPN.

1. $6.66/month for 15 months
   

   Overall Rating 9.1 / 10

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I Recommend TorGuard For:

• Advanced users: TorGuard has a “VPN scripts” feature that lets users modify important VPN functionalities to suit their needs.
• Large households: You can connect up to 12 simultaneous devices on a TorGuard VPN account.
• Those wanting dedicated IPs: TorGuard VPN offers dedicated IPs on some price plans with exclusive and unshared IP addresses — perfect if you want to avoid CAPTCHAs or host a website.

1. $9.99/month
   

   Overall Rating 6.7 / 10

   TorGuard

Security

Secure protocols protect you from hackers, snoopers and your internet service provider (ISP). ExpressVPN and TorGuard each have standard and unique protocols.

VPN Protocols

ExpressVPN has three VPN protocols. The first is OpenVPN, a very secure protocol with two versions: TCP for a more stable connection and UDP for fast speeds. The second protocol is IKEv2, which offers reliable speeds but is only available on macOS and iOS.

The last is an exclusive protocol called Lightway (UDP and TCP), which offers the best speeds and very reliable security. We explain these protocols in greater detail in our ExpressVPN review.

TorGuard has four protocols. There’s OpenVPN, which works in a similar way as it does with ExpressVPN. You can also use OpenConnect — it’s less secure than OpenVPN but offers better speeds. If you want the best speeds for streaming, gaming or torrenting, switch to the WireGuard protocol. 

The last protocol is Stealth, which makes your VPN traffic look like a regular HTTPS connection to avoid detection on networks and in regions that block VPNs. However, the Stealth protocol is only available on Windows and reduces your connection speeds.

Encryption Tests

I connected to either ExpressVPN or TorGuard, and then ran each VPN’s traffic through the Wireshark app to test for encryption. Below are the screenshots showing my results side by side.

The results from both ExpressVPN and TorGuard returned a series of indecipherable texts, numbers and symbols, which is proof that the encryption is working. If you’ve ever wondered what your VPN connection looks like to an outsider like your ISP, look at those two screenshots.

Security Breaches

ExpressVPN experienced a brief leak in February 2024 when researchers noticed DNS requests weren’t being properly directed to its servers, potentially exposing the websites users visited. This only impacted 1% of Windows users, and ExpressVPN swiftly disabled split tunneling on Windows to deal with the issue. 

TorGuard was hacked in 2018 when attackers gained root access to one of its servers. The team quickly isolated the exposed server, which minimized damage from the hack. It hasn’t experienced anything similar in the years since.

Privacy

The most important aspect of VPN privacy is a zero-logging policy that minimizes the risk of your data getting sold or confiscated in the future. Here’s how ExpressVPN and TorGuard fared.

RAM-Only Servers

RAM-only servers run on volatile memory that is periodically wiped to ensure your data doesn’t remain after your browsing sessions close. Of these two VPNs, ExpressVPN is the only one that has RAM-only servers — with TorGuard, you risk your data getting permanently saved to a server’s hard drive, where it can be retrieved and reviewed.

Independent Audits

Out of these two providers, ExpressVPN is the only VPN whose no-logs policy has been audited more than once. ExpressVPN further demonstrated that it doesn’t log user data when a server was nabbed by Turkish authorities investigating an assassination case. Police found no data on the confiscated ExpressVPN server.

TorGuard VPN has been around for 12 years, and while it hasn’t taken part in any concerning activity, the lack of an independent audit isn’t a good thing. Furthermore, TorGuard states in its privacy policy that while it doesn’t collect or log any data, it’s ready to hand it over to a third party if required by law.

Key Features

The first key feature is the kill switch, which prevents your IP address from being exposed when your VPN connection drops. It achieves this by shutting off your internet connection until the VPN protection is restored. ExpressVPN has a kill switch called Network Lock, which is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and routers.

TorGuard VPN has two types of kill switches. The first one is App Kill — available on Windows and macOS — which terminates the internet for a specified app instead of the entire device. The second type, the Network Kill Switch, disables the internet on the entire device. Both can be activated at the same time.

Another feature that both VPNs offer is split tunneling. This allows you to include or exclude some apps from the encrypted tunnel, which is handy if you have apps that don’t work well with VPNs. ExpressVPN has split tunneling on Windows, macOS (running on versions below macOS 11) and Android, while TorGuard VPN only has it on Android.

ExpressVPN has a blocker called Threat Manager for blocking trackers and malicious sites, an ad blocker for minimizing pop-up ads, and parental controls for blocking adult sites. All three are available on macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and Apple TV (which has the tracker blocker only). TorGuard VPN doesn’t have a blocker of any kind.

TorGuard VPN has a unique feature called VPN scripts that lets you use special commands to modify how the VPN operates. You can set it to automate things like launching the VPN when you open a specific website, or activating the kill switch when you open the VPN app. It works similarly to the “smart rules” feature discussed in our CyberGhost review.

TorGuard is the only option that offers dedicated IP addresses if you purchase the Anonymous VPN Pro plan. A dedicated IP isn’t shared with other VPN users and is ideal for sensitive activities like online banking. Banks and payment platforms tend to get jumpy when you suddenly access your account from random server locations not associated with your account.

Speed

While a VPN connection may not be as fast as your unprotected network, it still needs to be fast enough to handle streaming or gaming with minimal lags. I ran speed tests for both VPNs to see which was faster from Croatia using my unprotected network of 292.49 Mbps.

ExpressVPN Speed Tests

I used the Lightway UDP protocol to run ExpressVPN’s speed tests. The results are below.

The United Kingdom was the fastest server location averaging 282.78 Mbps, a 3.32% speed drop. With this, I didn’t experience any buffering when streaming 4K content and gaming was smooth without noticeable lags. On the other end, Japan was the slowest with 142.86 Mbps, a 51.16% speed drop, but still more than enough for streaming and gaming.

TorGuard VPN Speed Tests

For TorGuard’s speed tests, I used the WireGuard protocol. Here are the results.

TorGuard was slower than ExpressVPN. The fastest server was South Africa at 23.27 Mbps,which wasa 41.8% speed drop. Still, it wasenough for HD streaming without buffering. Things got choppy when I tried to play Apex Legends on my MacBook Air and experienced significant lags. 

Australia was the slowest server at 6.89 Mbps, giving an 82.78% speed drop. This was only enough for SD streaming without buffering. All in all, if you’re looking to get Netflix unblocked and watch anything in a decent time frame, ExpressVPN will provide a better experience.

Streaming Performance

ExpressVPN was more reliable for streaming than TorGuard. With ExpressVPN, I unblocked Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Peacock TV, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer on the first attempt each time. With TorGuard, I could only unblock Netflix, Peacock TV and Amazon Prime Video, and I had to retry up to three times in some cases.

Here’s a table summarizing my streaming tests. The results show why ExpressVPN made both our best Netflix VPN and best Hulu VPN lists.

Server Network

A VPN with servers in many locations and countries is vital to unblock geo-restricted content. Here’s how ExpressVPN and TorGuard compare.

ExpressVPN Server Spread

ExpressVPN has servers in 164 locations across 106 countries. As shown in the server distribution table below, there’s a high concentration of servers in Europe, Asia and South America, while Africa, the Middle East and Oceania are sparsely covered.

TorGuard VPN Server Spread

TorGuard has an inferior server network compared to ExpressVPN. You can connect to servers in 81 locations across 48 countries. Similar to ExpressVPN, the majority of the locations are in Europe, Asia and North America. Africa has the fewest locations, with just one in South Africa. Here’s a table showing the server distribution.

OS Support & Usability

You can install ExpressVPN on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Apple TV and Chrome. It’s also compatible with routers — most notably, ExpressVPN Aircove, which comes with the VPN preinstalled and includes a dashboard app. You can connect up to eight simultaneous devices on one ExpressVPN account, perfect for a medium-sized household.

ExpressVPN also offers a “smart DNS” feature called MediaStreamer.Smart DNS lets you stream geo-restricted content on smart TVs and consoles that are incompatible with VPN apps. MediaStreamer provides no encryption, and you can only unblock a limited selection of U.S. content. The upside is that you’ll get amazing speeds.

TorGuard supports a smaller range of devices than ExpressVPN, running on Windows, macOS (10.12 and above), Linux, Android, iOS and Fire TV. There’s no support for routers, no browser extensions and no smart DNS. With a TorGuard account, you can simultaneously connect 12 devices on the Anonymous VPN Pro plan or eight on the Anonymous VPN plan.

Ease of Use

ExpressVPN’s apps are more user-friendly than TorGuard. The server list is arranged in alphabetical order, and you can use a search button to find the specific location you need. Finding features like the kill switch or Threat Manager was easy, as was switching protocols.

TorGuard was intimidating, even for an experienced user like me. While the PC apps are identical, the overall usability wasn’t as good as ExpressVPN. Using a feature like VPN scripts may be too hard for new users since there’s not much guidance on how to create commands. The lack of split tunneling on most platforms also limits the VPN’s functionality.

Furthermore, staying logged in when using TorGuard proved to be difficult and changing devices didn’t help. I kept running into sign-in errors making it appear like I had used the wrong credentials. A quick lookup online showed that this is a persisting problem for many users.

Plans & Pricing

ExpressVPN and TorGuard aren’t free. Here’s a breakdown of their price plans and money-back guarantees.

ExpressVPN Pricing Plans

If you want to purchase ExpressVPN, you have a choice of three price plans. The 12-month plan offers the best deal at $6.67 per month, and you get three free months on top. The second cheapest plan is the six-month option, which costs $9.99 per month. Lastly, you can subscribe to the monthly plan at $12.95 per month. 

If you want to test ExpressVPN, you’ll be glad to hear that every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Furthermore, you can take advantage of the free seven-day trial on Android or iOS.

TorGuard VPN Pricing Plans

TorGuard doesn’t have the regular pricing structure that’s common among other VPNs. It has three price plans starting with the Anonymous VPN plan, which costs $9.99 monthly. That’s followed by the Anonymous Pro VPN plan priced at $14.99 monthly. Finally, the Business VPN plan costs $32.99 monthly.

There are no long-term plans, and the money-back guarantee is only seven days long — the shortest I’ve ever seen. There’s a free trial that I tried to subscribe to unsuccessfully, as it kept returning a “non-existent” error. 

Customer Support

Customer support is important for troubleshooting VPN issues. Here’s what TorGuard and ExpressVPN offer.

ExpressVPN Customer Support

You can contact ExpressVPN through a 24/7 live chat, with prompt responses from live agents who are always on standby. You can also use direct email, though this can take up to 48 hours before you get a response, so I wouldn’t recommend it for urgent problems. The ExpressVPN website has an FAQ section and video tutorials.

TorGuard VPN Customer Support

TorGuard has a live chat option, but it doesn’t work 24/7. I sent a message that stayed unanswered for over 24 hours, so you can’t rely on it for urgent issues. The direct email provided wasn’t any good either, with longer response times than ExpressVPN. The only effective resources are the FAQ section, knowledgebase and active community forum.

Conclusion: Why I Think ExpressVPN Wins Overall

TorGuard vs ExpressVPN was far from a contest. ExpressVPN was vastly superior across almost every metric I used. ExpressVPN is faster, so it can handle streaming, downloads and online gaming better than TorGuard. It has also been audited multiple times, making it more trustworthy. ExpressVPN has a bigger server network, and it’s cheaper and easier to use.

Still, TorGuard is just as secure with standard encryption and IP leak protection. Features like VPN scripts also make it a unique virtual private network for advanced users who love customizing their VPNs. However, in this particular contest, it didn’t stand a chance.

Have you used either of these VPN services before? Do you still feel that TorGuard can meet your needs? Tell us what you think in the comments below, and keep reading our blog for more informative content.

Methodology: How I Compared ExpressVPN and TorGuard

Here’s the methodology I used to grade these two VPNs.

Other VPN Alternatives I Like

Here are some VPN alternatives to try if ExpressVPN and TorGuard don’t satisfy your needs.

1. NordVPN — Fastest VPN
   

   Overall Rating 9.3 / 10

   Visit NordVPN

NordVPN has the best speeds for streaming, gaming and torrenting, and it has a large server network for accessing geo-restricted content. You can read all about that in this NordVPN review.

1. Surfshark — Affordable VPN
   

   Overall Rating 9.2 / 10

   Visit Surfshark

If ExpressVPN and TorGuard are too costly for you, consider getting Surfshark, which has one of the cheapest long-term price plans. As explained in this Surfshark review, you can also connect an unlimited number of devices simultaneously.

1. Proton VPN — Best Free VPN
   

   Overall Rating 8.8 / 10

   Visit Proton VPN

Proton VPN has a free version with access to five locations and no monthly data limits. The premium version comes with Secure Core servers that give you extra privacy. Read more in our Proton VPN review.

FAQ: ExpressVPN vs TorGuard

• Is There a Better VPN Than ExpressVPN?

  NordVPN is better than ExpressVPN in some circumstances. It’s faster, cheaper and has a larger server network. However, its interface isn’t as clean, and we find that its connections aren’t quite as stable.

• Is ExpressVPN the Best?

  Yes, ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs available. It can unblock almost everything, and it’s also fast, easy to use and compatible with many devices.

• What Is the Difference Between TorGuard and ExpressVPN?

  The main differences between TorGuard and ExpressVPN are that ExpressVPN is cheaper and faster with a bigger server network. It also offers RAM-only servers and has been audited.

• Is NordVPN Better Than TorGuard?

  NordVPN is better than TorGuard. It’s faster, cheaper and compatible with more devices. NordVPN also has a bigger server network that includes specialty VPN servers, and it has been independently audited.