ExpressVPN vs Surfshark vs Proton VPN: Prices and Features Compared

ExpressVPN, Surfshark and Proton VPN are three of the most popular consumer VPN services, and in September 2026 they are priced and packaged very differently. On their official US pricing pages, Surfshark’s cheapest two-year deal works out to $2.49 a month, ExpressVPN’s to $2.99 a month and Proton VPN Plus to $4.99 a month on a two-year cycle — but renewal prices, device limits and the extras bundled into each tier change the picture considerably.

All prices below are the US-dollar prices each company published on September 25, 2026, excluding sales tax or VAT. VPN pricing changes often and promotions come and go, so check the official page before you pay. This comparison uses only the vendors’ own pricing and feature pages; it does not include speed or unblocking tests.

ExpressVPN vs Surfshark vs Proton VPN: price comparison

The headline monthly prices you see advertised are almost always for multi-year plans billed upfront. The table shows the entry-level VPN plan from each provider:

Surfshark’s two-year and one-year plans currently include three extra months, and ExpressVPN’s two-year plans include four, which is why their first terms are 27 and 28 months. Both companies state the renewal price on their pricing pages; the renewal is billed annually and is noticeably higher than the introductory rate. Surfshark’s pricing page shows the Starter plan’s renewal at $79 a year, while ExpressVPN’s order page says Basic “autorenews at $99.95 annually.”

Proton works differently. Its Proton VPN pricing page offers one-month, one-year and two-year billing, and the list prices in Proton’s billing system on September 25 were $9.99 for one month, $83.88 for a year and $119.76 for two years — so there is no bonus-month gimmick, and the month-to-month price is well below Surfshark’s for anyone who does not want to commit. Proton sometimes shows introductory discounts on its pricing page, so the price at checkout may be lower than the list price.

Month-to-month pricing

If you only need a VPN for a trip or a single month, the gap is wide. Proton VPN Plus costs $9.99 for a month, while Surfshark charges $16.45 for Starter, $18.95 for One and $21.85 for One+ on monthly billing. ExpressVPN’s default order page leads with two-year plans, so check its site for current shorter-term prices.

What you will really pay once the intro deal ends

Because the introductory term and the renewal price are so different, it helps to add them together. The table below takes each Surfshark and ExpressVPN tier’s first-term price and adds one year at the published renewal rate. Those two payments cover 39 months with Surfshark (27 + 12) and 40 months with ExpressVPN (28 + 12).

Proton does not publish a separate renewal rate on its pricing page, so it is left out of this table. On list prices, two consecutive two-year VPN Plus terms would cost $239.52 for 48 months, and paying yearly would cost $83.88 a year.

The takeaway is that the renewal year can cost more than the entire introductory term. With ExpressVPN Basic, the first renewal ($99.95) is about 19% more than the first 28 months combined ($83.72). With Surfshark Starter, the first renewal ($79) is about 18% more than its 27-month introductory price ($67.23). Switching plans or providers when the renewal comes up can help you avoid those increases.

What each plan tier includes

All three companies now sell tiers that bundle the VPN with other privacy tools. That matters because the cheapest tier is not always the one you actually want.

ExpressVPN: Basic, Advanced and Pro

Every ExpressVPN tier includes its Lightway protocol, which the company lists with “post-quantum protection,” and servers in 113 countries. Advanced adds the ExpressKeys password manager and the Identity Defender monitoring service; Pro adds a dedicated IP address, more generous email alias limits and an AI chatbot.

Surfshark: Starter, One and One+

Surfshark’s feature table shows that even the Starter tier includes unlimited devices, the ad and cookie pop-up blockers, Dynamic MultiHop (double VPN), split tunneling and the masked email generator. One adds antivirus, scam protection and leak alerts. One+ adds data removal through Incogni and identity theft coverage of up to $1 million, which Surfshark says is available to US residents except those in New York State. The company advertises 4,500+ servers in 100 countries.

Proton VPN: Free, VPN Plus and Proton Unlimited

Proton Unlimited is the notable bundle here: for $3 a month more than VPN Plus on monthly billing, it adds paid tiers of Proton Mail, Proton Pass, Proton Drive and Proton Calendar. If you were already considering a password manager, our comparison of Bitwarden, 1Password and Proton Pass covers Proton Pass on its own.

Devices, servers and platforms

Server counts are each company’s own marketing figures and are not directly comparable: providers count servers and locations differently, and some locations may be served virtually. Device limits are more concrete. A household with many phones, laptops, tablets and streaming boxes will hit ExpressVPN’s cap faster than Surfshark’s, which has none.

Privacy and trust

Proton and Surfshark both advertise no-logs policies on their pricing pages. Proton makes the most of its Swiss base, saying on its pricing page that Switzerland has “some of the strongest data protection laws in the world,” and that its apps are “100% open source, so anyone can examine our code.” Proton also lists a kill switch, its NetShield ad-blocker, which uses DNS filtering, and Secure Core, which routes traffic through an additional hop.

Surfshark describes its no-logs policy as audited on its pricing page, and ExpressVPN highlights its own Lightway protocol. A VPN moves trust from your internet provider to the VPN company, so the company’s track record, jurisdiction and transparency matter as much as its feature list. For a primer on how VPNs work and their limits, the Wikipedia article on virtual private networks is a reasonable starting point.

Is Proton’s free VPN enough?

For light use, possibly. Proton’s pricing page says the free plan has no ads, keeps no logs and requires no credit card, but it is limited to one device at a time, “medium” speed and servers in 10 countries that Proton selects at random. Streaming and P2P support, the ad and malware blocker, and the full server list are reserved for paid plans. That makes the free tier useful for protecting a laptop on public Wi-Fi now and then, less so for streaming or covering a whole family. Neither ExpressVPN nor Surfshark offers a free plan; both rely on a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.

The flat-price alternative: Mullvad

If renewal hikes put you off, Mullvad takes the opposite approach. Mullvad’s pricing page charges €5 a month whether you buy one month, one year or, as the page puts it, “1 decade,” with VAT included. Mullvad lists that as equivalent to $5.70. There are no tiers, bundles or introductory discounts, so the long-term cost is easy to predict.

Which VPN should you choose?

• Choose Surfshark if you want the lowest upfront price on a long plan and need to cover lots of devices. Starter at $67.23 for 27 months is the cheapest entry point here, and unlimited devices are included on every tier. Budget for the $79 annual renewal.
• Choose ExpressVPN if you want its Lightway protocol and servers in 113 countries, and you will actually use the password manager and identity monitoring in the Advanced tier. Watch the renewal: Basic goes to $99.95 a year after the first 28 months.
• Choose Proton VPN if you want a free plan to try first, fair month-to-month pricing ($9.99), open-source apps and Swiss jurisdiction, or if Proton Unlimited’s bundle of Mail, Pass and Drive replaces other subscriptions you pay for.
• Choose Mullvad if you value a flat, predictable price over bundles and discounts.

Bottom line

On sticker price, Surfshark wins for long commitments, Proton VPN has the lowest published month-to-month price and ExpressVPN has the highest published renewal rates of the three. Compare the whole cost of ownership, not the advertised monthly price: a two-year plan that renews at $99.95 a year costs far more over four years than the headline suggests. Set a calendar reminder a few weeks before your renewal date so you can decide whether to cancel, switch or pay the new price.

A VPN is only one layer of protection. It will not stop phishing or account takeovers, so pair it with an up-to-date browser, a password manager and passkeys on your most important accounts.

Written bySana Qureshi

Sana Qureshi runs the security and privacy desk. She reports on actively exploited vulnerabilities, vendor patches and data breaches, and covers the password managers, VPNs and authentication tools readers use to protect themselves. Her alerts cite vendor advisories, CISA and the CVE record directly.

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