ExpressVPN has tripled its subscription options by switching to a tiered pricing structure, effective today. The new system includes three levels of service, the cheapest offering basic VPN service and the others adding extra features. Each one of those levels — Basic, Advanced and Pro — can be purchased for monthly, yearly or two-year durations.

In total, you've now got nine different options for subscribing to ExpressVPN. The company also says legacy plans will remain active "for now," and current customers won't be downgraded. The change is similar to the approach already used by rivals like NordVPN and Surfshark.

Previously, ExpressVPN locked feature offerings to the duration of the plan, so the only way to get the full suite of features was to subscribe for 24 months. Now, while longer-term subscriptions will still offer discounts, features depend on your level of subscription instead of how long it lasts.

The new tiers roll in some features that were previously part of ExpressVPN's Identity Defender suite, including identity monitoring, credit reports and data removal services. New types of plans will also bump the number of allowed simultaneous connections to as high as 14. Here's what you'll get with each tier.

Here's how ExpressVPN's new feature tiers break down.

The Basic plan comes with "core VPN functionality," which includes the Lightway protocol, the Network Lock kill switch and split tunneling on Windows, Android and macOS 10 and below. Basic users will also have access to the blockers for ads and malicious sites, though not the tracker blocker or parental controls. A Basic subscription can be used on 10 devices at once and will cost $12.99 for a month, $74.85 for a year and $97.72 for two years.

The Advanced plan raises the device limit to 12 and adds the blockers and parental controls, plus the ExpressVPN Keys password manager. It also gives you three days of eSIM service and adds the Identity Defender features — leak alerts, $1 million of identity theft insurance, data removal and credit monitoring. As was already the case, those ID protection features are available only to users in the United States.

An Advanced plan will cost $13.99 for a month, $89.85 for a year and $125.72 for two years. The one-year and two-year plans are both cheaper than the same duration used to cost. Advanced subscribers also get five days of eSIM service and a discount coupon for between 25 and 50 percent off an ExpressVPN Aircove router (it's not currently clear how the exact discount will be determined).

Although Basic and Advanced users can pay extra (between $3.99 and $8.99) for a dedicated IP address, it comes standard on a Pro subscription. Pro users additionally get monthly credit reports and data removal, 14 simultaneous connections and an Aircove discount between 50 and 75 percent. A Pro plan costs $19.99 for a month, $134.95 for a year and $209.72 for two years.

What ExpressVPN tiered pricing means for VPN shoppers

Ultimately, I don't think this new approach will change much about the experience of using ExpressVPN. It's not introducing any new features; I already touched on everything here in my recent ExpressVPN review, so the only difference is how much you'll pay to access the perks.

The best news for consumers is that ExpressVPN is now available for significantly cheaper than before. A two-year Basic plan costs about 30 percent less than a two-year subscription used to — though a one-year basic plan is still more expensive than a comparable subscription to Proton VPN or Surfshark. I'm happy to say a Basic subscription is about as strong as ExpressVPN has always been, only missing a few peripheral features.

We've recently overhauled our ranking of the best VPNs, including the new information from ExpressVPN — check out the full list in the link.

Update, September 4, 2025, 5:03PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from an ExpressVPN representative on the features of the Basic plan.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/expressvpn-switches-to-multi-tiered-pricing-with-more-feature-options-130016633.html?src=rss

Engadget

ExpressVPN switches to multi-tiered pricing with more feature options

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