ExpressVPN has extended its current promotional window, giving subscribers until 11.59pm on 5 May 2026 to claim 80% off its Basic plan - bringing the monthly cost down to £1.99, or roughly 6p per day. The offer applies to a two-year subscription and includes four additional months of access at no extra charge, stretching the total coverage to 28 months. At that price, ExpressVPN now undercuts both NordVPN and ProtonVPN on their comparable entry-level plans.
Why This Pricing Moment Is Unusual
ExpressVPN has historically positioned itself as a premium product, charging more than its closest rivals and relying on its reputation for speed and reliability to justify that gap. Its decision to restructure its subscription tiers - the first such overhaul in 16 years - marks a genuine shift in how the company intends to compete. The new pricing architecture introduces three distinct tiers: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. Basic covers the core VPN service; higher tiers add features such as the ExpressVPN Keys password manager, identity protection tools, and eSIM data for international travel.
For most users evaluating a VPN for the first time, the Basic plan covers everything that matters. That includes access to over 3,000 servers across dozens of countries, dedicated server locations in every US state, support for up to 10 simultaneous devices, and the Lightway protocol - ExpressVPN's proprietary connection standard, widely regarded as one of the fastest available. The service runs on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, Fire TV, and Wi-Fi routers, among others.
For those uncertain about committing to a two-year plan, ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with no stated conditions, and accepts Klarna at checkout for those who prefer to spread the upfront cost.
Where ExpressVPN Stands Against Its Rivals
The two most direct alternatives currently available are NordVPN and ProtonVPN. NordVPN's entry-level plan sits at £2.29 per month with its current promotion, which bundles three free months. ProtonVPN's two-year plan costs £2.39 per month after a 70% discount - a meaningful reduction from its standard £7.99 monthly rate, but still £0.40 more per month than ExpressVPN at this price point.
Both rivals offer 10-device support and 30-day money-back guarantees, keeping the comparison reasonably close on features. The differentiating factor at the Basic tier is price - and on that measure, ExpressVPN currently holds the lower position.
Post-Quantum Encryption and What It Actually Means
One feature worth understanding is ExpressVPN's implementation of post-quantum encryption, available even on the Basic plan. Standard encryption algorithms - including those currently used by banks, password managers, and most online services - rely on mathematical problems that today's computers cannot solve within any practical timeframe. Quantum computing, however, operates on different principles, and a sufficiently powerful quantum machine could theoretically break widely used encryption standards far faster than any conventional hardware.
ExpressVPN has updated its Lightway protocol to include encryption methods designed to remain secure even against that future threat. This is not yet a mainstream feature across the VPN industry, and its inclusion at the entry-level tier reflects the company's technical positioning. Practical quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption do not yet exist at that scale, but security infrastructure built today is already being targeted by what researchers call "harvest now, decrypt later" strategies - where encrypted data is collected in bulk and stored until the tools to crack it become available.
The Broader Context: Why VPN Adoption Is Rising
Interest in consumer VPNs has grown steadily as data privacy legislation, corporate data collection, and government surveillance have each attracted wider public attention. In the UK specifically, the Online Safety Act has prompted fresh questions about internet monitoring, content restrictions, and user anonymity online. A VPN does not make a user invisible - it routes and encrypts traffic through an external server, masking browsing activity from an internet service provider, network administrator, or passive observer - but it does raise the practical barrier to routine surveillance and data harvesting considerably.
Beyond privacy, VPNs allow users to access streaming libraries and online services tied to specific geographic regions. A UK subscriber connecting through a US-based server can access content that would otherwise be unavailable in their location, a feature that has driven significant adoption independently of any security concern.
At £1.99 per month - with the two-year total coming to £55.78 at checkout - the current ExpressVPN offer represents a low entry cost for a service with broad platform support, a meaningful technical feature set, and a refund window long enough to evaluate it properly before committing.