As we hurtle towards Black Friday 2025, I was confident which of the best VPN providers were slashing prices, and which weren't.
But ExpressVPN has taken everyone by surprise and dropped a huge Black Friday VPN deal. It's its first ever, and one that makes it cheaper than some of its closest rivals – massive news.
Following a summer revamp, ExpressVPN now has three pricing tiers, but the Basic tier is what has really drawn my eye. At $2.44 per month, it's over $1 per month cheaper than usual, and over the 28-month subscription you'll save $29. This undercuts Proton VPN, Norton VPN, and even NordVPN – something we've never seen before.
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
ExpressVPN told us it wasn't running a Black Friday discount this year, so this deal has caught me off guard. But what's even more shocking is the price.
I thought Proton VPN had played the best move this Black Friday when it dropped its $2.49 per month deal – undercutting NordVPN in the process – but ExpressVPN has blown its two biggest rivals out the water.
Premium pricing was always ExpressVPN's biggest drawback – it used to bundle every product it offered into one, despite many users just wanting the VPN. Even after its tier shake-up, I still felt ExpressVPN was a tad too pricey and, when directly compared to NordVPN, had lost some of its USP. This deal changes that.
ExpressVPN Basic is directly comparable to NordVPN Basic – but at $2.44 per month, can be yours for $0.50 per month less. It grants you 10 device connections, "lite" threat protection, and all core VPN features – including fast speeds, post-quantum encryption, and a wide range of apps.
Ease-of-use has always been a plus point for ExpressVPN, so if you're a VPN beginner you'll have no trouble here.
Our testing did reveal some small hiccups in ExpressVPN's streaming unblocking power. It struggled with Amazon Prime Video and its non-Lightway Turbo (a Windows exclusive) speeds were slower than NordVPN, Proton VPN, and Surfshark. So, if streaming and super fast speeds are your reasons for buying a VPN, you may want to look elsewhere.
However, speeds are more than fast enough for the average user, and it shouldn't slow your Wi-Fi down unless you pay for a gigabit connection.
ExpressVPN is great for beginners and the privacy-conscious. It's a superb all-rounder and this price is hard to ignore.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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