When comparing ExpressVPN vs Roll your own VPN, the Slant community recommends ExpressVPN for most people. In the question“What is the best VPN provider? ” ExpressVPN is ranked 15th while Roll your own VPN is ranked 75th. The most important reason people chose ExpressVPN is:
Aside from the automatic mode that picks the protocol most appropriate for your network, you can manually choose UDP/TPC or L2TP.
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Pros
Pro Multiple protocols available
Aside from the automatic mode that picks the protocol most appropriate for your network, you can manually choose UDP/TPC or L2TP.
Pro Works on multiple platforms and integrates well
Pro Great speed while streaming and downloading
Pro Fast
ExpressVPN have special throttling-free servers due to which it's speed is really fast.
Pro NO-Logs Claim Put to the ULTIMATE TEST
"Turkish authorities seized a VPN server operated by ExpressVPN that they say was used to hide details regarding the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. The server held no useful information for the authorities, who were investigating the deletion of possible evidence on Facebook and Gmail."
Pro Built-in speed test
Test all the available servers in all countries at once, to be able to pick the fastest.
Pro Best iPhone App, easy to configure and install
It's really easy to install and configure as compare to other VPN services providers.
Pro DNS leak detection
Prevents leaking your private browser behavior to an unencrypted DNS server.
Pro Great Encryption
SSL Secured.
Pro Most TRANSPARENT Privacy Policy
Pro Works well in China
Pro No data limit
Pro Has an APP for Wi-Fi Routers
Not just manual configurations. ExpressVPN, has their own app, with their own firmware images, for specific routers
Pro Single IP
Quite often with VPN services you get a shared IP, here you get one all to yourself. This means you are far less likely to be blocked.
Pro Cheap
Depending on your use case, a cheap unmetered VPS can cost very little.
Pro You control everything
"Is there logging?" "Do I get my own IP?" So many questions, easily answered by running your own service!
Cons
Con Commercial
7 days trial
Con Pricey
ExpressVPN price is above the average. It's $8.32/month if you choose 1 year plan. $12.95/month for a single month without 12 or 6 months commitment.
Con One location only
Unless you set up multiple boxes, you have to think about where you are getting your server. The advantage of many VPN services is that you can pick your location to get around geo-blocks.
Con Tougher to set up
OpenVPN in particular is not exactly trivial to set up.