Technologies
ExpressVPN vs. Surfshark: How CNET’s Top Two VPNs Compare
Both VPN services are excellent, so we compared their speed, price and privacy to help you decide which is best for you.
ExpressVPN and Surfshark are two of CNET’s best VPN picks, both earning Editors’ Choice designations. ExpressVPN is CNET’s Editors’ Choice for best overall VPN, and Surfshark is CNET’s Editors’ Choice for best value VPN. Both are excellent options for anyone who wants a VPN that offers first-rate privacy protections, but can also reliably handle geoblocks when streaming content online.
This comparison between ExpressVPN and Surfshark is based on extensive testing and thorough evaluations of each service’s overall value, privacy features and speeds. I conducted hundreds of individual speed tests for each provider to multiple locations and through multiple VPN protocols and platforms, along with leak tests and kill switch tests. I also carefully evaluated each provider’s features, privacy policy, terms of service, transparency efforts and customer support.
Both are first-class VPN providers, but ExpressVPN edges Surfshark in this head-to-head. Read on to find out why.
Read more: Best VPN Services of 2023
ExpressVPN vs. Surfshark
- See latest ExpressVPN coupons and deals
ExpressVPN is currently CNET’s top overall VPN pick due to its strong commitment to privacy and transparency, excellent speeds and streaming capabilities. If you have critical online privacy needs, ExpressVPN is the way to go. But if you want to unblock a world of streaming options, ExpressVPN is the one for the job, too. Its interface is minimalist and easy to use across platforms, but has a lot of options for customization from its Preferences menu. ExpressVPN is a well-rounded service that performs admirably for virtually any VPN use case, whether you’re a beginner or advanced VPN user. It leans a tad toward the expensive side, but if you want a top-notch VPN experience it’s worth it — even if you only get five simultaneous connections.
- See latest Surfshark coupons and deals
If you’re looking for a VPN that provides the most value for your money, Surfshark is the VPN for you. Despite its budget-friendly pricing, Surfshark is loaded with features, provides a few unique privacy protections and unblocks more Netflix libraries than you can count. Surfshark is a relative newcomer to the industry, compared to ExpressVPN, but it has already made a name for itself in the highly competitive VPN market. I’m impressed with how Surfshark continues to innovate and work toward improving its service on multiple fronts — and hoping it can continue to offer its favorable pricing.
Speed winner: ExpressVPN by a wide margin, thanks to Surfshark’s inconsistency and sputtering OpenVPN speeds
Finding the fastest VPN is a priority for most VPN users, so we put VPNs through rigorous speed testing. In my most recent speed tests in the first quarter of 2023, I registered an 18% average speed loss with ExpressVPN and an average 40% speed loss with Surfshark.
ExpressVPN was consistently speedy regardless of which protocol, device or location I tested it through. The only other VPN that performed more consistently during my most recent speed tests was NordVPN. The best speed performance I got out of ExpressVPN was through the OpenVPN protocol from my testing location in Hungary, where I registered a 9% speed loss compared to my base speeds. The best speed performance I got through WireGuard with ExpressVPN was from my other testing location in Ohio, where I registered an 11% speed loss. And with ExpressVPN upgrading its server fleet to 10Gbps servers, I’m hoping to see even faster and more consistent speeds from the provider in the future.
Surfshark’s speeds through the WireGuard VPN protocol from Ohio were excellent, causing my speeds to dip a mere 8% below my base internet speeds — above the top speeds I saw from ExpressVPN. However, Surfshark’s speeds through the OpenVPN protocol on my Windows laptop were abysmal, cutting my base speeds by a whopping 76%. And that’s the core issue, here. While Surfshark sometimes offered good speeds, I never knew what to expect from different protocols or devices.
I have found that VPN speeds through Windows machines tend to be marginally slower across the board than they typically are through a Mac, but other VPNs I tested through Windows didn’t register such a dramatic drop in speeds as Surfshark did. Losing more than three quarters of your base speed can be a real downer if you’re a gamer, torrenter or like to stream content. That said, Surfshark’s OpenVPN speeds through my Mac were fairly respectable (34% speed loss), though not overly impressive. Still, the inconsistent nature of Surfshark’s overall speed performance was a major disappointment.
If you want to optimize your speeds with Surfshark, I recommend connecting through the WireGuard protocol, especially if you’re a Windows user. Surfshark tells me that its development team is working on the issue, so hopefully OpenVPN speeds will improve in the future.
Cost winner: Surfshark, thanks to its impressive suite of features at a significantly lower price
ExpressVPN is, by all measures, a premium VPN service. It’s top of the line when it comes to speed, privacy, features and unblocking capabilities. And, compared to the competition, it’s expensive. ExpressVPN’s most cost-effective subscription plan is its annual plan, which costs $100 per year. You can also opt for either a biannual plan for $60 every six months or a monthly plan for $13 per month.
For that price, you get five simultaneous connections, access to a global network of servers spanning 94 countries, 24/7 live chat customer support, an easy-to-use app for all of your devices and unparalleled streaming capabilities. Additionally, you’ll eventually get access to ExpressVPN’s password manager, Keys, at no additional cost, once it exits beta and is rolled out universally to all users.
Surfshark is far easier on the pocketbook than ExpressVPN. Though Surfshark’s monthly pricing is equal to that of ExpressVPN at $13 per month, its yearly rate is considerably cheaper at $48 for the first year (then $60 per year) — a savings of $40 per year after the promo pricing ends. And while we don’t recommend committing to any VPN provider for more than a year due to the volatile nature of the industry on the whole, you can get your first two years with Surfshark for $60 total (which then renews annually at $60).
If you go with Surfshark’s annual plan, you get a feature set comparable to ExpressVPN, for a fraction of the cost. And unlike ExpressVPN’s meager simultaneous connection limit of five, Surfshark allows for an unlimited number of simultaneous connections. In addition to that, you’ll get access to servers in 100 different countries, 24/7 live chat customer support, an ad and malware blocker, cookie popup blocker and split tunneling. And Surfshark’s streaming capabilities are constantly improving, putting the provider nearly on the same level as ExpressVPN in that regard. With Surfshark, you can unblock an impressive number of international Netflix libraries. And, following our previous Surfshark review, the provider improved significantly in its ability to reliably unblock Disney Plus.
Among CNET’s top VPN picks, ExpressVPN and Surfshark occupy opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to cost — NordVPN, Proton VPN and IPVanish fall somewhere in between. With ExpressVPN you get the quality that you pay for, and with Surfshark, you get tremendous value for the comparatively low price you pay (if you sign up for a longer-term subscription). Sure, ExpressVPN is well worth its premium price tag, but if you’re a casual VPN user who doesn’t necessarily need every bit of what ExpressVPN offers, Surfshark is more than capable of providing everything you need in a VPN at a lower cost.
Privacy and security winner: ExpressVPN, thanks to its TrustedServer technology and unmatched transparency efforts
ExpressVPN and Surfhark both offer excellent privacy for VPN users. Like CNET’s other top VPN picks, ExpressVPN and Surfshark both offer industry-standard (and virtually uncrackable) AES 256-bit encryption to protect users’ traffic. They both also offer standard privacy protections like a kill switch, DNS leak protection, no-logging policy and a RAM-only diskless server infrastructure. Both providers’ kill switch and DNS leak protection worked flawlessly during my testing. It’s a tight race here, but if I had to choose one for critical privacy needs, I would choose ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN’s TrustedServer technology builds on top of the concept of a RAM-only diskless server infrastructure. ExpressVPN’s servers run on volatile memory, meaning that user data is never stored on a hard disk and is wiped when the server is turned off or rebooted. This makes it difficult for anyone to collect user information. And with TrustedServer, the entire software stack is completely reinstalled whenever an ExpressVPN server starts up. ExpressVPN says that this process helps mitigate risks of introducing vulnerabilities or misconfiguration.
TrustedServer, along with ExpressVPN’s apps, browser extension, router, VPN protocols and no-logs policy have all been independently audited in the past year. The company’s 12 independent audits in 2022 are a testament to its commitment to transparency and go well above and beyond what most of its other peers in the VPN industry offer.
Surfshark, by comparison, has gone through a mere smattering of independent audits over the past few years. Surfshark’s browser extensions were audited in 2018, its server infrastructure was audited in 2021 and it went through its first no-logs audit in January 2023. Three audits is better than none, but Surfshark can still do more to boost its trust and transparency.
That said, Surfshark’s Nexus network technology is a neat innovation that includes features that help boost user privacy. Through the Nexus network, you can route your VPN connection through multiple servers of your choosing at once on Surfshark’s network, rather than just one server or a preset combination of two servers. This helps add an extra layer of protection. In addition to Surfshark’s Dynamic MultiHop, the Nexus network offers other innovative privacy features like an IP Rotator that periodically changes your IP address without disconnecting from the VPN and an IP Randomizer that changes your IP address each time you visit a new website. ExpressVPN currently doesn’t offer multihop connections or IP rotator/randomizer features.
ExpressVPN and Surfshark compared
| ExpressVPN | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $13 per month, $60 per 6 months, $100 per year | $13 per month, $48 for the first year (then $60 annually) |
| Avg. % speed loss | 18% | 40% |
| Server network | 3,000 servers in 94 countries | 3,200-plus servers in 100 countries |
| Encryption | AES 256-bit | AES 256-bit |
| VPN protocols | OpenVPN, Lightway, IKEv2 | OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2/IPSec |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands | Netherlands |
| Compatibility | Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Fire TV, routers | MacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Fire TV, routers |
| Simultaneous connections | 5 | Unlimited |
Bottom line
ExpressVPN is for you if you need a VPN that can protect your privacy in situations where your online privacy is a critical consideration. The VPN’s TrustedServer technology, privacy-friendly jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands and comprehensive list of independent security audits help reinforce its commitment to user privacy. Whether you need privacy in the face of online surveillance, or if you’re a doctor, lawyer, journalist, dissident, whistleblower, activist or anyone else who requires heightened online privacy, then ExpressVPN is the way to go.
Or if you’re a casual VPN user simply looking for a fast VPN that’s easy to use and can unblock a world of streaming options while hiding your activity from your ISP, then ExpressVPN is a great option too — as long as you don’t mind paying the premium.
On the other hand, if you’re a casual user on a budget and want a VPN that can get the job done for less, Surfshark could be the VPN for you. Though Surfshark isn’t quite at the level that ExpressVPN is in terms of privacy protections and transparency, Surfshark has a few unique privacy features like MultiHop and IP Rotator/Randomizer that may appeal to certain users who want to add an extra layer of protection to their traffic. However, Windows users who prefer connecting through OpenVPN for privacy may want to opt for ExpressVPN due to Surfshark’s speed issues through OpenVPN on Windows.
And because Surfshark offers unlimited simultaneous connections, it’s also an excellent option for folks with lots of connected devices or anyone with a large family or group of friends they want to share an account with.
FAQs
Which VPN is better, ExpressVPN or Surfshark?
It depends on what you want out of your VPN. If price is your primary concern when choosing a VPN, go with Surfshark. If you have lots of devices you want to connect at once, Surfshark would be the best choice again. If critical privacy is your main concern, go with ExpressVPN. For the best overall speeds and the best geoblock circumvention, go with ExpressVPN too.
Is the price difference worth it?
If your online privacy is of critical importance, then yes, the higher price you pay for ExpressVPN is worth it. Also, if you want the best possible speeds across platforms and protocols, for streaming and torrenting, the price difference is worth it. If you’re a casual user who doesn’t require all of that and doesn’t want to pay a premium for their VPN, Surfshark is a worthy alternative that shouldn’t be considered a downgrade.
Can you try ExpressVPN or Surfshark for free?
Neither ExpressVPN nor Surfshark officially offer a free trial at this time. However, if you download and sign up for either service through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, you can activate a seven-day free trial. Just remember to cancel your trial before the seven days is up if you don’t want to continue with the service, to avoid getting charged. Both Surfshark and ExpressVPN offer 30-day money-back guarantees as well. If you purchase a subscription and decide that you’re not satisfied for whatever reason, you can request a full refund within the first 30 days of purchase.
Read more: Best Cheap VPN for 2023
Technologies
Anthropic Launched New Claude 4 Gen AI Models. Here’s What They Do
The models can now use tools like web searches during extended reasoning tasks.
The latest versions of Anthropic’s Claude generative AI models made their debut Thursday, including a heavier-duty model built specifically for coding and complex tasks.
Anthropic launched the new Claude 4 Opus and Claude 4 Sonnet models during its Code with Claude developer conference, and executives said the new tools mark a significant step forward in terms of reasoning and deep thinking skills.
The company launched the prior model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, in February. Since then, competing AI developers have also upped their game. OpenAI released GPT-4.1 in April, with an emphasis on an expanded context window, along with the new o3 reasoning model family. Google followed in early May with an updated version of Gemini 2.5 Pro that it said is better at coding.
Claude 4 Opus is a larger, more resource-intensive model built to handle particularly difficult challenges. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said test users have seen it quickly handle tasks that might have taken a person several hours to complete.
«In many ways, as we’re often finding with large models, the benchmarks don’t fully do justice to it,» he said during the keynote event.
Claude 4 Sonnet is a leaner model, with improvements built on Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet model. The 3.7 model often had problems with overeagerness and sometimes did more than the person asked it to do, Amodei said. While it’s a less resource-intensive model, it still performs well, he said.
«It actually does just as well as Opus on some of the coding benchmarks, but I think it’s leaner and more narrowly focused,» Amodei said.
Anthropic said the models have a new capability, still being beta tested, in which they can use tools like web searches while engaged in extended reasoning. The models can alternate between reasoning and using tools to get better responses to complex queries.
The models both offer near-instant response modes and extended thinking modes.
All of the paid plans offer both Opus and Sonnet models, while the free plan just has the Sonnet model.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 23, #446
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 446 for May 23.
Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has a humorous title, and if you understand the reference, you’ll know what words to look for. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: The musical fruit
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: There are magical ones in fairy tales.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- REEK, GADS, PLAY, PLAYS, PITA, DIAL, FALL, PALL, PALLS, FALLS, GENIE, BEEN, LACK, DENY, NILL.
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- FAVA, NAVY, BLACK, GREEN, PINTO, KIDNEY, CANNELLINI
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is BEANSALAD. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.
Technologies
The Marvel Rivals Auto Battler Is a Natural Evolution of Hero Shooters
Move over Teamfight Tactics. Marvel Rivals’ new limited-time mode is the perfect addition to the auto battler genre.
Marvel Rivals has been a breath of fresh air for the hero shooter genre, combining popular comic book characters and chaotic third-person shooter action to create epic team fights that keep me coming back for more.
Fast-paced combat is the name of the game in Marvel Rivals, which is why it could come across as a confusing development that the next limited-time mode launching in Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 is a form of auto battler (also frequently referred to as auto chess).
Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol is an experimental mode launching on June 6, where six players will draft teams of heroes to go head to head with their opponents’ drafts. You’ll be able to support your AI teams while the new hero Ultron (also debuting in season 2.5) is chipping in extra healing and damage to the fight.
Aside from the fact that it’ll be cool to stage your own version of Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars, is the decision to add an auto battler to Marvel Rivals (which has previously released limited-time modes that mostly tracked with the shooter’s core gameplay loop) really all that far out of left field? I don’t think so.
Why is Marvel Rivals getting an auto battler mode?
The new mode is similar to multiplayer online battle arena spinoffs such as Dota Auto Chess and League of Legends’ Teamfight Tactics. I think drawing the line from a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) to auto battler is easy for most people.
MOBAs are strategy games first and foremost, where players pick and choose items to craft builds that will help them win their lane, while also contributing to big team fights. Players need to work together to overwhelm the other team and push them back to their spawn.
MOBAs and auto battlers are both about team synergy, positioning and picking the right upgrades, so it’s not surprising to people when characters from a game in one of these genres appear in another.
There are many people that wouldn’t associate hero shooters with MOBAs in the slightest. Games like Marvel Rivals have a high ceiling for very different mechanical skills — especially aiming. But hero shooters are also complex strategy games that share many of the same fundamentals as a MOBA.
Putting together a viable team composition with strong character is the most important part of a hero shooter — and Marvel Rivals takes this to another level with the strongest team-up abilities that require multiple heroes to activate.
An auto battler will allow people to experiment team compositions that don’t often get played in real Marvel Rivals’ matches, and could even help the community find new experimental hero combinations that have the potential to shake up common ways people play the game.
In Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol, as the auto battler mode is called, players will be able to put together balanced teams, lock in the risky GATOR strategy (which is nightmarishly similar to Overwatch’s GOATS meta) or fall back on triple support with brand new upgrades that change how the game works.
Absurd power scaling might look like Overwatch 2’s Stadium mode
There’s a clear rivalry between Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, since they’re the two biggest hero shooters on the market right now. Blizzard’s hero shooter is entering its ninth year of life with flagging interest, but its solid fundamentals have been a high bar for Marvel Rivals to hurdle.
Both games have been trying out bold new things — Overwatch 2 recently shipped the MOBA-like Stadium mode that lets players augment popular abilities and take powerful passives as they fight in a flurry of different objectives in a best of seven gauntlet.
Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol in some ways feels like NetEase’s response to Blizzard’s big success with Stadium mode. You might not have quite as much influence on the outcome of each battle, but this serves as a proof of concept for Marvel Rivals’ hero power scaling.
This new mode also lets players pick passive abilities that buff certain roles as well as more powerful hero-specific upgrades that drastically alter the course of a fight, so the snowballing power of a Stadium match is very much emulated here.
In the Season 2.5 developer vision video, we got a look at what some of the upgrades will look like.
Venom can grow into a hulking monster after devouring enemies with his ultimate ability, Hela cuts a swath through the playing field with a field of flying daggers, Psylocke zips around her ultimate ability’s area of effect at twice her normal speed and Namor summons many more squid turrets to attack his enemies.
It’s safe to assume that every character in the game will have some kind of special power unlocked in the later rounds of an Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol match. This definitely isn’t NetEase reheating Blizzard’s nachos, but I do think it’s indicative of a broader shift toward making hero shooters feel a little bit more chaotic and unrestrained.
Game balance is important, but one of the biggest draws of this genre is that each character is a unique power fantasy you can’t find elsewhere. I can’t imagine such in-depth upgrades were designed for a one-and-done mode, so it’ll be interesting to see where they might show up next.
