ExpressVPN is the best-known premium VPN and one of the most widely used in New Zealand. It promises the simplest apps, the most reliable streaming access and a privacy record backed by more independent audits than any rival, at a price that sits above NordVPN and Surfshark.
New Zealanders face the same online threats as everyone else: phishing, data breaches, snooping on public Wi-Fi and, as a Five Eyes member, an intelligence-sharing environment that makes many people think twice about what their ISP can see. A VPN like ExpressVPN addresses the practical parts of that by encrypting your traffic and hiding your IP address.
This review covers how to get started, what the technology does, real speeds from Auckland, which streaming services it unblocks, what it costs in 2026 and how it compares with the alternatives in our best VPN for New Zealand guide.
Setting up ExpressVPN takes about five minutes:
ExpressVPN is run by Express Technologies from the British Virgin Islands and has been owned by Kape Technologies, which also owns CyberGhost and Private Internet Access, since 2021. Its trust case rests on technology and verification rather than jurisdiction alone:
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On a Fibre 500 connection in Auckland, Lightway to an Auckland server left more than 400 Mbps in our tests and added only a few milliseconds of latency. Sydney was similar at about 30 ms, US West Coast servers returned 200 to 300 Mbps at around 140 ms, and London servers were the slowest at roughly 265 ms. That is comfortably above the 25 Mbps needed for 4K streaming on every route. Run our NZ internet speed test with the VPN on and off to see your own figures; if the drop is large, switch the protocol from Automatic to Lightway UDP.
ExpressVPN is the provider we reach for when a streaming service is being difficult. In September 2026 it reliably unblocked Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount Plus, and its Auckland servers let Kiwis overseas watch TVNZ+, ThreeNow, Neon and Sky Sport Now. MediaStreamer (smart DNS) covers consoles and TVs that cannot run the app. Our guide to watching Paramount Plus in NZ walks through the full process.
ExpressVPN sells three tiers. Basic is the VPN plus Keys password manager and ad blocking; Advanced adds identity monitoring and more devices; Pro adds data removal and a dedicated IP. Prices are in US dollars and change with promotions, so treat these as a guide: about US$13 to 15 a month billed monthly, around US$5 a month on the one-year plan and roughly US$3 a month on the two-year plan for Basic, with Advanced and Pro a few dollars more. Every plan includes a 30-day money-back guarantee and 10 to 14 simultaneous devices depending on tier. Compared with Surfshark at US$2.49 or NordVPN at US$3.49 on two years, you are paying a premium for polish and streaming reliability.
ExpressVPN remains the easiest premium VPN to recommend to a New Zealander who wants things to simply work: fast Lightway connections, Auckland servers, the strongest streaming record and audits to back its privacy claims. If budget matters more than polish, Surfshark and NordVPN deliver most of the same benefits for less, and Proton VPN offers a stronger privacy story. Use the 30-day guarantee to test it on your own connection.
Disclaimer: This review reflects our own testing from New Zealand and ExpressVPN’s published documentation; it is not legal advice. VPN use is legal in New Zealand, but bypassing geo-restrictions breaches streaming services’ terms. Prices are in US dollars and change often; confirm them on the official site before buying.
Reference sources
Yes. ExpressVPN has an Auckland location, plus Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide across the Tasman, so you can get local privacy without added latency or a nearby overseas address.
If you want the most reliable streaming access and the simplest apps, yes. If you mainly want privacy on a budget, Surfshark, NordVPN or Proton VPN cost less and are also independently audited.
With Lightway on a Fibre 500 plan we saw more than 400 Mbps through Auckland servers and 200 to 300 Mbps through the US West Coast, which is far more than any streaming service needs.
No. Its no-logs policy was verified by KPMG in February 2025 and its servers run only in RAM. When Turkish authorities seized an ExpressVPN server in 2017, there was no usable data on it.
Yes, through a router running ExpressVPN’s firmware (including its own Aircove router) or through MediaStreamer smart DNS, which changes your apparent location without an app. Apple TV, Fire TV and Android TV have native apps.
There is a seven-day trial in the iOS and Android app stores, and every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it on your own connection at no risk.
Kape Technologies bought ExpressVPN in 2021 and also owns CyberGhost and Private Internet Access. The three services keep separate infrastructure, and ExpressVPN has continued to publish independent audits since the acquisition.