ExpressVPN's road to accessible privacy — is it really possible in 2026?

If 2024 was about maintaining the status quo, 2025 was the year ExpressVPN aggressively adapted its business model and technical backend to meet the modern user where they are. For a provider long known for its premium price point and rigid structure, the last 12 months have marked a significant pivot toward flexibility.

According to Andreas Theodorou, Head of Technical and Strategic Communications at ExpressVPN, the defining theme of the year was ensuring that high-level privacy tools weren't just available, but "accessible" and technically robust enough to survive the next generation of threats.

“While a lot of people may choose to focus on the negatives here, and sensationalise the cat-and-mouse game of cybersecurity, there have been some real positives that deserve our attention,” Theodorou notes.

For ExpressVPN, those positives came in the form of solving longstanding engineering headaches and finally giving users the purchasing options they have been demanding for years.

Breaking the pricing barrier

Perhaps the most immediately tangible change for consumers in 2025 was ExpressVPN’s departure from its single-tier subscription model.

For years, the service operated on a simple but rigid premise: one price for everything. However, as the market was saturated with cheaper competitors offering unlimited connections, this model faced increasing pressure.

ExpressVPN responded by restructuring its offering into three distinct tiers: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. This move wasn't just about competing on cost; it was about modernization.

By “offering Basic, Advanced, and Pro plans, we've made privacy more accessible, fitting to the individual user's needs by starting cheaper and including more simultaneous connections across the board,” Theodorou explains.

This shift has allowed the provider to shed the criticism that it is too expensive for the average user, while simultaneously catering to power users who need to secure a household full of devices.

By decoupling features, ExpressVPN has effectively lowered the barrier to entry, ensuring that budget constraints don't force users to settle for inferior encryption.

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Solving the MacOS and quantum puzzle

While the marketing team focused on pricing, the engineering division spent 2025 tackling two of the industry's most difficult technical challenges: Apple’s ecosystem and the looming quantum threat.

MacOS users have long suffered from limited functionality compared to their Windows counterparts, particularly regarding "split tunneling, the ability to route specific apps through the VPN while leaving others on the direct internet connection.

Changes to Apple's operating system architecture have made this notoriously difficult to implement securely.

“Split tunneling in macOS is notoriously difficult,” admits Theodorou. “But we're happy to be one of the few VPN providers capable of offering it to users in a way that meets the compliance expectations of Apple's security standards.”

This achievement is significant. Many competitors have quietly deprecated this feature on macOS due to the technical overhead required to maintain it. By solving it, ExpressVPN has reaffirmed its commitment to the Apple ecosystem.

Simultaneously, the company looked further ahead to the era of quantum computing. 2025 saw ExpressVPN push for industry-wide standards in Post-Quantum (PQ) cryptography. Rather than keeping their innovations proprietary, they focused on open standards.

“Helping the industry with a replicable PQ WireGuard implementation was another point of pride for us,” says Theodorou. “We want to ensure that everyone is able to protect themselves from quantum threats.” This focuses on the "store now, decrypt later" threat, ensuring that data captured today remains secure even when quantum computers become capable of breaking current encryption standards.

Navigating a changing landscape

Beyond their own product, ExpressVPN’s leadership took note of broader shifts in the digital rights landscape throughout 2025. Theodorou highlighted the often-overlooked academic work that underpins consumer privacy, specifically pointing to the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS).

“While the academic world is often overlooked, this year's PETS had a remarkable array of discussions that will help shape the future of privacy and technology for years to come,” he observed.

He also pointed to the mainstreaming of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) as a major win for 2025.

With the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) evolving its standardization of ZKPs, and major players like Google Wallet integrating them, the technology is moving from niche theory to consumer reality. “It's exciting to see how the world of online safety will move forward,” Theodorou added.

However, the year was not without its losses. Theodorou noted the departure of Cindy Cohn as Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) as a significant moment for the industry. “Cohn was, and is, an inspiration for many around the world... and has had an enormous impact on the world of digital privacy.”

What's planned for 2026?

Looking ahead, ExpressVPN appears ready to capitalize on the structural changes made in 2025. The roadmap suggests a fast start to the new year.

“We think 2026 is going to be a big year for us,” Theodorou predicts. “ExpressVPN has an array of exciting products and updates coming in Q1.”

While specific feature sets remain under wraps, the strategy seems to revolve around a holistic approach to user protection that goes beyond simple IP masking. Theodorou hints at “interesting projects to help promote online safety protections without sacrificing privacy.”

This phrasing suggests a move toward more active threat blocking or identity protection features that operate strictly within a privacy-preserving framework, likely leveraging the ZKP advancements Theodorou praised earlier.

The road ahead

ExpressVPN closes 2025 having successfully navigated a difficult transition. By diversifying its pricing, it has protected its market share against cheaper rivals. By solving the macOS split tunneling problem and democratizing Post-Quantum WireGuard, it has proven it still possesses the engineering prowess to lead the market.

For the user, the message for 2026 is clear: ExpressVPN is no longer just a premium luxury; it is an accessible, adaptable tool ready for the post-quantum age.