12 min read
ExpressVPN works in Russia unreliably and without guarantees: Roskomnadzor restricted access to the service back on September 2, 2021, the company has no servers in the country, and as of October 26, 2026, the app can't be found in the Russian App Store or on RuStore. You can't pay for a subscription with a Russian card: the official payment methods page lists only foreign cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The service itself, meanwhile, is alive and large: its own Lightway protocol, apps for almost every platform, including Windows, and several independent audits.
If you need a VPN that was designed from the start to work under blocking, we recommend BessyConnect: it runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage, registration is optional, and you can start with a trial period. Below is what is known about ExpressVPN from primary sources and where it is stronger.
There is no clear "yes". The service has been officially restricted in Russia since September 2021, and connecting depends on the carrier and network: for some users ExpressVPN works for weeks, while others can't even sign in to their account.
Timeline based on primary sources and media:
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| September 2, 2021 | Roskomnadzor restricted six VPN services, including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, IPVanish and Hola | Interfax, 3.09.2021; Meduza, 3.09.2021 |
| February–March 2023 | Mass complaints from Russia; support called the difficulties "unprecedented" | vc.ru, 27.02.2023; Habr, 15.03.2023 |
| July 5, 2023 | Last update of ExpressVPN's official page on connecting from Russia | expressvpn.com |
| 2024 | The company itself removed its apps from Russian stores "for operational reasons" | ExpressVPN statement to Tom's Guide, 9.04.2025 |
| April 2025 | ExpressVPN said it had restored its Google Play listing | same source |
| October 26, 2026 | The app isn't in the Russian App Store or on RuStore | our check |
Note: some Russian-language materials (vc.ru, Habr) give September 2022 as the date of the blocking. According to an Interfax report of September 3, 2021, Roskomnadzor's decision was made a year earlier.
Reviews in the Russian Google Play storefront give a real-world picture. The average rating there is about 2 out of 5, compared with 4.6 in the US storefront (as of October 26, 2026). Reviews from August–September 2026 say that out of several protocols only one stays stable, the connection "drops during waves" of blocking, and the main trouble is being unable to sign in to the account.
ExpressVPN is a paid VPN service and one of the best known in the world. The iPhone app came out on August 11, 2014, and the Android version has more than 100 million installs on Google Play.
| Parameter | What the primary sources say |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Express Technologies Ltd., British Virgin Islands |
| Owner | Kape Technologies PLC (UK), the "ultimate holding company" per the privacy policy |
| Publisher in the stores | Expressco Services, LLC (Colorado, USA) |
| Protocols | Lightway UDP and TCP, OpenVPN UDP and TCP, WireGuard (since August 2025) |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, routers, browser extensions |
| Countries with servers | 113 on the site, 105 and 94 in different paragraphs of the Google Play description; Russia isn't on the list |
| App languages | 18, including Russian |
| Latest update | Android — October 16, 2026; iOS (version 12.78.0) — October 22, 2026 |
Kape Technologies announced the purchase of ExpressVPN for $936 million in September 2021 (Globes report of 13.09.2021). The privacy policy, updated October 2, 2026, clarifies that personal data is controlled by Express Technologies Ltd., not Kape, and that requests for it fall under the laws of the British Virgin Islands.
Lightway is the company's own protocol. According to the protocol's official page, its core is open source on GitHub, the protocol itself has been rewritten from C to Rust, and post-quantum protection based on the ML-KEM standard is on by default. Be careful with namesakes: in the Russian App Store, a search for "express vpn" first returns the network utility Express from Puyang Jidou Network Technology, and on RuStore the corporate messenger eXpress. Neither has anything to do with ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN has no free plan: there is a 7-day trial on mobile devices and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can't pay for a subscription with a Russian card; the official payment page accepts only international cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
As of October 26, 2026, the official pricing page shows three plans, all for two years and four months:
| Plan | Price per month | First payment for 28 months | Renewal per year | Simultaneous devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $2.99 | $83.72 | $99.95 | 10 |
| Advanced | $4.49 | $125.72 | $119.95 | 12 |
| Express Pro | $7.49 | $209.72 | $199.95 | 14 |
The key column in this table is renewal. After the first 28 months the subscription renews automatically at the full annual price, and Basic then costs $99.95 a year instead of $2.99 a month.
About the trial: the Google Play description promises 7 days of free access, and on August 19, 2026, support clarified in a reply to a review that it is available "for new users on mobile devices". The pricing page shows no trial for the VPN.
There are three obstacles to paying from Russia, and all are confirmed by primary sources:
That leaves only the methods on the payment page: a card issued outside Russia, or PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay linked to such a card. Intermediaries selling "ExpressVPN accounts" and "keys" have nothing to do with the company: such a subscription can be revoked, and the 30-day money-back guarantee won't apply to it.
The official sources are expressvpn.com and the app stores. On iPhone you can't download ExpressVPN from the Russian App Store: as of October 26, 2026, the app isn't in the Russian storefront, while it is available in the US and Kazakhstan ones.
By platform:
Search suggestions such as «express vpn premium apk» and «ключи бесплатно» (free keys) lead to cracked builds and giveaways of other people's accounts. Such files lack the developer's signature, and anything could be inside. Why VPN mods are especially dangerous is covered in the article on VPN mod APKs, and the signs of a fake in our piece on how to recognize a fake VPN app. If you are choosing a client for your computer in general, our overview VPN for PC will help.
The main reason is deliberate restrictions: Roskomnadzor has put the service on its list of restricted services, and carriers' filtering systems can recognize VPN traffic. The second typical problem is that the app can't activate or sign in to the account.
ExpressVPN's official page "Connecting to ExpressVPN in Russia" recommends this order (last updated July 5, 2023):
It is worth adding a protocol change to this. Since August 2025, WireGuard has been available in the apps for Android, iOS and Windows (Tom's Guide, 7.08.2025), and in a reply to a review on August 19, 2026, support itself advised trying it.
If none of the steps help, most likely the carrier's network recognizes the protocol itself, and that can't be fixed on the user's side. A general breakdown of the causes is in the article why a VPN isn't working.
On verifiable grounds, ExpressVPN is one of the most thoroughly audited services: its no-logs policy was confirmed by a KPMG audit, and the Lightway protocol by audits from Cure53 and Praetorian. The weak point for a user in Russia is something else: the account requires an email and payment details.
What is known:
If ExpressVPN connects for you and payment isn't a problem, there is no reason to switch. But if you can't pay or the connection drops with every wave of blocking, here is how it looks next to BessyConnect and Proton VPN.
| BessyConnect | ExpressVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol | VLESS with Reality camouflage | Lightway, OpenVPN, WireGuard | Has the Stealth protocol |
| Free access | Trial period | 7 days on mobile, 30-day money-back | Free plan, 1 device |
| Registration | Optional | Account with email and payment details | — |
| Windows | No | Yes, Windows 10 and 11 | Yes |
| TV | Apple TV, Android TV | Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV | — |
| Russian App Store | No | No | No |
| Independent audits | Not claimed | KPMG, Cure53, Praetorian | Claimed on the site |
A dash means we haven't checked this parameter against a primary source.
Where ExpressVPN is stronger, to put it plainly. It has apps for Windows, Linux and routers, browser extensions, several published audits and an open-source protocol. BessyConnect has no Windows app. More on Proton VPN and AdGuard VPN is in our review Proton VPN and AdGuard VPN in Russia. If you are looking for a simple one-button service, see our breakdown of popular VPNs in Russia.
We recommend BessyConnect to those whose ExpressVPN drops with every wave of blocking or won't let them into their account. The VLESS protocol with Reality camouflage makes traffic look like an ordinary HTTPS connection: that is the whole point of the camouflage, so that DPI equipment doesn't single it out as a VPN. There are more than a hundred servers, no logs are kept, registration is optional, and there is a trial period.
BessyConnect apps:
What neither BessyConnect nor any other VPN solves. They won't help when mobile internet is restricted to whitelists or shut down completely. They won't let you pay for a foreign service's subscription with a Russian card. And the BessyConnect app, like ExpressVPN, isn't in the Russian App Store: to install it on an iPhone you need an Apple ID from another country. BessyConnect isn't currently suitable for a Windows computer.
If ExpressVPN works for you and your subscription is paid, keep using it. But if it won't connect or won't let you into your account, try BessyConnect, starting with the trial period: all versions are gathered on the download page.
Does ExpressVPN work in Russia now? Partially. Roskomnadzor restricted the service on September 2, 2021, and connecting depends on the carrier: reviews in the Russian Google Play from August–September 2026 mention drops during waves of blocking and problems signing in to the account.
Can I use ExpressVPN for free? There is no free plan. New users on mobile devices get a 7-day trial, and all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
How do I pay for ExpressVPN from Russia? Not with Russian cards: the official payment page accepts international cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Visa cut off Russian cards abroad in March 2022. Purchases inside the Russian Google Play have also been suspended since March 10, 2022.
Is there ExpressVPN for PC? Yes. The official app supports Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), there is a build for ARM PCs, and there are versions for Mac and Linux. Download only from expressvpn.com.
What can I replace ExpressVPN with if it isn't working? We recommend BessyConnect: the VLESS protocol with Reality camouflage, more than 100 servers, no logs kept, registration optional, and a trial period. It has no Windows app; there are apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Android and Android TV.
An honest BessyConnect review: a VLESS+Reality VPN with 100+ servers in 15 countries, apps for iOS, Android and Android TV, and no browsing logs kept. More
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