Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

ExpressVPN vs mySidewalk

ExpressVPN logo

ExpressVPN

Cybersecurity

Consumer VPN registered in the British Virgin Islands, owned by Kape Technologies since 2021, with repeated third-party audits.

From
$6.67/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
mySidewalk logo

mySidewalk

Government

Community data dashboards for local government and public health, prewired to federal datasets

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ExpressVPN ownership passed in 2021 to Kape Technologies, formerly Crossrider, whose earlier browser extension platform was widely used to distribute adware, and Kape also owns VPN review publications, so nominally independent rankings a buyer consults may originate inside the same corporate group.; mySidewalk it produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.
  • They diverge on capability: ExpressVPN covers TrustedServer, mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ExpressVPN and mySidewalk actually diverge.

Attributes where ExpressVPN and mySidewalk differ
AttributeExpressVPNmySidewalk
Starting price$6.67/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Mobile, ApiWeb
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ExpressVPN

  • TrustedServer
  • Lightway protocol
  • Repeated external audits
  • Network Lock
  • Split tunnelling
  • Aircove router
  • Threat Manager
  • Private DNS

Only in mySidewalk

  • Prewired federal datasets
  • Margin of error handling
  • Custom geographies
  • Published dashboards
  • Local data integration
  • Report generation

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ExpressVPN

  • A buyer who wants the largest available body of published third-party audit evidence behind a no-logging claimnot mySidewalk
  • Households wanting whole-network coverage through a router without configuring firmware by handnot mySidewalk
  • Frequent travellers who need connections that survive switching between mobile data and hotel Wi-Fi without droppingnot mySidewalk
  • Non-technical users who want the kill switch and DNS handled correctly by default rather than configurednot mySidewalk

mySidewalk

  • A public health department producing a community health needs assessment on deadlinenot ExpressVPN
  • A city applying for federal funding that requires demographic and disparity evidence for a service areanot ExpressVPN
  • An agency that lost its only analyst who understood American Community Survey margins of errornot ExpressVPN
  • A council wanting published neighbourhood indicator dashboards residents can browsenot ExpressVPN

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ExpressVPN

  • Ownership passed in 2021 to Kape Technologies, formerly Crossrider, whose earlier browser extension platform was widely used to distribute adware, and Kape also owns VPN review publications, so nominally independent rankings a buyer consults may originate inside the same corporate group.
  • In 2021 the company's then chief information officer was named in a United States Department of Justice deferred prosecution agreement over work for a foreign government's offensive cyber programme and remained in post, which is a governance fact that sits uncomfortably alongside a product sold entirely on trust.
  • Audits are point-in-time engagements against an agreed scope, so they establish that specified servers and code matched the stated policy when examined, not that the infrastructure behaves the same way today or under different ownership.
  • Several country locations are virtual, meaning the hardware physically sits elsewhere, and after India's 2022 directive requiring VPN providers to retain subscriber data ExpressVPN withdrew its Indian servers, so an Indian connection is routed through hardware in another country, which matters if you need genuine in-country routing.
  • There is no port forwarding and no dedicated IP option, so seeding torrents, hosting a service behind the tunnel and any inbound connection do not work, and users who need those capabilities have to use a different provider.

mySidewalk

  • It produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.
  • Budget frequently comes from a grant, which means the subscription is exposed when the grant cycle ends rather than being protected as core infrastructure.
  • The prewired datasets are American, so the platform has effectively no value outside United States federal statistical sources.
  • Analytical depth is bounded by what the platform exposes, so an agency with a genuine analyst will hit the ceiling and move to a statistical environment.
  • Small area estimates remain small area estimates, and presenting them as polished dashboards can lend unwarranted confidence to figures whose error bars overlap.

Pricing, plan by plan

ExpressVPN

$6.67/month
  • 1 Month$12.95/month
    • 8 devices
    • 94 countries
    • Unlimited bandwidth
  • 12 Months$6.67/month
    • All features
    • 3 months free
    • Best value
  • 6 Months$9.99/month
    • All features
    • 30-day guarantee

mySidewalk

On request
  • mySidewalk$undefined/year
    • Quoted annually by agency scope and dataset needs
    • Custom geography and local data integration work priced separately
    • No public price list, though agency contracts are public records

Which should you pick?

Choose ExpressVPN if

  • You need trustedserver.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api.
  • You also want lightway protocol.
ExpressVPN review

Choose mySidewalk if

  • You need prewired federal datasets.
  • You also want margin of error handling.
mySidewalk review

Questions people ask

Is ExpressVPN or mySidewalk better?
Neither clearly leads. ExpressVPN starts at $6.67/month and mySidewalk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ExpressVPN or mySidewalk?
ExpressVPN starts at $6.67/month and mySidewalk at On request.
Does ExpressVPN or mySidewalk run on more platforms?
ExpressVPN runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Api. mySidewalk runs on Web.
What is ExpressVPN best used for?
ExpressVPN is most often used for a buyer who wants the largest available body of published third-party audit evidence behind a no-logging claim, households wanting whole-network coverage through a router without configuring firmware by hand, frequent travellers who need connections that survive switching between mobile data and hotel wi-fi without dropping, non-technical users who want the kill switch and dns handled correctly by default rather than configured. Of those, a buyer who wants the largest available body of published third-party audit evidence behind a no-logging claim and households wanting whole-network coverage through a router without configuring firmware by hand are not what mySidewalk is typically brought in for.
What can ExpressVPN do that mySidewalk cannot?
ExpressVPN covers TrustedServer, Lightway protocol, Repeated external audits, Network Lock. mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets, Margin of error handling, Custom geographies, Published dashboards.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ExpressVPN: Who owns ExpressVPN?

Kape Technologies, which acquired it in 2021. Kape was previously named Crossrider and also owns CyberGhost, Private Internet Access and Zenmate, along with the review sites vpnMentor and Wizcase.

mySidewalk: What problem does it actually solve?

Correct use of American Community Survey and federal health data for small geographies, which is difficult and is usually held by one person in an agency.

ExpressVPN: Is the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction actually useful?

It has no mandatory data retention law and is outside the Five, Nine and Fourteen Eyes arrangements, which is the reason it was chosen. It also means limited practical legal recourse for a subscriber, so the jurisdiction protects the company's ability to hold no data rather than protecting you against the company.

mySidewalk: Is it useful outside the United States?

No. Its value is the maintained pipeline into US federal statistical datasets.

ExpressVPN: Has the no-logs claim been audited?

Yes, repeatedly. PwC and KPMG have examined the no-logging claims and the TrustedServer architecture, and Cure53 has reviewed the applications, extension and protocol. The reports are published.

mySidewalk: Who buys it?

Mostly public health departments and city planning or performance teams, often funded from a grant that requires the evidence it produces.

ExpressVPN: Can I torrent with it?

Yes, peer-to-peer traffic is permitted on the network, but there is no port forwarding, so you can download but you cannot accept inbound connections and seeding performance suffers as a result.

mySidewalk: Can we see comparable contract values?

Yes. Agency contracts are public records and appear in council and health board agenda materials.

ExpressVPN: Does it work in China or similar networks?

Sometimes, using obfuscated connection modes, but no provider can guarantee this and availability changes without warning. Treat it as best effort and have a fallback.

Share

Related pages

More on ExpressVPN

More on mySidewalk

Keep looking

Other head to heads