- NordVPN has expanded its network with 211 new servers
- It now competes directly with ExpressVPN and PIA in the US
- It still lags behind ProtonVPN in terms of country coverage
NordVPN has expanded its server network by adding 211 server locations worldwide and significantly strengthening its presence in the US.
With the upgrade, TechRadar’s best VPN on the market takes the top spot in terms of geographical coverage, with NordVPN overtaking the previous leader, ExpressVPN, which remains in second place with 189 locations covered.
The network expansion also sees NordVPN catching up with both ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) in offering servers in every US state, directly competing for the crown as the best US VPN app.
Whilst celebrating its victory, the VPN continues to strive to win another race: to consolidate its position in the highest number of countries, a challenge that many regard as even more important, and in which NordVPN currently still ranks second.
Taking over the world
The number of VPN server locations is often touted as a key selling point by VPN providers. A more extensive network significantly improves VPNs’ speed as data passes through a wider number of servers for less latency, while bypassing geopolitical restrictions to boost anti-censorship capabilities.
For NordVPN, 211 locations represent a pretty stark surpassing of other VPNs — for example, ExpressVPN currently covers 189 locations, Proton VPN 188, Surfshark 142, and PIA 152.
When comparing NordVPN’s server footprint from October 2025 to April 2026, the newly supported locations represent a massive leap. There were a total of 46 new additions since then. Locations in new countries previously uncovered include Barbados, the Ivory Coast, Fiji, Mauritius, Togo, Chad, and Suva.
In the US, the VPN has gone the extra mile, and it now covers every state in the country. Until now, only ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access could make this claim.
US users will be pleased, with coverage now spanning the less populated Lewiston, Fargo, New Haven, and Providence, to the more populated Las Vegas, Detroit, New Orleans, and Portland.
The race continues, and new VPNs might again change this line-up.
Proton VPN, for example, has also recently expanded its server networks, increasing its number of server locations from 164 to 188 over the last six months. Other VPNs have moved more slowly: Surfshark, for example, has added just one location, whilst ExpressVPN has added two.
Another race to win
However, many would argue that the number of countries a VPN covers is more important than the number of locations it serves — and it’s a fair observation.
Covering a wide range of countries is particularly important for ensuring greater IP security and broader coverage. Users turn to a VPN for a variety of reasons: for example, they may need to spoof their location to a specific geographical area in order to access certain resources, such as Amazon, Netflix, or HBO streaming services, which require the user to be in that country.
The less obvious aspect concerns security. In this case, what matters for security and privacy when using a VPN often depends on the network’s entry and exit points. For example, if all the servers were located in one country, the country itself could monitor the entry and exit points and might be able to correlate that data.
It’s worth noting that while physical servers must follow local rules on surveillance and data retention, virtual server locations do not. The likes of NordVPN, Proton VPN, and other secure services generally choose this option to offer local IPs to people living in authoritarian countries, while avoiding compliance with their intrusive regulations.
And if countries win over locations, then the undisputed winner here remains ProtonVPN, with a presence in 145 countries, far ahead of NordVPN with 135 countries. In comparison, Surfshark has 100 countries, and ExpressVPN has 108 countries — but the race might be far from over.
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