Surfshark vs ExpressVPN

Start with the recurring annoyance you actually want gone. Surfshark removes paid-plan device counting; ExpressVPN gives you Smart DNS for devices where a full VPN app is awkward.

No simultaneous-device arithmetic

Surfshark's paid plans do not make you count simultaneous devices. ExpressVPN uses a connection cap rather than an unlimited-device model. If the VPN is going onto a busy mix of phones, laptops, tablets, and TVs, that is a small convenience you can feel every day.

Multi-hop is another direct difference

Surfshark has a confirmed multi-hop route in the current feature set. Built-in multi-hop is not part of ExpressVPN's confirmed feature set. It only matters if you deliberately want more than one VPN hop, but it is a cleaner separator than comparing two long feature lists.

Smart DNS is actually part of the toolkit

ExpressVPN includes Smart DNS in its current streaming toolkit. Smart DNS is not part of Surfshark's current feature set. If the hard part is a device that does not take a normal VPN app neatly, that can be more useful than another connection slot.

Jurisdiction points in a different direction too

ExpressVPN is registered outside the Five/Nine/Fourteen Eyes surveillance alliances. Surfshark is registered in a Five/Nine/Fourteen Eyes member country. Treat that as one documented factor, not a magic privacy shield, but it is a real structural difference if jurisdiction is something you weigh.