- NordVPN expanded its network with 211 new servers
- It now directly competes with ExpressVPN and PIA in the United States.
- It still lags behind ProtonVPN in terms of national coverage
NordVPN has expanded its server network by adding 211 server locations worldwide and significantly strengthening its presence in the United States.
With this upgrade, TechRadar’s best VPN on the market takes the top spot in terms of geographic coverage, with NordVPN surpassing the previous leader, ExpressVPN, which remains in second place with 189 locations covered.
The network expansion also sees NordVPN catch up with ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) by offering servers in every US state, directly vying for the crown of best US VPN app.
While celebrating its victory, the VPN continues to strive to win another race: consolidating its position in as many countries as possible, a challenge that many consider even more important and in which NordVPN currently holds second place.
Conquer the world
The number of VPN server locations is often touted as a key selling point by VPN providers. A larger network significantly improves the speed of VPNs because data passes through more servers for lower latency, while bypassing geopolitical restrictions to strengthen anti-censorship capabilities.
For NordVPN, 211 locations represent a pretty big leap over 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 considerable jump. There was a total 46 new additions since then. Locations in previously discovered new countries include Barbados, Ivory Coast, Fiji, Mauritius, Togo, Chad and Suva.
In the WEthe VPN has gone the extra mile and now covers every state in the country. Until now, only ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access could make this claim.
US users will be happy, with coverage now covering the less populated cities of Lewiston, Fargo, New Haven and Providence, up to the more populated cities of Las Vegas, Detroit, New Orleans and Portland.
The race continues and new VPNs could further change this range.
Proton VPN, for example, has also recently expanded its server networks, increasing its number of server locations from 164 to 188 over the past six months. Other VPNs have moved more slowly: Surfshark, for example, has only added one location, while ExpressVPN has added two.
Another race to win
However, many would argue that the number of countries covered by a VPN is more important than the number of locations it serves – and that’s a fair observation.
Covering a wide range of countries is particularly important to ensure 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 in a specific geographic area in order to access certain resources, such as streaming services Amazon, Netflix, or HBO, which require the user to be in that country.
The least obvious aspect concerns security. In this case, what matters in terms of security and privacy when using a VPN often depends on the entry and exit points of the network. For example, if all servers were located in a single country, the country itself could monitor entry and exit points and be able to correlate this data.
It should be noted that while physical servers must follow local rules for data monitoring and retention, virtual server locations do not. Companies like NordVPN, Proton VPN, and other secure services typically choose this option to offer local IP addresses to people living in authoritarian countries, while avoiding compliance with their intrusive regulations.
And if countries gain locations, then the clear winner 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 may be far from over.
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