Proton VPN distinguishes itself in the crowded virtual private network market through two notable characteristics: it’s one of the few VPN services majority-owned by a nonprofit foundation, and it offers a free plan with no data limits. These attributes, combined with strong performance metrics and comprehensive security features, position it as a compelling option for privacy-conscious users.
The service delivers on practical fundamentals—straightforward installation, competitive connection speeds, and robust security protocols. It also provides more server locations in Africa than competing services and is working toward full IPv6 support, indicating forward-looking infrastructure planning. For users interested in torrenting, Proton VPN enables peer-to-peer connections on nearly all servers.
However, the service isn’t without limitations. Applications for Apple systems lag behind their Windows and Android counterparts in features and interface design. Free tier servers can experience noticeable performance degradation during peak usage periods. These drawbacks, while worth noting, represent relatively minor concerns compared to the service’s overall capabilities.
Installation and Interface Design Varies Across Platforms
Proton VPN installs smoothly on Windows with minimal user intervention beyond standard permission grants. The Windows application features an exceptionally well-designed interface that presents the server network as both a list and map, with the location search function, connection controls, and major features accessible from a single window.
The Mac desktop application shares similar functionality but with a less refined layout. Important features remain accessible from the main window, including custom profiles, the NetShield ad blocker, Secure Core servers, and kill switch functionality. However, the interface no longer provides quick filtering for peer-to-peer or Tor-enabled servers except through the profile configuration system.
Android users encounter an interface comparable to the Windows version in quality and usability. Four navigation tabs provide access to the home screen, country list, profile management, and settings. The Android app includes unique profile options, such as an anti-censorship mode that automatically connects to the fastest server outside the user’s current country.
The iOS application mirrors the Windows and Android design philosophy but inherits some limitations from the Mac version, including a more cluttered server list and reduced filtering capabilities for specialized server types. Settings descriptions are displayed openly, creating a denser appearance than necessary.
Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox function as split tunneling tools, protecting only browser traffic while leaving other applications unaffected. Users can further refine protection by configuring the extension to exclude specific URLs, eliminating the need to identify individual IP addresses as required in other applications.
Speed Testing Reveals Strong Performance with VPN Accelerator Technology
Proton VPN incorporates VPN Accelerator technology, which processes VPN communications across multiple parallel channels to enhance speed. Testing focused on smart routing servers—which use servers in one location to simulate IP addresses in another—based in Miami, London, Marseille, Bucharest, and Singapore.
Speed testing on Mac using automatic protocol selection demonstrated that Proton VPN retained 88 percent of baseline download speeds and 98 percent of upload speeds on average. Global latency averaged under 300 milliseconds, with the fastest server achieving 52 milliseconds.
For practical context, users starting with 30 Mbps download speeds would likely maintain sufficient bandwidth for 4K streaming even when connected to any Proton VPN server. The service occasionally exhibited drops to approximately 75 percent of baseline download speed, particularly on the French server in Marseille, though disconnecting and reconnecting typically resolved such issues.
These performance metrics position Proton VPN competitively within the industry, though not at the absolute top tier. The combination of VPN Accelerator technology and thoughtful infrastructure placement delivers browsing performance that should satisfy most users’ requirements without significant compromise.
Security Testing Confirms Reliable Protocol Implementation
Proton VPN employs four VPN protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, and Stealth. OpenVPN provides the most comprehensive security by encrypting both backend functions and transmitted data, while also communicating through ports commonly used for HTTPS traffic, making it difficult to block.
WireGuard offers greater efficiency in both source code and cryptographic implementation. Proton VPN’s implementation addresses WireGuard’s typical requirement for fixed IP address exchanges by overwriting those addresses with randomized alternatives, reducing potential security vulnerabilities.
IKEv2 serves as an occasionally faster alternative to OpenVPN or WireGuard, primarily appearing when protocol selection is set to automatic. Stealth, unique to Proton VPN, shares WireGuard’s architecture but adds an additional encryption layer to evade network blocks targeting VPN traffic, at the cost of reduced speed.
Testing for DNS and WebRTC leaks across all four protocols over multiple days revealed no instances of real IP address exposure. This held true across various server locations, including those potentially managed by third parties outside the Secure Core network. WebRTC leak testing with the browser feature enabled similarly revealed no vulnerabilities.
Proton VPN is progressively implementing full IPv6 compatibility across its platform. Currently, IPv6 functions automatically on Linux applications and browser extensions, with optional activation available on Android. Applications for other platforms continue blocking IPv6 traffic to prevent leaks, though this limitation should resolve as implementation continues.
Packet inspection testing using WireShark confirmed active encryption across all protocol settings, with no plaintext data transmission observed during testing.
Pricing Structure and Free Plan Considerations
Full access to Proton VPN requires a Plus subscription, priced at $9.99 monthly. Annual subscriptions reduce this to $4.99 monthly through a lump sum payment of $59.88. A two-year subscription costs $107.76, averaging $4.49 monthly—offering marginal savings over the annual plan.
Current promotional pricing for select users offers enhanced value: 12-month plans at $47.88 ($3.99 monthly) and 24-month plans at $81.36 ($3.39 monthly). All plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The free plan merits particular attention as one of the most generous offerings in the VPN market. Unlike competitors that impose data limits, Proton VPN’s free tier restricts server access to eight countries: the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Norway, Canada, Poland, and Romania.
Free users cannot select specific servers within these countries; the application automatically connects to the least-burdened available server. This limitation makes the free plan unsuitable for accessing content restricted to specific locations, though a “change server” function allows attempts at finding better connections.
The free tier includes all essential security features, suggesting its design prioritizes privacy and anonymity over content unblocking capabilities. The strategic placement of free servers near regions with internet restrictions (Russia and China) reinforces this interpretation.
Proton Unlimited Bundle Offers Comprehensive Service Integration
Proton Unlimited consolidates all six Proton products—VPN, Mail, Drive, Calendar, Wallet, and Pass—into a single subscription. Pricing stands at $12.99 monthly, $119.88 annually ($9.99 monthly), and $191.76 for two years ($7.99 monthly).
The bundle delivers immediate value for users interested in multiple Proton services. Separate monthly subscriptions to Proton VPN and Proton Mail would total $14.98, making the bundle $2 cheaper while including four additional products. Annual commitments amplify these savings further.
Proton Mail provides end-to-end encrypted email service, preventing Proton from accessing message content while maintaining the ability to identify users through IP addresses. Proton Drive offers encrypted cloud storage with similar privacy protections. Proton Calendar delivers encrypted scheduling capabilities, while Proton Wallet provides self-custody Bitcoin storage independent of exchanges. Proton Pass functions as a password manager with generation, storage, and autofill capabilities.
Privacy Policy Analysis Reveals Transparent Approach
Proton’s privacy framework consists of a general policy applicable across all products and a VPN-specific policy. The general policy acknowledges that Proton tracks user activity on product websites using proprietary marketing tools that exclude IP address collection.
Each account maintains an associated email address, but Proton refrains from connecting IP addresses to those emails unless users violate terms of service. The company explains it can detect abuse without activity logs through real-time monitoring—for instance, identifying DDoS attacks originating from Proton VPN servers during ongoing attacks.
Five third-party data processors (Zendesk, PayPal, Chargebee, Atlassian, and Stripe) handle specific functions, but none can store customer activity data. Proton commits to sharing collected data only in response to legally binding Swiss government requests, and only “until all legal or other remedies have been exhausted.” The transparency report demonstrates the company’s history of contesting court orders when possible.
The VPN-specific policy states explicitly that Proton cannot log user activities or identifiable device characteristics, cannot throttle connections, and must extend full privacy and security to free users. This succinct no-logs commitment has been confirmed through third-party audits, most recently in July 2024.
Server Network Spans 154 Locations Across 117 Countries
Proton VPN’s paid plans unlock access to 154 server locations across 117 countries and territories. The network includes an extensive selection of African locations—more than any tested competitor—along with robust coverage in the Middle East, central Asia, and southern Asia. United States users can choose from 20 different connection points.
Approximately two-thirds of server locations are virtual, meaning they’re not physically situated in the countries they represent. This includes all African servers except South Africa and Nigeria, all South American servers except Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, and all Middle Eastern servers except Turkey, Israel and the UAE. Most Asian locations are also virtual, including South Korea, India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Virtual locations mask IP addresses as effectively as physical servers. Performance implications primarily affect latency expectations for users anticipating the responsiveness of geographically nearby servers. However, Proton VPN’s strong download and upload speed retention typically mitigates distance-related performance concerns.
Notable Features Include NetShield, Secure Core, and Tor Integration
NetShield serves as Proton VPN’s integrated ad blocking system, offering two operational modes: one blocking only malware sites, and another blocking malware, advertisements, and trackers. The feature works by checking DNS requests against databases of known problematic web servers.
This DNS-blocking approach prevents NetShield from blocking advertisements served from the same domain hosting the content—such as YouTube video ads—but enables system-wide protection rather than browser-only coverage. The feature displays running totals of blocked content, though it lacks customizable blocklists and works best alongside browser-level ad blocking.
Secure Core implements multi-hop VPN functionality with additional security considerations. Connections route through designated servers in Iceland, Sweden, or Switzerland before reaching the selected destination server. These intermediate locations feature physical security measures—Iceland’s server operates in a converted military base, while Sweden’s resides underground—and Proton directly owns and operates all Secure Core facilities.
The second hop reduces average connection speeds, but the enhanced security proves valuable for sensitive online activities. Few competing VPN services prioritize physical security measures to this degree.
Standard features include a kill switch that terminates internet connectivity when VPN connections drop, preventing identity or location leaks even momentarily. Split tunneling, available on Windows, Android, and browser extensions, allows selective VPN protection for specific applications or websites while leaving others unprotected.
Proton VPN designates nearly every paid server as peer-to-peer enabled, with only Secure Core and some free servers restricting torrenting. The service maintains 96 percent of upload speeds on average, facilitating efficient file sharing. Windows and Linux users can enable port forwarding through a simple toggle, while Mac users require manual OpenVPN or WireGuard configuration.
Six countries (United States, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Hong Kong) host Tor over VPN servers, enabling dark web access through standard browsers. This configuration provides enhanced privacy by preventing Tor node operators from viewing real IP addresses. The feature functions across all platforms but requires kill switch activation on Mac and iOS.
Customer Support Shows Room for Improvement
The help center organizes content into six apparent categories, though the interface displays only a handful of articles per category unless users employ the search function. This organizational approach creates the impression of limited content—the Troubleshooting category appears to contain only five articles until searching reveals dozens more.
Individual articles demonstrate clear writing and comprehensive coverage of their subjects, though occasional awkward phrasing appears. Until the interface receives updates, users should rely primarily on search functionality rather than category browsing.
Live chat support operates exclusively for paid subscribers, with availability limited to 9 AM through midnight Central European Time. Free users can seek assistance through an active community presence on Reddit at r/protonvpn, where Proton staff frequently participate.
Email ticket submission proved straightforward, with the form automatically populating system information. Response time reached approximately 24 hours, indicating reasonable support team responsiveness within the constraints of limited live chat hours.
Proton Foundation Ownership Provides Unusual Governance Structure
Proton VPN launched in 2017 as the second product from Proton AG, following Proton Mail’s 2014 debut. The company’s founders met while working at CERN in Switzerland, and operations remain under Swiss jurisdiction.
In 2024, Proton announced that the majority of company shares had transferred to the Proton Foundation, a nonprofit entity whose sole purpose involves controlling Proton stock. This structure prevents acquisition by parties opposed to Proton’s privacy mission, as any sale would require unanimous agreement from the entire board of trustees.
Two historical incidents merit consideration when evaluating Proton’s privacy commitments. In 2021, Proton provided Swiss police with a ProtonMail user’s IP address and device logs in response to a French warrant, leading to an environmental activist’s arrest. However, ProtonMail operates under different legal obligations than Proton VPN—Swiss law at that time required email companies to comply with court-ordered data requests, while VPNs faced no such retention requirements.
Swiss regulations have since changed to exempt email providers from data retention requirements, partly due to Proton’s advocacy. A company representative confirmed that “under Swiss law, we are not obligated to save any user connection logs.” Importantly, despite complying with the subpoena, Proton could not access any email content.
In January 2025, researchers alleged Proton VPN lacked memory protection for WireGuard-generated keys, potentially enabling key extraction and communication decryption. Proton’s response clarified that the research only demonstrated public key visibility—unsurprising given their name—while private key access remained undemonstrated. WireGuard’s incorporation of perfect forward secrecy renders stolen keys largely useless through frequent session key rotation.