Proton VPN Review

Proton VPN is a reliable VPN offering robust privacy and security features and a large server network of over 9900 servers in 117 locations. The service supports WireGuard for high-speed performance and offers specialized features like Secure Core servers for enhanced privacy protection.

Proton VPN offers a free version in five countries with limited server access, including the US, the Netherlands, Romania, Japan, and Poland. The VPN's Stealth technology will protect you from bypassing geo-restrictions if you want to watch Netflix in different regions, play video games, or play poker. This means you'll also be rerouted through an encrypted tunnel because your IP address won't show your real location, ensuring your online activities are private and anonymous. Moreover, its no-logs policy, NetShield ad-blocker, and VPN accelerator for faster speeds provide strong security and an enhanced browsing experience. However, the interface can feel less intuitive, and it could be challenging for beginners to navigate through the app.

To share my first-hand experience, I subscribed to Proton VPN's Unlimited plan to test its performance and contacted customer support to clarify its features. I was impressed with the helpful responses, and after thorough testing, I'll share my insights in my Proton VPN review.

Proton VPN overview

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Proton VPN pros and cons

To give you a truly detailed Proton VPN review, I purchased its Unlimited plan, which has all the service's features. Of course, I also checked the free version to see its capabilities, and I compared both plans with the other VPNs. Additionally, I checked Proton VPN security features, server reliability, connection speeds, and the functionality of additional features such as the NetShield ad & malware blocker, VPN accelerator, and Quick Connect. So, here’s what I liked and disliked about Proton VPN:

Here are my key takeaways after testing both paid and free Proton VPN plans:

• Security. Proton VPN is a very safe and secure VPN featuring bank-grade AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption, advanced tunneling protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN, and an ultra-reliable kill switch. On top of it, Proton VPN has a third-party audited no-logs policy and offers anonymous cryptocurrency payments.
• Price + free version. Proton VPN isn’t the cheapest VPN around with the Unlimited plan priced at $3.59/month, especially when you compare it to what the industry leader NordVPN offers at $3.39/month. However, the price-to-feature ratio is quite reasonable if you’re looking for a security-oriented service. On the other hand, Proton VPN also has one of the best free versions around, with no daily data cap and all the key security features but a limited number of servers and no ad blocker.
• Speed. The paid Proton VPN version has an 86% initial speed retention rate on average with the WireGuard protocol. That is great news if you want your VPN to perform streaming, downloading, and torrenting. However, other Proton VPN protocols like OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec, and Stealth aren’t as speedy, and you shouldn’t expect such great retention rates with them. Lastly, with the free version and the limited choice of servers, the speeds are yet slower, making it not really reliable for streaming, downloading, or torrenting tasks.
• Ease of use. While I can’t say that Proton VPN is not user-friendly, its interface is somewhat cluttered and not as intuitive as those of its competitors. For instance, Surfshark probably has the sleekest and most beginner-friendly apps compared to what I tried. With Proton VPN, I had to spend a bit of time trying to understand where features are located and how to manipulate them. That’s why I think it might not be the easiest to use if you’re just starting with VPNs.

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Proton VPN price: one of the most expensive VPNs, but has a free version

Proton VPN services start at $3.59/month, and you can choose between two plans called Plus and Unlimited. I tested the Unlimited plan, which costs $7.99/month and includes Proton Mail Plus, Proton Drive Plus, Proton Pass, Proton Wallet, and Proton Calendar features. However, Proton VPN is not the cheapest VPN, especially compared to other affordable VPNs, like Bitdefender, which costs $2.92/month.

Proton VPN comes with an easy-to-implement 30-day money-back guarantee as any trustworthy VPN provider should. However, its premium plan doesn't offer a free trial.

Here’s how the pricing and features of available Proton VPN plans compare:

The free version of Proton VPN offers a solid, unlimited bandwidth and no-ads experience with no logs and a strict privacy policy. However, it limits you to one device, has fewer server locations, and lacks premium features like Proton Mail, Proton Drive, and Proton Calendar. The Plus and Ultimate plans unlock access to more servers, ad and malware blockers, VPN accelerator, and support for up to 10 devices. For the full suite of features, including Proton Mail Plus and Proton Drive Plus, you'll need the Unlimited plan. Many users find Proton VPN's pricing excellent for its value and features.

Proton VPN accepts credit/debit cards and PayPal payments. If you want to purchase your VPN anonymously, you can also pay for your chosen plan with Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a trustworthy free VPN service, Proton VPN has one of the best offerings in the industry.

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Free Proton VPN review: the best free VPN in the market

Proton VPN has the best free VPN version in the market simply because it’s so trustworthy and comes with no data limit – a real rarity with free VPNs. Additionally, the free version comes with router support, a verified no-logs policy, DNS leak prevention, and a very reliable kill switch. And yes, you can trust the Proton VPN free version because the provider has a strict no-logs policy, is based in user-friendly Switzerland, and is regarded as a highly secure service.

Of course, the Proton VPN free version also has limitations. With it, you can only choose from servers in 5 countries (the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, and the US), severely limiting geo-unblocking capabilities. It also lacks the NetShield ad and malware blocker and can only be used on one device.

With all that in mind, I had no trouble browsing safely while on the free plan. I also didn't encounter any significant connection delays, but my streaming experience was a bit subpar, interrupted by lagging and buffering. So, to sum up, if you want a safe, secure, and trustworthy free VPN strictly for browsing, Proton VPN is the best available choice.

Is Proton VPN safe?

Proton VPN uses the industry-standard WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec, and Stealth protocols at their highest encryption settings. These protocols are known for their safety, trustworthiness, and reliability.

In addition to these reliable protocols, Proton VPN uses AES-256 and ChaCha20 for data encryption, which are impenetrable. However, Proton VPN couldn’t be called one of the safest around without an ultra-reliable kill switch, DNS leak protection, and the Tor over VPN anonymity network connection, which I found a particularly nice addition for security and anonymity. It also has a reliable IP masking feature and a Stealth mode capable of bypassing almost all VPN blocking methods.

As for Proton VPN legitimacy, it's a trustworthy service created by a team of CERN (the European Center for Nuclear Research) scientists based in Geneva, Switzerland. To further support its claim of trustworthiness, it is a well-known fact that one of its advisory board members is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Lastly, most Proton VPN users review the service in a very positive light.

Proton VPN privacy – does not log user activity or IP addresses

Proton VPN has a third-party verified no-logs policy. Here’s what it means: a no-logs policy claims that a VPN does not log, use, or keep any of its users’ data for any purpose. However, without a third-party review, a claim is just a claim, and you can never be sure that the provider keeps it. When it's verified, like in the Proton VPN case, you can be sure your data won’t end up someplace you wouldn’t want.

Proton VPN doesn't keep or track, sell, or steal any of the user information, as stated on its official website. This secure no-logs policy make the user’s traffic unkown and unobtainable by any third-party entities, the VPN provider itself, or the government.

On top of that, Proton VPN is a Swiss-based provider. That means, it falls under the EU laws of safe data management and is not part of the Eyes Alliances. All in all, Proton VPN is regarded to be an extremely safe VPN choice.

Can Proton VPN be detected?

Proton VPN is hardly detectable to ISPs and is capable of bypassing almost all VPN blocking methods. But before I jump into technicalities, here’s how a VPN works in a nutshell:

1. When you connect to a VPN, it encrypts your data before it even leaves your device.
2. The encrypted data is sent to a secure “tunnel” created by the VPN.
3. The VPN server you connected to assigns you a new IP address, masking your real location and identity.

Now, back to Proton VPN features which makes it undetectable. First, there’s the alternate routing feature. Simply put, if the software can’t connect to its own servers due to blocking, it routes your connection through third-party services that are unlikely to be blocked.

Second, Proton VPN has a Stealth protocol. This unique protocol allows users to bypass most firewalls and VPN blockers. It makes VPN traffic look like regular traffic, tricking otherwise restricted pages into letting you in.

With the paid Proton VPN plans, I had no issues unblocking different Netflix libraries, such as Netflix Brazil, USA, Japan, and Germany. Plus, streaming on BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, and Hulu was a breeze. So, my testing proved that Proton VPN can hardly ever be detected.

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Proton VPN servers – has 11,802 worldwide servers

Proton VPN server count is 9900 across 117 countries. Here’s where and how many of them are:

Another cool thing is that Proton VPN has 107 Secure Core servers in 68 countries. These servers route all network traffic through privacy-friendly countries like Switzerland or Iceland for an additional layer of safety and security. Proton VPN also owns and operates these servers, which is one more step forward towards ultimate user safety. However, they’re only available with the Plus plan.

Proton VPN comparison with other VPNs

Proton VPN has the most advanced free version compared to other services, with no data limits and some server choices. However, the paid plans are steeper than the industry average. Like all the top providers, Proton VPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee for a no-strings-attached experience.

Streaming with Proton VPN – perfect for unblocking regional content

If your main use for VPN is to stream geo-blocked content, then I have good news to share: Proton VPN is great for streaming and accessing restricted content. With 9900 servers in 117 countries, an alternate routing feature, and a Stealth protocol, you can unlock all the most popular libraries of the biggest streaming platforms.

In addition to the most popular UK and US libraries, I tried unlocking Netflix in Japan, Brazil, and Germany. To my delight, it was a huge success, and I streamed my movies without any interruptions, lag, or buffering.

The VPN Accelerator feature is a real-deal sweetener. It adds a couple of percent to the initial data retention score, upping it to an avarage of 88%. This feature is the key to a smooth streaming experience in the Proton VPN case.

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Torrenting with Proton VPN: works only with paid version

Yes, Proton VPN supports torrenting, but only for paid plans. Proton VPN doesn't have a lot of P2P dedicated servers, and the only ones optimized for such traffic are in:

Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, United States, and the United Kingdom.

The average download speed for Proton VPN is around 148 Mbps, with the faster server located in the UK coming in at 152 Mbps. Additionally, Proton VPN has a split tunneling feature for you to browse at full power while downloading on your internet. Lastly, the port forwarding feature comes in very handy if you find yourself behind a firewall and need to seed for better download speeds. While testing, I had no problem downloading torrents with Proton VPN, although it worked a bit slower than NordVPN. Nonetheless, it proved to work just fine for the task.

Proton VPN speed – excellent speed test scores

For this Proton VPN review, I performed my speed tests on a Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen2 device (AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U processor, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) with the Windows 11 Pro operating system installed. I checked the download and upload speeds and initial speed retention rates in Australia, the UK, the US, and Germany.

My initial download speed at the time of the test was 193 Mbps download and 196 Mbps upload, and here are the numbers I got while with Proton VPN:

These numbers are excellent for any provider and are achieved by Proton VPN’s reliable server network, modern tunneling protocols, and unique features, such as the VPN Accelerator, for improving connectivity. I can safely say that these speeds are more than sufficient for streaming, downloading, and torrenting.

Next up were the initial speed retention rates, and here’s what I got:

Because Proton VPN operates on the proprietary WireGuard protocol, it was no surprise it performed pretty well on my speed tests. However, switching to other protocols, especially Stealth, will lower all speeds accordingly, and your own results might vary depending on your location, ISP, software, time of day, and other factors.

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Proton VPN features: has a great collection of advanced features

Together with the expected security features such as a kill switch and ID protection, Proton VPN has a great collection of advanced features. Here are some that are truly useful and unique to the provider:

Secure Core servers. Secure Core servers route all network traffic via servers based in privacy-friendly countries like Iceland and Switzerland. This means that if you connect to a Secure Core server, your data will be protected by another layer of privacy and security. Proton VPN has 107 of these servers spread across 66 countries. However, they are only available for users with paid plans.

Tor over VPN. Tor Browser, or The Onion Router, is an open-source web browser where users can browse entirely anonymously. With Proton VPN, you don’t have to have a browser; the service itself has built-in Tor support. This means that if you want to, you can route your traffic through the Tor anonymity network and access Onion sites with one click.

VPN accelerator. This nifty feature increases VPN connection speeds by overcoming CPU limitations that affect how VPNs are processed. In fact, this accelerator allows VPNs to redesign themselves on the go, thus reducing any existing deficiencies. It also speeds up downloading and uploading operations, especially when connecting to further-located servers.

Proton VPN Mobile app – works with iOS and Android

IOS and Android Proton VPN apps look the same, with the same functionalities inside. What surprised me was that the mobile apps seemed clearer and more intuitive than the desktop ones, which is rare.

Both the iOS and Android Proton VPN apps offer similar functionality, which isn't always the case with other services. Users can select between WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols, and both versions include a working kill switch (although Android users need to enable it manually). You can also connect to Secure Core servers. A neat addition for iOS users is the ability to turn the Proton VPN app into a widget for quick access. Overall, the mobile apps provide almost the same features as the desktop version.

You can download the Android app from Google Play or the provider’s website. To find the iOS app, go to the Apple App Store.

How to use Proton VPN on iPhone and Android

Here’s how to use Proton VPN on iPhone and Android:

1. Head to Google Play if you’re an Android user or to Apple App Store if you’re on iOS
2. Download the Proton VPN app.
3. Register an account and choose your preferred plan.
4. Log in to the app.
5. Choose and connect to your preferred server.
6. Enjoy enhanced security!

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Proton VPN desktop app – some features differ between Windows and Mac

All Proton VPN apps are open-source and audited for additional affirmation of their security. As for their looks, both Windows and Mac desktop apps look the same. However, the design seemed cluttered, and the navigation somewhat lacked intuitive. All that aside, they’re still very functional and get the job done.

The Windows desktop app has the most advanced feature set, including alternate routing, split tunneling, and custom DNS servers. Thus, Windows users get the most features for their money.

The MacOS app has all the core features, such as a kill switch, alternate routing, ad-blocker, Stealth protocol, and more. However, Mac users cannot access Ipv6 leak protection, split tunneling, and Custom DNS servers because these features aren’t currently supported on the macOS version.

You can find both of the apps on the Proton VPN official website and download them from there.

How to install Proton VPN on a computer?

Proton VPN is compatible with Windows, MacOS, and Linux computer operational systems, and the installation process is the same for each of them. Here’s what you should do:

1. Go to Proton VPN website and download the application.
2. Install the application on your device.
3. Create an account and choose your preferred plan.
4. Log in and connect to your chosen server.
5. Browse securely and safely!

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Extensions for Chrome and Firefox

Proton VPN offers Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, which are great if you want a lighter solution or your operating system is too old to support a full VPN app. Both extensions are available for the Plus and Ultimate plans, meaning you can’t get them with the free version.

Naturally, an extension offers slightly fewer features, but it still provides all the essentials. You can choose the Secure Core servers with it, set up the Auto Connect feature, and use Split Tunneling for more efficient internet speed division.

Proton VPN’s browser extension treats each instance as a separate connection, but this doesn't limit the number of tabs you can open. Sadly, though, there is no extension for the Safari browser as it has major technical constraints.

Both extensions are user-friendly and don't require an IT specialist to implement. While I prefer the full Proton VPN app for its enhanced security features, the extensions work excellently for casual activities like streaming.

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Proton VPN customer support: great email support, but lacks 24/7 live chat

If you run into trouble while using Proton VPN, here are your options for contacting customer support:

The fastest way to get help is usually the live chat option. However, Proton VPN does not offer this service 24/7, so if you’re trying to contact them over the weekend or anytime other than 9-5 on a workday, then you won’t get a fast response. Proton VPN also has email support, a knowledgebase, FAQs, and a dedicated subreddit to supplement this limited-time live chat. I tried emailing the service and was happy to get my answer within an hour. That said, the next time I tried it, I had to wait the whole day. Nonetheless, the customer service professional was very polite and knowledgeable, effortlessly helping me with a complex situation.

If you’d like, you can also look for an answer in the Proton VPN knowledgebase which is full of well-written explanatory articles, check out the FAQs, or scroll through the dedicated subreddit.

Proton VPN's customer support may not be the fastest, but it's reliable and effectively meets most users' needs.

Proton VPN review summary

Proton VPN is the ideal choice for users seeking a VPN that prioritizes security. Its third-party audited no-logs policy, robust AES-256 encryption, and comprehensive security features provide strong protection for your online activities.

While Proton VPN's paid plans are slightly more expensive than many competitors, it provides excellent streaming, downloading, and torrenting performance while maintaining high security. Plus, its free version stands out with no data or speed limits, ads, or logs, making it one of the best free VPN options available.

Therefore, Proton VPN could improve a few areas, including customer support response times and desktop app interfaces. Despite these drawbacks, Proton VPN remains a user-friendly, secure, and versatile VPN with outstanding streaming capabilities, making it a trustworthy choice for those seeking comprehensive privacy and online freedom.

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You might also like to read:
NordVPN vs. Proton VPN
Proton VPN vs. ExpressVPN
Proton VPN for torrenting
Most secure VPNs
Best VPN for crypto trading

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FAQ

Can you trust Proton VPN?

Yes, you can trust Proton VPN because it’s a Swiss-based provider with a strict, third-party audited, no-logs policy. With the AES-256 and ChaCha 20 encryption and Secure Core servers, you can be sure all your privacy and security needs are met.

Is Proton VPN legal?

Yes, Proton VPN is legal in most jurisdictions. However, VPNs are banned in several countries, including Belarus, Iran, Iraq, and Turkmenistan.

What are the disadvantages of Proton VPN?

Proton VPN is quite expensive compared to other services in the industry. Additionally, the customer service responses could be faster, so bear that in mind if you’re prone to running into trouble with your VPN.

Can I be tracked with Proton VPN?

No, your internet activity cannot be tracked while using Proton VPN. A VPN masks your IP address and encrypts your network traffic, rendering it impossible for ISPs or any other entities to perceive you if they should try to access it.

Can Netflix detect Proton VPN?

No, Netflix cannot detect Proton VPN. Proton VPN is very successful in unblocking geo-restricted content and employs a Stealth mode that makes VPN traffic look like regular traffic. So, while some VPNs might struggle to be detected by VPN blocks, that isn't the case with Proton VPN.

Is Proton VPN safe or not?

Yes, Proton VPN is safe. The service has a strict, third-party audited no-logs policy and is based in Switzerland, a privacy-friendly country that is currently not in any Eye Alliance. So, you can rest assured that your data won’t be exploited and that the service is entirely legitimate.

Is Proton VPN really free?

Yes, Proton VPN has a completely free version. This version comes without any data limits and you can choose from 5 servers to connect to. However, if you’d like more server choices, including the Secure Core ones, a well-functioning ad & malware blocker, and better download speeds, you should try the Proton VPN Plus plan for $3.59/month and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

What are the cons of Proton free VPN?

Proton VPN's free version has some limitations, including access to only 5 server locations and slower connection speeds. It also lacks ad and malware protection, P2P servers for torrenting, and less effective geo-unblocking capabilities. That said, it’s still one of the best free VPN services you’ll find, as it’s safe, trustworthy, and reliable.