Proton VPN evaluate: Nice paid plan, even higher free plan

Finest Costs At present: ProtonVPN

Proton VPN in short:

• P2P allowed: Sure
• Gadget connections: 10 simultaneous connections
• Enterprise location: Switzerland
• Variety of servers: 20,000+
• Variety of nation areas: 191
• Price: $9.99 monthly, $59.88 for 1 12 months, or $107.76 for two years

Whenever you use a third-party VPN it’s a must to place a specific amount of belief in your service supplier. Some firms make that actually arduous by hiding who they’re or complicated you with opaque information assortment insurance policies. Then there are providers that make trusting them straightforward — like Proton VPN.

Swiss firm Proton offers admirable transparency with all of its apps, even taking the additional step to make all of them open supply. In a VPN market the place everyone seems to be out to make a fast buck, Proton looks like an anomaly. Its privacy-focused providers genuinely appear to need to make the web a greater place.

Learn on to be taught extra, then see our roundup of the very best VPNs for comparability.

What are Proton VPN’s options and providers?

What’s new with Proton VPN?

Proton VPN has been busy within the final 12 months. The service has massively upgraded its server community to over 20,000 servers throughout 191 areas. It additionally added DNS-filtering to its ad-blocker function to filter subdomains on high of root domains.

It revamped its Home windows and iOS purposes to look extra like its fashionable Android interface. It now sports activities a streamlined dwelling display screen that features extra information metrics in your connection together with present visitors and complete visitors in addition to server load.

Moreover, Proton VPN expanded the servers obtainable with its free tier as much as 10—doubling the 5 that it used to have. These embrace new servers in Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, and Singapore.

Proton VPN arms on

Sam Singleton

Proton VPN for Home windows opens by displaying an interactive map of the world with dots signifying the international locations the place there can be found servers. Within the center is a Join button with a drop-down menu above it to shortly choose between Quickest nation, Random location, and Final connection.

On the left rail are your connection choices and obtainable servers. You’ll be able to scroll down the record of all obtainable international locations or click on on the tabs for Safe Core, P2P, or Tor optimized servers.

For more information about every nation’s particular servers, you’re capable of click on on the downward-facing arrow to the fitting of every nation title. This shows helpful info comparable to precise server location by metropolis, present server load, and details about potential “Sensible Routing.” That is Proton’s approach of claiming whether or not the server is digital and if that’s the case, the place it’s truly bodily positioned.

When you hook up with a server, the map transforms, displaying a line to your digital location and the house image on the high heart of the map. Beneath the map you’ll see connection info comparable to session length, up and down bandwidth volumes and speeds, in addition to a bandwidth utilization graph.

Within the final 12 months, Proton VPN has as soon as once more considerably elevated its server community. Whereas server community measurement shouldn’t be fully indicative of an excellent VPN, it does normally translate to decrease common server masses, and extra choices to hook up with servers nearer to your bodily location—that means sooner common speeds.

Proton VPN additionally presents a Safe Core function, which is a multi-hop VPN connection that funnels you thru two completely different VPN connections slightly than one to extend anonymity. The inclusion of multi-hop is welcomed, however providers comparable to Surfshark go even additional by permitting customers to customise their route by selecting their begin and finish factors. 

Proton VPN says Safe Core passes your visitors by way of “privateness pleasant international locations” (Iceland, Sweden, and Switzerland) earlier than reaching the endpoint. The intention is to guard a person’s privateness as a lot as potential and defend towards community visitors monitoring. Proton VPN says that this technique makes it tougher for an attacker to find a person’s true IP tackle or try and match shopping exercise to the person.

If TOR is your factor, Proton VPN helps TOR-friendly connections on particular servers. These may be discovered below the Tor tab on the homescreen.

There are additionally the same old VPN options comparable to DNS leak safety, an web kill change that halts your web entry ought to the VPN connection drop, and NetShield for blocking malware, advertisements, and trackers on the server stage.

Sam Singleton

The service additionally presents break up tunneling to decide on particular apps to route into or outdoors of the VPN in addition to an space to vary your VPN protocols.

Lastly, if you wish to use completely different VPN connections primarily based on contexts comparable to dwelling, work, or journey, Proton VPN allows you to set profiles utilizing the tab within the left rail. Right here you’ll be able to lock in settings for every profile comparable to which servers to hook up with, protocols to make use of, and connection sort—Customary, Safe Core, P2P, or Tor.

Past VPN configuration, ProtonVPN additionally touts the safety of the information facilities it makes use of in Iceland, Sweden, and Switzerland—all of that are sturdy private privateness respecting international locations. 

These are a group of knowledge facilities in former army bases, transformed fallout shelters, and different hard-to-reach areas. The implication being that these servers are bodily, in addition to digitally safe. Simply in case, you understand, you occur to reside within the Fallout universe you’ll be able to relaxation assured your information will nonetheless be secure.

Proton VPN is accessible for Home windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linus, sensible TVs, and a few routers. For the needs of this evaluate, I examined the Home windows and Android app variations.

How a lot does Proton VPN price?

There are a number of subscription ranges for Proton VPN and value will range with every. The fundamental free subscription is simply that, free. Without charge, you’ll get a one-device connection restrict and entry to 10 servers positioned all through the world. 

Regardless of this you’ll be able to’t truly select your server; as an alternative, Proton VPN will routinely join you to the optimum server relying on your own home location. These restrictions would possibly sound restrictive, however they’re par for the course with most free VPNs. Moreover, Proton VPN greater than makes up for them with its different free subscription choices. 

The free tier is mercifully devoid of advertisements and abides by the identical no-logs coverage of the paid tiers. It additionally imposes no information or cut-off dates—a rarity amongst free VPNs. General, you get lots for paying nothing and it’s simply the most suitable choice for a reliable free VPN.

The following step up is the VPN Plus plan and it offers the complete VPN expertise for $9.99 monthly, one-year subscription at $59.88 ($3.99 monthly), or a two-year subscription for $71.76 ($2.99 monthly).

The very best-tier plan is named Proton Limitless and it offers not solely the VPN, but in addition provides you entry to Proton’s full suite of providers together with Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, Proton Move, and Proton Pockets. This can set you again $12.99 monthly or $119.88 ($9.99 monthly) should you go along with a one 12 months subscription.

On the entire, I wouldn’t name Proton an affordable VPN, however it’s extra inexpensive than another premium providers. And should you like what Proton stands for, then the Proton Limitless plan provides you good worth on your cash with all the further providers.

For funds, ProtonVPN accepts bank cards, PayPal, and Google Pay. 

How is Proton VPN’s efficiency?

As all the time, when testing a VPN’s speeds I measure connection speeds for a number of days throughout its servers in numerous international locations around the globe after which evaluate them to my baseline web pace.

Proton VPN’s speeds had been spectacular. In the course of the exams, Proton VPN was capable of keep 65 p.c of the bottom obtain pace and 72 p.c of the bottom add pace. That places it firmly within the high 5 speediest performers, proper up there with NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and different top-tier providers. For extra blazing-fast providers you’ll be able to take a look at our record of the quickest VPNs.

The speeds had been additionally extremely constant. Usually with VPN connections, servers which can be additional away are slower, however with Proton, just about each server I examined around the globe had comparable pace outcomes. Proton attributes a lot of this consistency to VPN Accelerator, a proprietary know-how designed to enhance speeds on long-distance connections by optimizing routing and decreasing latency. 

Sam Singleton

It ought to be famous that should you resolve to make use of Proton’s Safe Core function which offers further privateness, it’ll incur a noticeable pace penalty because of the further routing hop.

With these outcomes, Proton VPN presents unbelievable speeds for what most individuals want to do with a VPN—shopping, streaming, and torrenting. The plain caveat being that pace outcomes can change primarily based on the potential of your gadgets in addition to your location, dwelling web connection, and total person visitors on a given server.

As for players, latency remained low sufficient for on-line gaming on most servers, although aggressive gamers will nonetheless discover some improve in comparison with an unprotected connection—it comes with the territory when gaming with a VPN. 

For unblocking streaming content material Proton VPN handed with flying colours. I used to be capable of entry streaming providers comparable to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney Plus, and HBO Max.

I used to be even capable of entry these streaming providers with no hitch utilizing Proton VPN’s free model as effectively. Contemplating there are not any information limits or cut-off dates, this simply makes it the highest free VPN for streaming.

How is Proton VPN’s safety and privateness?

Sam Singleton

Proton VPN offers each WireGuard and OpenVPN protocol choices and its personal proprietary protocol referred to as Stealth. Stealth is touted as an “undetectable VPN protocol that may bypass most firewalls and VPN blocking strategies.” 

This new protocol is open supply and may be significantly helpful in international locations or networks the place VPN visitors is actively detected and blocked. 

It’s not simply the protocol, however in reality all Proton VPN apps are open supply. Because of this impartial researchers can examine the code for vulnerabilities or hidden performance, additional bolstering Proton’s app safety credentials.

Proton VPN makes use of fashionable encryption requirements, together with AES-256 with OpenVPN and ChaCha20 with WireGuard. It additionally comes with a reliable killswitch that labored flawlessly in my testing, stopping any unintended IP tackle leaks throughout an web disconnection. Moreover, throughout testing I detected no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks. 

Proton VPN’s privateness coverage states that the corporate doesn’t observe your shopping exercise, your IP tackle, or bandwidth utilization. It does observe geographical distribution information on its customers at an aggregated, international stage. It says that it makes use of this information solely to assist allocate sources and to counteract authorities makes an attempt to dam Proton VPN.

To again up its no-logging coverage claims, Proton VPN has undergone a number of impartial safety audits over time, most lately in June 2026 by impartial safety agency Securitum. It additionally publishes an up-to-date transparency report as effectively.

Proton VPN is managed by Proton Applied sciences AG and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Since Proton is predicated out of Switzerland, it operates below a number of the world’s strongest client privateness protections and out of doors the most important intelligence-sharing alliances—it’s not a present member of the 5, 9, or Fourteen Eyes. So, you’ll be able to really feel secure that your information shouldn’t be going to be logged or shared whereas utilizing Proton VPN.

General, Proton VPN offers wonderful privateness protections. Nevertheless, it falls simply in need of the lofty requirements set by Mullvad, our favourite VPN for privateness, which presents an nameless account system and money cost choice.

Is Proton VPN price it?

ProtonVPN is, merely put, a unbelievable selection for a VPN service. Whether or not you’re excited about safety, privateness, or streaming, it’s arduous to go improper right here. Plus, it presents the very best free VPN plan available on the market—you’ll get a variety of the advantages provided by the paid service with out having to open up the pockets. 

Its solely drawbacks are its premium pricing and the truth that some superior options aren’t obtainable throughout each platform. However these shortcomings do little to decrease what’s in any other case a wonderful VPN.

Customers who need the broadest function set should still lean towards NordVPN or ExpressVPN, however anybody who values transparency and privateness above all else will discover Proton VPN tough to beat. Proton is a superb VPN for individuals who desire a supplier they will genuinely belief with out giving up quick speeds, sturdy streaming assist, or a succesful free plan. 

Editor’s word: As a result of on-line providers are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this evaluate is topic to vary with a purpose to precisely replicate the present state of the service. Any adjustments to textual content or our ultimate evaluate verdict will likely be famous on the high of this text.