Best Reviews logo
Best Reviews AI Comparator
Compare VPN services
Best Reviews may receive compensation for its content through paid collaborations. See how we sustain our work & review products.
Proton VPN Reviews

Proton VPN Reviews

By Leo S.Leo S. & Sérgio F.Sérgio F. — Verified by Mary P.Mary P. — Last updated: November 22, 2024 — User Reviews (0)
Overall
4/5
(4.5)
Features
(4)
Price
(4)
Customer Service
Pros
  • Modern, attractive and easy to use
  • Secure Core and customizable profiles
  • Transparent privacy policy
  • Reliable performance
  • P2P and TOR support
Cons
  • Limited free version
  • Live chat only for paying users

Proton VPN was originally created to protect journalists and activists from repressive governments and allow them to communicate safely, but it quickly rose in popularity among a broader audience. Launched by the Swiss company Proton AG in 2017, Proton VPN has everything required to let you browse the internet anonymously without worrying about privacy issues.

This multi-platform and open source VPN boasts above-average speeds, stable connections, no DNS leaks, P2P and streaming support, custom connection profiles, and best-in-class protocols like WireGuard. In addition, Proton VPN offers an unlimited free version and discounts of up to 70% on its paid plans.

70% off Proton VPN with Black Friday deal
Secure your internet connection this Black Friday by getting Proton VPN Plus. Go for a 2-year plan and save 70% on your subscription. Better yet, you have 30 days to test everything for yourself with the company's 30-day money-back guarantee. The offer is live from October 28th until December 2nd.
Save 70% on Proton VPN

Features

Features
Bandwidth
Unlimited
# connected devices
10
Kill switch

Proton VPN's main goal is to ensure its users’ safety and complete anonymity online. In fact, the company provides a handful of features just for that purpose, and when it comes to its privacy policy, this VPN has nothing hidden in the closet.

On top of offering 2FA, ad and malware protection, support for TOR and P2P, and designated servers for streaming, the service also provides a number of optional tools that can be customized according to each user’s taste.

Secure Core

Based in Switzerland, Proton VPN benefits from the country’s strong privacy laws, free from the influence of North American or European regulations. However, these laws don’t apply when connecting servers in regions with extensive surveillance measures.

To fight this, Proton VPN offers Secure Core. It essentially tunnels all traffic through multiple servers instead of directly sending it to its final destination. It works like the multihop feature but, in this case, it only channels traffic through servers located in highly secure, privacy-friendly countries. There are servers in Switzerland, Iceland, and Sweden, which are directly managed and controlled by Proton.

This ensures that even if your connection’s destination is in a less secure country, your data first passes through one of these strongly protected servers. Even if a server is being monitored, the attacker is only capable of following the intercepted traffic back to the edge of the Secure Core network.

This option can be easily toggled on or off in the app and when activated, it shows how your connection is being routed on the app’s world map view. From there, you can choose different routing alternatives according to your preferences.

Customizable connection profiles

On the left-hand side of the desktop client, there’s an interesting tab called Profiles, where users can get creative and customize their connections. It’s a simple tool but it’s great for making everything easier and faster the next time you open the app.

To start off, there are two preset profiles named ‘Fastest’ and ‘Random’, which will either connect to the fastest server or a random one. However, the software really comes into its own when creating a custom profile.

Proton VPN allows you to choose which type of server you want – Standard, Secure Core, P2P, or TOR – and from that moment on, the VPN is yours to build. Depending on your choice, other options become available, such as which protocol, country, and server to attribute to the connection profile. Once a profile is created, it will be placed in the Profiles tab alongside the default ones.

VPN network

VPN network
Countries
U.S., UK, AU, CN, DE, CA, FR, ES
# countries
110+
# servers
8,500+

Proton VPN has over 8,500 servers in more than 100 countries, ensuring worldwide coverage. From the list of servers, each one is signaled with what it supports, like P2P, streaming, TOR over VPN, and smart routing. The latter gives you access to restricted locations by using secure Proton-owned remote servers.

 

Location Download (Mbps) Upload (Mbps) Ping (ms)
San Francisco, CA, U.S. 482 42.4 166
Madrid, Spain 593 198 17
Paris, France 490 108 45

We ran several tests on Proton VPN's servers from Europe, using WireGuard. It wasn’t surprising to see that the closest locations produced the best results. Still, it’s easy to obtain fast connections to other countries, even if they are geographically distant and suffering from high ping levels.

For example, when connecting to Los Angeles, which is over 5,000 miles away from our location, the performance was only hit by 25% with a ping of 166ms. Given how distant we were, we consider this an excellent result; all praise goes to Proton VPN's built-in VPN accelerator.

After conducting all the tests, Proton VPN got an average speed reduction of 19% for downloads and 44% for uploads. As usual, the performance drop for upload is much higher than for download, but it’s still within the expected results for a VPN.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the VPN’s performance was not affected when using Secure Core. Since traffic is essentially routed through at least one more server, it would be expected for it not to perform as well, but our tests proved this to be wrong. In addition, the VPN features a handy kill switch and DNS leak prevention, which didn’t let through a single DNS or even webRTC leak during our testing sessions.

Privacy protection

Privacy protection
SSL
OpenVPN
PPTP
L2TP
Show all

The protection and privacy of its users is where Proton VPN shines the brightest. Since there is no legal expectation to log user data in Switzerland, the company clearly states that it doesn’t collect or store such information. In addition, all connections are fully protected by the high standard of AES-256 encryption with a 2048-bit key exchange and ChaCha20 256-bit stream cypher.

When it comes to VPN protocols, Proton VPN prefers to play it safe and only offers those whose security and reliability have already been proven, like WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.

In addition to being completely open about its privacy policy, Proton VPN is also transparent about all things related to the company, making this information publicly available. Plus, Proton VPN is open source and independently audited with the results report available to everyone.

OS, device support

Platform support
Web app
Mobile optimized
macOS
Linux
Show all
Other devices
Xbox One
PlayStation
Apple TV
Chromebook
Show all

Proton VPN's desktop client is fully compatible with computers running Windows 7+ and macOS 10.12 and above. Alternatively, Linux fans can also install it on their systems via its official GUI client or manually via OpenVPN. Mobile customers aren’t left out either, as there are apps for Android and iOS devices running on at least versions 8.0 and 15.0, respectively.

Additionally, it’s compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromebook, and DD-WRT and Tomato routers, via the available configuration files. Since there’s extensive platform compatibility, the maximum number of simultaneous connections is a generous ten.

Pricing

Pricing
Lowest price
$2.99/mo
Free trial
Money-back guarantee
30 days
Free version

Proton VPN offers plans to suit every type of user. For starters, there’s the free version that allows you to browse anonymously without spending a dime. However, you don’t get access to the VPS’s full potential, with support for only one device and location and no option for manual protocol changes.

Those looking for Proton VPN's full scope of features can get the VPN for as little as $2.99 per month on a 2-year subscription that includes a 70% discount. It offers all the bells and whistles, such as over 110 locations, P2P and streaming servers, Secure Core, and custom connection profiles.

Free Version
$0
Free forever
Unlimited bandwidth
1 location
1 device
Automatic protocol configuration
-
-
-
-
Two Years
$2.99/mo
Billed every 2 years
Unlimited bandwidth
110+ locations
10 devices
Manual protocol configuration
P2P support
Secure streaming
Kill switch
Secure Core
One Year
$4.99/mo
Billed annually
Unlimited bandwidth
110+ locations
10 devices
Manual protocol configuration
P2P support
Secure streaming
Kill switch
Secure Core
One Month
$9.99/mo
One-time payment
Unlimited bandwidth
110+ locations
10 devices
Manual protocol configuration
P2P support
Secure streaming
Kill switch
Secure Core

The other two options are for customers wanting short-term subscriptions with the same feature suite. Proton VPN has a 1-year plan, which includes a discount of 50%, totaling $4.99 per month, and a 1-month plan for $9.99.

Whichever subscription you go for, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee that you can fall back on if you’re not fully satisfied. For payments, Proton VPN accepts credit and debit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and cash.

 

Payment options
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover
Show all

Customer service

Customer support
24/7
Live chat
Email
Phone
Show all

If any questions arise, there are plenty of ways to get help. The site includes a blog, getting started and troubleshooting guides, and useful FAQs. Regarding customer support, there’s an email submission form and live chat, although the latter is exclusively for paying customers.

After contacting Proton VPN via the email submission as a non-paying user, we got a cordial and straightforward reply in less than one hour, which is an acceptable response time.

While its customer support might not be the best in class, Proton VPN has an impressive online presence across social media. It has accounts on most social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube, as well as communities for Discord and Reddit.

Bottom line

Proton VPN isn’t just any other VPN. Most importantly, the company’s privacy policy is 100% trustworthy, leaving customers in safe hands – this cannot be said for all its competitors. In addition, it’s a reliable open source and multiplatform VPN that features plenty of servers and locations with support for P2P, TOR, and streaming via the best performing protocols.

All connections are stable with no DNS leaks and an above-average performance no matter the server you choose. Functionalities like Secure Core and custom connection profiles make it even better, letting you personalize your experience without worrying about having your privacy compromised.

Despite its limited features, the free version is a great way to test the VPN without committing financially. Even if you subscribe, you’re always protected by the company’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, the live chat is only available for subscribers, which some of its competitors offer across all plans. However, this shouldn’t discourage you from trying Proton VPN, as it’s likely you’ll be impressed regardless.

Proton VPN FAQ

Does Proton VPN work in China?
Where is Proton VPN based?
What is Proton VPN's Secure Core?
Which protocols does Proton VPN use?
Is Proton VPN open source?

Why you can trust us

The Best Reviews team researches and tests all products first-hand. We've been reviewing products and services since 2012 and are proud to only publish human-created content.

Recent Updates

See a list of the modifications that were made to this article.
November 13, 2024
Complete overhaul of the review. Overall rating changed from 3.5 to 4.
Proton VPN logo
Free Version

Alternatives to Proton VPN

User Reviews

 Leave a reply
Overall
Overall rating, whether you would recommend it.
Features
Features variety, whether it meets expectations.
Price
Whether it's affordable for the value it offers.
Customer Service
Availability, responsiveness and efficiency.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Best Reviews

Best Reviews may receive compensation for its content through paid collaborations and/or affiliate links. Learn more about how we sustain our work and review products.

©2012-2024 Best Reviews, a clovio brand – All rights reserved
Privacy policy · Cookie policy · Terms of use · Partnerships · Contact us