Switzerland is renowned for its stringent privacy laws, making it one of the most favorable jurisdictions for a VPN. In today’s Proton VPN review 2026, we’re discussing one such VPN. Proton VPN’s privacy-first business model is famous. However, it’s hardly all about that; the VPN has made great improvements.
In 2026, it has one of the largest server fleets, substantial speeds, streaming prowess, and even Tor over VPN connections. On top of that, there’s a variety of advanced technologies to keep you anonymous with each connection. During our Proton VPN review, it became one of our go-to options.
In this test, we’ll see how good it is compared to its competitors. We’ll also touch on its free VPN offer with unlimited data, which people seem to like. We have ample ground to cover, so let’s analyze Proton VPN and discuss its features, performance, price, pros, cons, and everything else.
Proton VPN
Proton VPN is among the best VPNs for privacy, security, streaming, and torrenting. It's a jack of all trades at a modest price, with minor shortcomings, such as the lack of SmartDNS and slow-to-respond support. Overall, it stands out as a highly recommended choice.
Pros
- Secure Core (Double hop) servers built for privacy
- NetShield ad/tracker blocker
- Tor over VPN and P2P servers
- VPN Accelerator boosts speeds
- Free plan with unlimited data
- Verified no-logging policy
Cons
- No SmartDNS
- Average customer support
Proton VPN Review: A Quick Look
| 💸 Starting price | $2.99 per month for 24 months |
| 🔖 Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| 🌐 Protocols | OpenVPN, WireGuard, Stealth |
| 🥸 No-log policy | Yes |
| 💾 Servers | 19,800+ in 145 countries |
| ⏸️ Double VPN/Multi-hop | Yes (Secure Core servers) |
| 🦠 Malware/ad/tracker protection | Yes (NetShield feature) |
| 📺 Streaming performance | Great |
| 🔁 Torrenting | Allowed (dedicated P2P servers) |
| ⚡ Speed | Fast |
| ⚙️ Ease of use | Not the best for beginners |
| 💯 Third-party audits | Yes |
| 💻 Supported platforms | Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, routers, browsers, and more |
| #️⃣ Simultaneous connections | 10 |
| ☎️ Customer support | 24/7 live chat, email, help center |
Proton VPN Review: Pricing and Plans
We’ll start this Proton VPN review with its price. The service offers a great free plan that we’ll mention later, but it’s primarily a premium provider. The price you’ll pay for it is worthy of the Premium badge, given the VPN’s qualities we’ll discuss later in this review. Here’s how much it costs at the moment.
Look at the recommended deal from Proton VPN. It’s a 2-year plan that costs $2.99 per month. You’ll be billed upfront around $71.76 for the first 24 months. If the biennial plan is too long, you have the 12-month plan for $3.99 per month or $47.88 paid upfront for a year. In the long run, the biennial plan makes more sense.
Price-wise, it’s close to its rivals, such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN. Both cost around $3 to $3.49 per month in their least expensive plans. However, they cost more if you want more features, making them even pricier than Proton VPN in some instances. But what about Proton VPN’s renewal price?
Its plans renew every 12 months after that, and you’re charged $83.88 in any case. Divide the number by 12, and you get a renewal price of $6.99 per month. Let’s quickly examine its business VPN plans. Proton doesn’t only offer a VPN here. Users can enjoy its Mail & Calendar, Drive, and Pass.
| Biennial | Annual | Monthly | |
| Proton VPN | $2.99 per month | $3.99 per month | $9.99 |
| Proton VPN Business | $6.99-$10.99/mo/user | / | $8.99-$12.99/mo/user |
We’re talking about an email service, cloud storage, and a password manager. These three can be obtained with the VPN in the Proton Unlimited subscription. It’s costlier, though, and the VPN Essentials plan will cost you at least $6.99 per month, with the VPN Professional plan being $9.99 per month.
💰 Proton VPN Trial and Money-Back Guarantee
Proton VPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans, including the monthly one. There’s no free trial, so you must either buy it or test it first using a free plan. Speaking of which, we mentioned it in our Proton VPN review. This plan has unlimited VPN data and is equally secure as the paid option.
However, because it’s free, some corners have been cut. Proton VPN doesn’t let you pick the server location, so you’re locked to the fastest server. However, it offers ten countries, the US, the Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, and a few others, and automatically connects you to one of these.
Another issue is slow speed, which can ruin your day. The free plan isn’t streaming-optimized; it blocks P2P traffic and lacks features like Secure Core servers, Port Forwarding, NetShield, and others, from the premium version.
💳 Payment Methods
Proton doesn’t offer many payment methods, although it has enough. You can pay using credit or debit cards and PayPal. For a VPN that prides itself on being a privacy giant, not offering crypto payments would be crazy. Luckily, it does. You can, however, pay only with Bitcoin, but we won’t be nitpicky.
Frankly, we use PayPal for our VPN purchases, but if you’re a privacy geek and want everything under control, you’ll lament the lack of your beloved cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Dash, Monero, etc.
Proton VPN Review: Ease of Use and Compatibility
After trying out its apps, we were pleasantly surprised by how capable they are. All Proton VPN’s apps look stunning and grace us with their presence on all devices. The screenshot shows you its Windows app, which looks modern and sleek. The same goes for mobile apps with snappy, one-tap connections.
We must praise Proton VPN’s support for Linux. It’s the best VPN for Linux with a proper GUI, which lets even beginners use the service without issues. Throughout our test of Proton VPN, we had zero issues with its apps. This is also true because you get the same features on mobile and desktop systems.
Proton VPN’s device compatibility is great overall, and users can use it on:
- Windows, macOS, and Linux computers and laptops
- Android and iOS tablets and phones
- Gaming consoles (PS, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- Routers (pfSense, AsusWRT, DD-WRT, FreshTomato, MikroTik, OpenWRT, etc.)
- Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave)
- TVs (Android Smart TV, Nvidia Shield TV, Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, etc.)
The provider supports OpenVPN and WireGuard on routers. However, you need a router that supports WireGuard in this case. Simultaneous connections are capped at ten, more or less, an industry standard. The free plan is locked to one. For unlimited connections, you can use Private Internet Access or Surfshark.
Proton VPN Security Review 2026
We move on to the Proton VPN review of security features. This will be the most interesting part. Our team has been with Proton VPN since its inception, so we have witnessed some interesting improvements in this field. We love how the VPN progressed, and its trajectory is going in the right direction.
Here’s what we think of its security features based on our first-hand experience.
✅ Basic VPN Features
When it comes to basic features, Proton VPN is no slouch. Like its popular rivals, it includes well-known features, some of which are in the free plan, as well:
- 256-bit encryption. It’s the most powerful encryption in the world. Being impenetrable by brute force, worldwide authorities and the military use it to keep their vital information confidential.
- Automatic Kill Switch. A standard VPN feature that shuts down the internet if the VPN connection drops to prevent IP leaks. There’s even the Advanced version, which prevents you from going online unless you connect to a VPN. In our Proton VPN test, the kill switch worked well after we deliberately shut down the VPN. Ten out of ten times, it reacted timely and prevented malicious leaks.
- NetShield. It’s an ad blocker that also blocks malware and trackers. It’s a basic feature because it’s easily enabled and works in the background, plus, many VPNs now offer ad blockers, as well. Unlike NordVPN’s Threat Protection, it doesn’t display blocked threats. Also, it’s not available in the free plan.
- DNS and IPv6 Leak Protection. It needs no special explanation. When enabled, these two prevent the leakage of your DNS and IPv6 addresses.
- Split Tunneling. It allows you to exclude or allow the apps or IPs to use the VPN tunnel. During our test, we used this feature for local banking and shopping sites where we didn’t need to change our IP address.
⭐ Advanced Security Features
Proton VPN’s advanced security features are what make it worth a shot. In this part of this full Proton VPN review, we’ll discuss both its active and passive features that make it stand out among the army of run-of-the-mill VPNs.
🔒 Secure Core Servers
Secure Core servers are the highlight. They’re similar to Double VPN or Multi-Hop, and in the same fashion, they route traffic through multiple servers before it reaches its destination. As a result, no one can trace the origin of the traffic. These servers have additional encryption, and because of that, they’re a tad slower.
In our Proton VPN test, the speed reduction wasn’t dramatic, but it was noticeable. However, this isn’t the goal of these servers. The goal is to get you online anonymously and without snoopers breathing down your neck. Secure Core servers are in hardened data centers in Sweden, Iceland, and Switzerland.
They’re used in pairs with regular servers to establish a connection. For example, you can select the US server via Iceland, Sweden, or Switzerland. This means your traffic will be routed first through one country and then the other before it reaches the destination. With the two thick encryption layers, you’re basically a ghost.
Let’s also mention that these servers are owned and fully operated by Proton VPN. So, this isn’t your standard Multi-hop or Double VPN, which we’ve seen in NordVPN, Surfshark, and other providers with this feature.
🌐 Advanced Protocols (WireGuard + OpenVPN UDP/TCP)
From our experience with Proton VPN, it works best when using WireGuard. However, the provider also has the Smart option, which assigns you the protocol based on numerous parameters. In most cases, the VPN will use WireGuard. Some servers are more optimized for OpenVPN, so it may opt for UDP or TCP.
We noticed that UDP is slightly faster, while TCP was great for reliability and sometimes bypassing firewalls. It’s noteworthy that WireGuard is allowed on all devices, and when we tested its VPN on iOS and Android, it worked without issues.
🥷🏻 Obfuscation Methods
Proton VPN can also obfuscate your VPN traffic and make it look regular. For this, the VPN has the Stealth protocol, which the VPN offers on macOS. Nowadays, you can use it on all supported devices, with varying degrees of success. We’ll discuss that later. Another method, which isn’t obfuscation, is Alternative Routing.
The main purpose is to get you to Proton’s site if it’s blocked, but the provider claims it’s also good for general restrictions. We tested Alternative Routing in China, but the results weren’t great. More about that near the end of our in-depth review of Proton VPN. So, are the two features any good?
Yes. Proton VPN is a great VPN to use in school for bypassing network restrictions. Similarly, it bypasses network filtering and other light restrictions at workplaces and other institutions. We even noticed that it works in a few censored countries, so its presence isn’t in vain. We’ll deepen the story later.
👀 Dark Web Monitoring
Dark Web Monitoring isn’t an in-app feature. It’s found if you log in to your account from the website. You can, from here, enable Dark Web Monitoring with a click and protect your private information from public eye exposure. It works the same as the Dark Web Monitor from NordVPN or Alert from Surfshark.
If your private information is exposed, the Dark Web Monitor informs you, letting you take action by changing your credentials if the email or password is compromised. In our test, the tool found nothing because we used a new email address that we usually don’t associate with anything other than VPNs.
🔗 Private DNS + Custom DNS Options
Private DNS servers are used for added privacy. They handle your DNS requests and prevent third-party DNS services from seeing them. For added customization, the provider allows you to use a custom DNS server. After trying out a few, we can tell you from experience that Proton VPN’s DNS is the best option.
You have to really trust a specific DNS to use it, and since most will track you in some way and store your sensitive data, this isn’t the smartest option. As you’ll see soon in this Proton VPN review, the provider’s no-logging policy is perfect, so you can be sure nothing is stored on its servers.
💻 Forward Secrecy
Forward Secrecy, also known as Perfect Forward Secrecy or simply PFS, is another feature worth mentioning. Proton VPN prides itself on using this feature to protect you against data breaches by assigning unique encryption keys to each connection. One connection with a specific encryption key will be unique.
Once the connection is stopped, the encryption key is deleted and never used again. Even if the encryption key is compromised, which is impossible, it would be useless
🗄️ Full Disk Encryption
Proton VPN took a different approach to many of its competitors. Most VPN use diskless or RAM-based servers. Proton VPN relies on traditional hard drives, claiming that RAM doesn’t have any specific advantages. However, this isn’t your typical hard drive setup, because the VPN uses full disk encryption.
With this complex technology, Proton VPN stores config files and server certificates on the exit server to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. The attacker can’t steal the server certificate and compromise the server as a result, making Proton VPN’s servers bulletproof. These servers aren’t used in all countries.
Instead, Proton VPN reserved them for high-risk countries with frequent data breaches and surveillance. For instance, one such country is Russia, where the authorities are notorious for anti-privacy practices. Full disk encryption is an interesting concept, and you can learn more about it on Proton VPN’s site if you want.
IP and DNS Leak Test Results: Ironclad Security
An integral part of our review of Proton VPN is an IP and DNS leak test. We performed quite a few tests, testing all 145+ countries that the VPN offers. For simplicity, we’ll show you our test results with the US server, which were excellent.
The screenshot shows us the first Proton VPN test performed on ipleak.net, a famous IP/DNS Leak Tester. You can see only US IP addresses here, and no trace of our native IP or DNS, which was in Europe at the time.
Using another website, browserleaks.net, yielded excellent results. Again, we faced no leaks, as Proton VPN effortlessly preserved our privacy and ensured the much-needed anonymity expected from this company.
Does It Store Logs? Proton VPN Privacy Review
When we discovered that Proton VPN doesn’t store logs, we were all but surprised. After examining its background, the surprise factor dwindled further. We explained that the VPN is from Switzerland, a country with privacy laws so strong that the authorities can’t and won’t impose logging obligations on the VPN services.
Interestingly, another provider, PrivadoVPN, is also from this country. This VPN is another no-log option with extremely strong privacy and security. So, this is no accident. Proton VPN’s parent company is Proton—again, a Swiss cybersecurity giant. More impressively, the provider’s VPN apps are open-source.
We have three important factors—a Swiss jurisdiction, Proton, as a reputable company, and its open-source nature. All three are screaming security and privacy, ensuring us that a VPN would never store logs. You’d be a fool for not trusting it.
📜 Proton VPN Privacy Policy Review
The first glance at the privacy policy gave us goosebumps. It’s so short, yet so concise. The privacy policy states that Proton VPN doesn’t keep any logs of your:
- IP address (originating + VPN IP)
- DNS requests (DNS queries)
- Visited websites (and download history)
- Traffic and communications
- Session length
- Location-based information
Logging is minimal, and Proton VPN stores only necessary data. This data includes your email address and basic payment information, which must be familiar to the provider for it to work. Proton VPN has proven its claims in 2019 in a case in which it was ordered to submit the collected logs to identify a user.
The company couldn’t comply because it held no logs on its servers. Besides, let’s not forget its open-source apps. Cybersecurity experts can, if they want, examine all of them and get proof of the provider’s security and privacy. However, we don’t think that’s necessary given its outstanding reputation online.
✅ Third-Party Audits
Our Proton VPN analysis of the privacy policy is nearly done—we have to mention its independent audits. In 2023, a famous auditor called Securitum audited the provider’s no-logging policy. Securitum is founded by CERN scientists and is a well-respected company consisting of experts in the cybersecurity field.
Earlier in 2020, the provider had another independent audit from SEC Consult on its apps for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. All four received praise from SEC Consult. For all the reasons we discussed, Proton is an excellent no-logs VPN.
Proton VPN Review: Server Locations
With its server fleet constantly expanding, Proton VPN has arrived at an imposing number of around 19,800+ servers in 145+ countries. This server network is far larger than that of ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and even NordVPN. Best of all, this is a quality network with a capacity of over 23 Gbps.
However, Proton VPN’s server variety is commendable, with dedicated servers for specific purposes, as seen in CyberGhost and NordVPN:
- P2P/Torrenting servers
- Tor Over VPN servers
- Secure Core servers
The latter are welcome to use Tor and venture into the dark web. The former two are typical for premium providers. We mentioned Secure Core servers earlier, and currently, there are 131 of them in 68 countries. After testing the majority of server locations, we found that the server distribution is phenomenal.
Namely, Proton VPN has over 5,800 servers in the US, considerably more than most of its rivals. Also, it offers locations in many censored regions. They include Russia, the UAE, Turkey, India, and others. So even if you’re a demanding user, finding a server location that suits your needs will be pretty simple.
Proton VPN Speed Test Results Review
It’s time to unravel our speed test results in this Proton VPN review. We’ll begin by displaying our native internet speed without using a VPN. At the time, we were in Belgrade, and after evaluating our connection on Ookla’s Speed Test website, we received the results below. Now, onto the procedure.
Our team tested Proton VPN for three days in a row, three times a day by connecting to three server locations: the UK, the USA, and Japan. We also used the Smart protocol option, which meant that the VPN decides on the protocol. All speed tests were performed with the VPN Accelerator ON.
These are our best results from the extensive 72-hour test.
UK Speed Test Results:
US Speed Test Results:
Japan Speed Test Results:
Based on our tests and overall experience, we’re satisfied with the provider. Its speeds aren’t the best compared to NordVPN and ExpressVPN. However, the speed reduction isn’t dramatic in most cases. We’ve had an anomaly where the US server was faster than the UK server despite the former being farther from us.
| UK Server | US Server | Japan Server | |
| ⬇️ DL Speed Loss | 51.6% | 23.9% | 65% |
| ⬆️ UL Speed Loss | 6% | 41.1% | 17.5% |
Proton VPN performed well, with stable connections and a lag-free experience. It’s not particularly great for gaming, but if you value this trait, you’ll want NordVPN instead. Glance at our NordVPN speed test results here.
Streaming and P2P With Proton VPN: How Good is It?
Proton VPN’s powerful servers reassure us that it’s reliable for streaming and P2P. Starting with streaming, we had a solid ride within this Proton VPN review. Netflix worked if that’s your concern. We unblocked catalogs from the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, while the Japanese library was a bit problematic.
Our experts tested other platforms, such as Hotstar, Max, and BBC, all of which would work flawlessly. Pluto TV is in this group too, as can be seen in the screenshot below. By working flawlessly, we don’t mean just unblocking the streaming service. The experience, in terms of smoothness, is also great.
We experienced occasional buffering of two to three seconds, but only when using servers farther from us, with higher latency. Torrenting support is vital for Proton VPN as a premium service. With or without Port Forwarding, torrenting is a breeze.
We used a server in Serbia and downloaded Linux Mint in no time. The speed reduction was hardly noticeable, except for upload speeds that dwindled a bit. This, after all, isn’t too important for torrenting for many of you.
Proton VPN can be compared to the top-rated VPNs in torrenting and streaming. A few options are better, such as NordVPN and Surfshark, but it’s hard to say anything bad about Proton VPN, due to its improvements in this field.
Proton VPN Review: Bypassing Censorship
It’s that time for the Proton VPN review, where we’ll discuss the uselessness of this provider’s anti-censorship features. After testing the VPN in China, we discovered that it wouldn’t work. We tested Stealth and Alternative Routing without success. Proton VPN actually has a handy guide on its site.
It explains precisely what we tried: Connecting with Stealth or using Alternative Routing. But based on our experience, at least in April 2026, we couldn’t make it work. Besides, the VPN is honest enough to admit that it’s not 100% reliable in China (no provider is). It just explains the best approach.
For more information, we have a guide on using a VPN in China. In that guide, we present a few of the most dependable providers that work better than Proton VPN.
Proton VPN Review: Customer Support
Proton VPN’s customer support isn’t the best. If you haven’t bought it yet, you’ll be locked to email support, which can be slow to respond. Only customers are allowed to use 24/7 live chat support, and by customers, we of course mean paid customers. So again, if you’re a free user, live chat support is a no-go.
This is in stark contrast to Hide.me, which doesn’t exclude 24/7 live chat support from its free users. Live chat support is okay, but not impressive. It is helpful enough. On its site, you’ll find a wealth of guides in the Support Center. They will help you unblock streaming services, get a refund, troubleshoot issues, and so on.
The provider is available on other platforms, such as Mastodon and Reddit. Reddit users often communicate with Proton VPN’s developers and troubleshoot their problems. We found that the provider is talkative on Reddit and ready to help and answer many feature requests, so that’s a plus.
Proton VPN Review 2026: Our Final Thoughts
At the end of our Proton VPN review, we’ll answer the question from the start. Is the provider worth your money, and is it any good? To both questions, we’ll answer positively. Proton VPN is an amazing option with ample security and privacy features, decent performance, and a massive worldwide server network.
Ultimately, you can’t blame Proton VPN for anything serious. Its speed isn’t the best, it lacks Smart DNS, and it doesn’t work in China. But for most people, including our experts, these are nitpicks and don’t detract from the overall experience. Let us not forget how much this VPN actually costs, only $3 or so per month.
You could say Surfshark is a better and cheaper VPN, and NordVPN may offer more for just a bit higher price. However, as a whole, even if you decide on Proton VPN and not these, you’ll still be impressed. Click below to get a discount on Proton VPN or get a free plan as a Proton VPN free trial for testing.