A nonprofit service with premium efficiency

Proton VPN stands out for 2 essential causes: it is one of many solely digital non-public networks (VPNs) to incorporate a free plan with no information limits, and it is one of many few companies majority-owned by a nonprofit. It is the most effective VPN in each of these classes, and it makes a robust case for being the most effective general.

Even when you do not care concerning the work of the Proton Basis, Proton VPN is a service price utilizing. It is simple to put in and handle, runs just like the wind and meets excessive requirements for safety and privateness. It has extra IP places in Africa than any of its opponents. It is even trying towards the long run by working towards full IPv6 help.

Briefly, Proton VPN will get our enthusiastic advice, particularly for torrenting (which it helps on nearly each server). It is not excellent — the apps for Apple methods lag behind their Home windows and Android counterparts, and the free servers could be noticeably sluggish — however the cons pale compared to the professionals. We’ll get into all of it under.

Editor’s word (9/23/25): Editor’s word: We have overhauled our VPN protection to offer extra detailed, actionable shopping for recommendation. Going ahead, we’ll proceed to replace each our best VPN list and particular person evaluations (like this one) as circumstances change. Most lately, we added official scores to all of our VPN evaluations. Take a look at how we test VPNs to be taught extra concerning the new requirements we’re utilizing.

Desk of contents

Findings at a look

The desk summarizes what we discovered whereas reviewing Proton VPN, each good and unhealthy. Preserve it open in a tab whilst you comparability store for a VPN.

Putting in, configuring and utilizing Proton VPN

This part explains the way it feels to run Proton VPN on the varied platforms it helps. As a rule, it isn’t troublesome. Proton VPN has extra options than ExpressVPN, and a few them would possibly journey up new customers, however you’d have to actually scrounge to seek out an precise inconvenience to complain about.

Home windows

Proton VPN installs simply on Home windows — you will must grant it permission to make modifications, however that is it. As soon as you’ve got signed in on the app, you will attain the most effective interfaces we have tried on a VPN. The server community is straight away seen as each an inventory and map, and the situation search bar, join button and main options are all laid out across the identical window.

It is truthfully superb how a lot you’ll be able to attain from the launch window with out something feeling cluttered. They even squeezed in keyboard shortcuts for the search area. We additionally love that settings open in the identical window, since coping with each the principle VPN app and a separate preferences panel can get annoying. Our solely actual gripe is that there must be a neater strategy to alter the dimensions of the map.

Mac

The desktop app for Mac is not fairly as deftly laid out because the Home windows app. You may attain many of the necessary options from the principle window, together with Profiles, NetShield, Safe Core servers and the kill change. Nonetheless, there isn’t any longer a strategy to filter out an inventory of the P2P or Tor servers, besides by digging by the Profile controls. On the plus facet, you’ll be able to alter the dimensions of the map, so it is now a viable various to the server checklist.

The opposite preferences are hidden within the menu bar — go to Proton VPN > Settings to succeed in them. They’re specified by 4 tabs, and should not take greater than a minute to undergo at setup.

Android

The Android app takes the identical design cues because the Home windows app, and works as nicely. 4 tabs alongside the underside change between the house display screen, the nation checklist, Profiles and all different settings. You may search the checklist of nations by tapping the magnifying glass on the top-right. In one other good contact, tapping the dots by any digital location will let you know the place the server is bodily positioned.

Android customers get some nifty unique Profiles, together with “anti-censorship,” which routinely connects to the quickest nation apart from the one you are in. The Settings tab is a single menu with subheadings and no pointless complication.

iOS

Proton VPN for iPhone and iPad seems to be nearly the identical because it does on Home windows and Android, however with a few of the identical drawbacks discovered on Mac. The server checklist is extra cluttered, and as soon as once more there isn’t any straightforward strategy to sift out the P2P and Tor places.

The Settings tab places all of the function descriptions within the open, which makes it look denser than it’s. However these are minor quibbles — that is nonetheless a VPN that is very straightforward to activate and neglect about.

Browser extensions

Proton VPN has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. These function de facto break up tunneling, as connecting by the extension protects solely browser site visitors; every thing else goes unprotected. You may break up the tunnel additional by setting the VPN to not work on sure URLs (in contrast to the opposite apps, you need not know the IPs of these websites).

Proton VPN pace check: Impacts of VPN Accelerator

We used Ookla’s Speedtest app to find out how a lot Proton VPN drags on a consumer’s latency, measured in milliseconds (ms), and obtain and add speeds, measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Collectively, these three stats present whether or not a VPN will noticeably decelerate your web, particularly throughout demanding duties.

We had excessive hopes for Proton right here due to its VPN Accelerator expertise, which runs VPN communications throughout a number of parallel tracks to course of every thing quicker. It did not disappoint — for probably the most half. Though obtain speeds did not attain the heights we saw from ExpressVPN, Proton VPN’s searching efficiency nonetheless seems to be glorious almost throughout the board.

To decide on our places for the check, we checked Proton VPN’s checklist of smart routing servers, which use servers in a single nation to simulate IP addresses in one other. Nearly all of the sensible routing servers are primarily based in 5 cities: Miami, London, Marseille, Bucharest and Singapore. We ran these checks on a Mac utilizing the automated protocol setting.

Proton VPN seems to be excellent in that desk. Its common obtain pace was 88 % of our unprotected speeds. To place that in perspective, when you began with 30 Mbps down (about half what we get) and linked to any Proton VPN server, you’d nearly actually nonetheless have a quick sufficient connection to stream in 4K.

Notice the “nearly” — Proton VPN did drop noticeably on its French server in Marseille. It is not unusual for considered one of a VPN’s information facilities to have bother whereas the others work high-quality, and you’ll often repair the issue by simply disconnecting and reconnecting. Simply word that whereas drops to about 75 % of your obtain pace are uncommon, they don’t seem to be inconceivable.

Proton VPN safety check: Watertight protocols

Once we speak about VPN safety, we’re actually speaking about reliability. Can this VPN set up an encrypted tunnel and transmit all of your data by it, each time, with out leaks or failures? With Proton VPN, we’re completely happy to say the reply is sure; we probed its safety and located no cracks to talk of. Learn the part under for specifics.

Proton VPN protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and Stealth

Proton VPN makes use of 4 VPN protocols to speak between your units, its servers and the web. Three of them (WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2) are widespread decisions with no severe flaws so long as they’re carried out thoughtfully. The fourth, Stealth, is an obfuscation protocol it’s best to solely use if the opposite three are blocked.

• OpenVPN is probably the most safe choice. With out getting too technical, OpenVPN encrypts its backend capabilities in addition to the info itself, which leaves it with no apparent vulnerabilities. It may possibly additionally talk utilizing the identical ports as widespread HTTPS site visitors, so it is arduous to dam.

• WireGuard is extra environment friendly than OpenVPN, each in its supply code and the cryptography it makes use of. It usually requires an alternate of fastened IP addresses, however the Proton VPN implementation overwrites these IPs with randomized addresses, reducing the safety danger.

• IKEv2 is a protected alternative that is often quicker than both OpenVPN or WireGuard. You in all probability will not use it until it occurs to come back up whilst you’ve set the protocol to Good. As such, it is on the way in which to being phased out of Proton VPN.

• Stealth is exclusive to Proton VPN, although its operate shouldn’t be. It is received the identical structure as WireGuard, however provides one other TLS tunnel to evade community blocks that catch VPN site visitors. That additional encryption slows it down, so we do not advocate utilizing it until the opposite three protocols do not work.

The primary choice on the app, referred to as “Good,” shouldn’t be a protocol — it means your VPN consumer selects the protocol that offers you the most effective speeds in your present server. Since all 4 protocols are protected, there isn’t any draw back to utilizing the Good setting more often than not.

Leak check

We used AirVPN’s IP leak tool to test all 4 of Proton VPN’s protocols for DNS and WebRTC leaks. Proton VPN makes use of its personal DNS servers to scale back the chance of sending unencrypted requests, however since leaks are nonetheless attainable, we examined utilizing a easy methodology: checking our seen IP deal with earlier than and after connecting to the VPN.

Regardless of testing a number of places over three days, we by no means noticed our actual IP deal with present up on the instrument. This held true even exterior the Safe Core server checklist, the place information facilities might need been managed by third events. It is not excellent proof, nevertheless it’s an excellent signal that Proton VPN enforces a constant safety regime on all its servers.

We additionally used BrowserLeaks to test for WebRTC leaks. These are primarily a difficulty on the browser facet, however a VPN is doubly necessary in case your browser occurs to be leaking. We enabled WebRTC on our browser and examined the identical set of Proton VPN servers with out springing any WebRTC leaks.

Proton VPN and IPv6

Proton is engaged on making its whole VPN appropriate with IPv6 addresses. If a VPN that is solely configured for IPv4 has to resolve an IPv6 deal with, it will probably trigger a leak — that is why most VPNs, even the most effective ones, block IPv6 altogether. That mentioned, the entire web will run on IPv6 someday, so it is good to see Proton VPN main the pack.

To this point, IPv6 is routinely enabled on Proton VPN’s Linux apps and browser extensions, and could be optionally activated on its Android app. The Proton VPN apps for all different platforms nonetheless block IPv6 site visitors, however this could hopefully change quickly.

Encryption check

Even when a VPN’s protocol decisions are stable, it is attainable for particular person implementations of these protocols to fail. We used WireShark, a packet inspector app, to check whether or not Proton VPN’s encryption labored it doesn’t matter what settings have been in place. We’re completely happy to say we by no means noticed plaintext as soon as.

How a lot does Proton VPN price?

To get full entry to Proton VPN, you will want a Plus subscription, which prices $9.99 monthly. You may knock off half that value by subscribing for a full 12 months and paying a lump sum of $59.88, figuring out to $4.99 monthly. A Plus account with Proton VPN additionally provides you free entry to each different Proton app.

You may as well pay $107.76 prematurely to subscribe for 2 years, a mean of $4.49 monthly — maybe extra handy, nevertheless it would not prevent a lot. The one-year plan is the most effective worth, although it is also good that you do not have to pay by the nostril for just one month. There is a 30-day, money-back assure on all plans.

Proton VPN is currently offering Engadget readers an exclusive deal that gives a 12-month plan for $47.88 ($3.99 monthly) and a 24-month plan for $81.36 ($3.39 monthly). Learn more about it here. One ultimate choice is the Proton Limitless subscription, mentioned within the “facet apps and bundles” part under.”

The Proton VPN free plan

Proton VPN is likely one of the greatest free VPNs in the marketplace proper now. No different VPN backed by as a lot expertise and logic has a free plan with no information limits. As an alternative of capping how a lot information you should use monthly, Proton VPN restricts which servers free customers can entry, limiting them to 5 nations: the US, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.

The irritating half is you can’t select which of those servers you utilize; Proton VPN simply auto-connects to whichever one is the least burdened. A Proton consultant advised us that this alteration goes together with enhancements to the choice algorithm, higher load balancing and the addition of the Poland and Romania places. It’s also attainable to strive for a greater connection by clicking “change server.”

The actual fact stays, although, {that a} free Proton VPN plan is ineffective for unblocking content material in particular places — however this can be by design. The free plan appears extra aimed towards privateness and anonymity than streaming, and the position of the free places close to Russia and China displays that. Free Proton VPN plans do not sacrifice any important security measures.

Proton VPN facet apps and bundles

Proton VPN’s essential bundle is Proton Limitless, which will get you all six Proton merchandise in a single bundle: VPN, Mail, Drive, Calendar, Pockets and Move. This prices $12.99 for a month, $119.88 for a 12 months ($9.99 monthly) and $191.76 for 2 years ($7.99 monthly). We can’t be going in-depth on any of them on this assessment, however here is a fast rundown of every.

• Proton Mail: An end-to-end encrypted electronic mail service. Proton can nonetheless see a Mail consumer’s actual IP deal with, however cannot learn any of their messages.

• Proton Drive: Encrypted cloud storage. As with Mail, Proton can establish customers, however cannot learn any of the content material they retailer.

• Proton Calendar: An encrypted scheduling app with occasions and reminders.

• Proton Pockets: A self-custody pockets for storing Bitcoin unconnected to any alternate.

• Proton Move: A password supervisor that generates, shops and autofills passwords for on-line accounts.

Even when you solely want two of the six, Proton Limitless saves you cash. Separate month-to-month subscriptions to Proton VPN and Proton Mail would price a complete of $14.98, so you’ve got already knocked off $2 monthly. That will increase when you’re in a position to decide to a 12 months prematurely.

Shut-reading Proton VPN’s privateness coverage

Proton’s privateness coverage is available in two elements: the general Proton policy and the shorter coverage specific to Proton VPN. We’ll cowl them in that order.

Normal Proton privateness coverage

Proton tracks consumer exercise on its product web sites utilizing its personal advertising instruments; the info set collected doesn’t embrace IP addresses. It retains an electronic mail deal with linked to every consumer’s account, nevertheless it’s not allowed to attach IP addresses (and thus identities and places) to these emails until the consumer breaches the phrases of service.

It’s possible you’ll rightly ask how Proton would know a consumer is abusing considered one of their companies if they do not maintain exercise logs. The reply is that logs aren’t wanted; most types of abuse could be detected in different methods and noticed in actual time. For instance, if somebody used a Proton VPN server to launch a DDoS assault, the staff might examine that server and discover the hacker whereas the assault was nonetheless ongoing.

The coverage goes on to checklist the 5 third-party information processors Proton makes use of (Zendesk, PayPal, Chargebee, Atlassian and Stripe), none of whom are allowed to retailer buyer exercise information. Proton cautions that it’s going to share what information it does have in response to unblockable requests from the Swiss authorities, however not “till all authorized or different treatments have been exhausted.” That is customary for a VPN that wishes to stay in enterprise, and the transparency report reveals the corporate does certainly struggle courtroom orders when it will probably.

Proton VPN privateness coverage

Proton’s VPN-specific privateness coverage is sort of brief. It states that Proton can not log consumer actions or identifiable traits of units linked to the VPN, can not throttle web connections and should lengthen full privateness and safety to free customers.

In a single sense, a privateness coverage requires you to take the VPN supplier at their phrase, nevertheless it’s harmful for an organization to make guarantees they do not intend to maintain. The coverage is legally binding, and breaking it’s grounds for a lawsuit. Proton VPN’s succinct no-logs coverage is due to this fact an important signal. It is also been confirmed a number of instances by a third-party audit, most lately in July 2024.

Can Proton VPN change your digital location?

Testing a VPN’s skill to masks a consumer’s location is not advanced — all you want is a streaming subscription. We linked to 5 check places and tried to unblock Netflix with each. If we managed to entry the positioning, and noticed totally different reveals than these on the American library, we concluded that the situation had masked us efficiently.

Proton VPN handed the check each time in all 5 places. The one hiccup got here in Romania, which we selected as a result of it is one of many free places. The app linked us to a free server, which was too sluggish to load Netflix; once we selected a paid server, the issue disappeared.

Investigating Proton VPN’s server community

Proton VPN’s free plan consists of servers in 5 places: the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, the US and Japan. Once you join as a free consumer, you will be routinely linked to whichever location is quickest.

A paid plan opens up the complete community of 154 servers in 117 nations and territories. The menu consists of an enormous collection of African places, greater than any VPN we have examined in a while. The Center East, together with central and southern Asia, are additionally nicely represented, and U.S. customers will discover 20 totally different places to select from.

Take into account that about two-thirds of those server places are digital, that means they don’t seem to be bodily positioned the place they declare to be. This consists of all of the African servers besides South Africa and Nigeria; all of the South American servers besides Brazil, Colombia and Argentina; and all of the Center Jap servers besides Turkey, Israel and the UAE. A majority of the places in Asia are additionally digital, together with South Korea, India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

To be clear, digital places can cover your IP deal with simply in addition to bodily ones. It is solely an issue when you’re anticipating the type of efficiency, notably by way of latency, that you just get from a close-by server. Fortunately, Proton VPN provides you quick sufficient obtain and add speeds that distance should not be an issue.

Options of Proton VPN

Proton VPN has quite a few additional options that transcend customary VPN performance. We have already talked about the Stealth protocol and IPv6 help. On this part, we’ll cowl an extra 5 options that is perhaps of curiosity.

NetShield advert blocker

Proton VPN’s built-in advert blocker is called NetShield. It is obtainable on the principle UI web page, and has two settings: one which blocks solely malware websites, and one which blocks websites linked with malware, adverts and trackers. The stronger function is on by default.

NetShield works by checking any DNS requests in opposition to a database of net servers identified to host malware, inject adverts or connect cross-site trackers to your searching session. The DNS-blocking strategy means it isn’t able to blocking adverts served from the identical area that hosts them — so no blocking YouTube video adverts. On the constructive facet, it means NetShield works throughout your whole gadget, not simply in your browser.

NetShield additionally shows a working complete of what number of of every type of interference it is blocked. It catches most banner adverts, however since you’ll be able to’t customise the blocklist in any manner, it is best when mixed with one other browser-level advert blocker.

Safe Core servers

Here is an attention-grabbing one. Safe Core is a type of a standard function often known as double VPN or multi-hop VPN, wherein a connection runs by two VPN servers earlier than being decrypted. If one server fails or will get compromised, the opposite server retains your connection non-public.

Proton VPN takes this a step additional. Once you activate Safe Core, your connection will nonetheless finish at your chosen server location — however earlier than that, it should journey by a delegated server in Iceland, Sweden or Switzerland. A number of touches make Safe Core servers extra dependable than the typical VPN node:

• All three nations are protected jurisdictions, with consumer-friendly privateness legal guidelines and courts sympathetic to privateness claims.

• Safe Core information facilities are locked down bodily; for instance, the Iceland location is a refitted army base, and the Sweden location is actually underground.

• Proton owns and operates all Safe Core places itself, with no leases or third-party managers.

Nearly no different VPNs pay as a lot consideration to bodily safety as Proton VPN does with this function. The second hop makes Safe Core connections slower on common, nevertheless it’s price it in case you have one thing particularly delicate to do on-line.

Kill change

Proton VPN features a kill change, a typical function. When energetic, a kill change cuts off your web each time your connection to the VPN drops. This implies you are by no means at risk of leaking your actual identification or location, even for a second. It additionally protects you in opposition to the TunnelVision exploit, which requires the hacker to make a pretend VPN server.

Cut up tunneling

Cut up tunneling is included on the Home windows and Android apps, however customers on different units can entry it by the browser extension. With break up tunneling, some apps or web sites get on-line by the VPN, whereas others keep unprotected.

Proton VPN permits break up tunneling by each app and IP deal with. This grants you a exact stage of management over your break up, so long as you understand the IP of every web site you are inserting on the checklist (you will discover that out utilizing DNS checker).

Torrenting servers and port forwarding

Proton VPN is likely one of the greatest VPNs for torrenting. It restricts torrenting to P2P servers, however almost each server on the checklist is a P2P server — solely Safe Core servers and a few free servers do not allow torrenting. Mix that with the truth that it maintains 96 % of your add speeds on common, and it’s best to have few issues utilizing a torrenting consumer.

It additionally has some help for port forwarding, which may enhance torrenting pace. Home windows and Linux customers can allow it with a easy toggle, which offers an energetic port quantity for configuring non-public servers. Mac customers can arrange port forwarding by handbook OpenVPN or WireGuard configurations.

Tor over VPN

A handful of Proton VPN servers route you on to the Tor community after encrypting your connection. Whereas linked to considered one of these Tor over VPN servers, that are marked with TOR of their names and an onion image, you’ll open .onion hyperlinks on a traditional browser.

That is extra than simply handy — Tor over VPN is the most secure strategy to entry the darkish net. With the VPN as an middleman, you are by no means connecting to Tor with your personal IP deal with, so malicious node operators cannot see your actual identification. For optimum privateness, use Tor Browser to create your Proton VPN account, so that you’re by no means uncovered at any level within the course of.

Proton VPN has Tor servers in six nations (the U.S., France, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Hong Kong). Every simply has one Tor server, besides the US, which will get two. Tor over VPN is supported on all platforms, nevertheless it will not work on Mac or iOS until you will have the kill change enabled.

Profiles

A “profile” on Proton VPN is a bunch of pre-established settings you should use to rapidly configure the VPN for a specific job. Two profiles can be found from the beginning: Quickest, which connects to the quickest server, and Random, which at all times connects to a unique server. You may create extra profiles by toggling 4 settings:

• Characteristic: The kind of server used. Select from Normal, Safe Core, P2P or Tor over VPN.

• Nation: The nation to which the profile connects.

• Server: A server inside that nation. You may as well choose “quickest” or “random.”

• Protocol: Which VPN protocol the profile will use. “Good” could be chosen.

For example, say you wish to watch a TV collection that is solely obtainable on Netflix in Canada. You possibly can create a profile referred to as “Netflix Canada” that connects to the quickest Canadian server with only one click on. We might name profiles situationally helpful, however they’ll save plenty of time when you repeatedly carry out the identical motion in your VPN.

Proton VPN buyer help choices

We went to Proton VPN’s FAQ pages with two questions that got here up whereas researching different sections: which of Proton VPN’s servers are managed by third events, and why do sure server places (like Marseilles) run sluggish regardless of the app exhibiting a light-weight load?

You may entry the assistance middle by any of Proton VPN’s apps, or by going on to the web site. Articles seem like organized into six classes. Oddly, clicking any class button solely reveals you a handful of the articles in that part — for instance, the Troubleshooting class seems to be prefer it solely has 5 articles. When you sort “troubleshooting” into the search bar, although, you will see dozens pop up. There are even some sections, like Billing, that do not seem on the principle web page in any respect.

It has the texture of an internet site replace that wasn’t adequately introduced according to the majority of the help content material. Till Proton fixes it, simply use the search bar for every thing. The articles themselves are well-written, give or take some stilted English.

Getting fast assist

We could not discover written solutions to our questions on possession and server load, so we turned to reside chat. Free customers ought to take into account that reside chat help is barely obtainable on paid accounts, however there is a pretty energetic subreddit at r/protonvpn the place Proton employees often put up.

Dwell chat shouldn’t be intuitively positioned on protonvpn.com. We lastly discovered it by scrolling all the way in which to the underside of the principle web page, solely to be advised no person was on-line to assist in the intervening time — reside chat is barely accessible from 9 AM to midnight Central European Time (CET). We submitted our query concerning the Marseille servers as an electronic mail ticket as an alternative.

This half was straightforward, a minimum of, as the shape helpfully populated our system data. We additionally received a immediate response inside 24 hours. We ended the interplay there, as we weren’t in a position to reproduce the sluggish conduct on the French server places, nevertheless it’s good to know the staff will reply rapidly.

Proton VPN background test: The CERN origins of Proton AG

Proton VPN launched in 2017, however its staff’s expertise goes again a lot farther. The founders of its guardian firm, Proton AG, met whereas working at CERN in Switzerland, and the corporate stays beneath Swiss jurisdiction.

Their first product, Proton Mail, went live in 2014 after a profitable crowdfunding marketing campaign, and claims to have 100 million customers right now. Proton VPN was Proton AG’s second challenge. Like Proton Mail, it consists of a free plan supplemented by paid upgrades.

Since then, Proton has launched a number of extra merchandise: Proton Calendar in 2020, Proton Drive cloud storage in 2022 and the Proton Move password supervisor in 2023, every designed round utilizing end-to-end encryption to make consumer information inaccessible.

The Proton Basis

Proton announced in 2024 that almost all of its shares had been acquired by the Proton Basis, a nonprofit whose solely goal is to manage Proton inventory. Amongst different advantages, this prevents it from being bought by anybody who disagrees with its mission. To promote to an objectionable guardian firm, your complete board of trustees must agree, which feels unlikely primarily based on Proton’s monitor report.

All through Proton’s historical past, we solely discovered two incidents severe sufficient to touch upon, and solely considered one of them involved Proton VPN. We’ll cowl them each under.

ProtonMail legislation enforcement collaboration allegations

On the web page that hosts its annual transparency report, Proton states overtly that it “could also be legally compelled to reveal sure consumer data to Swiss authorities” (see the Privateness Coverage part of this text for extra on exactly what data that describes). In 2021, the company admitted it had given Swiss police (performing on a French warrant) a ProtonMail consumer’s IP deal with and gadget logs. The police arrested the consumer, a French environmental activist.

Whereas that is unnerving for privacy-minded customers, there are some necessary contextual points to think about. Most significantly, ProtonMail shouldn’t be ruled by the identical coverage as Proton VPN. On the time the case unfolded, Swiss legislation obliged all email companies to adjust to courtroom orders from Swiss authorities at hand over information. VPNs aren’t subject to those retention requirements.

At present, Swiss electronic mail corporations have been reclassified in order that they’re additionally exempt from information retention necessities, thanks partly to a policy change Proton fought for. A consultant from Proton confirmed that “beneath Swiss legislation, we aren’t obligated to avoid wasting any consumer connection logs.” It is also reassuring that, regardless of complying with the subpoena, Proton wasn’t able to turn over the contents of any emails.

Alleged WireGuard reminiscence vulnerability

In January 2025, researchers at Venak Safety alleged that Proton VPN lacks memory protection for keys generated beneath the WireGuard protocol, which could let hackers scrape the keys and decrypt intercepted communications. Proton responded to Venak in a blog post, which a Proton consultant confirmed stays their official response to the allegations.

Briefly: the Venak article solely demonstrates that it is attainable to view public keys, not non-public ones. This is not a lot of a bombshell, on condition that “public” is true there within the title. However uneven encryption — the sort utilized by VPN protocols like WireGuard — requires each keys to decrypt any messages. Even when a hacker have been in a position to get ahold of a personal key, they probably would not be capable of use it for something. WireGuard incorporates excellent ahead secrecy by default, altering session keys typically sufficient that any given key’s out of date by the point it is stolen.

Remaining verdict

Briefly, we’re ready to advocate Proton VPN to nearly anyone. Whether or not you are primarily involved with safety, streaming or one thing else, likelihood is good that you will be happy. The one severe downsides are that the long-term plans are overpriced and that it is arduous to get reside tech help when you reside exterior of Europe.

It is also our unqualified choose for the most effective free VPN, however with the caveat that it is a unhealthy alternative for anybody who wants to decide on particular server places. If all you care about is staying hidden out of your ISP and advertisers, Proton must be your first alternative.