A nonprofit service with premium efficiency

Proton VPN stands out for 2 principal causes: it is one of many solely digital personal networks (VPNs) to incorporate a free plan with no knowledge limits, and it is one of many few providers majority-owned by a nonprofit. It is the perfect VPN in each of these classes, and it makes a robust case for being the perfect general.

Even in case you do not care concerning the work of the Proton Basis, Proton VPN is a service value 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 assist.

In brief, 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 programs 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 beneath.

Editor’s notice (9/24/25): We have overhauled our VPN protection to supply extra detailed, actionable shopping for recommendation. Going ahead, we’ll proceed to replace each our best VPN list and particular person opinions (like this one) as circumstances change. Most lately, we added official scores to all of our VPN opinions. Take a look at how we test VPNs to study 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 dangerous. Maintain 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 assorted platforms it helps. As a rule, it is not tough. Proton VPN has extra options than ExpressVPN, and a few them would possibly journey up new customers, however you’d have to essentially 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 adjustments, however that is it. As soon as you’ve got signed in on the app, you will attain among the best interfaces we have tried on a VPN. The server community is instantly seen as each an inventory and map, and the placement search bar, join button and main options are all laid out across the similar window.

It is actually wonderful 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 discipline. We additionally love that settings open in the identical window, since coping with each the primary VPN app and a separate preferences panel can get annoying. Our solely actual gripe is that there needs to be a better strategy to alter the scale of the map.

Mac

The desktop app for Mac is not fairly as deftly laid out because the Home windows app. You may attain a lot of the essential options from the primary window, together with Profiles, NetShield, Safe Core servers and the kill swap. Nevertheless, there is no longer a strategy to filter out an inventory of the P2P or Tor servers, besides by digging by the Profile controls. On the plus aspect, you’ll be able to alter the scale of the map, so it is now a viable various to the server record.

The opposite preferences are hidden within the menu bar — go to Proton VPN > Settings to achieve 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 swap between the house display, the nation record, Profiles and all different settings. You may search the record of nations by tapping the magnifying glass on the top-right. In one other good contact, tapping the dots by any digital location will inform you the place the server is bodily situated.

Android customers get some nifty unique Profiles, together with “anti-censorship,” which mechanically connects to the quickest nation aside 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 appears to be like nearly the identical because it does on Home windows and Android, however with a few of the similar drawbacks discovered on Mac. The server record is extra cluttered, and as soon as once more there is no 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 overlook about.

Browser extensions

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

Proton VPN pace take a look at: 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 little 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 shopping efficiency nonetheless appears to be like wonderful almost throughout the board.

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

Proton VPN appears to be like excellent in that desk. Its common obtain pace was 88 p.c of our unprotected speeds. To place that in perspective, in case 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.

Word the “nearly” — Proton VPN did drop noticeably on its French server in Marseille. It is not unusual for considered one of a VPN’s knowledge facilities to have hassle whereas the others work wonderful, and you may often repair the issue by simply disconnecting and reconnecting. Simply notice that whereas drops to about 75 p.c of your obtain pace are uncommon, they are not inconceivable.

Proton VPN safety take a look at: Watertight protocols

Once we discuss 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 glad to say the reply is sure; we probed its safety and located no cracks to talk of. Learn the part beneath 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 frequent selections with no critical flaws so long as they’re applied thoughtfully. The fourth, Stealth, is an obfuscation protocol you need to solely use if the opposite three are blocked.

• OpenVPN is probably the most safe possibility. With out getting too technical, OpenVPN encrypts its backend capabilities in addition to the information itself, which leaves it with no apparent vulnerabilities. It will possibly additionally talk utilizing the identical ports as frequent HTTPS visitors, so it is onerous 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 trade of mounted IP addresses, however the Proton VPN implementation overwrites these IPs with randomized addresses, chopping the safety threat.

• IKEv2 is a protected selection that is sometimes quicker than both OpenVPN or WireGuard. You in all probability will not use it until it occurs to return up whilst you’ve set the protocol to Sensible. As such, it is on the best way to being phased out of Proton VPN.

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

The primary possibility on the app, referred to as “Sensible,” is just not a protocol — it means your VPN shopper selects the protocol that offers you the perfect speeds in your present server. Since all 4 protocols are protected, there is no draw back to utilizing the Sensible setting more often than not.

Leak take a look at

We used AirVPN’s IP leak tool to examine all 4 of Proton VPN’s protocols for DNS and WebRTC leaks. Proton VPN makes use of its personal DNS servers to cut back the danger of sending unencrypted requests, however since leaks are nonetheless doable, we examined utilizing a easy methodology: checking our seen IP handle 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 handle present up on the software. This held true even exterior the Safe Core server record, the place knowledge facilities may need been managed by third events. It is not excellent proof, however it’s an excellent signal that Proton VPN enforces a constant safety regime on all its servers.

We additionally used BrowserLeaks to examine for WebRTC leaks. These are primarily a problem on the browser aspect, however a VPN is doubly essential 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 total VPN appropriate with IPv6 addresses. If a VPN that is solely configured for IPv4 has to resolve an IPv6 handle, it may possibly trigger a leak — that is why most VPNs, even the perfect ones, block IPv6 altogether. That mentioned, the entire web will run on IPv6 sooner or later, so it is good to see Proton VPN main the pack.

Thus far, IPv6 is mechanically 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 visitors, however this could hopefully change quickly.

Encryption take a look at

Even when a VPN’s protocol selections are stable, it is doable 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 had been in place. We’re glad 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 per 30 days. You may knock off half that value by subscribing for a full yr and paying a lump sum of $59.88, understanding to $4.99 per 30 days. A Plus account with Proton VPN additionally provides you free entry to each different Proton app.

You may also pay $107.76 upfront to subscribe for 2 years, a mean of $4.49 per 30 days — maybe extra handy, however it would not prevent a lot. The one-year plan is the perfect 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 provides a 12-month plan for $47.88 ($3.99 per 30 days) and a 24-month plan for $81.36 ($3.39 per 30 days). Learn more about it here. One remaining possibility is the Proton Limitless subscription, mentioned within the “aspect apps and bundles” part beneath.”

The Proton VPN free plan

Proton VPN is without doubt one of the finest free VPNs in the marketplace proper now. No different VPN backed by as a lot expertise and common sense has a free plan with no knowledge limits. As an alternative of capping how a lot knowledge you should utilize per 30 days, Proton VPN restricts which servers free customers can entry, limiting them to eight nations: america, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Norway, Canada, Poland and Romania.

The irritating half is that you may’t select which of those servers you employ; Proton VPN simply auto-connects to whichever one is the least burdened. A Proton consultant instructed us that this variation goes together with enhancements to the choice algorithm, higher load balancing and the addition of the Poland and Romania places. It’s also doable 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 location of the free places close to Russia and China displays that. Free Proton VPN plans do not sacrifice any important safety features.

Proton VPN aspect apps and bundles

Proton VPN’s principal bundle is Proton Limitless, which will get you all six Proton merchandise in a single bundle: VPN, Mail, Drive, Calendar, Pockets and Cross. This prices $12.99 for a month, $119.88 for a yr ($9.99 per 30 days) and $191.76 for 2 years ($7.99 per 30 days). We cannot be going in-depth on any of them on this evaluate, however here is a fast rundown of every.

• Proton Mail: An end-to-end encrypted e mail service. Proton can nonetheless see a Mail consumer’s actual IP handle, 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 trade.

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

Even in case 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 per 30 days. That will increase in case you’re in a position to decide to a yr upfront.

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 and marketing instruments; the information set collected doesn’t embody IP addresses. It retains an e mail handle linked to every consumer’s account, however 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 providers if they do not preserve 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 workforce might examine that server and discover the hacker whereas the assault was nonetheless ongoing.

The coverage goes on to record the 5 third-party knowledge processors Proton makes use of (Zendesk, PayPal, Chargebee, Atlassian and Stripe), none of whom are allowed to retailer buyer exercise knowledge. Proton cautions that it’s going to share what knowledge it does have in response to unblockable requests from the Swiss authorities, however not “till all authorized or different cures have been exhausted.” That is normal for a VPN that desires to stay in enterprise, and the transparency report exhibits the corporate does certainly battle court docket orders when it may possibly.

Proton VPN privateness coverage

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

In a single sense, a privateness coverage requires you to take the VPN supplier at their phrase, however it’s harmful for a corporation 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 subsequently an important signal. It is also been confirmed a number of occasions by a third-party audit, most lately in July 2024.

Can Proton VPN change your digital location?

Testing a VPN’s means to masks a consumer’s location is not complicated — all you want is a streaming subscription. We linked to 5 take a look at places and tried to unblock Netflix with every one. If we managed to entry the location, and noticed totally different exhibits than these on the American library, we concluded that the placement had masked us efficiently.

Proton VPN handed the take a look at 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 contains servers in 5 places: the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, america and Japan. If you join as a free consumer, you will be mechanically linked to whichever location is quickest.

A paid plan opens up the total community of 154 servers in 117 nations and territories. The menu contains an enormous choice 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.

Needless to say about two-thirds of those server places are digital, that means they are not bodily situated the place they declare to be. This contains 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 disguise your IP handle simply in addition to bodily ones. It is solely an issue in case you’re anticipating the type of efficiency, significantly 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 lot of additional options that transcend normal VPN performance. We have already talked about the Stealth protocol and IPv6 assist. On this part, we’ll cowl a further 5 options that could be of curiosity.

NetShield advert blocker

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

NetShield works by checking any DNS requests in opposition to a database of internet servers recognized to host malware, inject advertisements or connect cross-site trackers to your shopping session. The DNS-blocking strategy means it is not able to blocking advertisements served from the identical area that hosts them — so no blocking YouTube video advertisements. On the constructive aspect, it means NetShield works throughout your total gadget, not simply in your browser.

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

Safe Core servers

This is an attention-grabbing one. Safe Core is a type of a typical function often called 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 personal.

Proton VPN takes this a step additional. If you activate Safe Core, your connection will nonetheless finish at your chosen server location — however earlier than that, it should journey by a chosen server in Iceland, Sweden or Switzerland. A couple 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 knowledge facilities are locked down bodily; for instance, the Iceland location is a refitted navy base, and the Sweden location is actually underground.

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

Virtually 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, however it’s value it you probably have one thing particularly delicate to do on-line.

Kill swap

Proton VPN features a kill swap, a typical function. When energetic, a kill swap cuts off your web at any time when 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 faux VPN server.

Break up tunneling

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

Proton VPN permits cut up tunneling by each app and IP handle. This grants you a exact stage of management over your cut up, so long as the IP of every web site you are inserting on the record (you could find that out utilizing DNS checker).

Torrenting servers and port forwarding

Proton VPN is without doubt one of the finest VPNs for torrenting. It restricts torrenting to P2P servers, however almost each server on the record 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 p.c of your add speeds on common, and you need to have few issues utilizing a torrenting shopper.

It additionally has some assist for port forwarding, which may enhance torrenting pace. Home windows and Linux customers can allow it with a easy toggle, which supplies an energetic port quantity for configuring personal 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 internet. With the VPN as an middleman, you are by no means connecting to Tor with your personal IP handle, 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 america, which will get two. Tor over VPN is supported on all platforms, however it will not work on Mac or iOS until you may have the kill swap enabled.

Profiles

A “profile” on Proton VPN is a gaggle of pre-established settings you should utilize to shortly configure the VPN for a selected 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 Customary, Safe Core, P2P or Tor over VPN.

• Nation: The nation to which the profile connects.

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

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

For instance, say you need to watch a TV collection that is solely accessible 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 will save numerous time in case you commonly carry out the identical motion in your VPN.

Proton VPN buyer assist 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 heart 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 exhibits you a handful of the articles in that part — for instance, the Troubleshooting class appears to be like prefer it solely has 5 articles. In case 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 primary 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 assist content material. Till Proton fixes it, simply use the search bar for every little 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 dwell chat. Free customers ought to take into account that dwell chat assist is barely accessible on paid accounts, however there is a pretty energetic subreddit at r/protonvpn the place Proton employees steadily put up.

Stay chat is just not intuitively situated on protonvpn.com. We lastly discovered it by scrolling all the best way to the underside of the primary web page, solely to be instructed no person was on-line to assist for the time being — dwell chat is barely accessible from 9 AM to midnight Central European Time (CET). We submitted our query concerning the Marseille servers as an e mail ticket as a substitute.

This half was straightforward, a minimum of, as the shape helpfully populated our system data. We additionally obtained 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, however it’s good to know the workforce will reply shortly.

Proton VPN background examine: The CERN origins of Proton AG

Proton VPN launched in 2017, however its workforce’s expertise goes again a lot farther. The founders of its dad or mum firm, Proton AG, met whereas working at CERN in Switzerland, and the corporate stays underneath 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 venture. 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 Cross password supervisor in 2023, every designed round utilizing end-to-end encryption to make consumer knowledge 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 function 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 dad or mum firm, the whole board of trustees must agree, which feels unlikely based mostly on Proton’s observe document.

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

ProtonMail regulation 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 handle and gadget logs. The police arrested the consumer, a French environmental activist.

Whereas that is unnerving for privacy-minded customers, there are some essential contextual points to contemplate. Most significantly, ProtonMail is just not ruled by the identical coverage as Proton VPN. On the time the case unfolded, Swiss regulation obliged all email companies to adjust to court docket orders from Swiss authorities at hand over knowledge. VPNs aren’t subject to those retention requirements.

Right this moment, Swiss e mail corporations have been reclassified so that they’re additionally exempt from knowledge retention necessities, thanks partly to a policy change Proton fought for. A consultant from Proton confirmed that “underneath Swiss regulation, we’re not 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 underneath 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.

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

Ultimate verdict

In brief, we’re ready to advocate Proton VPN to nearly anyone. Whether or not you are primarily involved with safety, streaming or one thing else, chances are high good that you’re going to be happy. The one critical downsides are that the long-term plans are overpriced and that it is onerous to get dwell tech assist in case you dwell exterior of Europe.

It is also our unqualified choose for the perfect free VPN, however with the caveat that it is a dangerous selection 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 needs to be your first selection.