Proton VPN vs Surfshark
Side-by-side comparison based on Reddit & Twitter discussions
Community Pick
Proton VPN
Based on community sentiment and discussions
Proton VPN
Winner
Approval Rate
71%
493 recommend · 203 warn
Data Quality
High
Reviews
1,012
Reviewers
836
Best for:
People who want a good free VPN that doesn’t feel sketchy
Privacy-focused users who like the Proton ecosystem
Folks who want optional anonymous payments
Everyday users who want a reliable VPN for general browsing
Proton VPN has a solid reputation as a privacy-focused VPN, and a lot of people like it because it feels trustworthy and reliable day to day. The free plan gets praised a lot as one of the better “act...
Approval Rate
52%
127 recommend · 116 warn
Data Quality
High
Reviews
413
Reviewers
344
Best for:
People who want a cheaper VPN that still works for streaming
Households with lots of devices
Everyday users who want something simple on Windows, Android, and iOS
Surfshark comes up a lot as a good-value VPN that’s easy to live with day to day. People like that it’s usually cheaper than the big-name alternatives, works well for streaming (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube...
Performance by Use Case
| Use Case | Proton VPN | Winner | Surfshark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Streaming | 74% (64) | ← | 68% (52) |
| Torrenting | 74% (37) | ← | 33% (7) |
| Privacy | 67% (397) | ← | 42% (86) |
| Censorship | 60% (73) | ← | 47% (21) |
| Gaming | 44% (9) | ← | 33% (6) |
| Travel | 83% (7) | ← | 50% (2) |
| Work | 100% (3) | ← | 50% (4) |
| Router | 67% (4) | ← | -- (1) |
| Mobile | 100% (2) | ← | 50% (2) |
| Price | 73% (52) | ← | 67% (37) |
Proton VPN
Strengths
- Strong privacy reputation
- Best-in-class free tier
- No-logs and audit-focused image
- Anonymous payment options
- Good reliability overall
Weaknesses
- Can be slower than competitors
- Port forwarding can be annoying for torrenting setups
- Auto-connect behavior can be frustrating
- Not everyone trusts it as much as top privacy rivals
Surfshark
Strengths
- Unlimited devices
- Good value for the price
- Works well with popular streaming services
- Generally fast speeds
- Useful safety features like a kill switch
Weaknesses
- Billing and renewal issues
- Support can be slow or unhelpful
- Some streaming apps still detect/block it
- Trust concerns about company ownership/jurisdiction
- Occasional location/IP accuracy complaints