Proton VPN Review

Community-sourced VPN review based on real Reddit & Twitter discussions

Visit Proton VPN
Community Verdict
Recommended

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...

71%
positive
1,012
reviews
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
71% Positive Reviews
493 recommend, 203 warn
High Data Quality
1012 reviews from 836 people
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
Approval Rate
71% positive
493 recommend · 203 warn
Reviews
1,012
411 Reddit · 552 Twitter
Unique Reviewers
836
Data Quality
High

What the Community Says

Community Rating 7.5/10

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 “actually usable” free options, and the paid plan is often mentioned as a good pick if you care about things like no-logs, audits, and even anonymous payment options. It also comes up often alongside other privacy tools (like Proton Mail), which makes it appealing if you want everything under one roof.

The biggest complaint is speed: some people switch over from other VPNs and find Proton noticeably slower, especially depending on the server. A few also don’t love how certain torrenting setups work, since things like port forwarding can be a bit annoying to manage if the port changes when you reconnect. And while many trust Proton more than typical “affiliate-list” VPNs, there’s still a slice of people who are skeptical or just prefer competitors like Mullvad.

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
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
Not ideal for: People who need consistently top speeds for gaming or heavy downloads Torrent users who want a set-it-and-forget-it port forwarding setup Anyone who’s extremely picky and would rather stick with Mullvad-style simplicity

Summary generated 1 week ago from 1012 community mentions

Reviews about "Audit Verified"

14 reviews

"Mullvad or Proton are top of the list. I've never heard of Witopia but they're US based so they get a hard NO from me. Mullvad and Proton do not log activity and they prove it with 3rd party audits. I read somewhere recently that one of th..."

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"You concede that Proton "may" be one of them? What gave you that impression? Could it be that they follow a stated ["no logs policy?"](https://protonvpn.com/features/no-logs-policy) Or that they've been independently audited by [Securitu..."

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Just a reminder: Independent auditors confirm Proton VPN never logs your data Images: https://external-preview.redd.it/Ic_q1VKin2_OBHStsM3zVFmVxuHaXJVr1HMeL-IKZ-c.jpeg?auto=webp&s=ee3f232b601c98c8da335a0b50af871bfb563541 "

r/protonmail 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Express is bad - why not use Proton, unlimited free, audited."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Ok, let's try this a different way...Let's say they do change and start logging, do you realize how quickly they would go out of business? If going out of business is their goal then log away. You're right, no audit can determine future ac..."

r/protonmail 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"I see this a lot in IT circles. Most folks I know still trust Proton and Mullvad since their audits and ownership are pretty solid."

r/it 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"In order of  preference. Mullvad  Proton  Windscribe. All 3 have valid audits. All have good security and plenty of features. Windscribe has all the bells and whistles, including some that you probably don't need. Mullvad does exactly wh..."

r/it 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Nord, proton & mullvad among others have been audited these are legit. Riseup VPN is the only "free" VPN I personally trust. If it's free always assume you are the product."

r/vpn_question 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Look for providers with audited no logs policies and a long track record. Mullvad and Proton usually get mentioned for that reason."

r/vpnreviewhub 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"How is this audit finish work when the audit runs over month and is done regularly after that? Are you trying to imply that proton activates logs again when the auditors left and magically desctivates them again when the audit happens? And ..."

r/protonmail 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Yea proton needs to introduce cash payments and 16 digit accounts if they want full privacy. At least that. That being said, there's this: https://protonvpn.com/blog/no-logs-audit"

r/vpn_question 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"Proton choose to be audited by Securitum ( [https://www.securitum.com/](https://www.securitum.com/) ), a well-respected European cybersecurity auditing company headquartered in Poland. See [https://web.archive.org/web/20210705120405/https:..."

r/protonmail 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"They neither said nor implied this. They just stated the facts as they are. An audit means that, over that period of time, there was no logging. I use Proton Mail, too. I am not unrealistic about what an audit is."

r/protonmail 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Proton and Mullvad get mentioned a lot because of audits and transparency."

r/it 1 month ago View on Reddit →