Proton VPN Review

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

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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 "Server Locations"

34 reviews

"You could always go for ProtonVPN, that is a pretty good option and is much faster as well. They do have a free plan, however you don't choose the servers and it's only for 1 device. But it's one of the most secure VPN's out there (besides ..."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"... to peer file sharing, it has been valuable. You missed all the Black Friday sales for VPNs. I use proton vpn free on my phone, I have a different paid one that works better on my computer. The speed slowdown is minimal on my phone and non..."

r/vpn_question 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Just got back from Chengdu and Chongqing. Read on a lot of threads that Proton VPN wasn't working in China, NordVPN did the job. Took a 30 days free VPN for the holiday... NordVPN didn't allow me to connect to any server. Funny enough Proto..."

r/chinalife 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"I’ve never had an issue with the speed of proton even when going. From Belgium into Switzerland. Streaming is great. You do have an option for fasts connections but I have never found the need to use thst feature."

r/vpnreviewhub 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Regardless of wether you stream or not proton hasn't been slow in my case(I do understand that varies for some users), I get my full 1000mbps connection just fine with it. Now as far as locations go sure I can see wanting one with servers i..."

r/vpnreviewhub 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Currently in China and I’m having no issues at all with Proton. Just pressed fastest country and connected straight away to a Singapore server."

r/travelchina 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"I use proton free and have no issues at all. On android box you do get a few locations to actually choose. On my phone I don't, not sure why, guess a different version. "

r/strong_8k 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Proton also announced they will be releasing more 100gb vpn servers , only one available now is in Amsterdam but after they roll that out more widely , congestion in some areas should drastically decrease. Speeds are already very good in mo..."

r/firewalla 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"Mullvad for everything but streaming, proton works well streaming with fast servers mostly but it works and there’s a lot to choose from. Free service for select servers paid us where it’s at"

r/vpnfortorrenting 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"ProtonVPN (USA server - free version) and Bitdefender (Argentina & USA servers) are not being blocked in hidive.com/login ExpressVPN (USA server) is getting blocked, though. Weird..."

r/mullvadvpn 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"ProtonVPN is best for free use, but their servers are selected randomly. You can also try CopVPN; their free version provides 7 locations, and you can easily change it."

r/vpn_reviewer 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"...VPN you really need to pay for it (though there are good mail options around $1 a month). Free tier Proton VPN is slower and you can't choose your server. The free email is oversensitive about the bots issue and you won't get much support (..."

r/degoogle 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"I have been using ProtonVPN for months and speeds have been mostly stable for me, especially on nearby servers. Support answered once within a day, so I would not say it completely fell off, but results probably depend on location."

r/vpn_question 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"This reads like astroturfing. Regardless though, Witopia is incredibly overpriced for the service they offer and I have frankly never heard of them before this post. >However, they are more expensive, have less servers to chose from, c..."

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"I'm very happy with Proton VPN, but dont understand why different servers gave different results. For example, reading newspaper sites. With a US server I can log in and comment on stories. But with the UK servers, despite it being the home..."

r/vpn_reviewer 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"Proton worked fine for me when I was there a month back. Stayed for a month. But the best VPN is still LetsVPN, just use that one on “Hong Kong” servers. It has always worked for me, even Chinese people use it"

r/travelchina 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"If you wanna use a VPN for **privacy** , it truly does me great contradiction as to how thee conclude to belive some provider giving you free candy. I'd understand if it were for anything other than privacy. With that being said, ProtonVPN ..."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"NoLog VPN Reviews in 2026: Is it Legit? I came across an app called NoLog VPN recently while browsing through some smaller VPN options on the Play Store. I had not seen it mentioned much in the usual free VPN Reddit discussions, but the na..."

r/vpn_question 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"I did some shopping and researching and am testing Proton for a month to see if I like it. It works pretty well, a little lag but I think I can choose better locations. I made the decision based on price and needs"

r/vpnreviews 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Best Monthly VPN to Use in 2026 Without Committing Long-Term? I only needed a VPN for a brief trip overseas recently and did not want to commit to a long subscription like most providers try to push. I spent some time reading free VPN Redd..."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"I use gluetun to access protonVPN over wireguard. I specify Irelan, Netherlands, France as server countries."

r/sonarr 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Is Goose VPN Worth Using or Just Another Average Option? I ended up trying Goose VPN a few days ago after stumbling across it while looking into lighter VPN options. I rarely see it mentioned in free VPN discussions on Reddit, but the shor..."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Psiphon Pro, IPVanish, ProtonVPN (only some countries work though) all mainstream VPNs are blocked."

r/oman 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Windscribe is the best choice in terms of unlocking many Netflix libraries than any VPN along and other major UK/NZ/USA streaming services. Some users with high bandwidth, like those over 500.Mbps, report slow speeds and lag (not less than ..."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Best free VPN for everyday privacy use right now? i've been testing a bunch of free VPNs lately (Proton free, Windscribe free, TunnelBear, Hotspot Shield free) and most of them feel too limited for daily use. Either the speeds drop hard on..."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Best VPN Still Works with Discovery Plus? I tried to watch a series on Discovery+ a few days ago that is only available in the US, but I am currently staying in Southeast Asia for work. I assumed one of the free VPNs people often mention i..."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Can you still use a VPN to bypass netflix’s password sharing rules in 2026? I have been sharing my sisters Netflix account for a long time, but things got annoying after they started enforcing the household rules more strictly. I am stud..."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"What’s the Best VPN to Watch UK Netflix? I tried watching \*\*The Office\*\* and a couple of other shows this week that are only on \*\*Netflix UK\*\*, but I am currently in Canada. I assumed a free VPN would be enough, but Netflix clear..."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Prizepicks VPN: How Was It? I was in California last weekend visiting some friends, and I had no idea PrizePicks wasn’t allowed there until I opened the app and got hit with a location block. It caught me off guard because I already had ..."

r/vpn_question 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"Your experience is unique to you. Others, specially those that stream, see Proton as a very slow speed VPN service, with also far less servers and locations then the top VPN services."

r/vpnreviewhub 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Not a fan of either. Proton randomizes what country server you connect to, so there is no manual control in terms of country server selection, plus there is only like 5 or 6 country servers available, and Windscribe has a annoying 10GB data..."

r/brave_browser 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Suggest avoiding ProtonVPN. I'd been using ProtonVPN for a year and initially liked the service. However, within the last month or so, I noticed the connections become sporadically disconnected and rerouted to local, but "unsafe", Countries..."

r/mullvadvpn 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"They will give you an option to choose only from a limited number of their servers after the app has been updated.... I have issues with the proton every time and, I am pretty sure that buying their subscription was the worst decision..."

r/vpn_reviewer 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Proton VPN: Lousy performance. Lousy service. Proton VPN turned my VNPT ADSL into lousy. And their 'Support', when you get any, jsut ignores the problem/s,and when i asked for a frefund after a month of lousy performance and complaints, ..."

r/vpnreviews 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →