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 "Cheap"

15 reviews

"@gghamari Proton VPN (Top Overall for Privacy and Value) . Perhaps we can help to subscribe on their behalf. @Grok is it possible to subscribe on the behalf of Iranians in occupied Iran"

@JLioundris 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@tnpla1 @TheBritishIntel @NordVPN Cancel it now, you can use proton for free."

@R3SP0NZ3 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@Gangmer2 I was doing my thing in the US for years without issue, until this week. I got the letter. They'll catch you one day, it's not if. It's when. Get a VPN, one year of proton ks like $45"

@ballcockbagball 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"... express vpn, but I probably should. Honestly, all email is sketchy af and you should just use PGP keys for sensitive messages across email. Mullvad, Proton VPN, and AirVPN all accept Monero which hasn't been tracked before. Mullvad even takes cash mailed for max privacy, but just note Mullvad is 5 bucks a month no matter what, and Proton and Air can be cheaper VPNs if you buy 2 years at a time du..."

@CryptoCyberia 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@rrenstudies I just use Proton VPN, which is free 😅 The best countries are Canada, Switzerland, Norway, and parts of the US 🙂‍↕️"

@ProfKukuiLVR 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@thekingsmanUG Download proton VPN if at all your using android cz with android it has a free option"

@c_pricos 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@DrJosephChrist I still use Proton because it's cheaper and I need port forwarding. If I REALLY needed maximum security from state actors, I'd definitely go Mullvad, but I am a good boy.just trying to prevent the advertisement botnet from raping me."

@CryptoCyberia 3 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@Rubicon_John The problem with your payment method is it is tracked. Now it's not that big of a deal. I mean I use proton because of the deal for everything. I really liked ivpn. You can pay with crypto. You just generate a random account. And that's it. No password just a random ID"

@Ph34r_ 4 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@SCKagaba @UCC_Official Thunder vpn will work for you freely or use Proton but it's for subscribing only 3.5 dollars per months"

@ADMelo3364 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@fitzr1122 How do you think that's gonna work seeing how bandwith is now so cheap ? You can use twitter easily on the free Proton VPN tier."

@SealOfTheEnd 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@AllanSseky U just pay for the VPN or use proton"

@kendallNad23 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@charliecolecc I use Proton personally, but I will always recommend Mullvad to anyone going for their first VPN. Cheap, secure, reliable, and with no logs."

@anglofuturist 3 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"Mullvad is highly reputable, but I don't know much about it. Seems to be widely agreed on as the best, though. Proton is free, unless you want to actually choose your vpn location (albania), in which case, you can pay $1 USD/month for their basic subscription. Neither will overheat your phone, but a vpn can lower the time it takes to load web pages/apps."

@KuzunoHakoVT 3 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@cheryot303 300 per month available now is proton VPN"

@wildcanvasbull 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"...VPN. It's truly anonymous. No email needed, you can even pay in cash if you want. No logs. I get way better download speeds with them than I did with Proton VPN, which slowed to a halt after about 2gb. Based in Sweden 🐐 €5 about $5.50 per month. Worth it!"

@ItsCass9 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →