Proton VPN Review
Community-sourced VPN review based on real Reddit & Twitter discussions
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...
What the Community Says
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
Summary generated 1 week ago from 1012 community mentions
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Reviews about "Free Tier"
46 reviews"@Proton_Pass My phone always runs Proton VPN 24/7 and my primary email is Proton. Proton is great company and the free versions are fire too!"
"@weskambale Airtel Use paid vpn Proton (VPN PLUS) Works well Free one is blocked"
"@MrLitstar @9393_ACrowley @ReclaimTheNetHQ Proton get audited every year and I'm yet to see any evidence they keep logs, even for free stuff. I would hapily use Proton or Surfshark, they both seem decent."
"@startpage @torproject @signalapp @MyStartMail @ProtonPrivacy 1) Any Linux OS but I prefer Fedora 2) Quad9 ( DNS privacy) 3) Tor, Brave, Librewolf (browsers) 4) ProtonVPN ( free), Mullvad ( paid) 5) Session, Signal (Messaging) 6) Tutamail & Protonmail 7) GrapheneOS over any phone OS 8) Orbot (basically Tor but for apps) 9) VLC 10) Bitwarden https://t.co/ZwS1OgTYXz"
"@thecoastguy Tor browser Then download VPN. Proton VPN offers free from Switzerland. Not even a swiss judge can demand access to its Server. Starmer has no chance."
"@shanrocksnwa Proton free VPN is good and fast"
"it’s so easy to 🏴☠️ nowadays and these sites are fancy as hell now. just download an adblock and a vpn (proton vpn is a good free one!) and you’re set. pls stop giving netflix money."
"@Murithire Tafuta proton vpn ni free connect to albania, hai allow you tube ads. Now access you tube using chrome browser. Eka desktop version. Play what you want to play, press home button or recent button. Ita pause but kwa notification panel utaona what is playing, click play"
"So i only recently found out about Proton VPN from a friend who’s more of tech expert than me. Thank you Mellisa x So installed it on my phone, well actually just downloaded the app and signed up totally free. Yes I’m actually a technophobe anyway wanted to read a news article but had this annoying message pop up so quickly turned on Proton VPN to switch my location to Singapore from the U.K ..."
"@firasmodad Use Proton free VPN. Always works for me. Connect to the Netherlands or any EU for fast internet"
"TikTok is still down but you can access it with a VPN. Use Proton VPN, it’s free!!"
"@sxemariocfh @grok @luisjgomez Get proton the free vpn my niggaaaa"
"@moveincircles I use Proton VPN. It's free and works great."
"@tnpla1 @TheBritishIntel @NordVPN Cancel it now, you can use proton for free."
"@princess_kim_k They changed US servers, use an international location Proton VPN is free and easy to use"
"You're not wrong, they're just not telling you the whole story 😉 A VPN does hide your traffic from your ISP, but now that encrypted traffic is just visible to your VPN provider instead . So the real question becomes: who do you trust more? Based on their public posture, Proton is one of the better answers. They're Swiss-based, which has strong privacy laws outside major surveillance alliances..."
"@ChibiReviews Proton basic VPN is free and easy to use App for your phone."
"@ReclaimTheNetHQ Proton VPN Free, non-UK based (so UK Government can't touch it)"
"@Brian_Murphy_ @Rolex24Hours There's a legit vpn called proton VPN and it's free but you are only restricted to geographic locations. Try to see if one of those three countries allows you to watch the international feed on YouTube."
"...n ur phone (because i’ve only ever used my laptop when editing and doing this) but you can usually bypass the quotas with a vpn :’) i used to use proton vpn, i think that one is still free!"
"@rrenstudies I just use Proton VPN, which is free 😅 The best countries are Canada, Switzerland, Norway, and parts of the US 🙂↕️"
"@thekingsmanUG Download proton VPN if at all your using android cz with android it has a free option"
"@Grok please translate to indonesia language how To use a VPN in Indonesia: 1. Download a free/reputable app like Proton VPN or ExpressVPN from your app store (Google Play or Apple). 2. Install, create an account (some have free trials). 3. Open the app, connect to a server in another country (e.g., Singapore or US). 4. Once connected, try accessing Grok again. VPNs are legal for personal use..."
"@TradFidiGuy @ReclaimTheNetHQ Also, Proton VPN has a free version Paid proton performance is better"
"@AlexisLvesque4 @lazarbian Yeah. I use the free version of Proton VPN, except for on Saturdays when I can watch on CBC Gem. It's ridiculous how many services you have to have to watch PWHL games without a VPN in Canada."
"@RedMistNJ @ChrisOwens62 @NickBromberg Well, just for shits and giggles I fired up Proton free VPN and it is working for me..."
"@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."
"@Steorie @attbc_ @frmeong it was called proton vpn if I remember correctly, it’s free but you just have to make sure it’s not connecting you to uk/us"
"@SICKTEAR7 if this happens to you, try to use a VPN. Proton VPN is free"
"@CadyMacumber @Brian_Murphy_ @Rolex24Hours Proton VPN, its free"
"@Brian_Murphy_ @Rolex24Hours Free on youtube with a free vpn (proton vpn)"
"@AwesomeGamer3 @DeepHumor Most are free FFS the one I use proton VPN is free."
"@audreyfeldroy @grok It still works with a free VPN like Cloudflare's or Proton's ;)"
"I use Proton Vpn. Its £8.99 pm full cover and choice of servers settings. They also have a free service which I'm using at the moment, I'll subscribe again if it comes to that. You will have to bounce around a bit and change servers until you get to America on the free service. I haven't tried any others so there may well be cheaper or better services out there."
"How to beat Starmer and OFCOM: 1. Open the App Store on your iPhone. 2. Search for a trusted VPN like ProtonVPN, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or Surfshark (avoid random free ones—many are sketchy). 3. Tap Get to download & install the app (free to start, some need a subscription later). 4. Open the app → sign up or log in (create an account if new). 5. Allow the app to add VPN config (tap Allow +..."
"@ACakeToThePast @saltydkdan Yes if outside US and Japan. I use Proton VPN free and it has never disconnected but you need to hit connect server and hope through luck you get connected to those 2, otherwise you wait like 30 sec to change server again on luck"
"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."
"@TartantuesdayI @firasmodad Im thinking about Proton as a free VPN, is it ok?"
"@erik_S22 @bobpockrass Proton is a free vpn"
"@Sunday_Bliss123 @grok I use free proton vpn option,I was learning torrenting using qbitorrent but I don't understand whether its my network speed I don't see list of seeders and leeches as they demonstrate in YouTube"
"@because_race @ChrisOwens62 @NickBromberg I tried Proton vpn free version, it doesn’t work. Do i need premium Version?"
"THIS IS VERY MISLEADING. Your ISP can only see the domains you visit. Everything else is encrypted. That’s what the s in https does. 🔐 Also note if you use a VPN then Proton would have access to this data instead. Is a free VPN provider really more trustworthy than your ISP?"
"If any Saniwa who also uses free vpns please do tell me which ones you’re using! I’m very tired rn of the proton vpn and it’s gacha shit"
"@Homo_sapien21 @ProtonMail infomaniak gives you 15 gb of unpaid privacy and for life, mullvad vpn is much more private and secure and its value even better. proton keeps pushing you to subscribe to his free service, messages everywhere and for a limited service, it's really not worth it."