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 "Privacy"

50 reviews

"Proton VPN or Mullvad VPN are the best choices. Not owned by big companies and are privacy focused to the core!"

r/seclab 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"ProtonVPN let's you use it for free on one computer. They're probably the only entity that I actually trust to care about privacy"

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Proton VPN, 100% no questions asked. Open source codebase, full end-to-end encryption, no user data logs, and protected by Swiss data privacy laws which are some of the strictest in the world. The Swiss government practically never honors..."

r/vpnreviewhub 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"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 →

"@ProtonMail @RevolverJerm Been with Proton since early 2020, now using Proton Duo. Proton's a priority / privacy focused company! I also appreciate their support for folks in countries who'd be in trouble without Proton products! Anyone questions this, search privacy Email / privacy VPN... TOP rated!"

@JamesLThatcher 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@ProtonMail @210m @mike_taylor25 @rekdt Been with Proton since early 2020, now using Proton Duo. Proton's a priority / privacy focused company! I also appreciate their support for folks in countries who'd be in trouble without Proton products! Anyone questions this, search privacy Email / privacy VPN... TOP rated!"

@JamesLThatcher 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@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!"

@EliminateUI 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"...vpns-what-you-need-to-know/ For VPN I would stick with the PrivacyGuides recommendations, that is, Proton VPN, Mullvad, or IVPN: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/vpn/ You can use a VPN on YouTube but you need to try out several countries,..."

r/degoogle 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"It's not the best in terms of privacy. Mullvad and Proton VPN are the two best in this regard."

r/piracybackup 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"...vacy, you cant go wrong with Librewolf (Mullvald/Tor If you want to be anonymous).You could install Proton VPN (free, best vpn along with Mullvald vpn) as a extension or app."

r/browsers 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Been using ProtonVPN and all their other apps. People might scoff at paying for an email, or calander app, but the VPN+Cloud storage is worth it for me. I was also a windscribe user for years and have no complaints"

r/stremioaddons 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Best free ones are gonna be either proton VPN or windscribe free. If you can get a paid Mullvad is only approximately €5 a month ($5.91). All of these are reputable VPNs."

r/imsaracing 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"ExpressVPN was bought by a data broker... And NordVPN was hacked at least twice. I would not use either. ProtonVPN or MullvadVPN are the only ones I trust."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"ProtonVPN is 100% better in terms of privacy and reputation. And, speed still comes close to Nord. Both are excellent for normal usage tho. Some of my friends prefer Nord over Proton(they play games) for very unknown reasons. "

r/vpnreviewhub 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"...e an issue; and if it is, I doubt it is significant. I've never had fundamental speed problems with Proton VPN. Obviously it may be different for you. But as others have said, just try. I suspect many complain about Proton are using the Fre..."

r/vpn_question 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"For me it’s ProtonVPN plus Onion Browser — that stack is rock solid. VPN handles the encrypted tunnel, Tor adds anonymity. Between the two, I get both privacy and resilience without buying into the hype."

r/nvidiashield 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"ProtonVPN Review in 2026: Any thoughts? Using the internet today feels a lot less private than it used to. Between constant ads following you around and the risks of public WiFi, I felt like a VPN was no longer optional. I have been using ..."

r/vpn_reviewer 4 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"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 →

"NordVPN's user database has been hacked at least twice. ProtonVPN and MullvadVPN are the only one's worth trusting."

r/vpn_question 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Best for privacy: MullVad, CopVPN, ProtonVPN. Best for speed: Surfshark, Express, NordVPN."

r/vpn_reviewer 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"...rs. I'm not super into crypto, but I believe Monero is a privacy focused crypto. I would recommend Proton VPN if you can make use of their other services, and AirVPN is quite nice too. Mullvad is probably the best though, just not the che..."

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 →

"As a security professional who speaks at a lot of conferences and advises on privacy, Mullvad is the best. The ONLY other one I would recommend is ProtonVPN if you want an easier experience. The "top" VPN providers you see on advertisements..."

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"...omputer repair shop owner here (check my profile), there are only 4 VPNs anyone should be using: * Proton VPN (free) * Mullvad * IVPN * Windscribe These VPN companies are proven to be trustworthy, which is important because whichever serv..."

r/stlouis 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"...amp;auto=webp&s=614cad412e5a8b8f03ba42347821ad107e4f69e1 I have used the free and paid plan of proton vpn .so far it has been a good and reliable vpn.i did a dns leak test and it has masked my real ip and showing Argentinas ip address"

r/vpn_reviewer 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"I’ve been using Proton. VPN works very well and they value security"

r/vpnreviewhub 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 →

"If you are still looking for a free VPN for Australia then, I will recommend you can try ProtonVPN. It gives great features for online privacy, streaming and gaming. It works well for me."

r/askanaustralian 2 months ago View on Reddit →

"I canceled and got a refund when I found out about the Israeli security connection. I’ve gone for proton VPN and I’m happy"

r/privateinternetaccess 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Proton, any VPN that sponser YTers have terrible privacy policies. Air, Mullvad and Proton are the best for privacy focused. I recently moved to Proton because they are better for P2P."

r/britain 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Proton or Mullvad and ignore anyone that says something really dumb and uninformed like: "You don't need a VPN unless you're doing things that are illegal.""

r/security 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Proton and Mullvad are solid if you want security without killing your speed."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 week ago View on Reddit →

"Firefox browser Then adguard, ublock, and id recommend adding a third one of your choice  I also suggest sponsorblock, privacy badger, and ghostery, plus getting a VPN, so far proton has been the best free option"

r/picrew 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"As AI gets better, that will be increasingly useless. Right now disrupting standard behavior patterns works best--literally doing cartwheels is enough for AI to not recognize you as human. Good time to point out that NordVPN is con..."

r/washingtondc 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Він правий, суть впн втому що логі не побачать локальний майор. Чи виріти ви що укр впн не злиє всі ваші логі по першому запиту? Навіт..."

r/reddituatalks 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Proton is the only safe reliable free VPN..."

r/firetvstick 2 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"По анонімності найкращі Mullvad i Proton. Якщо щось сучасне і плюшки - Surfshark"

r/reddituatalks 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"I'm on Proton and it really is great. The ability to transition many google apps with one package of apps is great, especially since you know you'll money will go to develop more anti-google apps in the future."

r/degoogle 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"Proton gets review bombed on trustpilot by people who don't understand how VPNs work lol. Their service is actually solid, been using it for like 2 years with zero issues For email I'd go with Tuta personally - clean interface and the e..."

r/degoogle 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

">My primary asset at risk is my personal digital history: years of political opinions, comments, and discussions posted under my real identity across multiple platforms. None of this is illegal or extreme by today’s standards, but I ca..."

r/opsec 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

"PIA is no longer a reputable VPN service. They were bought out by an Israeli company and will 1000% sniff your traffic and will share their subscriber info to any paying entity. Nord, Mullvad, and Proton are near the top for best service. ..."

r/canadianforces 3 weeks ago View on Reddit →

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

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Free VPNs are always a compromise. Proton Free is still the most trustworthy long term, but X-VPN is fine for light browsing if you accept the limits."

r/vpn_reviewer 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Nearly all VPN providers sell your data including most paid ones. There's a reason why PIA, Nord VPN and others can sponsor half the internet's creators. This video does a great job at unpacking this and brings evidence the claims made: [..."

r/protonmail 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 →

"Depends how much is too much hassle:) The following steps are quick, ‘set and forget’ measures. These will protect against tracking in general, not just Facebook pixel. This is assuming you want to stay with FF rather than switch brows..."

r/privacy 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 →

"proton for best torrenting. mulvad for best anonymousy and privacy."

r/fitgirlrepack 1 month ago View on Reddit →

"Free vpns are risky, proton is good as they still keep your information private. It's not a free VPN, but MullVad is something like £2 a month, but can pay for 1 month without the high price"

r/vpnreviews 2 months ago View on Reddit →