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 "Tor"

7 reviews

"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 →

"@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."

@Dylan7865325726 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@JKing55378907 @OperatorK5 @BasilTheGreat TOR is a lot faster than it used to be but you do run into a lot of CAPTCHAs or outright site blocks with it. I've messed around with various privacy tools and I have found that Mullvad Privacy Browser with a Proton or Mullvad proxy extension is the best balance for browsing."

@Saeren_ 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@KneeHonAlt @badidol @LEGENDARYMSR69 @obscuravpn Yes and if you sign up with Proton VPN directly, a Mail account isn’t even activated unless you go to the Mail site and log in separately. I tested this the other day. Proton VPN accepts throwaway emails too so when creating your login you can use a tempmail service over Tor."

@Saeren_ 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@ChibiReviews You can still send cash in an envelope to mullvad and Proton. Tor and i2p still exist. This will have no impact but it is a mask-off moment for the UK gov."

@TheProfessorZ 1 week ago View on Twitter →

"@ProtonVPN Proton VPN can see you traffic, use TOR Proton VPN can see you traffic, use TOR Proton VPN can see you traffic, use TOR"

@PubliusVibius 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →

"@whyte2025 @windscribecom @pcWRT @ProtonVPN Proton mail (and I believe drive) has complied to many law enforcement orders, however not with the vpn.. yet.. with proton you can not make an anonymous account under the tor which is a very big red flag."

@Ryan26334193113 2 weeks ago View on Twitter →