How we tested Proton VPN

Proton VPN review scores

Proton VPN price plans

• Proton has a single VPN plan, from $2.99 per month.
• Lower auto-renewal price increases than almost any other VPN.
• Proton Unlimited bundles other Proton products with the VPN.

Unlike many top VPNs, Proton VPN doesn’t offer tiered pricing. Instead, there is a single paid plan (alongside the Proton VPN Free product). This plan is offered in three lengths: 1-month, 1-year, and 2-year. The price of the plan drops as the length increases. All of these plans do, however, come with a 10-device limit, much like NordVPN.

We always recommend picking up the two-year plan, since it is the cheapest overall. As with all VPNs, you pay the full cost upfront. Just make sure you turn off auto-renewals, so you’re not stung by unwanted price rises. That said, Proton’s price rises are almost non-existent.

Right now, picking up a 2-year plan costs $2.99/month, paid as $71.76 upfront, and renews at $79.95 every 12 months (or $159.90 over two years). By comparison, NordVPN Basic costs $80.73 for the first two years, then auto-renews at $312.93 for the next two years – and that’s including far fewer features than you’d get with Proton.

NordVPN also charges VAT on top of these costs, making the overall price rise even further both on initial sign-up and at renewal. By comparison, Proton’s price is all you pay; tax is included in the advertised cost, barely a renewal increase, little to worry about.

What's more, it's important to remember that Proton Plus is compared here to all of the other entry-level plans of our other recommended VPNs. It comes with features that aren't available with other VPNs unless you go up a price tier. So, Proton VPN is, in fact, far better value than it appears.

Total cost of cheapest 2-year plan

All prices (from December 2025) are before tax

Total price

NordVPN Basic

80.73

Surfshark Starter

53.73

ExpressVPN Basic

97.72

Proton VPN Plus

71.76

0255075100

USD

Total price Data

Product	Value (USD)
NordVPN Basic	80.73
Surfshark Starter	53.73
ExpressVPN Basic	97.72
Proton VPN Plus	71.76

Proton VPN, while at $2.99 per month, is relatively cheap next to ExpressVPN and NordVPN's entry level plans. Important to remember that Proton VPN Plus has more features than these other VPNs at these price tiers too.

One option you do have with Proton is to upgrade to its Proton Unlimited plan. This plan gives you Proton VPN, and all its features, but also Proton Mail, Pass, Calendar, and Drive. So, if you want added security for your emails, photo storage, or personal events, you can get it all bundled into one package.

Proton Unlimited costs only a fraction more than NordVPN’s super-premium Prime Plan. That's $191.76 for two years compared to $186.03. What’s more, you’re not stung with the huge price increase you’d face with NordVPN, and you can access a whole suite of products.

What's quite astounding is that a single, on-off month of Proton Unlimited is actually cheaper than a one-month plan from any other of the best VPNs. For only $12.99, you get the full Proton experience, including all its apps and features.

For comparison, 1 month of NordVPN Basic (which gives just the VPN and basic Threat Protection) is the same price, while one month of Surfshark Starter is even more at $15.45.

So, for one month of security, Proton will struggle to be beaten. If you don’t need the additional Drive, Pass, Mail, and Calendar apps, Proton VPN for 1 month is only $9.99 with all features included too, so you’re always going to save compared to even its biggest rivals.

All of this sits Proton VPN somewhere in the middle for value. At regular two-year pricing it's in the same ballpark as NordVPN and ExpressVPN. It's only Surfshark that is significantly cheaper out of our top choices.

Score: 8/10

Features: What can Proton VPN do?

• Ad blocking and browsing protection from NetShield is excellent.
• Profiles are a very handy feature.
• Fewer tangible features than other top VPNs.

Proton’s one-price-gives-all approach means you get the full suite of VPN features straight away. That said, it doesn’t offer a great deal in terms of add-ons. Though what it does have works, and works well, which is a huge plus.

NetShield is the primary example of this. As Proton VPN’s biggest additional feature, NetShield blocks your device from ads, trackers, malware sites, and phishing sites. It works at a system level, meaning no additional installs for browsers or apps; they’re all automatically protected.

Testing it across Windows, Android, and iOS, we never saw it impact our battery life, nor did we encounter issues with most apps or websites despite the warnings Proton gives that problems may occur.

The only sites that struggled were streaming sites. VPN ad-blockers and streaming sites are known enemies, especially when the streaming site is regional and relies on ads to run – for example, Peacock in the US or Channel 4 in the UK, though we’ll cover this in the unblocking section later.

Profiles are another key tool in Proton’s arsenal. While some VPNs have functionality to auto-connect on using specific apps or WiFi connections, Profiles goes a step further.

Proton’s solution allows users to create multiple, uniquely tailored settings combinations, 'profiles', for when using the VPN in specific situations. The profiles can be tailored to according to:

• Server type (Standard, Secure Core, P2P)
• Country selection
• Whether NetShield is turned on or off
• Whether port forwarding is turned on or off
• What protocol you use (WireGuard, Stealth, OpenVPN)
• What NAT type

It’s also got what Proton calls ‘Connect and Go’, which allows you to pick an app or website that loads automatically when you turn on your profile.

In testing, we set up a ‘US Streaming’ profile. It used WireGuard UDP (since you can choose either TCP or UDP on either WireGuard or OpenVPN) turned NetShield off, to avoid ad-blocker issues, and auto-loaded Peacock so we could get straight to watching shows. It worked flawlessly every time.

Usefully, the profiles you create also appear on Proton’s mobile widgets if you’ve connected to them recently. That means you don’t even need to enter the app to get streaming if you’re on the go and want to save time.

On desktop, you can also pin any profile you create to the top of your recents list.

I really like Proton VPN's profiles. They're easily accessible, work flawlessly, and supremely helpful, top marks!

The final unique aspect of Proton VPN’s experience is VPN Accelerator. It's less of a feature and more of a toggle, and it supposedly increases performance by up to 400%.

We’ll get into the results of that later, but it works by splitting the processing needed to handle VPN traffic across multiple processors rather than just one.

This reduces the risk of overload to the processor, which would impact performance and result in reduced speeds for a user. It's on automatically for paid Proton VPN users, since it’s unavailable for those on the free plan. We recommend leaving it that way to ensure the best speeds.

That's it for Proton's features, and, while it's not a lot, as I say, it functions well, and there are plenty of 'added value' features on other VPNs that don't.

I'd like to see Proton offer a little more with its VPN going forward but, if all you need is a VPN, then you shouldn't have any complaints.

Score: 7/10

Server network and locations

• Second-most countries and locations offered of any tested VPN
• The most locations of any tested VPN in Asia and Africa.
• Fewer locations in the Americas and Oceania.

Proton VPN offers the second-largest number of total locations of any VPN we tested (164), and the second-most countries covered also (126). Only ExpressVPN’s 187 locations and NordVPN’s 127 countries offer more.

While the number of locations and countries can be a good indicator of a provider’s spread, it’s never perfect. Often the global spread of these servers can be more telling.

Of all the VPNs we test, Proton VPN has the most locations in Asia (44) and Africa (26). By comparison, NordVPN only offers 38 Asian locations and 17 African ones.

However, Proton scores low in North America (32), South America (7), and Oceania (6). Its 49 European locations put Proton slightly below average here too – with the likes of NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN offering 53, 54, and 58 locations in the region, respectively.

It's important to put that in context, though. Proton company mission is to provide private and secure internet access to all, and that's very much reflected in the server spread of its VPN network.

While it might not have have as bigger concentration in certain areas – mainly North American and Europe – Proton makes sure its product is available to as may parts of the globe as possible. Part of that reason is so that it can open up those servers for free access in times of trouble for local people.

That's a unique and laudable pillar of Proton VPN identity. It's a great reason to choose Proton if you live in these areas of the world or your likely to travel to them for work. These are also areas where internet restrictions can be toughest, and present a very immediate need for privacy software.

It's also important to realise that Proton has a large number of servers in its network and that makes it good for handling the ebbs and flows of capacity needs.

Proton’s total number of servers currently sits at 15,370. This is not only a huge jump from the 5,000 Proton claimed to have back in June 2024, but also puts the VPN provider far in advance of almost any other. For example, Surfshark offers over 4,500, and, while NordVPN no longer publishes its total server count, our research would suggest it's only around 8,000.

The more servers a provider has in total, the less likely your connection is to be impacted by excessive server load which, in turn, can lead to reduced download speeds and increased latency or jitter. Those are both things to be avoided if you're looking for a gaming VPN or streaming VPN with consistent, high-speed connections the ideal.

Among Proton’s many locations are some virtual locations. Using virtual servers is common among even the top VPNs, but it’s refreshing to see Proton’s level of transparency surrounding the matter.

There’s a full explainer available explaining how Smart Routing, Proton’s name for virtual servers, works; it’s frequently mentioned on the website, and you can even clearly identify Smart Routed servers in its apps.

Global VPN server spread

Continental split of server network resources

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Proton VPN

Next >

Data for Proton VPN

Attribute	Value (number of server locations)	Percentage
Asia	44	26.8%
North America	32	19.5%
South America	7	4.3%
Europe	49	29.9%
Oceania	6	3.7%
Africa	26	15.9%

Data for NordVPN

Attribute	Value (number of server locations)	Percentage
Asia	38	23.0%
North America	39	23.6%
South America	10	6.1%
Europe	53	32.1%
Oceania	8	4.8%
Africa	17	10.3%

Data for ExpressVPN

Attribute	Value (number of server locations)	Percentage
Asia	36	19.1%
North America	70	37.2%
South America	9	4.8%
Europe	59	31.4%
Oceania	8	4.3%
Africa	6	3.2%

Data for Surfshark

Attribute	Value (number of server locations)	Percentage
Asia	31	22.0%
North America	34	24.1%
South America	10	7.1%
Europe	54	38.3%
Oceania	6	4.3%
Africa	6	4.3%

1 of 4

Proton VPN has the best global server spread of all of our recommended VPNs. It's the top choice for coverage in Africa and the Middle East.

That said, it’s not perfect. In our testing, it was quickly apparent that while the app does tell you which servers are Smart Routed, it’s not always simple to find out.

You have to click into the specific city locations to see the servers available before you find out they’re Smart Routed rather than physically located there. That's particularly fiddly on mobile

What’s more, we found that not all of these virtual locations appear to connect from where Proton VPN says they do.

In our testing, Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Togo all showed up as connecting from a different location than the app or website claimed. However, most often, the app claimed that the connection was from either France or London, and our results would go on to prove the opposite.

It's most likely that the server lists are out of date, rather than anything nefarious.

The real diversion from the norm for Proton's server network, though, is that it doesn't use RAM-only servers. Proton believes the security benefits of such servers are minimal and consequently not worthwhile, which they explain in a blog post.

Instead, Proton runs full disk encryption on their servers. This means that even if a server were to be taken away, it would not be possible to access the server certificates that might allow bad actors to create an attack, or attempt to track customers.

Alongside these servers are Proton’s own Secure Core servers. These servers are owned and run by Proton itself, stored in high-security locations, including a former military base and an underground data center, and form the basis of Proton’s multi-hop offering.

Based in Sweden, Switzerland, and Iceland, these servers are deliberately in physically hardened locations with strong privacy laws, reducing the ability of other countries to file legal challenges for data. Plus, the servers are connected to the internet by a dedicated network Proton owns, with IP addresses owned and operated by its own Local Internet Registry.

The average user won’t see a huge difference in performance but any multihop connection does reduce download speeds and increases latency owing to the added VPN server connection. However, those extra measures mean you’re far more protected when using Secure Core than you would with any other VPN multi-hop system. If that doesn't add peace of mind, then we don't know what will.

Overall, then, a great spread of locations, backed by strong, secure infrastructure. There's little you need to worry about when it comes to where to connect with Proton VPN.

Score: 10/10

Privacy

• Based in Switzerland – giving users protection from strict data privacy laws.
• Detailed, clear, privacy and no-logs policies.
• Key privacy features: Stealth, full-disk encryption, Secure Core.

Proton is as a privacy-first company. Its VPN product is no different – and doesn’t disappoint!

We should first address the fact that it is a Swiss company. Being based in Switzerland means the company is protected by some VPN customer-friendly data privacy laws. Switzerland isn’t part of any intelligence-sharing agreements, and sees such importance in privacy that rarely will a Swiss court grant any data request it receives from another country.

This is furthered by Proton’s full, detailed privacy policy, no-logs policy, and transparency reports when it is subject to legal requests by Swiss authorities. We read through Proton’s privacy policy and were pleased to see a high level of detail, without unnecessary complexities.

The same is true for its no-logs policy. It covers everything we’d expect, including linking out to explainers surrounding the technology Proton has in place to secure your data, such as full-disk encryption and bare-metal servers, both of which we’ll cover later.

This no-logs policy has also been audited four times. The last was in September 2025.

These audits have regularly confirmed there is nothing to worry about, even emphasizing the lengths Proton goes to internally to ensure security.

This includes monitoring server configurations and raising alerts if there is an unauthorized change. It also has a change management system which means an employee cannot change any configurations without another employee’s approval.

If that wasn’t enough, Proton’s no logs policy was tested in 2019 when a Swiss court approved a request to hand over customer information. However, since Proton’s no logs policy was watertight and well enforced, there was no information to hand over.

If you’re interested in how many requests Proton receives over a year, you can look over its transparency report. This report is updated whenever a new request is received, even if, as is most common, the request is declined due to Swiss privacy laws.

Proton’s quest for privacy superiority doesn’t just stop with the legalities, though; its Stealth protocol is a staple part of its infrastructure and offers a stellar solution to remaining secure when you need to hide that you’re using a VPN to connect.

Stealth is a protocol based on traditional WireGuard over TCP. By tunneling WireGuard over TCP, having already encapsulated your traffic in TLS, your connection appears as any normal online traffic would.

This is because TCP runs your traffic through the same port that normal HTTPS traffic goes through, port 443. By disguising your traffic in this way, you’re much less likely to be picked up by VPN detection technologies, allowing you greater success when bypassing censorship restrictions, VPN bans, and the like.

All this protective technology does mean that Stealth is by no means the quickest protocol, though that doesn’t mean you’re short of options if you need speed.

Alongside Stealth, you can also pick from either OpenVPN or WireGuard connection types, both of which are available in TCP or UDP configurations.

Picking TCP gives a more reliable connection, while UDP is more speed-focused. So, if you’re after a secure, reliable connection, OpenVPN on TCP is the pick, while if you want speed, WireGuard over UDP is ideal, especially with VPN Accelerator enabled.

We’ve mentioned already how Proton avoids using RAM-only servers in favor of full-disk-encrypted servers instead, but it’s also worth mentioning its commitment to physical locations in regions of high risk.

In ‘unfriendly jurisdictions’, as Proton describes them, Proton uses third-party, physical servers to ensure that it’s not subject to local laws and remains a Swiss company, since the infrastructure is owned by a third-party, and it has full control of the server all the way to the base operating level.

Using physical servers, rather than virtual, ensures the hardware is solely dedicated to Proton VPN, allowing for greater security and control when navigating the difficulties faced in these regions.

In terms of privacy features in-app, there are several that are particularly handy.

We’ve already mentioned Proton’s version of multi-hop, Secure Core. This is a super-secure solution to a two-VPN connection, though the added security does mean it sacrifices country availability. Every connection must go through one of Proton’s Swiss, Icelandic, or Swedish Secure Core bases, and the connection can then only exit in 64 of Proton’s usual 126 countries.

While this may seem like a sacrifice initially, 64 is far more than the 12 multi-hop locations NordVPN offers. Only Surfshark’s Nexus network offers more since it allows a multihop connection between any two Surfshark locations without limitation.

Much like NordVPN, you also get Tor over VPN connectivity should you wish to access .onion sites. Again, Proton comfortably beats NordVPN for locations in this respect, with six to Nord’s three.

As with any Tor over VPN connection, performance does take a hefty hit. Our tests showed a maximum download speed of only 1.89 Mbps, though this is more than double NordVPN’s result, which barely scraped over 700 Kbps.

It’s unlikely that, if using the Tor network, you’re doing anything requiring a huge amount of bandwidth, but beware that you’re never going to get the same speeds you would with a different protocol. If you’re unsure how to safely use Tor over VPN, Proton does offer a handy guide you can access from within the app.

Score: 10/10

Security

• Excellent current encryption standards but no post-quantum yet.
• Excellent kill switch but can't be used while split-tunneling.
• Poor recent malware site blocking result.

Proton does the necessary security steps well. AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20 encryption using Diffie-Hellman key exchanges are standard practices, and Proton only uses protocols that support perfect forward secrecy. This means not only are you secure, but even if a session were to be compromised, none of your older or later sessions are at risk since they’ll use unique encryption keys.

On the topic of encryption keys, Proton uses 4096-bit RSA keys, a step above VPN providers such as Surfshark, which only use 2048-bit, though you won’t notice the difference day-to-day. 2048-bit encryption keys are extremely safe, which is why top VPNs still use them, but 4096-bit keys add additional security through the increase in key length – why the likes of Proton and NordVPN now use these instead.

Proton’s VPN encryption hasn’t yet spread to post-quantum encryption. In October 2023, the provider released a blog post explaining its position and assured that post-quantum encryption would be in place by the time quantum computing is a threat to consumers. That said, lacking it currently does put the Proton VPN behind the likes of NordVPN and ExpressVPN, who are already offering solutions to users.

It's not an issue right now, so don’t worry. What’s more, Proton has plenty of features to keep users secure.

Auto-connect is an option right out of the gates. It’s not the most flexible auto-connect we’ve seen, especially when compared to NordVPN. You can only set your desktop to auto-connect to your default connection on launch. What’s more, there’s no auto-connect at all on mobile.

This lack of any customisation is surprising. The likes of NordVPN or Surfshark allow you options such as creating a trusted network list or enabling auto-connect under specific connection circumstances. Without this Proton is a distance behind.

Next comes split tunelling. Proton’s split tunelling is advanced, but with one particularly curious drawback – Windows users can’t split tunnel with the kill switch enabled. Trying to activate both, either toggling the kill switch or split tunnel first, prompts a message that the other feature will be disabled.

Realistically, given that both are popular, important, security features, this may turn out to be a dealbreaker should you often use both to ensure the apps you want a connection with are secured to the max.

Its not all bad, though. Proton does have several advanced features for split-tunneling. You can choose to split-tunnel both apps and IP addresses on both desktop and mobile platforms, plus you can decide whether your tunnel excludes or includes what’s selected from the VPN connection.

Proton’s app detection on desktop is very good. Any .exe file we had was found and properly thumbnailed on our list – a list which usefully retains any app you add permanently, should you wish to amend your list in future.

On mobile, Proton did a great job finding any app we’d installed (including those installed via Chrome), and could even identify and isolate specific system apps. That said, it did take a few seconds to collate the full list of apps, and didn’t give options for specific Chrome ‘apps’ we’d set up on our Android device to quickly access specific websites.

That won’t impact many but it does mean you’re left split-tunneling Chrome as a whole instead of having specific, unencrypted access to sites where VPNs cause issues, including financial sites.

Finally, we should mention Proton’s kill switch. Should you choose a kill switch over split tunneling on desktop you get two options: Standard, and Advanced.

Standard VPN works as you’d expect. You turn it on, and your internet connection drops if your connection to Proton VPN is interrupted.

Advanced adds another layer to this. It only allows internet access when connected to Proton VPN, and it remains active even after restarting your device.

Testing the kill switch over Stealth, WireGuard, and OpenVPN, Proton foiled all of our tricks to forcibly drop the VPN. We were disconnected instantly and saw no signs of leaks, and that's exactly what you want.

iOS and Mac users get the equivalent of Windows’ Standard kill switch, which is more than good enough. Android users use the Android-native kill switch, which is essentially the Windows Advanced option. While it would be great to see consistency across the board, none of our testing suggests any reason to worry about Proton’s kill switch no matter the platform.

Diving into Proton’s advanced settings offers several other ways to improve your security too.

On desktop, one interesting option is that you get control of alternative routing. It attempts to use different connection routing methods if Proton’s services are blocked.

That means using non-Proton server network methods to ensure online access to Proton users in crisis situation.

You can also choose to allow LAN connections while still connected to the VPN, set up custom DNS servers, choose your specific NAT type and OpenVPN network driver, and enable IPv6 support and leak protection.

This is extensive customization for any VPN. What’s also great to see is that mobile users get almost all of these functions, losing only IPv6 leak protection and OpenVPN network driver choices from the otherwise extensive list.

The final tool in Proton VPN’s security arsenal is NetShield. This is Proton’s ad, tracker and malware blocking tool. It works at a system level, meaning there’s no need for separate installs for at-risk programs such as your browser. It instead protects all of your apps instantly.

We put NetShield to the test against 50 brand-new malware and phishing sites and attempted to access them. We also ran it through an ad-blocking tester. These are our most recent VPN lab results.

Proton’s results raise a number of discussion points. Its 88% phishing sites blocked score is second to only NordVPN among VPNs we’ve tested, which is great to see. Blocking 88% of ads, too, means Proton is actually top here, achieving nearly 40% more successful blocks than Surfshark or NordVPN.

Its 0% of malware sites blocked score is concerning, of course. Though curiously, we also found this with ExpressVPN – and both scored well in our previous test.

As with speed testing, these ad and site blocker tests are only a snapshot in time, and are relative to the latest threats of that particular day. In other words, it might have just been a bad day at the office for ExpressVPN and Proton VPN.

The takeaway message is that, while Proton VPN won’t block all malware sites, it’ll definitely block more than none of them!

Score: 9/10

Speed

• Very fast WireGuard speeds over long and short distance connections.
• OpenVPN speeds a long way behind the competition.
• High levels of jitter recorded on recent tests.

Proton shot to second place in our most recent VPN lab speed tests. That's likely thanks in part to its VPN Accelerator technology.

We recently broadened our testing parameters, adding more data points to our testing and increasing our maximum speed capacity to 10 Gbps. This allows for more precise, comparable testing across all VPNs to discern even the smallest differences.

WireGuard/fastest VPN protocol

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Download speed (local)

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Surfshark (WireGuard)

1615

NordVPN (NordLynx)

1256

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

1479

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

694

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

1521

05001,0001,5002,000

Mbps

Download speed (local) Data

Product	Value (Mbps)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	1615
NordVPN (NordLynx)	1256
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	1479
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	694
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	1521

Surfshark (WireGuard)

355

NordVPN (NordLynx)

857

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

1374

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

523

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

1242

03757501,1251,500

Mbps

Download speed (long distance) Data

Product	Value (Mbps)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	355
NordVPN (NordLynx)	857
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	1374
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	523
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	1242

Surfshark (WireGuard)

2.3

NordVPN (NordLynx)

2.4

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

5.3

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

2.4

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

5.2

01.534.56

ms

Jitter (local) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	2.3
NordVPN (NordLynx)	2.4
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	5.3
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	2.4
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	5.2

Surfshark (WireGuard)

27.5

NordVPN (NordLynx)

4.7

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

5.7

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

2.3

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

28.3

07.51522.530

ms

Jitter (long distance) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	27.5
NordVPN (NordLynx)	4.7
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	5.7
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	2.3
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	28.3

Surfshark (WireGuard)

21.7

NordVPN (NordLynx)

17.2

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

14.8

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

13.6

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

21.7

07.51522.530

ms

Latency (local) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	21.7
NordVPN (NordLynx)	17.2
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	14.8
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	13.6
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	21.7

Surfshark (WireGuard)

171

NordVPN (NordLynx)

83

ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)

75

ExpressVPN (WireGuard)

72.1

Proton VPN (WireGuard)

90.6

050100150200

ms

Latency (long distance) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark (WireGuard)	171
NordVPN (NordLynx)	83
ExpressVPN (Lightway Turbo)	75
ExpressVPN (WireGuard)	72.1
Proton VPN (WireGuard)	90.6

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Proton VPN is very fast using WireGuard over any distance on its server network.

Having previously recorded only 871 Mbps, Proton now hits over 1500 Mbps download speeds using WireGuard over a short distance connection.

What’s more, when connecting to the US from the UK (i.e. over long distance) using WireGuard, Proton VPN's download speeds have leapt from 436 Mbps to 1242 Mbps this time round, second only to ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo (a Windows-only protocol).

Both of these results are more than fast enough for any household looking to protect a Netflix binge, gaming session, or just their emails. Among top VPNs, Proton is second for outright speed to Surfshark (1615 Mbps) but Surfshark is nothing like as quick as Proton VPN over long distance (355 Mbps UK to US).

That said, Proton recorded some of the worst jitter in our most recent test (5.2ms and 28.3ms). While for most these figures won't mean much, gamers should take note, since jitter can contribute to inconsistent online gaming. Fortunately Proton VPN's latency recordings were comparable with the other best VPNs.

OpenVPN performance

Average download speeds, latency and jitter rates on local and long distance server connections.

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OpenVPN speed (local)

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Surfshark

978

NordVPN

974

ExpressVPN

1038

Proton VPN

240

03757501,1251,500

Mbps

OpenVPN speed (local) Data

Product	Value (Mbps)
Surfshark	978
NordVPN	974
ExpressVPN	1038
Proton VPN	240

Surfshark

430

NordVPN

857

ExpressVPN

808

Proton VPN

173

02505007501,000

Mbps

OpenVPN speed (long distance) Data

Product	Value (Mbps)
Surfshark	430
NordVPN	857
ExpressVPN	808
Proton VPN	173

Surfshark

33.4

NordVPN

14.6

ExpressVPN

15.5

Proton VPN

14.7

010203040

ms

OpenVPN latency (local) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark	33.4
NordVPN	14.6
ExpressVPN	15.5
Proton VPN	14.7

Surfshark

174

NordVPN

83

ExpressVPN

73.5

Proton VPN

73.8

050100150200

ms

OpenVPN latency (long distance) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark	174
NordVPN	83
ExpressVPN	73.5
Proton VPN	73.8

Surfshark

9.8

NordVPN

4.2

ExpressVPN

6.8

Proton VPN

7.3

02.557.510

ms

OpenVPN jitter (local) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark	9.8
NordVPN	4.2
ExpressVPN	6.8
Proton VPN	7.3

Surfshark

15.9

NordVPN

4.7

ExpressVPN

11.5

Proton VPN

8.1

05101520

ms

OpenVPN jitter (long distance) Data

Product	Value (ms)
Surfshark	15.9
NordVPN	4.7
ExpressVPN	11.5
Proton VPN	8.1

1 of 6

Proton VPN is way behind the other top VPNs for OpenVPN speeds, even when connecting to the nearest server to our lab.

The main area we'd like to see improvements is with Proton VPN’s OpenVPN performance. It's better than it was but, at just 240 Mbps download speeds over even a local connection, it's a long way back Surfshark (978 Mbps), NordVPN (974 Mbps) and ExpressVPN (1038 Mbps).

OpenVPN is commonly considered more secure and stable than WireGuard. If you’re using Proton for security, you’ll likely find yourself using its Stealth Protocol, instead though, given it's far more security-focused.

In most other circumstances, WireGuard is more than up to the job, though maybe look elsewhere for router VPN options, since many solely use OpenVPN configurations.

Score: 8/10

Unblocking streaming services

• Successfully unblocks Netflix libraries all round the world.
• Was able to unblock both Disney+ and YouTube in the US.
• Needed NetShield switching off to unblock some ad-funded services.

Proton VPN has a good track record in successfully unblocking streaming service all around the world but it's by no means the best streaming VPN. The accolade goes to NordVPN.

We lab test VPNs for their unblocking capabilities with Netflix libraries in the US, UK, Japan, Australia, and Canada, as well as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube. To check its regional capacity, we also put them against BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, ITV, 7plus, 9Now, 10Play, and TVNZ+.

Proton handled every Netflix Library with ease, just the same as al of our top VPN choices. It also had no difficulties with Prime Video where only ExpressVPN came up short.

It also comfortably dealt with the likes of iPlayer, 7plus, 9Now, and 10Play, but issues did crop up elsewhere.

Trying to access Disney+ in the US from a UK location saw us blocked when trying to connect from Proton’s New York server; luckily, though, switching to Jersey saw these issues quickly dissipate.

Similarly, US YouTube wouldn’t work via New Jersey servers, but connecting to California was a quick fix. This is actually a pretty big win give than none of our other best VPNs, including NordVPN, were able to unlock US YouTube from abroad. Interestingly, CyberGhost was the only other major VPN that could do it.

It was the local ad-funded streaming services where Proton VPN struggled. ITVX wouldn’t work connected to London, but Manchester proved to be a successful alternative, for example.

This isn’t just isolated to one region, either. In the past, we’ve had issues with services such as Peacock in the US or, in this instance, Channel 4 in the UK.

Proton’s UK servers proved incapable of accessing the streaming platform unless we turned off our ad-blocker. That's still better than some VPN providers – Surfshark has similar issues with its CleanWeb ad-blocker – but both ExpressVPN and NordVPN managed just fine, regardless of whether their ad blockers were activated or not.

Fortunately, all of Proton's server network is optimized for streaming. So, when faced with a situation where a streaming platform struggled to connect or blocked us entirely, as happened with Disney+ in this instance, for example, we were simply able to click a different server in the same country (or even location) and try again.

A streaming-optimized network also allows a greater spread of server load, reduces performance impact, and even allows you to pick servers with better latency to ensure a high-quality experience.

So, while we can't claim that Proton is the tip-top for streaming, it's certainly up there with most of the contenders.

Score: 8/10

P2P and torrenting

• P2P supported in almost all Proton VPN server locations.
• Proton VPN supports port forwarding.
• Loads of helpful guides and how-tos on torrenting for beginners.

Proton VPN is arguably the best VPN for torrenting out there right now.

P2P is supported in all but two of its countries (sorry Myanmar and North Macedonia users). You can filter into the P2P-optimized servers at the click of a button. I downloaded several test torrents, and had no issues at any point in the process.

Proton VPN supports port forwarding which helps to get the best torrenting speeds. All of the other top VPNs lack this support owing to the known security risks it brings. That's understandable to a degree, but not only does Proton VPN have features to help people using P2P networks, it's also one of the few VPNs to have a wealth of information in its user base on how to actually do it with guides such as how to torrent safely with a VPN.

You can port forward across Proton VPN’s Windows, Linux, and Mac apps – the last of which was finally added in summer 2025.

If you’re confused or need guidance, Proton has more in-depth posts outlining the risks of port forwarding, how to set it up on its apps, how to manually set it up, and even how to manually set it up on the likes of qBittorrent and uTorrent.

This level of guidance is something we’d rarely expect, let alone the level of support on its apps.

If you want to use a VPN for torrenting, then given all this, and Proton's speeds and server network spread, then you really have to have it on your P2P shortlist.

Score: 5/5

Compatibility

• Apps for almost every platform.
• Lots of capability iOS and Mac users.
• No OpenVPN support on Apple devices, though.

Proton VPN does a remarkable job of not only offering a strong spread of apps, but also ensuring there aren’t huge gaps in features from one app to another.

You can use Proton VPN on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android as expected – plus it has a GUI client for Linux users. Android smart TVs also get an app, as well as Fire TV Sticks and Apple TV boxes.

The Proton VPN browser extension is available on Chrome or Firefox. As with ExpressVPN, PIA, and CyberGhost, you need to download the Chrome Web Store extension onto Edge to get Proton VPN on Microsoft's browser.

Proton VPN is also router-compatible and has a handy, detailed guide that explains what methods you can use to set this up.

In terms of parity across platforms, Proton VPN is near-perfect nowadays, unlike VPN providers such as NordVPN.

The anomalies for Proton to speak of are that mobile apps don’t have auto-connect, which is unfortunate but by no means fatal, and iOS and Mac users don’t get OpenVPN. The latter of these issues is, admittedly, a strange one, since it makes Proton the only top VPN we test to omit the protocol from these platforms.

Proton removed OpenVPN, as well as IKEv2, on iOS and Mac owing to security concerns surrounding Apple’s native IKEv2 implementations. These concerns ranged from DNS queries being sent outside the VPN connection to existing connections not closing on connecting to the VPN (as they should) and thus remaining unencrypted despite the VPN being turned on.

Should you wish to use OpenVPN on either Mac or iOS, Proton does, however, offer in-depth guides to manually setting up both connections.

Prior to summer 2025, Proton users on Mac were also short of both port forwarding and split tunneling capabilities. These features have since both been introduced, leaving little for Proton users to complain about in regards to missing out on features from device to device.

Score: 4/5

Usability

• Apps well designed and consistent across platforms.
• Advanced features are explained well and easy to access.
• The browser extension could be better.

Set up

After signing up for Proton VPN, you have two main ways to get your app downloaded.

First off, if you click the ‘Download’ tab at the top of your screen, you’re quickly presented with every app Proton has, including its extensions, mobile apps, and Smart TV apps – though I highly doubt you’ll be downloading Proton to your Smart TV via the website! If you’re on a smaller screen, the download tab is hidden in the hamburger (three-line) menu in the top right corner.

Alternatively, from the website, if you go into your Proton account (found in the top-right corner of your screen), you can access some more specific application types.

In the downloads section, you can quickly access APK, GitHub, and F-Droid versions of its Android, Android TV, and Chromebook apps. You’ll also find here your configuration settings to manually set up OpenVPN or WireGuard on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, or a router.

Once you click the download button, you’re on your own, in the app, at least. The download client gives you the option to install Proton Drive, Proton Mail, and Proton Pass, alongside the VPN, and then, once Proton VPN is loaded, you log in, click ‘Get Started’, and go.

User Experience

Once you’re in, Proton’s hues of reddish purple and black could leave a beginner wondering quite how complex an experience they’re in for; luckily, all of Proton’s apps are simple.

This visual identity is consistent across all of Proton’s platforms, as is the simplicity. The key differentiator between Proton VPN on desktop and Proton VPN across other platforms is the map aspect of its interface. On Windows and Mac, the map can be used to identify and connect to a server.

On mobile, this map isn’t navigable, though it shows the country you're connected to from the list. On smart TVs, there isn't a map at all.

In reality, I rarely find myself using the map as a connection location tool with any VPN I use. A search field and list proves quicker in my experience.

No matter the platform you’re on, you’re directed towards everything you’d need straight away.

Smart TVs understandably have the fewest quick action options, but everything other than server location is found under settings, so you’re not left trawling a bunch of submenus using a TV remote – even though Android TVs have to go to the bottom of the locations menu to find the settings panel.

Finding the server you’re after couldn’t be simpler, either. The app doesn’t hide its Tor, Secure Core, or P2P servers entirely. Instead, it offers dedicated tabs across desktop and mobile, and shows each country’s server types in their server lists on Smart TVs. You can even search by individual server code if you know the one you want.

One area Proton falls short in is its browser extension. Compared to every other platform it offers the least customization, though it does retain Proton’s server-specific searching, but you can only access either standard or Secure Core servers.

What’s more, the browser extension settings menu is mainly about sharing usage data – a space you’d think would instead focus on actual VPN settings.

Improving something as usual as a VPN browser extension feels like an easy win for Proton.

I’d also like to see Proton make more efficient use of space in its desktop apps. The Proton’s map interface takes up an extraordinary amount of space for fairly limited use – one reason why NordVPN got rid of it in 2025.

Meanwhile, key features such as protocol selection and auto-connect aren’t front and center where they could be instead.

Proton VPN's mobile and smart TV apps do a much better job of managing space. They prioritize quick access to server locations and connection types, with the map present only once connected.

Quibbles aside, I'm really impressed with the Proton VPN apps. Using features is simple thanks to high-quality explainers under each option, plus links out to some key guides when the setting is more advanced, such as port forwarding.

You can also tell what features are active by whether they’re greyed out or in full color, and on desktop platforms, you’re given a bunch of keyboard shortcuts to make accessing sections of the app quicker than it already is.

You also get full customization of your security options, should you wish, but equally, beginners won't feel pushed into making changes they're not ready for, and they won't get bombarded with complex terms.

Of course, the most prominent feature of any VPN app should be the big Connect button, and that's nice and clear with Proton. There's no fuss, no confusion, just simple security on every platform.

Score: 4/5

Accessibility

• Excellent language support.
• Great keyboard-only experience.
• Proton VPN's website scored fairly low for screen reader accessibility.

Putting ProtonVPN.com through accessibilitychecker.org’s accessibility scan gave us some interesting insights.

Proton VPN’s accessibility audit scored 35% overall, far behind the likes of NordVPN (83%) and Mullvad (89%), but in a similar ballpark to providers such as Surfshark (41%) and PureVPN (35%).

Diving into the report, the site's issues primarily surround screen reader testing. 7 of 10 critical issues found related to this area, including issues with header semantics, link texts, and ARIA parent elements, roles, and attributes.

In relation to the industry as a whole, Proton’s score isn’t terrible. Only five VPN providers score over 40% among those we’ve tested. Accessibility is something needing greater focus across the entire industry.

Outside of this, Proton VPN does a great job of accommodating people's needs.

Ditching our mouse still meant we rarely struggle using the desktop app with the keyboard alone. On a few instances, we were jumped to unintended areas of the app, and sometimes our selection rectangle just disappeared entirely, but never often enough to stop us from connecting successfully. We also never struggled to search servers specifically, nor did adjusting settings prove difficult.

From our experiences, you’ll likely only find a better keyboard experience using either PIA or ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN has long focused on simplicity in its apps, so success in this regard is no surprise. Proton VPN did a better job in this regard than NordVPN, though.

Proton also knocks any other VPN out of the water for its language support. It offers 31 languages. That makes Proton VPN’s language total more than NordVPN and Surfshark combined – since both support just 13.

So, while, in terms of visibility needs, Proton could do better, it's very accessible in other areas.

Score: 3/5

Customer support

• Good depth of support guides
• Speedy support agents
• Agents began to struggle once diving deeper into issues

Accessing support for Proton VPN is simple. First off, you can use its FAQs, guides, and resources hub to access guides on almost any topic.

Testing the depth of its guides using ‘DNS’ as a search, it was great to see guides on everything from DNS leaks, to flushing DNS caches, and how you can use custom DNS.

It even filed in instances where DNS was a related topic and highlighted the relevant text in the snippet below. For example, it pulled in Proton’s streaming troubleshooter guide since DNS over HTTPS can contribute.

These guides are easily accessible, too. Whether it’s via a couple of clicks in the Windows app or two taps on mobile, you can quickly enter the Proton Support Center, report issues with your service, or access debug logs to help support assistants troubleshoot your problem.

Next, we tested the skills of Proton’s support agents. We raised the question “what do we do if we can’t access .onion websites while connected to Tor over VPN?” and got a reply in around five minutes!

What was more impressive was that our response wasn’t even just an acknowledgment; we got some sensible suggestions around trying servers, browsers, and disabling NetShield right off the bat. We were also then asked for more details to further pinpoint the issue.

At this stage, though, the standard slipped a bit. Our agent became confused around the nature of the issue, thinking it was related to our browser, and the response times then jumped from five minutes to around three hours. What we received at the end of that wait was nowhere near as detailed as we’d expect for the amount of information we’d provided by this point.

By comparison, we’ve put the same question to NordVPN in the past, and, while the initial response was definitely slower, we received a much more in-depth set of questions to define the issue, and had an all-around more reassuring experience.

Proton’s speedy results do deserve some credit, though. Plus, our previous experiences with support over our time using Proton has generally been excellent more often than not.

Score: 4/5

User reviews

While not perfect by any means, review sites often prove a good initial gauge of how trustworthy a VPN is, how well it performs, and what issues it’s had in the past.

Proton VPN’s mobile apps are among the best, so its ratings of 4.6 and 4.6 on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store are a fair reflection of its capabilities and put the VPN provider very much on a par with our other recommended services.

On the flip side, we know its Chrome Extension isn’t the best, so its 2.9/5 rating suggests it hasn’t been filled with bot reviews to mask its evident flaws. This does, however, leave it comfortably last among top VPNs in this area.

Proton’s Trustpilot reviews offer food for thought, since scoring only 2.0 out of 5 is pretty terrible. There isn’t a single trending theme throughout either, unlike, for example, NordVPN’s auto-renewal policy. What's more Proton has only 721 reviews in total, while the likes of ExpressVPN and Surfshark have over 25,000.

Most of Proton's reviews center around anything from service issues and speeds, to support issues and renewal concerns, all of which are common for any VPN, nothing is necessarily Proton-specific.

It's also strange that none of this is reflected in the mobile app store reviews.

The fact that a whopping 58% of Proton VPN’s Trustpilot reviews are 1-star is hard to ignore, though. It's actually gone up from 55% since our last review, but the reality of the product, and our long term experience of it, does not tally with this stat.

Track record: can you trust Proton VPN?

• All Proton VPN apps are open source.
• Annual no-logs audits since 2022.
• Proton Mail privacy requests raise concerns for some users.

Proton has a strong track record of proving its commitment to privacy. Since 2022, the VPN provider has undergone yearly no-logs audits. The latest was published in September 2025, but its history of audits goes back long before this.

What’s more, all of Proton VPN’s apps are open source. This means that anyone can look at, and judge, the code found in each app. If you’re unsure of the benefit of this, by going open source, anyone can check and confirm that Proton’s apps work properly, and do everything they’re supposed to safely – and that there's not anything in there going on that the company hasn't told you about.

All of this is excellent, but there was one incident in 2020 that plays on the minds of Proton users and privacy advocates alike.

Proton handed over the recovery email address of a Proton Mail user to the US government, a move which led to anger among users who’d thought Proton would never comply with such requests. The same thing happened to a Catalan activist in May, 2024 which led to their arrest.

What many didn’t realize is that Proton didn’t directly hand this data to the US. The US applied to the Swiss courts, which then ordered Proton’s compliance – and a Swiss company can’t ignore a Swiss court order.

No encrypted emails or IP addresses were disclosed; merely the recovery email address was handed over.

It also needs remembering that this was a case surrounding Proton Mail, not Proton VPN, and these products are handled differently in Swiss law.

Proton’s privacy policy does a good job explaining this, saying that VPN providers don’t have to log, but “This notably differs from Swiss regulations for other online services such as email, which is generally not no-logs and can require IP disclosure in the event of a Swiss criminal investigation. That’s why if your threat model requires hiding your IP from Swiss authorities when using Proton Mail, we recommend using a VPN or Tor.”

The other sensible move for people using Proton Mail is not to register a recovery email address in the first place, although that comes with the obvious risk of losing access to your account.

While it's understandable why this case shook the trust of some Proton users, it doesn’t say enough to warrant concern about the VPN, and, to Proton’s credit, it goes to great lengths to explain the privacy policies of each of its products.

Score: 4/5

Final verdict

Proton VPN is, without doubt, a top VPN. It offers a huge array of locations, superb speeds, and rock-solid security. It's surprisingly good value too, when you compare it to the equivalently-featured tiers of other VPNs.

Proton VPN's track record and high levels of privacy are what it should be most proud of, though. Of all the VPNs we recommend, it's the one we'd bet our lives on if we really had to.

It’s also a highly customizable VPN with stunning apps. Its whole ecosystem of Big Tech alternative software if well worth using if you like them.

Who should use Proton VPN?

✅ Torrenters: Proton’s breadth of P2P support, and, more importantly, port forwarding support, make it perfect for torrenting. Plus, it offers a wealth of knowledge guides to help you stay safe and effective.

✅ Those wanting to move away from Google: Picking up a Proton Unlimited plan opens the door to more than just Proton VPN, you can use its secure storage, email.

Who should try a different VPN instead?

❌ Streamers: While Proton VPN can definitely unblock streaming services, it struggles more than some may like. You can likely find stronger streaming performance for a similar or cheaper price if this is a priority.

Also consider

Proton VPN FAQs

Proton VPN testing methodology

Alongside the features that I've tested on my own devices, I'll also refer to what "we" have tested in this review. When I talk about "we", I'm referring to anything found during our lab testing. This testing is conducted by VPN Technical Editor, Mike Williams. Mike has been lab testing VPNs for over 11 years.

Each VPN is tested every six months. We measure speed, ad-blocking, anti-phishing and malware, streaming service unblocking, local IP address leaks, and more. Each server network is spot-checked to confirm that the VPN server locations are accurate. We also confirm a provider's security credentials, privacy policy, and executable files are secure and safe.

To find the full details of our VPN review processes, you can take a look at our VPN testing methodology.

This review has been fact-checked by the TechRadar VPN team, as well as with information provided by Proton. We update this review regularly to include any new features or information about the product. That means that this review is always up to date and as you would find the product if you downloaded and used it today.

If you notice anything in your experience of using Proton VPN that doesn't match what you read on this page, please let us know in the comments or by emailing us.

We will then do our best to offer product support information or include corrections and warnings to other users, depending on which is appropriate.