Proton VPN

Proton VPN is a reliable and speedy VPN provider that is a part of a large Proton product line. The provider excels in terms of security features, guaranteeing you safety and online anonymity.

Being based in a privacy-friendly country (Switzerland), having a strict no-logs policy, and offering hacker-proof encryption, Proton VPN ensures solid protection for its users. On top of that, it has a great free version that can unblock Netflix. The paid plans are a good choice not only for keeping you anonymous and secure, but for streaming and torrenting as well.

Caught your attention? In this article you’ll learn about the privacy chops, what streaming services it can unblock, features, speeds, customer support options, and more details that are important when choosing the best VPN for you!

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Proton VPN pros & cons

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Is Proton VPN good for streaming?

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If you’re looking for a VPN to use for streaming, Proton VPN doesn’t disappoint. They have custom DNS and DNS leak protection, so connecting to a regular server should be really easy. Speaking of which, Proton VPN offers a good number of servers, which are located in 66 countries. However, if you’re thinking of using your VPN mainly for streaming, you might consider NordVPN, which offers an even larger fleet of 5500 in 59 countries.

Best VPN for streaming and torrenting

If you’re looking for a reliable and fast VPN for streaming and torrenting, NordVPN is a great option. The provider offers a very stable connection and over 5500 servers all over the globe.

 

cybernews® score

4.9 /5

• Large server fleet
• Stable connection
• Fast speeds

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Regardless, Proton VPN is pretty good at bypassing geo-restrictions and allowing you to access all of the best content around the world. After all, you’ll be able to unblock libraries in countries like the USA and UK. On top of that, you can use Proton VPN with Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, Android TV, and Kodi.

In terms of streaming platforms, let’s see how Proton VPN can unblock the most popular ones.

Unblocking Netflix with Proton VPN

Proton VPN is a solid choice for unblocking the US Netflix library. While I couldn’t connect on the first try, the second attempt was successful. So, if Netflix returns the “You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy” message after connecting, just try to connect to a different server.

Once I connected to the United States server, I was quite surprised with the experience. There was no buffering at all. Sure, when connecting to libraries of other countries, I had different loading times, but overall it was a pleasant experience and Proton VPN can surely go in the list of the best VPNs for Netflix.

Unblocking HBO Max with Proton VPN

If you’re an HBO Max subscriber, you’ll be pleased to know that Proton VPN is more than capable of unblocking geo-restricted content on HBO. I managed to do it on the first try.

What’s even better is that the video quality did not suffer – Proton VPN managed to handle high-quality films, and without any buffering.

Unblocking BBC iPlayer with Proton VPN

Proton VPN easily unblocks other popular streaming services – BBC iPlayer. With the help of Proton VPN, you can stream your favorite show without commercials and catch up with the latest BBC shows.

I did experience some slight buffering issues, but it didn’t turn into a persistent issue.

Unblocking other streaming services with Proton VPN

There are many popular streaming services available, and Proton VPN can unblock most of them. Of course, realistically speaking, we couldn’t test them all, however, we reviewed the most popular ones.

Starting from YouTube, all I can say is that it worked without a hitch. All you have to do is make sure to pick a server with a lesser load to avoid slow buffering. I was also able to access Hulu libraries. While, just like with Netflix, I had to switch between a few servers to find one that can unblock it, it worked like a charm when I accessed it.

The only service Proton VPN didn’t work with was DAZN. It’s no surprise as not many VPN providers are successful at unblocking it.

On their website, you can find hints and tips to use the service when unblocking services like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ESPN+, and more. While we couldn’t review all of the services, Proton VPN is a reliable option when it comes to streaming.

Is Proton VPN good for torrenting?

Yes, Proton VPN is a solid choice for torrenting because it supports P2P file sharing. While Proton VPN is sometimes inconsistent when it comes to speeds, the service has dedicated P2P-optimized servers for a better torrenting experience. However, you only get this luxury with the paid plan.

On top of that, the best VPNs for torrenting are usually based in a privacy-friendly country. And Proton VPN is no exception. It’s based in Switzerland, which is a country that doesn’t forbid torrenting. So, your file-sharing activities with this provider are going to be safe and anonymous. Especially because Proton VPN has a strict no-logs policy, leaving all of your browsing activities up to you.

Overall, torrenting with Proton VPN won’t disappoint you. While it isn’t the fastest for that purpose, it does the job well.

Plans & pricing

Proton VPN comes in two editions – Proton VPN Free and Proton VPN Plus. While I’d appreciate a free version any time of the week, it’s very limited. While a free plan offers a limited amount of features, Plus edition has it all.

With the Plus plan, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, which you can only request if you switch back to the free version from the account dashboard.

Considering that depending on the plan you purchase, you get more VPN connections, Proton VPN offers some great VPN deals. Here’s how the plans differ from each other:

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Can you get Proton VPN for free?

If you don’t feel like spending money on a VPN, you’re in luck because you can get Proton VPN for free. Of course, the downside is that the free version restricts you to 1 connection with the same account. This is easily bypassable by using a separate account on each device, which you could also do.

You can choose from servers in 3 countries only, and your speeds will not be as good. Yet, as a free service, that’s quite a generous package that will protect your privacy. Sure, if you won’t be able to unblock Netflix, customer support agent’s won’t help you out. Regardless, we’ve managed to unblock it even on the free package.

Server locations

As of writing this article, Proton VPN has 1800+ servers in 66 countries. What’s noteworthy is that the number of servers you have a possibility to connect to depends on which plan you have.

The locations with the best server coverage are Europe, Asia, and Americas.

Free users can only connect to servers in Japan, The Netherlands, and the United States. So, you get some coverage, although all options are equally bad for users in South Africa. It’s also the only plan that doesn’t have P2P servers.

The Proton VPN Plus plan offers all servers in 66 countries. Servers with unique features like Secure Core VPN and TOR over VPN will only be available to Plus plan subscribers.

How to connect to Proton VPN?

Connecting to a server with Proton VPN is as easy as with most VPN services. All you need to do is:

1. Log in to your account in the Proton VPN app.

2. On the left side of the window, you can press the “Quick connect” button which will connect you to the “Fastest” profile. However, if you want to connect to a random server in a chosen country, find it in the list and click “Connect”.

3. If you want to choose a specific server, click on the country of your choice to find all the servers it has.

4. By each of the servers you’ll see a green, yellow, or red circle, which you can click to find out the server load and features.

5. After you choose a server, click the “Connect” button.

That’s all it takes to connect to Proton VPN. If you feel like the server is very slow, try connecting to another one as it may be overloaded.

Speed and performance: How fast is Proton VPN?

Data period:11.10 – 11.24

	Download	Upload
United States	437 Mbit/s	390 Mbit/s
Canada	464 Mbit/s	406 Mbit/s
United Kingdom	773 Mbit/s	709 Mbit/s

See live VPN provider data on our VPN speed test tool

Since WireGuard is the tunneling protocol that typically offers the best speeds, it’s not surprising that Proton VPN came out to be pretty fast.

However, while the provider can sometimes show outstanding speed results, in other cases, it can be a bit inconsistent and slow down your connection quite significantly. But as long as you connect to servers that are closest to your location, you shouldn’t experience major issues.

Naturally, the speeds will tank using Tor over VPN option, so you’ll have to balance the safety measures and speed if you want to have an enjoyable online experience.

Overall, while there are faster VPN providers on the market, your experience will depend on the connection protocol, the distance to the server, and additional features.

While Proton VPN isn’t the best of the best service, it sure is a speedy one.

Proton VPN performance with other protocols

Although WireGuard is considered one of the fastest protocols on the market, it’s not the only option that Proton VPN offers. The provider also includes OpenVPN (TCP or UDP variant), IKEv2/IPsec, and Stealth protocols.

Let’s see the average download and upload speeds across 10 different locations of each protocol:

• Baseline: 300 Mbps download, 300 Mbps upload

• WireGuard: 253.04/251.81
• IKEv2/IPsec: 114/172
• OpenVPN (TCP): 70.29/91.41
• OpenVPN (UDP): 226.02/228.44
• Stealth: 55/38.2

As expected, since WireGuard is known to be one of the fastest tunneling protocols on the market, it’s no surprise that it came in first place. The highest possible reduction was in Japan at 90.89%, which is understandable considering that the server is one of the furthest from Europe. The lowest reduction with WireGuard was at only 6.5%, which is a remarkable result compared to competitors.

Next up was the UDP variant of OpenVPN, which kept quite similar results to WireGuard. The TCP variant, however, is a different case. The speeds were worse than any protocol offered by Proton VPN, with the biggest speed reductions getting as high as 95.3%.

With the updated Proton VPN’s app for Windows, you can now configure IKEv2/IPsec, WireGuard, and OpenVPN protocols. While results were better than OpenVPN (TCP), it still can’t compete with WireGuard or OpenVPN (UDP).

Additionally, the Stealth protocol is only available on MacOS, Android, and iOS. Its speeds are low but that’s no surprise – this protocol is mainly used to bypass restrictions in heavily censored countries, like China.

When it comes to stacking Proton VPN up against other widely-used VPN providers, the results are very good too. Here’s how Proton VPN performs compared to some other VPNs:

At the end of the day, Proton VPN is a pretty fast service. While the results show that speeds can sometimes be inconsistent, it depends on the tunneling protocol and the server location.

Proton VPN video review

If you’re the type of person who takes in visual information better, then you’ll be pleased to know that we have a video review of Proton VPN. Check it out to find all of the information about this provider!

Interface and ease of use

Proton VPN offers a range of apps for both desktop and mobile. Whether you’re a Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android user, you can get an app for any of them. However, they’re very much different from each other in terms of features and UI (user interface).

The desktop versions are quite similar to each other and offer an intuitive and not over-cluttered design. It’s worth noting that Windows users get the best Proton VPN experience because it has all the necessary security features.

In terms of mobile apps, they have a similar UI as well. They’re very user friendly but it’s important to know that some of their functionalities differ.

So, let’s take a look at what each option offers:

Windows

The Windows app has IKEv2/IPsec, WireGuard and OpenVPN (TCP and UDP versions). When you install Proton VPN, it will additionally add a TAP-Proton VPN Windows Adapter to your Programs and Features. This is completely normal, and it includes the OpenVPN package to make your connection possible.

Out of all the available clients, the Windows app has the most settings. It includes Alternate routing, Split tunneling, and Custom DNS servers. So, if you’re a Windows user, you’re getting the best possible version for your money.

Mac

Proton VPN has an app for macOS for a secure and private experience. The app is open source and has been audited. Besides, it offers useful security features: kill switch, ad-blocker (NetShield), strong encryption, and more. All the essential design elements are there and the app is easy-to-use.

However, IPv6 Leak Protection, Alternate Routing, Split tunneling, and Custom DNS Servers are Windows-only. The only thing that the Mac client has which seems to be missing from Windows is Notify unprotected networks. This feature will give you a notification whenever you connect to an unprotected network. You can also check alternative VPN options for Mac.

Linux

If you’re a Linux user, Proton VPN will be a good match. It now has a trusted and easy-to-use app for Linux and is packed with security features.

Also, downloading and installing the app is easy, you just have to scroll down past the 3 steps mentioned in the article and choose which distribution is used. Then all installing tutorials are very easy. In addition, it has a full GUI and it’s not terminal-based anymore.

The Proton VPN Linux app has an intuitive graphical user interface, which lets you to activate features and connect to servers. The Linux app uses strong encryption – OpenVPN protocol at its strongest encryption settings.

Proton VPN mobile apps

Proton VPN has mobile apps for both iOS and Android – there’s little variety, and that’s good news. More often than not, the iOS version is an Android app with half of the features missing. Not the case here.

Apple users even have the option to add the Proton VPN Widget to your screen. Its previous implementation allowed it to connect to VPN with one click. It was then changed, so now the Widget opens the app, connects, and then closes it. Their customer support agent informed us that this requirement was added due to Apple’s system design.

Otherwise, the iOS app is almost identical to Android (minus the split tunneling and alternate routing). On both apps, you can use the OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard protocols. If anything, both macOS and mobile versions have OpenVPN.

There are quite a few UI improvements. For example, go into the country list, and click on a particular country. You can see the server load directly from the list. There’s no need to connect to check it.

In terms of features, on both apps, you’ll find Secure Core servers and Profiles. So, you get about as much usability as you get on a desktop, too. Overall, Proton VPN mobile apps can even rival their desktop clients, which is unusual.

Proton VPN features – what changed over the years

The initial release of Proton VPN was back in 2017 – not that long ago compared to other best VPN services. However, that doesn’t make it any less good. While the provider has focused on improving its apps, it also released an ad blocker (NetShield) in 2021 and implemented the WireGuard tunneling protocol as well as a VPN Accelerator.

You can check out all of the Proton VPN features below.

Secure core

Although you would never guess that from the name, Secure core servers have nothing to do with being more advanced than the rest of their fleet. In reality, it’s a double VPN feature that lets you connect through 2 VPN servers. The connection goes from your device to a VPN server. It then connects to another VPN server and finally reaches its destination.

However, what is new is that the first VPN server in the chain is always located in a privacy-friendly location. Naturally, the speeds are going to be very slow because you’re using two VPNs. Secondly, it raises the question of whether you should even bother with it anyway if all the servers are no-logs. Still, the additional security is welcome.

Kill switch

Proton VPN’s kill switch reliably cuts off your internet connection if your link to the VPN server is disrupted. However, it may also be the culprit in some other issues.

During tests, I had trouble enabling my internet connection after disconnecting from a VPN server. The problem was present on Windows only, so that could be an isolated issue. Still, the only thing that fixed it was uninstalling the TAP drivers.

Quick Connect

When you install the Proton VPN app, you’ll immediately notice that there is a Quick Connect icon. By default, it’s set to connect to the fastest server automatically. However, you can tweak it to your liking.

You can specify the countries or server types that you want to connect to when you press the Quick Connect button. It saves time and is shared between the apps, provided that the chosen tunneling protocol is supported on the device. Keep this in mind because if you configure the client on Windows to use OpenVPN, it won’t work on Mac, which only supports IKEv2.

Profiles

Similar to the Quick Connect customization, it’s also possible to use custom connection profiles. You can specify the color, the protocol, country, and server type. This way, you can avoid the hassle of manually selecting multiple settings each time you want to use torrents or watch a Netflix show.

Split tunneling

Proton VPN includes split tunneling, and it’s one of the most advanced implementations of the feature I’ve ever seen. You can choose to encrypt the whole connection, exclude certain apps, or select only particular apps to use the encrypted tunnel. The choice is yours.

However, what is even more impressive is that split tunneling works not only on the app level but also at the IP level.

And that’s not all: suppose you want to apply this to particular websites. In that case, you might run into some trouble because a website may use several IPs. However, ultimately you can disable the VPN for specific websites as well. That level of precision is hard to find.

Tor over VPN

If you’re looking for a combination of the Tor network and VPN, Proton VPN has a particular server type just for you. Under the current implementation, your connection first runs through the Tor network and then reaches their VPN server. It also means that you can access the dark web without going through the trouble of using the Tor browser. Just don’t expect the speeds to be high.

Alternate routing

This feature is what all Proton services use to combat anti-censorship. Alternative routing is built into all their clients. It automatically kicks in when the apps detect that your connection is subject to censorship. Then, the app will try alternative connections to reach Proton servers.

This feature is turned on by default. To disable it, you will have to go to Advanced settings and turn it off. However, under normal circumstances, the Alternate routing method isn’t triggered, so there’s little harm in leaving it on.

VPN Accelerator

A quite recently implemented feature is the VPN Accelerator. Its purpose is to make VPN speeds significantly faster and improve overall performance. The feature is enabled at all times and is a great way to have a faster VPN experience.

The speed improvements are done by solving some limitations of VPN protocols such as OpenVPN. Instead of using CPU power of a single core on the server processor, multiple processes are used. That helps make full use of the multi-core processors. The VPN Accelerator also improves speeds by changing how network routes are calculated and used, and increasing the efficiency of their infrastructure.

Is Proton VPN safe?

Proton VPN is as safe and secure as VPN services go. It’s equipped with powerful AES military-grade encryption and tunneling protocols. All of their apps are open-source so everyone can inspect their code to verify that it’s safe to use. On top of that their privacy policy promises no logs and no collection of user information.

Encryption protocols

Like many popular VPN service providers, Proton VPN uses AES-256-CBC encryption for its connections to the server fleet. So, it’s using a key length of 256 bits, which is unbreakable by brute force even with the most powerful current hardware. For you as a VPN user, this means that no one will be intercepting to see what you’re doing online.

To establish a connection between your device and the VPN servers, the service uses several tunneling protocol options: WireGuard, OpenVPN (TCP or UDP variant), IKEv2/IPsec, and Stealth.

Open-sourced

In the past, Proton VPN used to be a closed source provider, like many other VPN providers on the market. Not that long ago, they did a complete 180 turn and went open-source with all of their apps. You can go to their GitHub and read through all their documentation yourself.

They also publicly declared they would invest in third-party security audits. So, not only was it a smart PR move, but it also creates additional reassurance. There are no results yet, but we’ll keep you in the loop when that changes.

NetShield

Their clients recently had an update called NetShield that not that long ago could only be found in the beta versions. It’s already available on Windows, macOS, Android, Linux, and iOS.

Once toggled on, NetShield blocks all blacklisted domains of phishing and malware websites. Besides, it also blocks trackers used by intrusive tech companies that spy on your movements across the web.

This is done by using stronger checks in your domain name system (DNS) requests. So, instead of a DNS database supplied by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or Google, you’re using a DNS resolver managed by Proton VPN. So, while you’re using a VPN, your online travels will stay private.

No-logs policy

In the privacy policy, Proton VPN claims that they are strictly a no-logs service. They promise not to log their users’ traffic, discriminate against device types, or throttle your connection. So, what you’re doing is on you.

Having that said, there are some exceptions to the rule. They do log timestamps of your connection that get overwritten on each session. They claim this is to maintain account security from brute force attacks.

When creating an account, you still have to provide confirmation that you are human. Among the possible options for confirmation are another email, SMS, or a small donation. That’s a very odd authentication method, and I’d like to see how many donations they get to keep this button active.

The only bit that deserves criticism is their privacy policy changes stance. According to their policy, if they ever change it, “Continued use of the Service will be deemed as acceptance of such changes.” If one day they decided to introduce data logging and sell your data to third parties – that’s your problem. But if you enable privacy policy changes as your notification preference, you’ll be notified regarding it.

Plus, Proton VPN has recently went under a security audit performed by a security auditing company called Securitum. It was concluded that the provider has no significant flaws in their privacy policy.

Having said all that, Proton VPN is certainly a privacy-friendly VPN service.

Customer support

If you run into any issues, the first line of help will be the Proton VPN knowledge center. There, you’ll find several categories, like Speed and bandwidth, or Download and setup. Each category will address a particular kind of issue that you might have.

If you still can’t find your answer, you can create a support ticket. It will be sent through email, so you’ll get a reply directly to your mailbox. If you’re a paid user, expect to hear a response in a couple of hours, free users will usually have to wait a little longer.

European users will have the best experience because it seems that their customer support agents are located there. If you’re from other continents, your customer support waiting times will most likely be higher, so keep this in mind.

The service maintains its subreddit at r/ProtonVPN, so if you don’t mind sharing your issue with other users, you can find a solution there too.

Proton VPN review summary: Is Proton VPN good?

Proton VPN is a good VPN service, in fact, one of the top ones. It’s a great choice for streaming as even the free version can unblock Netflix. The paid plans also managed to unblock HBO Max and other popular streaming services. However, the servers can sometimes be overloaded, so make sure you connect to one that isn’t.

Proton VPN is also a good option for torrenting. Every paid plan offers P2P file sharing and the provider is a no-logs and open-source service. Although that implies that your online activities are completely anonymous, Proton VPN still reserves the right to change their terms and conditions at any time.

Overall, Proton VPN is a quality VPN service – and a trustworthy companion in your pursuit of privacy. Especially if you’re looking for a free VPN.

If you have any questions concerning Proton VPN, drop a comment down below and I’ll be sure to answer it as soon as possible!