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Proton VPN Review
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Since 2017, Proton VPN has been one of the most popular and trusted VPNs on the market. It was created and is still run by Proton AG, the Swiss-based company behind other popular privacy and security services like Proton Mail and Proton Drive.
Proton VPN is different from most other top VPNs in that it has both a paid-for version and a free version. In this article, youāll find a comprehensive review of both versions of Proton VPN. We compare them to each other, as well as other similar rival VPNs.
For a summary of our findings from testing and reviewing Proton VPN, watch the video below:
Proton VPN Key Data
| Ā | Paid | Free |
|---|---|---|
| Data Cap | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Download Speed | 87Mbps | 98Mbps |
| Logging Policy | No Logs | No Logs |
| Data Leaks | No | No |
| Jurisdiction | Switzerland (Privacy Haven) | Switzerland (Privacy Haven) |
| Servers | 6,587 | 200 |
| IP Addresses | 6,587+ | 200+ |
| Countries with Servers | 112 | 5 |
| US Netflix | Yes | No |
| Torrenting | Partially | No |
| Simultaneous Connections | 10 | 1 |
| Works In China | No | No |
| Support | Email & Online Resources Only | Email & Online Resources Only |
| Cheapest Price | $4.99/mo over 24 Months | Free |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30-day Money-Back Guarantee | - |
| Official Website | ProtonVPN.com | |
Privacy & Logging Policy
A Private, Truly No-Logs VPN Service
Hereās a summary of the data that Proton VPN logs:
| Data Type | Logged by Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| Account Information | Yes |
| Browsing Activity | No |
| Date of Last Connection | No |
| Device Information | No |
| DNS Queries | No |
| Individual Bandwidth Usage | No |
| Individual Connection Timestamps | No |
| ISP | No |
| Number of Simultaneous Connections | No |
| Originating IP Address | No |
| VPN Server IP | No |
| VPN Server Location | No |
You can read Proton VPNās full privacy policy for both its free and paid apps on its website.
Proton VPN is one of precious few VPNs that actually has a truly zero-logs policy ā almost no information about you is stored whatsoever. This policy is exactly the same whether you use the free or premium version of the app.
The only thing that Proton VPN stores is the email you give when you create an account. You can easily distance yourself from this by using a brand new, anonymous email address.
All profile data is encrypted and stored locally on its servers and is immediately deleted when you terminate your account.
Proton VPNās logging policy goes on to clearly describe what information is and is not retained by the service.
This is one of the best VPN logging policies weāve ever seen ā especially as itās been proven to be true.
Proton VPN was put to the test in January 2019, when a Swiss court approved a request asking for information about a Proton VPN user. Proton VPN was unable to provide any user data, as it simply hadnāt stored any.
This means Proton VPN is part of a small number of VPN services to have had their logging policies verified by a real-world test ā we believe this to be the ultimate test of a VPNās privacy policy.
Proton VPN has also had its logging policy audited by a third party. Published in April 2022 by Securitum, the audit confirmed that Proton VPN doesnāt retain any user data.
Proton VPN is Based in Switzerland
Proton VPN operates under the jurisdiction of Switzerland, which is a good base for a VPN service provider.
Switzerland is a good VPN jurisdiction for these reasons:
- Switzerland has strong privacy laws, a history of respecting user privacy, and does not require VPN providers to store data on users.
- Switzerland is not part of the EU, allowing it to sidestep all EU data retention laws, like the Data Retention Directive (2006).
- Switzerland is not a member of the 14 Eyes alliance or any other intelligence sharing coalition, meaning it does not have a formal structure set up for collecting and sharing surveillance data with other nations.
All of Switzerlandās privacy-hostile laws, like BĆPF and NDG, do not apply to Proton VPN since the company isnāt considered a āmajor telecommunication operatorā nor a āmajor internet service provider.ā
This means Proton VPN benefits from all the advantages of its Swiss base, while also not having to abide by the drawbacks.
How Private Is Proton VPN Compared to Other VPNs?
The table below compares Proton VPN to five other private VPN services based on jurisdiction, data collection, and logging policy audits.
Speed
Fast Local Download & Upload Speeds on Both Versions
To perform our speed tests we connected to Proton VPN servers located across six different continents. We use a 100Mbps internet connection, similar to what your baseline speed at home might be. Here are the results:
While Proton VPNās local download speeds are good, weāve seen plenty better.
Oddly, despite testing from New York, US, Proton VPN actually produced faster download speeds on several other test servers located farther from us than its New York server.
Thereās a chance that its New York servers may just be slower or more congested than others, and that the download speeds you get on a server near you will be faster.
Proton VPN did struggle with download speeds on servers located extremely far away, though: 64Mbps in South Africa and 76Mbps in Australia are decent numbers, and better than a lot of less reputable VPNs, but itās still slower than big-name rivals like Hotspot Shield or even Ivacy VPN.
EXPERT ADVICE: To get the fastest speeds, make sure that āVPN Acceleratorā is enabled in your appās settings. It can be found in the Connection tab.
Proton VPN Free Is the Fastest Free VPN
Proton VPNās free app, however, really impressed us in our testing. In fact, Proton VPN Free is the fastest free VPN weāve ever tested.
You can see the free versionās speed test results in the table below:
Not only are its raw upload and download speeds impressive, but Proton VPN Free is the only reputable free VPN with no data cap. That means youāll never run out of bandwidth for downloading, streaming, gaming, or anything else.
Just beware that with only 200 free servers available to connect to (versus 6,587 for the paid app) your speeds might not be as consistent due to congestion.
Streaming
Proton VPN Is Great for Streaming - but Not the Free Version
Hereās a table showing the most popular streaming services that Proton VPNās premium and free services can access:
| Streaming Platform | Works with Proton VPN | Works with Proton VPN Free |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Prime Video | Yes | No |
| BBC iPlayer | Yes | No |
| Channel 4 | No | No |
| Disney+ | Yes | No |
| Hotstar India | No | No |
| Hulu | Yes | No |
| ITVX | No | No |
| Max | Yes | No |
| Netflix US | Yes | No |
Proton VPNās streaming ability depends on the plan you subscribe to. While its free servers are blocked by Netflix, its Plus servers consistently work with US Netflix and 5 other regions.
Proton VPN works well with US Netflix.
Although Proton VPN claims it works with Netflix āin almost every country,ā our tests reveal it unblocks just 6 Netflix regions.
Though higher than average, this is significantly fewer than other top VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, which can access 18 and 17 regions respectively.
Proton VPN also fails to unblock many of the most popular Netflix regions, including Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Proton VPN Works with the Best Streaming Sites from Around the World
Not only is Proton VPN a great Netflix VPN, it also unblocks Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. In our latest round of tests, we even found it worked to watch the Australian Football League from abroad.
In the screenshot below, you can see us testing Proton VPN with BBC iPlayer:
Proton VPN worked with BBC iPlayer every time we tested it.
Below is a list of Proton VPNās servers we tested that successfully unblock popular streaming services:
Donāt judge the free version too harshly ā we did find it works with F1TV to stream live F1 races without paying. Plus, itās extremely rare for free VPNs to work with any streaming sites.
Weāve made an up-to-date list of the best free VPNs for Netflix to help you find one.
Torrenting
Fast & Secure Choice for Torrenting, but Only On Premium Subscription Plans
Our P2P tests found that torrenting with Proton VPN is private, secure, and fast.
Proton VPN hid our P2P activity from our ISP.
All Proton VPNās server locations allow torrenting through P2P VPN redirect, which means that your traffic may be securely re-routed to a server closer to you for better download speeds.
There are also high-performance servers specifically optimized for torrenting ā theyāre clearly marked within the app, but you can torrent on any server you like.
Proton VPN includes servers optimized for P2P activity.
Proton VPN has recently increased the number of these P2P-optimized servers, improving the spread of their locations. There are now torrenting-optimized servers in 85 countries, compared to just 20 previously.
However, while testing these, we noticed almost zero difference in download bitrates between P2P-labeled servers and regular servers.
Whichever server you choose and wherever you are in the world, Proton VPN is a great torrenting VPN ā we just wish you could use the free version for it, too.
Proton VPN Supports Port Forwarding
Proton VPN is one of only a few VPNs that support port forwarding. Using this, you can bypass the NAT firewall on your router and transfer files faster.
Port forwarding can be enabled from the app home screen.
Proton VPN is a fast torrenting VPN anyway, but port forwarding increased our P2P speeds by 10%. The only downside is that itās currently only available on the Windows app. We hope Proton VPN adds it to other platforms soon.
Price & Value
Several Expensive Pricing Plans
Proton VPN has a free plan and two paid plans: Plus and Unlimited. Hereās an overview:
Monthly
$9.99/mo
Plus Plan: Billed $9.99 every month12 Month(s)
$5.99/mo
Plus Plan: Billed $71.88 for the first 12 months, then $96.00 every 12 months thereafter2 Year(s)
$4.99/mo
Plus Plan: Billed $119.76 for the first 2 years, then $159.00 every 2 years thereafter
Here is a table comparing the features of each Proton VPN subscription plan:
Using the table, you can decide what plan is best for you. Itās worth noting that the features of Proton VPNās Plus plan and Unlimited Plan are identical ā the Unlimited plan just gives you access to other Proton products.
If you only want the VPN, we recommend choosing the Plus option.
You can purchase the Plus plan monthly, every year, or every two years. The Proton VPN monthly package costs $9.99, or you can lower the cost by 40% to $5.99 if you purchase annually. The two-year plan costs the equivalent of $4.99 a month (you pay for it all up-front), which is an overall saving of 50%.
$9.99 is actually a pretty reasonable price for a one-month subscription, as VPNs always charge much more for shorter-term memberships. However, its best price is pretty expensive compared to the competition ā there are several top-rated VPN services that are cheaper.
Payment & Refund Options
Proton VPN accepts payment via these methods:
American Express
Bank Wire / Direct Transfer
Bitcoin
Cash
Mastercard
PayPal
Visa
The option to pay via cryptocurrency and cash is a nice touch if you donāt want your Proton VPN account to be linked to your bank account. There arenāt many VPNs that offer this.
However, there arenāt any international payment options, like AliPay, if you live outside of America or Europe.
Proton VPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee: itās no-questions-asked, and not subject to any data usage restrictions. Just request a refund by emailing the support team and the money will be back in your account within 14 days.
Proton VPN free doesnāt require any payment details ā just create an account and you can start using it straight away. This is an approach we love to see VPNs take as itās so much better for privacy and peace of mind.
Security & Technical Features
Highly Secure & Open Source
In the table below you can see all the VPN protocols, encryption ciphers, and technical features that Proton VPN offers:
| Protocols | Available in Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| IKEv2/IPSec | Yes |
| OpenVPN (TCP/UDP) | Yes |
| WireGuard | Yes |
| Encryption | Available in Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| AES-128 | No |
| AES-192 | No |
| AES-256 | Yes |
| Blowfish | No |
| ChaCha20 | Yes |
| Security | Available in Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| Diskless Servers | No |
| DNS Leak Blocking | Yes |
| First-party DNS | Yes |
| IPv6 Leak Blocking | Yes |
| Supports TCP Port 443 | No |
| VPN Kill Switch | Yes |
| WebRTC Leak Blocking | No |
| Advanced Features | Available in Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| Ad Blocker | Yes |
| Dedicated IP | No |
| Double VPN | No |
| SOCKS | No |
| Split Tunneling | Yes |
| Static IP | No |
| Tor over VPN Server | Yes |
| Tracker Blocker | No |
Proton VPN is one of only a few VPNs to have both open-source apps and a published third-party security audit.
Proton VPNās Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS apps are all open-source. The source code is freely available to view on Github, and all vulnerabilities discovered so far have been fixed.
The benefit of open-source apps is that anyone can view and contribute to their development. This improves the appās security due to the error checking of a larger community.
This represents a level of transparency and commitment to security that we rarely see from other VPN providers ā we love that Proton VPN has made the effort to do this.
Proton VPNās Highly Encrypted Connections
As part of our security tests, we inspected Proton VPNās connection logs to assess the strength of the encryption used. We were impressed with what we saw.
Here are Proton VPNās encryption specifications:
- Traffic is securely encrypted using the AES-256 cipher.
- Connections established via an RSA-2048 handshake.
- Perfect Forward Secrecy via an ECDH key exchange.
- Authentication is provided using an SHA-384 hash.
Proton VPN successfully encrypted our test data transfers.
Our tests confirm Proton VPNās encryption exceeds the security needs of most users. The VPNās encryption will protect and hide your data from your ISP and any potential snooper or attacker.
Proton VPNās Advanced Security Settings
Proton VPNās applications include many advanced security and privacy settings. Below we listed the most important app features:
Kill Switch
A VPN kill switch is a key security feature. Without one, you risk exposing your IP address to snoopers if your VPN connection disconnects unexpectedly.
Proton VPN includes a kill switch on its Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android apps. Itās not enabled by default, so make sure you turn it on in the āConnectionā tab within the Preferences menu.
We put Proton VPNās kill switch to test by running a series of manual IP and DNS leak tests, while disconnecting the VPN connection. In all cases, the kill switch worked perfectly and did not expose our true IP address.
Proton VPNās kill switch.
Split Tunneling
With split tunneling, your VPN creates a separate tunnel that goes directly through your ISP, just like you werenāt using a VPN at all.
This feature is particularly useful for retaining compatibility with devices and services that require a local IP address, like a wireless printer, for example.
Proton VPN includes split tunneling on its Windows and Android app, but it isnāt included on macOS or iOS. To use it, simply toggle on the apps that you want to be excluded from the encrypted VPN tunnel.
Proton VPNās split tunneling setting interface.
We tested split tunneling and were able to access devices on our local network, all while using a Netherlands VPN server to safely download a torrent file.
EXPERT ADVICE: All apps you exclude from the VPN tunnel will use your true IP address. Never use this setting for sensitive activities, like when using free public WiFi.
Proton VPNās IP & DNS Leak Test Results
Before trusting a VPN with your sensitive data, conducting a real-world IP and DNS leak test is a good way to verify the VPN is working properly.
All of Proton VPNās apps include IPv6 and DNS leak protection, but we needed to verify these tools actually work. We ran these tests using Proton VPN on both macOS and Android.
To test for any IP address leaks we connected to several Proton VPN servers, including the US, South Africa, Germany, and Australia. Proton VPN didnāt leak our true IP address on any server.
Proton VPN didnāt leak our IP address in our third-party tests.
We then used our IP and DNS leak testing tool to test Proton VPN for any DNS leaks. DNS leaks occur when your browser routes DNS requests through your ISP instead of the VPN, but we experienced no DNS leaks with Proton VPN.
This is no surprise, as Proton VPN operates its own DNS servers, and therefore directly handles your DNS requests. This removes the risk of leaks from third-parties.
Proton VPN didnāt suffer DNS leaks in our tests.
NetShield Is a Poor Ad Blocker
Proton VPN Plus and Unlimited subscribers have access to NetShield, the companyās ad, malware, and tracker blocker. You can enable this by clicking on the shield icon from the app home screen.
We found NetShield stops malware and trackers effectively, but it was very poor at blocking ads.
Running NetShield through d3wardās ad block test tool it reported just a 27% success rate.
Unlike other ad blockers, NetShield doesnāt fully prevent advertising elements from showing on web pages. Instead, it replaces them with a gray box, which is an eyesore.
On top of this, NetShield only works when youāre connected to a Proton VPN server. Therefore, youāll have to stay constantly connected to Proton VPN to stop ads from showing.
Proton VPNās Secure Core Servers
Proton VPN owns servers in 68 of its locations. These make up its Secure Core network.
This feature ā only available on Plus and Unlimited plans ā bounces traffic via a Secure Core server before relaying it onto another server in Proton VPNās network.
This feature is an example of Double VPN, also known as Multi-Hop. Double VPN typically routes your traffic through two VPN servers instead of one, increasing your security.
Because Proton VPN owns and has sole access to these servers, Secure Core is even more secure than similar solutions like NordVPNās or Surfsharkās Double VPN.
It wasnāt long ago that Secure Servers only existed in three countries ā itās great to see Proton VPN expanding that number so frequently.
Proton VPNās Secure Core servers setting in the iOS app.
The drawback of using Secure Core servers is that they noticeably slow down your internet speed.
Below are the download speed reductions connecting from the UK to UK and US normal servers compared to secure server connections:
Normal Server:
- US: 87Mbps (13% loss)
- UK: 89Mbps (11% loss)
Secure Core Server:
- US: 30Mbps (70% loss)
- UK: 18Mbps (82% loss)
Download speeds are much slower using the Secure Core network given the increased encryption overhead and the extra distance the data has to travel.
Additional Security Features Weād Like to See
- A seriously improved ad blocker. As demonstrated above, NetShield just isnāt good enough. We like that itās included in the app, but Proton VPN desperately needs to improve it.
- A working Stealth protocol. Currently, Proton VPN does not reliably work in China, despite having Stealth protocol available. Weād like to see it improved to the point where it works consistently to beat the Great Firewall.
- An advanced kill switch. With Proton VPNās kill switch activated as it is, you have no choice but to lose access to your local network and all the devices on it. A more advanced version could add some customization there.
Server Locations
Large Server Network Spanning 112 Countries
| Continent | Countries with Servers |
|---|---|
| Europe | 41 |
| Asia | 34 |
| Africa | 22 |
| South America | 7 |
| North America | 6 |
| Oceania | 2 |
Most of Proton VPNās servers are physical, bare-metal servers that are actually located in their listed country.
Ensuring that servers are genuinely based in such a wide spread of countries is really impressive. Even though there are the exceptions, we really like Proton VPNās approach here.
That said, Proton VPN does rent the vast majority of its VPN servers from third-party data centers. We prefer VPN services to own most of their servers, as it reduces the possibility of servers being compromised or subject to interference by hackers.
A Proton VPN representative told us the company has taken extra steps to ensure its rented servers are secure and do not log any information. Proton VPN has always advocated for user privacy and security, so we trust it when it says this.
Proton VPN does own a small number of its servers, too. These are part of its Secure Core network.
Proton VPN Free Doesnāt Allow You to Choose Server Location
If a premium VPN has a free version then itās almost guaranteed that the server selection will be heavily reduced, and Proton VPN is no exception.
Disappointingly, while Proton VPN Free used to let users choose between servers in Japan, the Netherlands, or the US, it now automatically connects you to the nearest server based on your location. This means youāll be connected to a server in one of these three countries or possibly in Poland or Romania.
This change is a significant downgrade. For example, from the US, we can no longer use Proton VPN to get a Japanese IP address or change our location for services like YouTube TV, as we were always connected to a server within our home region.
Bypassing Web Censorship
Bypasses Internet Filters in Russia & Iran, but Doesnāt Work in China
Proton VPN has its own custom-developed obfuscation protocol named Stealth. Stealth was created in late 2022 specifically to beat web blocks in censored countries. Itās available on both the free and premium versions of the app.
Stealth is extremely effective at accessing blocked websites and apps in censored regions like Russia and Iran ā even receiving praise from real users on internet forums and sites like Reddit.
Doesnāt Work in China
Despite Proton VPNās efficacy within less strictly censored regions, company representatives have admitted to us that the Stealth protocol is unlikely to work in China. This goes for both the free and paid versions of the app.
After analyzing Stealthās open-sourced source code, we found that the protocol is essentially WireGuard over TLS. This means your web traffic is encrypted twice, theoretically making it harder for Deep Packet Inspection tools to block it.
However, Chinaās Great Firewall is extremely effective at blocking TLS-based obfuscation tools. As a result, Stealth is unlikely to ever work in the country.
Weād like to see Proton VPN adopt other obfuscation methods, like giving users access to a Shadowsocks proxy.
Occasionally, Proton VPNās āTOR via VPN Serverā feature works in China. However, using Tor over VPN is very slow and unreliable. We donāt recommend it as a regular solution ā use VPN that consistently works in China instead.
Device & OS Compatibility
Compatible with Many Devices & Platforms
Apps
You can use Proton VPN on the following games consoles and streaming devices:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android
Linux
Router
These apps arenāt just for paying subscribers, either ā you get all of them with a Proton VPN Free account, too.
Games Consoles & Streaming Devices
You can use Proton VPN on the following games consoles and streaming devices:
Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Chromecast
Proton VPN doesnāt have a Smart DNS feature for unblocking video content on devices like Apple TV or PlayStation, which makes it much more difficult to use.
The only workaround is to install Proton VPN on your home router, but itās unlikely your router is supported. The full list of compatible router models is available on the support section of Proton VPNās website. Your routerās firmware needs to be one of the following types:
- AsusWRT
- DD-WRT
- OpenWRT
- pfSense
- Tomato
- FreshTomato
- Vilfo
Alternatively, you can buy a router pre-flashed with Proton VPN. This removes the difficult set-up process, but is expensive.
If you really want to use a VPN for streaming via games consoles and other such devices, we strongly recommend just using a VPN with a good Smart DNS service instead ā CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are both excellent choices.
Browser Extensions
Chrome
Microsoft Edge
Firefox
Opera
Proton VPN also recently launched a web browser extension, available not just on Chrome and Firefox, but also on all Chromium-based browsers.
This means it works with popular alternatives like Edge and Opera, too. We were pleased to see these results in our testing, as many VPNs that take a similar approach end up with extensions that are simply broken on browsers like Opera ā but with Proton VPN we had no issues.
Both Opera and Opera GX browsers run Proton VPN with no issues.
Similar to its VPN apps, you canāt choose your server location if you log into the browser extension with a free account, and youāre limited to just 5 possible locations. If youāre a paid user, you have access to Proton VPNās full set of 112 server locations.
We were impressed by the latter as many popular VPNs, like CyberGhost and TunnelBear, have a reduced server selection on their browser extensions.
Itās also a true VPN extension: it works to fully encrypt all of your web traffic, just like the desktop app. Unlike the desktop app, though, this extension only protects your browser traffic ā be sure to use the full app to protect all traffic on your computer or laptop.
Ease of Use
Well-Designed Apps with Lots of Advanced Features
You can see a summary of the differences between Proton VPNās apps in the table below:
Desktop & Laptop (Windows & Mac)
Proton VPNās apps are dominated by a large world map from which you can browse all of its server locations and connect to the one you want.
If you donāt like map interfaces (we think itās a bit confusing and a waste of space) then you can resize the app down to a skinny window thatās similar to its mobile app.
As is so often the case with VPNs, the Windows VPN client is the most complete.
The app for PC includes all of Proton VPNās advanced features, including a VPN kill switch, split tunneling, and āalternative routingā ā a feature that bypasses some blocked websites by routing connections to different Proton VPN servers.
The macOS client recently added support for OpenVPN, WireGuard, and alternative network routing, which is a big improvement over previous versions. However, it does not support split tunneling.
Proton VPN is just an all-round good-looking app that feels like a premium product when youāre using it ā something we think a lot of VPNs miss the mark with. The free version also looks and feels exactly the same.
Mobile (iPhone & Android)
The Android app is the best of Proton VPNās mobile apps ā it has most of the same features as the Windows version.
Both of Proton VPNās mobile apps are well-designed and feel responsive to use.
The Android VPN app includes an āAlways-onā feature, which automatically re-establishes a VPN connection in the event of a drop. In our tests, this turned on too late and failed to protect our IP address.
In contrast, the iOS app is a lot more limited, and doesnāt include split tunneling or alternative network routing. āAlways-onā is there, though, and itās still just as easy to use.
Linux
Proton VPN has developed native VPN software for Linux, with a full graphical user interface (GUI). This is rare among VPN services, and worthy of praise.
It looks much better and is much easier to use than VPNs that run in the Linux command line, like ExpressVPN. Proton VPN for Linux is supported on the following distros:
- Debian 10+
- Ubuntu 20.04 (LTS)+
- Mint 20+
- MX Linux 19+
- Kali Linux
- Elementary OS 6.0+
- Fedora 34+
- Arch Linux/Manjaro
Android TV & Fire TV
Proton VPN has well-designed and intuitive apps for Android TV and Fire TV. Countries are conveniently categorized by continents, making it quick and easy to locate the location you want to get an IP address from.
For logging in, Proton VPN requires you to manually input a URL on a device where youāre already using it. We prefer the login method of other VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, where you can scan a QR code using your phoneās camera.
Both apps use WireGuard and ChaCha20 encryption. However, one major downside is that it doesnāt include a kill switch.
That means if youāre torrenting or streaming while using Proton VPN on your Firestick or Android TV box, your IP address could be exposed should the connection drop.
Profiles Feature Is Useful & Convenient
The most unique aspect of Proton VPNās apps is its āProfilesā feature. Profiles allows you to create a unique VPN connection to exactly suit your needs through a custom combination of settings and features.
Profiles allows you to choose from the type of server, the server location, and whether you want to connect to a specific server.
For example, if you know there is a specific server that always works with US Netflix, Profiles allows you to create a shortcut to that specific server that will remain pinned to the top of the app.
This is an advanced feature thatās meant for power users, but itās also one of Proton VPNās very best.
Profiles let you pre-select specific servers from specific regions.
Customer Support
Live Chat Support Available but Not 24/7
| Customer Support | Available in Proton VPN |
|---|---|
| 24/7 Email Support | No |
| 24/7 Live Chat Support | No |
| Chatbot | No |
| No | |
| Email Support via Online Form | Yes |
| Live Chat Support | No |
| Online Resources | Yes |
| Tutorial Videos | No |
Proton VPNās live support service needs improvement.
Firstly, the live chat feature is not straightforward to find. To use it, you have to log into your account on the VPNās website. Then, click your name at the top right, select āGet helpā, and click āChat with usā.
Secondly, unlike other top VPNs, Proton VPNās live chat is not available 24/7. It operates between 9 AM to 5 PM (CEST), which is a poor time for most of the world. For instance, if you live in New York, you can only use this feature between 3am and 11am.
We also donāt like that live chat is only available to paying subscribers. It would be a really impressive gesture if Proton VPN changed that ā VPNs like Surfshark donāt even need proof of you having an account in order to chat to an agent.
If you require assistance outside of these times, you can either use the serviceās impressive online guides and FAQs, or contact the customer service team via email.
We tested Proton VPNās email support, which was very slow.
Email support is often slow. At times, we waited over three days for a response. Time-sensitive and pressing queries, like what servers work with US Netflix, are simply not worth asking.
Proton VPNās support team is knowledgeable and helpful in its responses, at least, despite the long waits.
