Proton VPN review – Swiss privacy pedigree and undeniable security

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

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

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

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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%

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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

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

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

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

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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

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

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

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

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