I am thinking of purchasing Proton, but I’m hesitant due to the numerous bad reviews I see about the product. Most of the criticism is towards the speeds and the customer support. And because Proton is more pricey than the competitors, I would like some first hand unbiased opinions.
Since this is my third (and hopefully last VPN) I’ll weigh in as well. I have the basic plan. Price is about the same as I have paid for my past two VPN services. Haven’t had any issues I’ve had to reach out to customer service for so I can’t speak towards that.
I started with NordVPN, but then when the data breach happened that exposed a lot of peoples info, mine included, I demanded a refund for my remaining 6 months and left.
I then went to Tunnelbear as they were a company that is audited by an outside security firm once a year. Everything was great until they changed something in their infrastructure and my speeds just bottomed out. They only have one auto-selected hub per country so I had no choice on which server I used. I started getting MAYBE 25% of my full speed. So I used it only when I absolutely needed it and didn’t renew by subscription.
And finally I am here. I have had no problems yet, the ability to choose your server has mitigated any issues with per server slowdown/latency, and I can use both TORbrowser and torrents with little to no issue while connected. So…so far, I’m a happy customer.
TL;DR- I am on my third VPN being with Proton and I am happy with everything so far.
I’m paying for ProtonVPN since it was first available, so let me share my experiences.
Speeds were pretty bad for quite some time, below average for sure. But now with more servers and WireGuard it’s actually really good. I’m getting 500Mb/s both download and upload when connected to servers in my country. Ping is also good.
Never had any account related issues so didn’t have to contact customer support but I contacted them a few times about some technical questions about apps and I was always satisfied with answers.
Apps are pretty good, they FINALLY solved issues with constant logging out on iOS. Other than that, never had any issues with apps (Windows, iOS and Android).
Security-wise I have no complaints. Apps are open source and audited, their reputation is good and what data they are storing is well documented.
Yeah I have PM and VPN has a bundle and very satisfied with the service…nothing to complain about I trust them completely 
Especially there core servers
Well, I have tried three VPN providers so far: NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and ProtonVPN. Compared to the other two, I find the connection to be more stable at the cost a little dip in speed compared to ExpressVPN and have a quite a few more websites I am unable to access compared to Nord and Express.
I rarely have issues with captcha but I primary use DDG so I don’t really get that issue a lot.
BTW, I have the paid Plus plan and with the paid email service being included, I have been a very happy customer so far.
I just wished I am able to access certain websites like Gamestop and USPS but I don’t really use those two a lot so not a huge loss.
Biggest issue on my iPad Pro though is that I kept getting connection issues using ProtonVPN with it.
I primarily use ProtonVPN with NextDNS on my PC and phone.
Customer support could definitely improve their response time in the first place, but it is good in general. Having tried other VPN services I have to say Proton is the best option in the VPN market. They also use physical servers instead of virtual as part of their policies and desire to provide the best service to their users.
i have been a plus user since day one. it is very good i can play online games through it with no more than 20 ping added. but i will honestly say that recently there was an enormous drop in activity across servers in my metropolitan area. i don’t know if they increased capacity or something happened that i don’t know about that caused everyone to leave their service.
I see people are still commenting, so I’ll give my 5 cents.
I use a paid version. It has decent speeds and stability, a large variety of servers in many countries. However - their IP’s are tracked and you will not get access to sites by trying to connect via another country as the IP address will be a known VPN address.
I personally really like Proton VPN. I’ve used it for years and never had connection or speed issues with it.
I only use the free and not the premium, but it’s pretty good. No ads and unlimited usage. You can definitely get by without the premium features if you’re concerned about money, though some of them seem pretty cool.
The speed is good.
For example,on my windows 10 pc and my Mac - Ethernet - base is 119 Mb/s and with the nearest server speed is ~ 105 Mb/s,secure core is 85 Mb/s. Wifi on my thinkpads w/ Linux and my IPad/IPhone varies.
I’m very satisfied with my ProtonVPN experience. The strong security, reliable performance, and transparent company make it a great choice for privacy-conscious users like myself. The slightly higher price and occasional streaming issues are minor drawbacks in my opinion. I’d recommend ProtonVPN to anyone looking for a trustworthy VPN that puts privacy first.
This is an old post, but wanted to chime in and confirm that Proton is still a solid choice.
The main selling point for me is their strong focus on privacy. ProtonVPN has a strict no-logs policy, and they’re based in Switzerland, which has some of the best privacy laws globally. That’s a huge plus if you’re concerned about data retention.
In terms of performance, it’s very reliable. I’ve had consistent speeds for everyday browsing, streaming, and occasional torrenting. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that their free plan is a bit limited in terms of server access and speed. If you’re on the paid plan, you’ll definitely notice a big improvement in both speed and the variety of servers you can choose from.
They also offer some extra features like Secure Core, which routes your traffic through multiple servers, adding an extra layer of protection. It’s especially useful if you’re in a high-risk location or just want an extra layer of anonymity.
That said, like any service, there are some downsides. Customer support could be a bit more responsive, and I’ve noticed that sometimes the app takes longer than expected to connect. However, these issues haven’t been deal-breakers for me.
If you’re primarily focused on privacy and security, ProtonVPN is one of the best choices, especially if you pair it with their email service, ProtonMail. Definitely still a strong option in the VPN space.
My preferred VPN is NordVPN, which I’ve been subscribed to for several years. I appreciate that they also provide dedicated IP addresses. Recently, I decided to cancel my subscription to save money. However, I discovered that Proton VPN offers a one-month subscription for just 1 euro. Since I urgently needed a VPN and wanted to give Proton VPN a chance, I promptly subscribed. So far, I’m very pleased with the service, but I do miss the dedicated IP addresses offered by NordVPN.
I use the free chrome extension (huge miser here) to watch a AGGGTM on Netflix because I’m Australian and it wasn’t rolled-out here. It’s slow to load sometimes, but it’s just for streaming so as long as the video isn’t slow it’s all good. I don’t have the ability to use anything fancy (don’t really understand what it does anyway) so I LOVE this VPN. I’ve tried lots of others and none have been quite right.
Other misers looking to stream, this VPN is for you.
Lots of love,
Accomplished Cut
displeased been tryin to log in to proton,just wanted the Internet data plan for 9.99 I’m willing to pay this it’s reasonable per month,why do we have to jump thru all these whoops,for something so simple, problem is no matter what i do i can’t get in to accout if i have one because it keeps saying my email address doesn’t exist,went to chrome changed things around an still can’t get in,all i want is the data support forget it,forget trying to call , it’ll tell you that you’re not qualified,but i was qualified to get my 9.99 out,ther isn’t anyway to even get ones money back,your reviews look good, that’s why I’m trying,if i can’t get in im coming back proton an it’s not going to be pretty
I cannot recommend this app. At least from the android app, you can not select a state or city to connect to and if you live in Louisiana, you need that because of p0rn restrictions. No matter what protocol I use it connects me to Texas which has the same restrictions.
I’ve been using the free version for many years with no issues, I haven’t tried the paid version as of yet, but I’m sure it’s a good product. I also use the proton mail service (free version) and love the security they implemented on all their products.
Horrible. You sign up and then they make it IMPOSSIBLE for you to end the subscription (probably until much later so that you forget and they become rich off of people having too much going on.) disgusting business practices !! do not support them
Really? You had to ask this question on their page? Who’s to say these reviews are not fake!!