Proton VPN Review 2026: Prices, Privacy and Who It Suits

Proton VPN is a good VPN for people who care more about privacy than about extras. It is based in Switzerland, publishes the code of its apps, has a free plan with no data cap, and its paid VPN Plus plan costs $3.49 a month on the 2-year term (read October 23, 2026). The catch is the renewal: after the first two years it bills $83.88 every 12 months.

This review covers the VPN itself: plans and prices, what Proton does and does not log, the features worth using, speed, and the downsides. Proton also sells email, cloud storage and a password manager, and there is a short section on those near the end. Prices come from Proton’s pricing page, loaded from a US server.

Proton VPN plans and prices

Proton sells three things you will see on the pricing page: a free plan, VPN Plus (the VPN on its own) and Proton Unlimited (the VPN plus the rest of the Proton apps). The 2-year plan is the cheapest per month, and every paid plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Plan	Monthly price (2-year plan)	Billed up front	Renews at	What you get
Proton Free	$0.00, no credit card	Nothing	Free	1 device at a time, medium speed, servers in 10 countries picked for you
VPN Plus	$3.49 (list price $9.99)	$83.76 for the first 24 months	$83.88 every 12 months	10 devices, highest speeds, 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, streaming support, ad, tracker and malware blocking, priority support
Proton Unlimited	$7.99 (list price $12.99)	$191.76 for the first 24 months	$119.88 every 12 months	VPN, Pass, Mail, Calendar and Drive

Proton’s Black Friday 2026 sale has been announced

Proton has announced its Black Friday 2026 sale for Monday, October 26 to Monday, November 30. According to the announcement sent to its affiliate partners on October 15, VPN Plus will be 75% off the 24-month plan, Mail Plus, Drive Plus and Pass Plus 60% off the 12-month plan, and Proton Unlimited 50% off the 12-month plan.

No dollar price has been published yet, so we are not printing one. We will add the real figures once the offer goes live on October 26. For comparison, the 2-year VPN Plus plan is already marked 65% off its list price today. NordVPN’s own sale runs until November 24, and we keep both on our Black Friday 2026 page.

Privacy: what Proton logs, and what it cannot hand over

Proton says it keeps no session usage logs and does not log the sites you visit, your traffic, your IP address, your session lengths or location data. Its support pages add that maintenance data is protected with full-disk encryption on bare-metal servers it controls, and that the apps are open source and independently audited.

The most useful evidence is a real case. In 2019 Proton was ordered to hand over logs to help identify a user, and it could not comply because the logs did not exist. That is Proton’s own account, but it is specific and checkable, which most no-logs claims are not. Proton also points out that, under current Swiss law, a VPN has no forced-logging obligation, unlike some other services.

On audits, the most recent one we noted was by Securitum, described as the fifth annual audit, published in 2026. The company is Proton AG, based in Geneva, and describes itself as majority-owned by the nonprofit Proton Foundation. If your threat model is a government actor, no commercial VPN is a guarantee, but Proton’s record is among the better ones to point to. For how it compares on the audit question across providers, see our guide to choosing a VPN.

Features that matter in daily use

• Secure Core: routes your traffic through two servers, the first in a country with strong privacy protection, before it reaches the exit server. It costs some speed, so it suits sensitive sessions.
• NetShield: blocks ads, trackers and malware domains. Proton lists it on the paid plans.
• Tor over VPN: opens the Tor network through the VPN with one click.
• Kill switch and split tunneling: both appear in the app’s side panel. The kill switch cuts your connection if the VPN drops, and split tunneling lets chosen apps bypass the tunnel.
• Open-source apps: anyone can read the code, which few competitors offer across all of their apps.

The free plan is the real trial

Most VPN “free trials” expire. Proton’s free plan does not, and Proton describes it as free forever, with no ads and no logs. The trade-offs are plain: one device at a time, medium speed and servers in 10 countries that the app picks for you. You cannot choose a country, and Proton does not promise streaming access on it.

Because the free plan uses the same apps and the same no-logs policy as the paid one, it is a fair way to judge the interface and your connection before paying. If you only want browser protection, the free plan also comes as a Chrome and Firefox extension. Our breakdown of free online VPNs that need no download explains how that compares with web proxies and built-in browser VPNs.

Speed and streaming

Proton advertises 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries on VPN Plus, and says its servers deliver at least 1 Gbps of bandwidth. In our own spot check on one home connection, Proton VPN delivered about 85% of the native speed. That is a single personal measurement, it varies with your network and the server you pick, and we did not run a systematic speed test, so treat it as a rough indication only.

For streaming, Proton publishes pages for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, and VPN Plus lists streaming support. We did not measure unblocking rates. No VPN can guarantee access to a streaming service, because platforms block servers regularly, so use the 30-day guarantee to test your own services before the window closes.

Downsides to know before you pay

• The renewal: $3.49 a month is the introductory rate. After 24 months VPN Plus bills $83.88 a year, which works out to $6.99 a month. That is still lower than NordVPN’s Basic renewal, but it is double the intro rate.
• No RAM-only servers: NordVPN, Surfshark and ExpressVPN advertise servers that run on RAM only. Proton does not; it relies on full-disk encryption on servers it controls, which is a deliberate design choice but a difference some readers care about.
• The free plan is limited: one device, a randomly assigned country, and medium speed according to the pricing page.
• Fewer extras than a security suite: NordVPN’s higher plans add an antivirus, a password manager and cloud storage around the VPN. Proton’s route to extras is Proton Unlimited, which is more expensive.

Proton VPN Plus against NordVPN Basic

These are the two entry plans readers compare most, and on the intro price they are identical. The difference shows up at renewal. For the Nord side, we used the prices read on its pricing page the same day.

Feature	Proton VPN Plus	NordVPN Basic
Intro price (2-year plan)	$3.49 a month	$3.49 a month
First term	$83.76 for 24 months	$94.23 for 27 months (3 extra months)
Renewal	$83.88 a year	$139.08 a year
Devices at once	10	10
Money-back guarantee	30 days	30 days
Free plan	Yes	No
Network (vendor claims)	20,000+ servers, 140+ countries	225+ locations

NordVPN’s case rests on extras and a bigger product range, which we cover in our NordVPN review, and on how to avoid overpaying in the NordVPN price guide. Proton’s case rests on transparency and a free plan you can keep.

Beyond the VPN: what else Proton offers

The VPN is the entry point to a wider suite, all under one account and based in Switzerland: Proton Mail and Calendar, Proton Drive (with Docs and Sheets), Proton Pass, Authenticator, and an AI assistant called Lumo. Proton Unlimited bundles the VPN, Pass, Mail, Calendar and Drive for $7.99 a month on the 2-year plan.

We spent three months moving our own email, files and passwords from Gmail, Google Drive and 1Password to Proton to see how far the suite goes. The honest summary: the privacy story is consistent across the apps, and migrating mail was easier than expected. The weaker spots were collaboration, where Docs and Sheets are lighter than Google’s, occasional slow syncing in the password manager, and mobile apps that feel less polished than the web versions.

The free tiers are usable for a first look: roughly 1 GB for mail and 5 GB in Drive. If you only want the password manager, Proton Pass is sold on its own. We did not verify US prices for Mail, Drive or Pass separately, so check the Proton pricing page for those.

Who should pick Proton VPN

Pick it if you want a VPN from a company with a checkable privacy record, if you like open-source software, or if you want a free plan you can keep using. Look elsewhere if you want the widest range of extras in one bundle, or if RAM-only servers are a must-have for you.

A sensible route: install the free plan first, see whether the app suits your phone and laptop, then move to VPN Plus on a 2-year term once you know you will use it. Put the renewal date in your calendar, and compare the final price with the other options in our guide to choosing a VPN.

Frequently asked questions

How trustworthy is Proton VPN?

It has one of the stronger track records among VPNs. Its apps are open source, it publishes independent audits, it is based in Switzerland, and in a 2019 legal case it said it could not hand over logs because none existed. As with any VPN, you are still trusting the company, so read the audit reports if it matters to you.

Can the police track Proton VPN?

Proton says it keeps no logs of your activity, IP address or session lengths, and that Swiss law does not force VPNs to log. Police can still ask for the data Proton does hold, such as account details, and activity outside the VPN, such as logging in to a personal account, can identify you regardless.

Is Proton VPN still good in 2026?

Yes, for privacy-minded users. It lists 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, 10 devices on VPN Plus and a permanent free plan. Weigh the renewal price ($83.88 a year after the 2-year term) and the lack of RAM-only servers.

What are the downsides of using Proton VPN?

The renewal is higher than the intro price, the free plan assigns servers automatically and covers one device, and Proton does not advertise RAM-only servers. It also has fewer bundled security extras than a suite like NordVPN’s higher plans.

Is there a better VPN than Proton VPN?

It depends on what you need. NordVPN offers more extras and a larger bundle, Surfshark allows unlimited devices, and ExpressVPN runs RAM-only servers. Proton leads on openness and its free plan. Our VPN buying guide compares them side by side.

What is the number one best VPN?

No VPN is best for everyone, and independent rankings differ. Pick by what you will actually use: privacy record, price at renewal, number of devices and the services you want to reach, then test it inside the 30-day guarantee.