ProtonVPN Review
An easy to use free and paid VPN with plenty of servers and countries to choose from to connect too. Paid plans offer more protection from ad tracking, support for more devices, streaming and many more servers to connect too.
Price: $0.00. Paid plans start at $9.99/month with savings for 1 and 2 year plans.
Pros:
- Free version offers many servers to connect to in US, NL and JP.
- App is easy to use.
- Paid version allows more devices to connect.
- Apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome and Firefox.
- Proton has history of being strong on privacy and security.
Cons:
- Download speeds can be slow.
- Longer term plans are a little more than others.
- Free version only has servers in US, NL and JP.
The Great
If you are just thinking of getting a VPN for the first time or switching I highly suggest you try the free version first. It will let you try the service to see if it meets your needs. The free version of ProtonVPN offers users servers in 3 countries to try and will give you a good sense if ProtonVPN will meet your needs. Before I signed up for the paid version of ProtonVPN I used the free version on my Android phone and Windows laptop. I would rate the ProtonVPN free version as a well rounded service and if all you are looking for is a way to secure your coffee shop or public wifi connections it might be all you need. It was easy to use and offered decent speeds over public wifi spots.
The paid version of ProtonVPN offers many more countries and servers to connect too along with several other benefits like the ability to stream from services around the world, connect up to 10 devices and block ads. The two main reasons I use ProtonVPN is to secure insecure wifi connections and to test websites from multiple places around the world. The free version was able to secure free wifi connections but the limit of only 3 countries was the main reason I moved to the paid version.
Main ProtonVPN interface on WindowsSpeed is decent on the free and paid version. VPN’s are never as fast as your non-VPN internet service. without the VPN I can get speeds 10x faster but with the VPN it will be slower. This is the reality of using a VPN. Prevously I was a Tunnelbear VPN user and compared to ProtonVPN the speed of ProtonVPN is double what I would experience through Tunnelbear.
ProtonVPN can come in a bundle with other Proton services. If you are thinking of signing up for ProtonMail or ProtonDrive consider getting the bundle with ProtonVPN.
The Not So Great
The free version being limited to only 3 countries is limiting, that is the point, to try and get you to upgrade. It was the main reason I did upgrade.
It would be nice to be able to get better speeds whether free or paid. If speed is the number one thing you are after in a VPN you might have better luck with other services. It is fast enough for my use but it might be the one thing you are disappointed in.
ProtonVPN connected to California
Speedtest with ProtonVPN on from California to New YorkPricing on ProtonVPN on a monthly plan is compariable to other VPN services, but longer term plans are a little more expensive than some other services.
Overall
ProtonVPN is an easy to use VPN service and offers a very competitive free service for occasional users and a well rounded service for paid users. The number of countries and servers available for paid users is lengthy and provides several extra benefits to be a paid user. Speeds are acceptably and the history of Proton being a strong advocate for privacy is an added reason to go with them for your VPN as well.