Every fact we hold
Proton VPN
Swiss, open source, audited every year, and the only serious free tier.
$3.49 a month on the 2 years plan
$83.76 billed up front, then $83.88 a year. Monthly with no commitment: $9.99. 30-day refund.
VPN Plus. Proton Unlimited ($7.99/mo, 2 years) bundles Mail, Drive, Pass, Calendar.
For
- +Open-source apps, audited every year, reports public
- +Switzerland, outside every intelligence alliance
- +A real free tier with no data cap
- +Renewal is close to the intro price
Against
- –Streaming is hit and miss outside Netflix and iPlayer
- –P2P only on some servers
- –Fewer countries than the number suggests (Smart Routing)
The facts, each with its receipt
- Based in
- Switzerland · outside the 5/9/14 Eyes allianceschecked 2026-10-11 · source
- Owned by
- Proton AG, majority-owned by the non-profit Proton Foundationchecked 2026-10-11 · source
- Best plan
- $3.49/mo · 2 years · $83.76 up front · renews $83.88/yrchecked 2026-10-11 · source
- 1-year plan
- $3.99/mo · $47.88 · renews $83.88/yrchecked 2026-10-11 · source · Renewal per Proton's own checkout note ($83.88 every 12 months).
- Monthly
- $9.99checked 2026-10-11 · source · VPN Plus.
- Devices at once
- 10checked 2026-10-11 · source
- Countries
- 140 · 20,000+ serverschecked 2026-10-11 · source · Official page says 140+; counts include Smart Routing locations.
- No-logs audit
- Yes · Securitum · latest 2026 · 5 auditschecked 2026-10-11 · source · Five consecutive annual no-logs audits; reports published in full.
- Open-source apps
- Yeschecked 2026-10-11 · source · All apps open source and independently audited.
- Pay without a name
- cash · cryptochecked 2026-10-11 · source · Bitcoin and cash by post accepted; an account still needs an email or username.
- Protocols
- WireGuard, OpenVPN, Stealthchecked 2026-10-11 · source
- Blocked networks
- checked 2026-10-11 · source · Stealth protocol; the free tier is a known lifeline in blocked countries.
- Streaming
- Netflix iPlayer 3 of 5 Netflix libraries and iPlayer worked in a 2026 test; Hulu and Max failed.checked 2026-10-11 · source
- Torrenting
- checked 2026-10-11 · source · P2P on marked servers, paid plans only.
- Speed
- checked 2026-10-11 · source
- Free tier
- Yes · Unlimited data, 1 device, a handful of countries you don't choose, no streaming or P2P.checked 2026-10-11 · source
- Refund
- 30 dayschecked 2026-10-11 · source
- Extras
- NetShield ad and tracker blocker · Secure Core (double hop through Swiss/Icelandic servers) · Tor over VPN · Port forwardingchecked 2026-10-11 · source
Servers by country, from Proton VPN’s own list
149 countries as of 2026-10-12. source
United States: 6015 servers · 22 citiesUnited Kingdom: 849 servers · 6 citiesSwitzerland: 808 servers · 1 cityGermany: 706 servers · 2 citiesFrance: 678 servers · 2 citiesNetherlands: 672 servers · 1 cityCanada: 639 servers · 3 citiesSweden: 432 servers · 1 cityJapan: 315 servers · 2 citiesSpain: 290 servers · 2 citiesAustralia: 281 servers · 5 citiesPoland: 260 servers · 1 city
How Proton VPN pays us
100% of the first month on monthly plans, 30% on renewals; a lower share on 1- and 2-year plans; applications reviewed by hand. Checked 2026-10-11. This block is documentation; the ranking code never reads it.
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