# Alternatives to Proton VPN Swiss VPN with an unlimited free tier, open source apps. Proton VPN ranks #5 of 9 in Personal VPNs, with an Alt Score of 85. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, freemium from $11.99/month (VPN Plus, monthly; cheaper on annual terms) and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Browser extension. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/proton-vpn/ Category: Personal VPNs ## Where Proton VPN stands out - **Port forwarding** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Privacy-conscious individuals, journalists, and people in censored regions who want to hide their IP and encrypt their traffic without trusting a US or UK-based provider. - **What you get**: A genuinely free tier (one device, servers in five countries, no ads or data caps) alongside paid plans with faster speeds and more locations. Apps are open-source and independently audited, backed by a verified no-logs policy. Secure Core multi-hop routing sends traffic through hardened Swiss servers for extra protection against network-level surveillance, and NetShield blocks ads, trackers, and malware at the DNS level. - **How it works**: Install the Proton VPN app on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, or as a browser extension, sign in with a Proton account, and connect to a server (or a Secure Core route) with one click to start browsing under an encrypted, masked connection. ## Profile - **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-11) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-11) - **Starts at**: $11.99/month (VPN Plus, monthly; cheaper on annual terms) (verified 2026-07-11) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Private Internet Access](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/private-internet-access.md) | 100 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 2 | [Windscribe](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/windscribe.md) | 96 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 3 | [Surfshark](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/surfshark.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 4 | [NordVPN](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nordvpn.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 5 | [ExpressVPN](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/expressvpn.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 6 | [Mullvad](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mullvad.md) | 78 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 7 | [IVPN](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ivpn.md) | 66 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 8 | [Cloudflare WARP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cloudflare-warp.md) | 51 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Personal VPNs checklist | Proton VPN | Private Internet Access | Windscribe | Surfshark | NordVPN | ExpressVPN | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | Subscription | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | | Starts at | $11.99/month (VPN Plus, monthly; cheaper on annual terms) | $1.33/mo | $1.00 per location/month (Build-A-Plan, $3 minimum); Pro from $5.75/month billed yearly | €2.29/mo. | $3.49 per month | $3.49/month | | License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | | Independent audit published | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | No-logs policy jurisdiction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | WireGuard support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Server count / countries | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Simultaneous devices | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Kill switch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Split tunneling | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Port forwarding | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | | Dedicated IP option | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | | P2P allowed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | | RAM-only servers | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Anonymous payment accepted | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Proton VPN. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: GPL-3.0 — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “GPL-3.0” - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “servers in 10 countries (randomly selected)” - **Starts at**: $11.99/month (VPN Plus, monthly; cheaper on annual terms) — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “VPN Plus $11.99” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Windows macOS Android iPhone/iPad Linux Chrome Firefox Chromebook Apple TV Android TV Fire TV” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “At Proton VPN, our focus this spring and summer is to make privacy easier to use for everyone.” - **Independent audit published**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “we are publishing the results of independent security audits covering all of our software” - **No-logs policy jurisdiction**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “we keep no session usage logs of what you do online, and we do not log metadata that can compromise your privacy” - **WireGuard support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “WireGuard® is a secure and fast VPN protocol, now available in our Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS/iPadOS apps.” - **Server count / countries**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “148” - **Simultaneous devices**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Connect up to 10 devices at the same time” - **Kill switch**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Kill switch protects your IP address and DNS activity by blocking all internet traffic on your device if your VPN connection drops.” - **Split tunneling**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Split tunneling on macOS is currently an experimental feature that supports excluding apps from the VPN tunnel.” - **Port forwarding**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Port forwarding allows incoming connections from the internet to reach your device through Proton VPN's firewall.” - **Dedicated IP option**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “A dedicated IP address is an IP address that is usable only by your organization.” - **P2P allowed**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Proton VPN's P2P servers support peer-to-peer file sharing. This means you can torrent without showing your real IP address to people sharing the same files.” - **RAM-only servers**: No — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “At Proton VPN, we do not doubt that RAM-only servers can offer VPN services some legitimate operational advantages, but we disagree with how they're often portrayed” - **Anonymous payment accepted**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “You can pay for Proton VPN using Bitcoin.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/