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.
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.
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.
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.
Where Proton VPN stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Proton VPN
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Personal VPNs checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
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| Personal VPNs checklist | Proton VPN | Private Internet Access | Windscribe | Surfshark | NordVPN | ExpressVPN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Anonymous payment accepted |
Every fact and feature listed for Proton VPN is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License GPL-3.0 verified 2026-07-11
GPL-3.0
https://github.com/ProtonVPN/android-app -
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-11
servers in 10 countries (randomly selected)
https://protonvpn.com/pricing -
Starts at $11.99/month (VPN Plus, monthly; cheaper on annual terms) verified 2026-07-11
VPN Plus $11.99
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/proton-vpn-fast-secure/id1437005085 -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension verified 2026-07-11
Windows macOS Android iPhone/iPad Linux Chrome Firefox Chromebook Apple TV Android TV Fire TV
https://protonvpn.com/download -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
At Proton VPN, our focus this spring and summer is to make privacy easier to use for everyone.
https://protonvpn.com/blog/2026-spring-summer-roadmap -
Independent audit published Yes verified 2026-07-11
we are publishing the results of independent security audits covering all of our software
https://protonvpn.com/blog/open-source -
No-logs policy jurisdiction Yes verified 2026-07-11
we keep no session usage logs of what you do online, and we do not log metadata that can compromise your privacy
https://protonvpn.com/support/no-logs-vpn -
WireGuard support Yes verified 2026-07-11
WireGuard® is a secure and fast VPN protocol, now available in our Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS/iPadOS apps.
https://protonvpn.com/support/wireguard-configurations -
Server count / countries Yes verified 2026-07-11
148
https://protonvpn.com/vpn-servers -
Simultaneous devices Yes verified 2026-07-11
Connect up to 10 devices at the same time
https://protonvpn.com/support/proton-vpn-plans -
Kill switch Yes verified 2026-07-11
Kill switch protects your IP address and DNS activity by blocking all internet traffic on your device if your VPN connection drops.
https://protonvpn.com/support/kill-switch -
Split tunneling Partial verified 2026-07-11
Split tunneling on macOS is currently an experimental feature that supports excluding apps from the VPN tunnel.
https://protonvpn.com/support/protonvpn-split-tunneling -
Port forwarding Yes verified 2026-07-11
Port forwarding allows incoming connections from the internet to reach your device through Proton VPN's firewall.
https://protonvpn.com/support/port-forwarding -
Dedicated IP option Partial verified 2026-07-11
A dedicated IP address is an IP address that is usable only by your organization.
https://proton.me/support/dedicated-ips -
P2P allowed Yes verified 2026-07-11
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.
https://protonvpn.com/support/bittorrent-vpn -
RAM-only servers No verified 2026-07-11
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
https://protonvpn.com/blog/ram-only-servers -
Anonymous payment accepted Yes verified 2026-07-11
You can pay for Proton VPN using Bitcoin.
https://protonvpn.com/support/vpn-bitcoin-payments
FAQ
Yes. Windscribe and Cloudflare WARP have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Windscribe, Mullvad and IVPN — every license claim links its source.