Proton VPN Review 2025: Possibly The Best Free VPN?

Here’s a quick look at Proton VPN’s main features:

**Note that the features above reflect Proton VPN free plan, which is the primary point of reference I’ll be discussing. I’ll expand a bit on premium features in each section, but I’ll be focusing this review on how the free version performs.

A free user has only five server regions available, which are assigned based on what Proton VPN determines to be best based on location. These servers are in the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, and the United States. If you’re near any of these regions, don’t worry too much about Proton VPN assigning them as your default.

If your goal is just to hide your online activity, then these limitations don’t pose a problem. They work well if you need to access geo-restricted content in those specific regions, though switching servers is random and does have a cooldown before you can swap again.

If you upgrade to Proton VPN Plus, you can access an impressive 8000+ different servers worldwide—comparable to competitors like ExpressVPN or CyberGhost VPN, the latter of which I’ve tested before. Paying for Plus also lets you access other server-side features, like specific support for BitTorrent and P2P data exchanges.

While the effectiveness of their server availability will depend on your needs, the servers Proton VPN provides on both free and premium plans do their job well. However, free plans lack the capability to stream geo-restricted videos, torrent, or play games.

One of the strongest features of Proton VPN is its robust security policy, even for free users. It has a strict no-logs policy and is based in Switzerland, which means it is outside FVEY jurisdiction. Should the Swiss government ask them for your data, they wouldn’t have anything to give.

Protocols include the industry standard WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEV2/IPSec, all using either AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryptions. However, Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol stands out—they claim it can bypass most VPN-blocking services. It doesn’t track your IP address, location, app activity, or websites that you visit while using it.

Your security options expand more with Plus through features like Secure Core, which passes your traffic through multiple servers. However, paying a premium for Proton VPN gives you a little leeway on browsing safely—the core security and privacy features remain unchanged even if you’re a paying user.

Proton VPN also ensures that its standards for security are publicly accountable and verifiable, as it’s open-sourced and subjected to regular security audits since 2022. Its latest third-party audit was conducted by Securitum in 2024, confirming that Proton VPN continues to uphold a strong commitment and performance with user privacy.

In summary: no worries about how secure or private your data is with Proton VPN. Its security protocols, encryptions, and philosophy are all very privacy-conscious.

Streaming with Proton VPN works just as well as you’d expect compared to other VPNs—if you can pay for it. While the service allows you to stream geo-restricted content, it will only stream the content available to the free server that you’ve connected to. That means if you’re looking for geo-restricted content that isn’t available in the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, and the United States, you’ll need to pay for Plus.

This can be irritating if you’re chasing a specific show on streaming sites like BBC iPlayer, as they can be restricted depending on your assigned free plan server. This is why I can’t recommend Proton VPN’s free version just for video streaming unless you’re sure what you want to watch is available on its free servers.

Streaming with Proton VPN works just as well as you’d expect compared to other VPNs—if you can pay for it. While the service allows you to stream geo-restricted content, it will only stream the content available to the free server that you’ve connected to. That means if you’re looking for geo-restricted content that isn’t available in the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, and the United States, you’ll need to pay for Plus.

This can be irritating if you’re chasing a specific show on streaming sites like BBC iPlayer, as they can be restricted depending on your assigned free plan server. This is why I can’t recommend Proton VPN’s free version just for video streaming unless you’re sure what you want to watch is available on its free servers.

This isn’t a problem with Plus. With its wide selection of servers, you can stream any video from any service without any issues. Proton VPN doesn’t have specific servers for streaming, but in my experience, they didn’t need any.

Streaming speeds on Proton VPN are decent on both free and paid plans. I could watch my shows on Netflix, Max, Disney+ and other services with minimal to no buffering and without compromising quality. Streaming with Proton VPN is a decent overall experience—just pay for Plus if that’s all you’ll do.

Unfortunately, the free version of Proton VPN doesn’t support torrenting. You’ll need Plus to torrent anything, otherwise any connections will be blocked. However, Plus gives you excellent support for peer-to-peer transfers, especially with its dedicated BitTorrent service.

With Plus, your torrenting capabilities are on par with most of the paid VPNs available today. While I found the lack of dedicated torrenting servers a bit strange compared to most of its competitors, any server I picked performed well enough to justify not needing them.

Free users can play games with Proton VPN, and speeds are still consistent even with free servers. I could play FPS games smoothly with minimal lag, though shuffling servers does increase packet loss the further your assigned server is from your actual physical location.

Again, having Plus solved this problem quite easily. By choosing from different servers, I fine-tuned my connection and minimized connection interruptions. But like with streaming and torrenting, I’d only recommend Proton VPN for hardcore gamers if you’re willing to pay for Plus.

The platforms that Proton VPN supports make it stand out compared to other VPNs I’ve tried, supporting Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS/iPadOS, and even Linux. It has apps for smart TVs, like Android TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV—and can even be linked to game consoles like Xbox, Playstation, or Switch. These applications still follow the limitations set by having a Plus subscription, but the free version still has diverse options.

However, this is one of the most painful points of being a free Proton VPN user: you can only have one device connected on the free plan. There are still no limitations about bandwidth and your speed isn’t throttled, but this limitation is a major issue for families or users with multiple devices.

With Plus, you can register up to 10 unique devices, like its premium competitors. Its applications are easy to navigate, and settings can be toggled on and off at your leisure. They’ve clearly invested plenty of time and effort into their user experience.

Proton VPN’s support for almost every platform and device puts it at the top spot for any VPN user looking for support. However, what you can do with these devices remains limited by whether or not you’re on the free plan or Plus.

Speed is another area where Proton VPN surprised me. Most VPNs usually lose some speed once they’re on since your data must be tunneled to another location before reaching its intended destination. My losses in speed on Proton VPN were barely noticeable, making it a standout even compared to some paid VPNs.

This is true even if you’re on the free version. There are still some dips in connectivity and spikes in lag depending on the server that’s assigned to you, but my experience using the free servers felt close to browsing with my actual internet speeds.

Like with other features, the performance of Proton VPN improves once you get Plus. With the option to choose your server, you can maintain respectable speeds regardless of your chosen server.

Speed and performance are great on Proton VPN, regardless of whether you’re a paid or free user. My testing was able to get great speeds without any spikes in lag or losses in connection.

Proton VPN being free is one of its strongest points—providing excellent value combined with its features on privacy and security. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a simple, safe, and effective VPN for a single device.

Though Plus subscriptions (which start at €9.99 a month) aren’t cheap, they’re not as expensive as other VPN providers. If you think you’ll get more mileage out of Plus, then it’s not half-bad.

Proton VPN has a dedicated customer support portal containing everything necessary to know about how Proton VPN works, from set-up to support. It also has extremely useful troubleshooting sections to effectively diagnose and fix problems in a pinch.

Everything being organized by topic was particularly useful, especially for the most-used features like streaming. The lack of a dedicated customer support line was a missed opportunity, but their support portal serves well enough.

Considering that most of the issues in the customer support portal were already covered, Proton VPN’s troubleshooting section felt a bit redundant. However, the topics they included seemed niche and potentially useful, so it was still nice to have.

Based on my testing, the best reason to use Proton VPN is if you’re looking for a free, no-frills, privacy-centric, and secure VPN to use with any device. You’re only using it for one device, but Proton VPN does its job extremely well.

Unfortunately, the device limitations and lack of streaming/torrenting/gaming support can be a major dealbreaker for many users.

So far, all I’ve discussed is how Proton VPN works as a free feature, and to its credit, it performs well. Still, considering the many features locked behind Proton VPN Plus or Proton Unlimited, should you just bite the bullet and pay €9.99 a month?

It depends.

If you just need a single VPN for your device (like something for overseas work or for accessing geo-restricted content), then Proton VPN’s free version is good enough. Between its privacy, speed, and overall features, it’s the best bang for your non-spent buck.

But what if you need more than one device on your subscription, or want some features like P2P support? Then Proton VPN Plus would be worth it, as its starting price is around the middle of the price range for most VPNs that offer similar features. From my perspective though, if you’re going to pay for Proton VPN, you could also choose from among more premium services and providers.

This isn’t to say that Proton VPN Plus or Unlimited is bad. The features they offer make your VPN much more reliable and easier to navigate, but considering that Proton VPN’s biggest selling point is being free, paying for any premium features may just defeat the purpose of why you chose it to begin with.

If you don’t want to bother with getting another VPN and you already like your experience with Proton VPN, getting Plus or Unlimited is all right. But for me, if you’ve already decided to pay, go for one of the more premium VPN providers.

I’ve spoken glowingly about Proton VPN, but I think it’s important to contextualize that the free version still has some caveats. You can easily see them by comparing it to one of the best VPNs in the market, NordVPN:

Side by side, NordVPN easily surpasses Proton VPN in terms of performance and features. However, Proton VPN’s value for money with its free services makes it a strong contender for anyone concerned about pricing. Even if you choose to pay for premium add-ons, why bother paying for Plus when you can skip to paying for a fully premium service like NordVPN?

Reddit users shared detailed feedback and experiences regarding Proton VPN in 2025 across five threads. Below is a summary highlighting key themes: performance, privacy, usability, customer support, and the free plan.

Key Takeaways from Reddit Users

Reddit Discussion on Proton VPN’s $1.99/month Promo

Reddit users discussed Proton VPN’s promotional offer of $1.99/month in this thread.

“One of the better deals right now, especially compared to others pushing lifetime subs.”
“Free servers unusable when TikTok bans hit.”

Community response includes positive reactions to Proton VPN’s affordability and strong privacy focus, with users preferring it over competitors for its no-logs policy and Swiss jurisdiction. However, the free version frequently faces criticism for its overcrowded servers.

Read more on Reddit: Proton VPN promo

Reddit Reports of Poor Customer Experience

This thread focused on negative experiences with Proton VPN’s customer support and performance.

“Their support is honestly lacking.”
“Switched to Mullvad, no more headaches.”

Common complaints include slow response times, lack of 24/7 live chat support, speed inconsistencies, and occasional disconnects. Several users switched to Mullvad, IVPN, or Windscribe as alternatives.

Read more on Reddit: Proton VPN support

Reddit Debate on Proton VPN’s Privacy & Safety

Users discussed Proton VPN’s privacy credentials, particularly torrenting and sensitive browsing.

“No logs, but Swiss laws mean they can still be forced to cooperate.”
“For torrenting, I prefer something like Mullvad.”

Key observations note that the no-logs policy is confirmed through independent audits. However, some skepticism remains regarding ProtonMail’s past legal compliance in Switzerland, and Mullvad is frequently recommended for torrenting.

Read more on Reddit: Proton VPN privacy

Reddit Complaints About Proton VPN’s Chrome Extension

Users reported persistent issues with Proton VPN’s Chrome browser extension.

“Login pop-ups nonstop. So annoying.”
“Proton support said fixed, but it’s still broken for me.”

Main issues include a login loop bug requiring repeated authentication and frequent disconnections. Although support claimed fixes, users disagreed, with Firefox recommended as a better alternative.

Read more on Reddit: Discussion on Proton VPN Chrome extension

Reddit User Review of Proton VPN in 2025

A detailed review highlighted Proton VPN’s pros and cons based on long-term usage.

“Security is great, UI is slick, 9/10 VPN.”
“Free servers just can’t handle large influxes.”

Pros include strong encryption (AES-256, ChaCha20), Secure Core, Tor over VPN, a strict no-logs policy, and open-source apps. WireGuard protocol and VPN Accelerator enhance performance, and it works with Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, though some server switching may be needed. The interface is clean and user-friendly.

Cons include the absence of 24/7 live chat support, slow and overcrowded free servers, and speed fluctuations depending on server load.

Read more on Reddit: Discussion on Proton VPN 2025 review

Suggested alternatives based on Reddit discussions: 

Mullvad (known for strong privacy), NordVPN (stable and reliable), ExpressVPN (fast performance), Surfshark (budget-friendly with solid features).

Proton VPN occupies a unique niche among its competitors: reliable speeds, a robust data privacy policy, and great anti-censorship features, all with a free subscription. I would wholeheartedly recommend it as the best free VPN you can use in 2025, especially if you’re looking for a simple, secure way to keep your internet browsing habits and data private.

Some limitations come with only sticking with the free plan, but these are reasonable depending on what exactly you’re using your VPN for. Adding to the fact that the premium features are quite accessible to the average internet user, I’d give it a solid 8.1 out of 10. It’s worth the money you don’t pay, with a bit more potential if you do.