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Last updated October 12, 2026 · Prices and features checked October 12, 2026 on Proton’s official pages (USD).
Verdict: 8.5/10
Best for: privacy-first users who want to verify claims, and anyone who needs a trustworthy free VPN. Not for: households with more than 10 devices, or anyone who wants auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi confirmed in writing.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Five consecutive annual no-logs audits by Securitum, all reports public.
- Every app is open source.
- A transparency report that lists every Swiss legal order for VPN data, all denied.
- Free plan with no data limit, from the same audited infrastructure.
- Secure Core multi-hop and NetShield DNS blocking on paid plans.
Cons
- The free plan covers 1 device and picks the server country for you.
- VPN Plus covers 10 devices, not unlimited.
- The intro price renews higher than many people expect after 24 months.
- Auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi isn’t confirmed on Proton’s official pages we checked.
Price and plans (checked October 12, 2026)
| Plan | Price | Devices | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proton Free | $0 | 1 | Servers in 10 countries (randomly selected), medium speed |
| VPN Plus (2 years) | $3.49/mo, billed $83.76 for the first 24 months, then $83.88 every 12 months | 10 | 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, NetShield, priority support |
| VPN Plus (1 month) | $9.99 | 10 | Same as above |
| Proton Unlimited (2 years) | $7.99/mo, $191.76 for 24 months, then $119.88 a year | 10 | VPN Plus plus Proton Mail, Pass, Calendar and Drive |
Source: Proton VPN pricing. The page shows a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.
Proton loads some prices with JavaScript and, during our checks this week, its dynamic price module sometimes failed to load. The figures above are the ones served on the page on October 12, 2026; confirm the price at checkout, especially as seasonal promotions start. If you only want the VPN, VPN Plus is the plan to compare. Unlimited only makes sense if you’d also use Proton Mail, Drive or Pass.
Proton VPN Free vs Plus
Proton Free is the rare free VPN worth recommending: no data limit, no ads, and the same no-logs policy, because Securitum’s audit checks that the policy applies uniformly “to all user subscription tiers” (audit post). The trade-offs are real, though: 1 device, medium speed, and servers in 10 countries that Proton selects for you (pricing). NetShield and Secure Core are paid features (NetShield, Secure Core).
Pick Free for occasional use on one phone or laptop. Pick Plus if you want protection on several devices, ad and tracker blocking, or multi-hop.
Privacy and audits
No-logs policy and the Securitum audits
Proton says it passed a fifth consecutive annual third-party audit of its no-logs policy, run by Securitum, with every report published (2022 to 2026); the post was last updated June 16, 2026 (Proton blog). Proton says Securitum’s experts spent several days on site reviewing VPN and server configurations, operating procedures and staff. The checklist covers whether activity, DNS queries, session timestamps, traffic contents or destination services are logged; whether the policy applies across all servers, regions and tiers; and whether change controls exist to stop someone switching logging on.
The 2026 report concludes the technical evidence “did not indicate that the examined Proton VPN server infrastructure logs users’ browsing activity, DNS queries, destination services, network traffic contents or user-identifiable connection metadata.”
What an audit doesn’t prove: it covers the infrastructure examined during the engagement. It’s a strong, repeated signal, not a guarantee about every server on every day. Proton itself notes that a wrong configuration could cause logs to be stored by accident, which is why it repeats the audit yearly.
Open-source apps
Proton says its apps are “100% open source, so anyone can examine our code” (pricing), and the code is published on GitHub. It also says its apps have had third-party security audits and run a bug bounty program (audit post).
Swiss jurisdiction and the transparency report
Proton AG is based in Geneva. Its transparency report says only requests through official Swiss channels are legally binding and that, because it keeps no activity logs, it can’t comply with requests for them. Every request so far has tried to identify who was using a server at a given time; Proton lists 59 orders in 2025, 53 in 2024 and 60 in 2023, all denied (transparency report). Proton says its no-logs policy has been tested in over 400 legal cases.
Security features
- Kill switch. Standard on all apps; an advanced kill switch that allows traffic only while connected is offered on several platforms (beta on iOS/iPadOS) (kill switch).
- Secure Core (paid plans). Routes traffic through Proton-owned servers in Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden before the exit server, to defend against a compromised or monitored exit server. Proton says Secure Core servers sit in high-security data centers on its own network (Secure Core).
- NetShield (paid plans). DNS-level blocking of malware, or of ads, trackers and malware; Proton says it blocks subdomains too since early 2026 (NetShield).
- DNS handling. Proton says your DNS requests are encrypted and resolved on its own DNS servers while connected (NetShield).
- Protocols. WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and Proton’s Stealth protocol; we treat Stealth here only as a protocol choice, not as a feature to sell.
A VPN doesn’t make you anonymous: it hides your activity from the network you’re on and your IP address from the sites you visit, but your accounts and browser still identify you.
Downsides
- 10 devices. Fine for most people, tight for a large family; Surfshark offers unlimited devices.
- Renewal. After the first 24 months, VPN Plus renews at $83.88 a year, which is still reasonable but higher than the intro rate.
- Free plan limits. 1 device and random server countries.
- Auto-connect. We couldn’t confirm on Proton’s official pages an auto-connect setting for untrusted Wi-Fi, a feature NordVPN and Surfshark document.
Alternatives
NordVPN. If you want auto-connect with trusted networks and scam and phishing protection even on its cheapest plan, NordVPN is the closest alternative. Its sixth no-logs assurance engagement was run by Deloitte in late 2025, and Basic is $3.49/mo for the first 27 months, renewing at $139.08 a year (checked October 11, 2026) (pricing, no-logs assurance). Check NordVPN’s price
Surfshark. Unlimited devices on one subscription and Deloitte no-logs audits in 2023 and 2025 (trust center). Same company group as NordVPN.
How we review
This review is based on Proton’s official pricing page, support articles, audit announcement and transparency report, plus NordVPN’s and Surfshark’s official pages for the alternatives, all checked October 11-12, 2026. We read what each audit says it checked and point out its limits. We haven’t run our own speed or leak tests, and we don’t quote third-party test numbers as our own. The 8.5/10 score is editorial: verifiability, privacy features, free plan and price.
FAQ
Is Proton VPN really free? Yes. Proton Free has no data limit and no ads; it covers 1 device and picks from servers in 10 countries.
Is Proton VPN safe and trustworthy? It’s among the best-documented: five public no-logs audits, open-source apps and a transparency report with every Swiss legal order denied.
Has Proton VPN been independently audited? Yes, by Securitum, every year from 2022 to 2026, plus third-party security audits of its apps.
Does Proton VPN keep logs? Proton says it keeps no activity or metadata logs, and the 2026 Securitum report found no evidence of such logging on the infrastructure examined.
How many devices can I use with Proton VPN? 10 on VPN Plus and Unlimited; 1 on Free.
Is Proton VPN better than NordVPN? For transparency and a free plan, Proton. For documented auto-connect and extra protection on the cheapest plan, NordVPN.
Verdict
Proton VPN is one of the easiest VPNs to trust because you don’t have to take its word: the audits, code and legal requests are public. VPN Plus at $3.49/mo (2-year) is fair value, and Proton Free is the free VPN we’d recommend first. Look at NordVPN if you need auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi, or Surfshark if you have more than 10 devices.
Sources (official pages, checked on October 12, 2026)
- Proton VPN pricing: https://protonvpn.com/pricing
- Proton VPN no-logs audit (updated June 16, 2026): https://protonvpn.com/blog/no-logs-audit
- Proton transparency report: https://proton.me/legal/transparency
- Proton VPN Secure Core: https://protonvpn.com/support/secure-core-vpn
- Proton VPN NetShield: https://protonvpn.com/support/netshield
- Proton VPN kill switch (checked October 11, 2026): https://protonvpn.com/support/what-is-kill-switch
- Proton VPN on GitHub: https://github.com/ProtonVPN
- NordVPN pricing (checked October 11, 2026): https://nordvpn.com/pricing/
- NordVPN no-logs assurance 2025: https://nordvpn.com/blog/nordvpn-no-logs-assurance-engagement-2025/
- Surfshark trust center: https://surfshark.com/trust-center