Proton VPN is a Virtual Private Network service that makes a bit of history in itself. By now, the VPN markethas become extremely competitive and this often translates into a price race to win as many audiences as possible. Proton VPN , on the other hand, seems to focus more on a certain variety of its plans , offering four of them, one of which is free and the other three for a fee whose cost is not among the lowest in the sector. Nonetheless, this provider offers interesting features and, perhaps, the slightly higher than average price could find justification. Let’s see why together.
Proton VPN plans and pricing
As we said, Proton VPN offers a completely free plan . Proton VPN , then, is one of the few companies, among which include TunnelBear and WindScribe , free to focus on a plan to attract users, and we can say immediately that it is one of the best free VPN available today. As expected, the no-cost plan has some limitations , with a single connection on only three countries (for a total of 23 servers available), at a slower speed than that of the paid version. However, it’s a great way to try Proton VPN and see if it’s for you,without having to purchase an entire plan and then request a refund as with other providers .
The paid plans, on the other hand, are distinguished between a basic plan, called Basic at a cost of € 4 per month . The plan includes over 40 countries , with 350+ servers and two possible simultaneous connections. The next is the Plus plan , which with € 8 per month offers 1300+ servers in 61 countries , VPN Secure Core technology and access to the Tor network over VPN, for greater anonymity. To close the offer, the Visionary plan, which in addition to everything offered by the Plus plan, includes a full Visionary account of ProtonMail, the company’s encrypted email service. The cost of the latter plan amounts to € 24 per month .
It must be said that all plans, including the free one, offer a strict no-log policy and access to blocked content , while P2P and Torrent support and the ad blocking system are the exclusive prerogative of the plans. for a fee .
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Paradoxically, the best value for money version is the third, as the cost of a ProtonMail Visionary account is quite high. By choosing the two-year subscription, you will also save money compared to just subscribing to ProtonMail.
Privacy
Speaking of privacy, Proton VPN is a company based in Switzerland, consequently it is not subject to the initiatives of the 14-Eye alliance , a consortium of which Italy is also a part that allows strong limitations to personal privacy and preventive wiretapping and archiving. data and files (emails, photos, audio and video) of users, which can then be exchanged between the participating countries, even in the absence of news of the crime. As indicated by the company on the official website, “Proton is supported by FONGIT (a non-profit foundation funded by the Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation for the Public Good), and by the European Commission” .
In addition to this, always on the official website, the Proton VPN managers pride themselves on enjoying ” strong legal protection” and taking the privacy of their users very seriously.
As proof of its commitment to privacy, Proton VPN has made public the source code of all its apps (which was created by CERN scientists , as documented on the research body’s website) and had it audited. by third parties (including technicians from Mozilla and the European Commission ). So, on paper at least, Proton VPN offers greater protection than other competitors.
As we said, for all plans (free included) a strict No-log policy is applied : the company ensures that it does not know anything and does not keep track of any browsing and activity of its users, once connected.
Furthermore, the guarantee of protection is reinforced by cryptographic protocols and technical devices deployed by the provider: all user traffic is obfuscated with the AES-256 algorithm , but to decrypt it, a handshake based on a 4096-bit RSA key is required. E-mail and messaging, on the other hand, are treated with the SHA-384 algorithm (developed by the National Security Agency ), in line with Proton Technologies’ company profile .
Also, none of Proton’s servers use low-security protocols (such as PPTP and L2TP / IPSec), only IKEv2 / IPSec and OpenVPN . The service also includes a Killswitch in the event of a VPN connection failure and security checks to prevent DNS leaks .
Finally, Proton VPN has native support for the TOR browser and therefore protects you even if you want to get into the depths of the Deep Web , even if limited to the Plus and Visionary plans.
Performance
It is necessary to clarify immediately that, for our test, we used the free version of Proton VPN and not the paid one, so we cannot say that the results of our analyzes have absolute value. The fact remains that, using only Proton VPN , with the fastest connection (Italy), we recorded a speed loss of 27% , compared to standard traffic.
The impression was corroborated by the fact that, by connecting a second free VPN (ZenMate), the speed returned to the usual levels instead of dropping, as would have been natural to expect, with two VPNs connected in cascade.
It is therefore indisputable that Proton VPN , at least in its free version, is not particularly performing. This doesn’t mean that the Basic , Plus , or Visionary versions don’t guarantee much higher speeds, as the company guarantees up to 10 Gbps to paying customers. On the other hand, the free services on the market are always limited, even if in hindsight you could find faster ones.
App and installation
When it comes to apps, Proton VPN manages to stand out from the competition.
On the site you will find links to dedicated versions for : Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux and Router, detailed instructions to set up a home or business server and to use regional unlocking services for the main video on-demand services (Netflix, Disney + , Prime, BBC iPlayer, Now TV, HBO, ESPN + and many others).
Downloading, installing and configuring the app are fairly basic operations. The app itself is one of the best we’ve tried : it features a clean and readable interface, which also indicates the volume of traffic produced at any given time and the total session.
Proton VPN has reduced user options to the bare minimum, which we liked. However, there remains the possibility of making some configurations, for example for some applications in particular that require split tunneling , with the consequent exclusion from the protection of the VPN .
An aspect that we did not particularly appreciate is the absence of some functions, such as the ability to access the Tor network and therefore the Deep Web, in the Free and Basic plans. Just as we would have liked to have seen a more complete knowledge base , especially if we consider that Proton VPN does not have a real-time assistance service , neither via chat nor via telephone. If you have any problems, the only option available is to send a message to the support team.
So for anything not included in the knowledge base (for example: how to set up a NAS server) you can only hope for a timely response and wish that what you need is included in the plan you have chosen, otherwise you will have to do some research outside the site, hoping for luck.
Verdict
As in other cases, your judgment on Proton VPN depends a lot on what your priorities are. Proton VPN is definitely worth considering for anyone with a particular focus on security, which makes sense if you are looking for a good VPN service. If, on the other hand, you have budget constraints, there are cheaper and equally if not better performing solutions. However, if you have already decided to adopt ProtonMail services , switching to the Visionary version could even save you money.
Finally, for those who are particularly attentive to the options offered, Proton VPN offers support for streaming and file sharing services that many other competitors lack. Also, in the two most expensive plans, you will have access to the Deep and Dark Web. If you are still undecided, it might make sense to download the app and use the free version. On the other hand, not all providers offer this possibility.
