Proton VPN vs Surfshark
Both are free/open-source alternatives to NordVPN. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Proton VPN
Open-source, audited, with a genuinely unlimited free tier.
Proton VPN, from the Swiss maker of Proton Mail, was the first major provider to open-source its apps on every platform, and its no-logs policy has passed independent audits five years running (Securitum). Its free tier is the rare honest one — unlimited data, no bandwidth throttling — and the paid plans add more servers, streaming, and Secure Core routing. It's the best all-rounder for people who want strong, transparent privacy without giving up convenience.
Surfshark
The cheapest full-featured commercial VPN — unlimited devices.
Surfshark is the value pick among mainstream commercial VPNs: cheap on a long plan, unlimited simultaneous devices, a big server network, and a no-logs policy audited by Deloitte. It is closed-source (proprietary apps and its own protocol), and it briefly holds your IP during an active session to prevent abuse, deleting it within about 15 minutes of disconnect. If you want a polished, feature-rich VPN and price matters more to you than open-source transparency, it's the strongest commercial option here.
Side by side
| Proton VPN | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 86 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Local-first | No | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 (apps) | Proprietary |
| Pricing | Free tier with unlimited data; paid Plus roughly $5–10/month | ~$2/month on a 2-year plan; about $15/month month-to-month |
Proton VPN edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Proton VPN
Strengths
- +Fully open-source apps, audited no-logs (five years running)
- +Genuinely unlimited free tier, no throttling
- +Swiss-based, strong privacy jurisdiction
- +Part of the wider Proton privacy suite (Mail, Drive, Pass)
Trade-offs
- −Free tier limits server choice and speed
- −A hosted service you don't self-host
- −Best features are on the paid plan
Surfshark
Strengths
- +Very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices
- +No-logs policy audited by Deloitte (2023 and 2025)
- +Feature-rich — streaming, ad/tracker blocking, big network
Trade-offs
- −Closed-source apps and proprietary protocol
- −Temporarily stores your IP during a session (deleted ~15 min after)
- −The cheap price requires a long prepaid commitment
Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.