Proton VPN vs Surfshark
Both are alternatives to NordVPN. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Surfshark vs Proton VPN — same comparison, one verdict.
Proton VPN is open source (GPL-3.0 (apps)) and Surfshark is not (Proprietary) — so the real question is whether you want to own the vpn & privacy stack or rent it.
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
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Proton VPN | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 86 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Local-first data | 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.
Weighing both against staying on NordVPN? Is NordVPN free? What it actually costs →
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
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Proton VPN
if you want the source and the option to fork it, and fully open-source apps, audited no-logs (five years running).
Choose Surfshark
if very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — free tier limits server choice and speed, and closed-source apps and proprietary protocol. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
Proton VPN vs Surfshark — common questions
Is Proton VPN a better fit than Surfshark for vpn & privacy?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Proton VPN scores 86 to Surfshark's 42 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Surfshark earns its place on a different axis — very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Neither of these is local-first by default, so plan the exit at the point you adopt rather than later. Export what matters on a schedule instead of trusting you can retrieve it on demand — that is the most common way a vpn & privacy migration turns into a project instead of an afternoon.
Is Proton VPN free?
Proton VPN: Free tier with unlimited data; paid Plus roughly $5–10/month. The other side of this comparison, Surfshark, is priced as ~$2/month on a 2-year plan; about $15/month month-to-month. "Free" here means no licence fee — if you self-host it you still pay for the server, and the running cost row above is our honest estimate of that.
Are Proton VPN and Surfshark both alternatives to NordVPN?
Yes — both appear in our NordVPN comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off NordVPN and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.