Proton VPN
Open-source, audited, with a genuinely unlimited free tier.
86
sovereigntyProton 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.
OPEN SOURCEGPL-3.0 (apps)
LicenseGPL-3.0 (apps)
PricingFree tier with unlimited data; paid Plus roughly $5–10/month
Open sourceYes
Self-hostableNo
Local-first dataNo
What it does well
- +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)
Where it falls short
- −Free tier limits server choice and speed
- −A hosted service you don't self-host
- −Best features are on the paid plan
Proton VPN as an alternative to
Where Proton VPN shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
Proton VPN head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.