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Proton VPN Reviews 912

TrustScore 2 out of 5

2.2

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 211 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Many customers reported significant drops in internet speed, making streaming and general browsing difficult or impossible. People frequently experienced issues with the service not connecting or being unstable, leading to frustration and an inability to access websites or use the VPN effectively. Reviewers also mentioned problems with the subscription model, including automatic renewals without clear notice and difficulties in managing their accounts or accessing paid features. However, some customers also noted that the app runs smoothly on older Windows systems and provides good speed, sometimes even outperforming other VPN services. A few other people also felt that the service is trustworthy and prioritizes user privacy, with some expressing satisfaction with their long-term subscriptions.

What people talk about most

Website

Reviewers highlight ambiguous aspects of website functionality, with many experiencing issues such as... See more

Service

Users describe ambiguous interactions with service, with many reviewers expressing significant... See more

User experience

Consumers find user experience to be ambiguous, with some reporting consistently fast and stable connections,... See more

Subscription

Clients share ambiguous opinions on subscription, with many expressing dissatisfaction and stating they are... See more

Application

Customers had ambiguous experiences with the app, with some initially trying the free version to assess their... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

i purchased a sub on 3 November, for a year, everything went ok, until i thought ill purchase another sub with lumo+ unlimited the other day. in my head i was thinking that would continue until 2027,... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

It was excellent during the 30 day money back period. As soon as this expired speed dropped by 75%, streaming apps we previously used with no problem became unusable. Customer service is appalling. E... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Have been having buffering issues for several weeks now on numerous streaming platforms. Thinking that it my be my internet provider throttling my speed, I decided to do a speed test on Fast com... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I paid for and downloaded Proton VPN, drive and email and within a month or two, I opened my computer to find my desktop littered with files belonging to someone I don't know. These were things like... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. VPN Service

About Proton VPN

Written by the company

Experience true freedom online.

Gain unrestricted access to global content, block annoying ads, and safeguard your privacy with a fast and secure VPN.

Contact info

2.2

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

912 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

No history of asking for reviews

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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Genuinely free with no data limits

I’ve tried a lot of 'free' VPNs that cut you off after 2GB, but Proton is the real deal. I use it daily and never have to worry about a data cap. I can connect to several locations like the US and Netherlands without paying a cent. The only reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 is that the free servers can get a bit crowded, which slows down the speed during the evening. Still, for a free service, it’s easily the best on the market.

7 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi. Thank you for the review.

Connection speeds can be influenced by many factors such as your native ISP speed, location, server load, network setup, etc. The free servers may also be slower at times since a lot of users are connecting to them. Feel free to try the tips at https://protonvpn.com/support/increase-vpn-speeds to improve your speeds.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Good VPN

App works well, gaming is fast, connecting to other countries to get media there is amazing, very few complaints.

8 March 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Proton VPN

Hi. Thank you for the support!

If there happens to be anything we can help you with, feel free to contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact at any time. We're always happy to help.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Worst service

Worst service. It will get down when you are watching final match on weekend but will work fine in league matches. I suggest some other vpn but not proton vpn

8 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi. Sorry to hear that.

Could you let us know which specific streaming service you're having trouble with, and which exact server you're connected to in the process? We have a support article where you can find all the streaming services that are currently officially supported: https://protonvpn.com/support/streaming-guide. Contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact with more details so we can help you further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

this app makes your phone fully vulnerable

The company was started by Russians and since the installation, my phone has frozen a few times without any explanation. This has never happened before. But I know how Android behaves under attack. My pro-Trump posts at Facebook were deleted after those freezes.

Beware that your phone is fully open to Russian intelligence and scammers if you install this.

7 March 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Proton VPN

Hi. That's simply false.

First and foremost, Proton VPN is provided by Proton AG, a company based in Switzerland and founded by a team of scientists who met at CERN: https://protonvpn.com/support/who-owns-protonvpn. That said, using a VPN will not affect your login credentials for other services used on your device. We take data security very seriously. Proton VPN does not log, has a transparency report, and operates in a more trustworthy manner compared to most VPNs. It is fully open-source and independently audited (https://protonvpn.com/blog/is-protonvpn-trustworthy).

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Unusable free tier contradicting vision

The free tier has become entirely useless over the years. While in the beginning there were multiple free vpn locations you could choose from, now there is only an autoconnect and one server change per 10 minutes (which usually puts you into the same exact country). What's more, you need a subscription to use the tor network, which is hosted by a community for free. Furthermore, torrent is disabled, and if you happen to have a torrenting application open when connecting, it straight up disables your ENTIRE connection, while prompting a hijacked page in place of any webpage you might want to open, telling you to wait 5 minutes and turn off torrenting. If they so much so detect torrenting, and the block is for "being able to provide a service for more people", then why don't they just block only torrent traffic or let you route it outside? Disgusting company, advocating for privacy and freedom while being just another greedy company.

[Add note being that the reason you can't turn off "sent from protonmail android" in the mobile app is because it's a premium feature... But having deliberate annoyances like this which in no way are in line with saving cost or respecting free users [where according to them that'd be the point, and that they want to support a free[libre] internet.. with accessible privacy, and you buy subscription for real value and donation not for arbitrary annoyance removal] is just repulsive.

7 March 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! We're sorry to see that you're dissatisfied with Proton VPN.

Our mission is to make online privacy accessible to all, and that's why we offer a free plan that costs $0. Our free VPN has no ads, no logs, and is as secure & private as our paid plans. It's made possible thanks to the support from our paying users, and NOT your data. With that in mind, certain features and functionalities are necessarily available only on our paid plans.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Proton VPN are scammers

These people are scammers.
I tried to sign up for their VPN, and my bank account was debited. However, the signup didn't seem to complete and so despite being charged, I didn't receive an email. I can't log in because it says 'email not recognised', not can I contact support, so I continue to get charged by these thieves with no recourse.

7 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That doesn't sound right.

Please reach out to us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact letting us know the email address you used during signup, as well as the specific payment method you used, so we can investigate the problem and help you further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

takes far too long to connect to VPN

takes far too long to connect to VPN, if it connects at all. The whole point of a VPN is 100 percent reliability. This is a waste of money as you simply have no idea if the VPN will work on any given date. The only VPN that's worse than this is NordVPN.

There's too much scamming going on with VPNs. They simply DO NOT WORK with any reliability.

4 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That doesn't sound right.

Could you describe the issue further? What platform are you experiencing this on exactly? How long does it approximately take the app to establish a connection? Have you tried switching between the different connection protocols?

Contact us using the "Report an issue" option in the app menu, or at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact, so we can help you troubleshoot. Meanwhile, you can try some of the suggestions at https://protonvpn.com/support/vpn-connection-problems.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

It’s so bad this shouldn’t be a paid…

It’s so bad this shouldn’t be a paid service.

I used Norton before and everything just worked. You click and it opens. Now with Proton VPN, I click and wait… reload… keep reloading… nothing. Then I disconnect, and suddenly the page loads instantly. I connect to another Proton server thinking maybe the first one isn’t stable, nope, same issue no matter how many servers I try.

Sometimes I even get UK-based results on Google when I’m searching, which is frustrating.

I contacted customer service, and they said that when Google detects many people connected from the same IP address, this issue can happen. So what exactly am I paying for? I definitely won’t renew after this subscription expires.

3 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! We're sorry to hear about your experience.

Could you share your ticket number with us here? We'd be happy to check on your report and see how we may be able to help you further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Deeply unsatisfactory support

After happily using proton VPN and paying for a subscription, I decided to try out proton mail. It wasn't for me so I deleted my proton mail account, without realising this would also delete my proton VPN account. I have tried a number of ways to contact proton for support, and have been thoroughly ignored. Extremely frustrating. I've sent through documents to assist with my support ticket but 3 days later and no response whatsoever. I'd avoid Proton if I were you.

Hi Proton - I did receive an automated response after posting this - but nobody who has been able to help me. My ticket number is 4490537

27 February 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That doesn't sound right.

Would you mind sharing your ticket number with us here? We'd be happy to check on your report and see how we can help you further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They keep take my balance wallet…

They keep take my balance wallet whenever i cancel subscription

It's so sucks proton have access to your account so they can secretly steal your money

Not worth it company.

1 March 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That's not right.

All Proton VPN plans are renewed automatically unless the subscription is canceled before the renewal date. If you'd like to prevent your subscription from auto-renewing, you need to cancel it from the Subscription tab of your account at https://account.protonvpn.com/login. That said, please contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact with your Proton username so we can check things further and help you accordingly.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Doesn't do what says on the label.

Doesn't do what says on the label.
I purchased this VPN after researching online.
Excellent customer communication, beautiful designed interface unfortunately the same cannot be said for the VPN. I purchased this for the purpose of watching horse racing when abroad. The VPN gets detected by all bookies web sites.
Perhaps I should have consulted them before buying Proton😅

28 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Sorry to hear that.

Unfortunately, some websites are not VPN-friendly and block known VPN IP addresses. If you haven't already, contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact with more details about the websites in question, as well as the server(s) you're connected to when trying to access them so we can note your feedback for future improvement. Meanwhile, try switching between multiple different servers to see how it goes.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Will not be renewing reason got to keep…

Will not be renewing reason got to keep resetting proton every time my phone goes idle went not in use trying to connect to network until I cancel and then re-connect also on my TV always keeps disconnecting date of experience day one I subscribed could have got my money back but throught give it the benefit of the doubt

23 January 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That doesn't sound right.

Could you share more details about the issue? Are you receiving any error messages? Have you tried switching protocols? Are you using any other VPNs on the same device? Contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact so we can help you troubleshoot.

Meanwhile, you can try some of the suggestions at https://protonvpn.com/support/vpn-connection-problems to see if there are any improvements.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

EXCELLENT

It's fast, is reliable, dozens and dozens of global locations to choose from, never drops connections. It's EXCELLENT

27 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Thank you for the support.

If there happens to be anything we can help you with, feel free to reach out to us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact at any time. We're always eager to help!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

If the speeds were better

If the speeds were better, this would be the best VPN. I experience issues with streaming because films frequently freeze. I tried the same streaming platform simultaneously with two other VPN services and did not experience any freezing issues. However, Proton VPN delivered better results in all other areas. It's difficult to decide.

22 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Thank you for your feedback.

Connection speeds can be influenced by numerous factors such as your native ISP speed, location, server load, network setup, etc. You can try the tips at https://protonvpn.com/support/increase-vpn-speeds to improve your connection speeds. If there are no improvements, please contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact so we can assist you further.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

I found it caused a long delay in…

I found it caused a long delay in connecting to the internet when first booting and the connection seemed less reliable and slower in general. I had to uninstall it and now my PC works normaly again. I only had the free service so perhaps that is why it was not as good as I had hoped.

18 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Sorry to hear that.

Connection speeds can be influenced by many factors such as your native ISP speed, location, server load, network setup, etc. The free servers may also be slower at times since a lot of users are connecting to them. You can try the tips at https://protonvpn.com/support/increase-vpn-speeds to improve your speeds.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Refund pending for 1.5 months

Tried the app with a trial and automatically subscribed to a paid version without any notice, reached out to support and requested a refund and they said since i reached out as soon as it happened a chargeback would be possible but it’s been over a 1.5 months now, I am still waiting for the refund and support is just emailing gibberish. They sent a reference number called CRN which bank has no idea what that is.

1 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Sorry to hear that.

Could you share your ticket number with us here? We'd be happy to check on your report and see how we may be able to help you further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

If I could use ZERO STARS

If I could use ZERO STARS, then I would. THEY LIE in Google Search then you discover ZERO USA SERVERS.

So, I signed up, deleted the program and they are pestering me with Spam. DO NOT TRUST THESE FOKKERS!

9 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! That doesn't sound right.

Would you mind clarifying your review further? We do have US servers available both on the free and the paid plan. You can find a list of the Proton VPN servers at https://protonvpn.com/vpn-servers.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Downloaded as free VPN

Downloaded as free VPN. Works, hasnt signed me into unknow subcriptions. Easy to turn on and off when required. As its been free so far, cant find any faults.

8 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Thank you for the review.

If there happens to be anything we can assist you with, don't hesitate to contact at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact at any time. We're always eager to help!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Should have stayed with Express VPN

I bought an annual VPN plus package in September 2025. After a couple of months, I suddenly realised I couldn't extend it to other devices. By this time the credit card I had paid for it with had expired so I had no way of proving purchase and still can't. So in effect, I'm on their free VPN with apparently no recourse. I've just been on their chat line and was charged 23 euros for something for some check I wasn't aware of. As of the moment it still has not be resolved. Not happy.

5 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Sorry to hear that.

Would you mind sharing your ticket number with us here? We'd be happy to check on your report and clear up any confusion or misunderstandings, as well as see how we can assist you further.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Well i found proton via a youtube and…

Well i found proton via a youtube and other channel to be the best. Probably can be but not for me. My thunderbird email didn't work anymore and some websites i couldn't get to anymore without turning vpn off. But as paying customer i quit after 3 days and they refunded me so for me this is ok but next time please tell people the whole story

5 February 2026
Unprompted review
Proton VPN logo

Reply from Proton VPN

Hi! Thank you for your review.

Unfortunately, some web services are not VPN-friendly and block known VPN IP addresses. If you'd be interested in giving Proton VPN another chance at any point in the future, feel free to contact us at https://protonvpn.com/support/contact with more details about the issue so we can note your feedback for future improvement. Meanwhile, we suggest switching between multiple different servers to see whether the behavior improves.

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