Øyvind Bringedal

Last Updated: 08/01/26

Even though it is not the oldest Virtual Private Network (VPN) out there, Proton VPN lives up to some level of competition with the oldies. The company, Proton was founded in the year 2014, and since then, it has been growing without slack.

Some users might perceive Proton VPN as a VPN specifically for privacy enhancement because of its base (Geneva, Switzerland). This VPN truly offers amazing privacy and security features, but it doesn’t end there. It is great for streaming and torrenting and the pricing isn’t on the very high side. In this article, I’ll review Proton VPN’s features and thus make it easier for you to make a decision about it.

Overview

Proton VPN is a Swiss-based VPN with a strong focus on online privacy. The servers are fast and reliable for excellent streaming and torrenting services with a capacity of 1,264 Gigabits per second (Gbps).

This VPN service has some security features in a bid to ensure your security. The features include military-grade encryption, secure VPN protocols, a kill switch, and a strict no-log policy. They also put physical measures in place to raise your security and privacy standard. The privacy laws of Switzerland technically back up all those features.

Proton VPN has three paid subscription plans and a free version, yet you get unlimited bandwidth of data on all plans. It has software packages for Android, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, and iOS on which you can connect multiple devices to each subscription.

Server Coverage

Proton VPN has a decently stuffed server database with 4,500 servers in 100 countries. Below is a breakdown of their coverage in different areas.

North America

• 3 countries (The United States, Canada, and Mexico)
• 115 servers 

Europe

• 32 countries (including The United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy)
• Over 500 servers

Oceania

• 2 countries (Australia and New Zealand)
• 52 severs

Asia

• 10 countries (including Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong)
• 146 servers

Central America

• 1 country (Costa Rica)
• 4 servers

South America

• 5 countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, and Peru)
• 36 servers

Africa

• 1 country (South Africa)
• 8 servers

With Proton VPN’s level of diversity and region density on network reach, you have several options to connect to almost every region of the world. The VPN also has servers dedicated for torrenting and P2P file sharing.

Speed and Performance

Speed and stability are two of the determining factors in the rating of a VPN, especially for users that are in for high-end activities like online gaming, video streaming, and torrenting. The performance of the servers is equally important because if the server connection drops very often, the user will lose connection with the VPN, and the data in the transmission is left vulnerable to attacks.

Another highlight is the rate of connection for downloads and uploads. Several factors influence your connection rate, and they include the Internet Service Provider (ISP) bandwidth limit, ISP throttling, the security protocol in use, and the device’s processing power.

Those factors put a restriction on how much data you can download or upload with a given period of time. That is the reason why you might experience skips when you stream videos. However, Proton VPN helps you overcome all those challenges.

Proton VPN has a “Quick Connect” feature that can automatically connect you to the fastest server available at a single click. This VPN service also measures your speed and displays it at the top-right corner of the dashboard. Overall, Proton VPN servers are of high speed, so if you experience any speed lag, consider the following options:

• Check your data connection
• Switch to a server closer to you 
• Switch to another VPN protocol

Safety and Security Features

As you’d expect of a top-tier VPN provider, Proton VPN has an earnest approach towards security. It has robust security details put in place to keep your traffic “untouchable” by hackers. To start with, it has a “Secure Core” technology that routes online traffic via multiple servers in a bid to defend you against network-based attacks.

Furthermore, it uses the most robust encryption detail to protect your traffic data during transmission — Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256. That level of encryption is the same used by the military and other government institutions; it is tagged “military-grade encryption.”

You don’t have to worry about your data integrity if the encryption key gets hacked in the future. Proton VPN’s Perfect Forward Secrecy policy ensures that your traffic is encrypted for life. Another standout point is that the VPN uses ONLY IKEv2/IPSec and OpenVPN (the protocols that have been known to be secure). Even though other protocols are less costly to operate, Proton VPN doesn’t use them.

Finally, the VPN service has a kill switch and an Always-On feature that blocks your traffic and restores your connection, respectively, if you lose connection with the server. Proton VPN also has DNS Leak Protection. The leak protection acts by securing your DNS queries through an encrypted tunnel for the uninterrupted transmission of traffic.

Anonymity and Privacy Features

With the level of anonymity this VPN delivers, I could say the “P” in Proton VPN stands for Privacy. The first privacy effort is the situation of its headquarters in Switzerland. Based on that, the company operates strictly by the modalities of Swiss laws. The good news here is that Switzerland has one of the best privacy laws across the globe in the sense that it basically doesn’t put Proton VPN under any obligation to save your connection logs.

Concerning the strict Swiss laws, Proton VPN cannot be forced to perform targeted data logging on identified users. Your browsing history remains private. Also, connection to the VPN service masks your device’s IP address. Since that is your identity online, it masks your already encrypted traffic. When you connect to a Proton VPN server, there are hundreds to thousands of other users connected, so the traffic from that IP address will be emanating from various sources, making it impossible for cyber snoops to single you out.

Platforms Supported

Proton VPN has software apps for the leading operating system platforms — Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iPhone. The VPN provider also has a software package for Routers. Regardless of what device you use Proton VPN on, you’ll get the standard top-tier services. Different sorts of reviews have also put the VPN in their good books concerning that factor.

Moving on, the VPN software has an easy-to-use interface. You can get everything done by simple click navigations.

Streaming and Torrenting

Streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Deezer, and Hulu usually purchase the license to air their programs in selected regions. The streaming platform scans your IP address to determine your location and locks you out if the content isn’t available to your location. 

Rakuten TV, for instance, is restricted to Japan, so only users in that region will have free access to the content on the streaming site.

Proton VPN exhibits a fantastic prowess in bypassing the geo-restriction on video and audio content. It masks your IP address effectively, disguising it to the scan of the streaming platform. The VPN does the magic regardless of your present location. However, to enjoy the exclusive streaming fantasy, you have to connect to a Proton VPN streaming-enabled server. The streaming-enabled servers are reserved for only their Plus and Visionary subscribers, so look out for that and don’t just go for the Basic subscription if you’re looking to stream content.

Regarding peer-to-peer file transfer, Proton VPN offers a safe haven. Even if you’re torrenting via public Wi-Fi, you can be sure to have a secure connection. Despite the VPN’s privacy and security features, it comes with several other perks that are put in place so that you’d have the best of the best. For streaming and torrenting, Proton VPN delivers top-notch service in unlimited bandwidth of data with a zero-buffer connection. You won’t even have to worry about a lag in connection.

Proton VPN Price & Subscription Plans for 2026

✅ Features Included

• Servers in 125 countries
• Over 17,250+ servers worldwide
• No activity or connection logs
• Dedicated servers for streaming
• Adblocker & malware protection
• 10 simultaneous device connections

*Pricing subject to change, visit the ProtonVPN site to consult the most up-to-date pricing & subscription plans.

No matter how great a VPN is, if the potential users can’t afford it, it’ll be just another VPN. In this case, Proton VPN is a fantastic provider. It offers range, depth, and detail in its subscription plans. There is a plan for every budget.

Regardless of your subscription plan, you get a strict no-log policy offer and the services of an ad-blocker. Also, Proton VPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans.

User Experience

The VPN company is quite clear on the level of services they offer. The information they provide on their website matches the experience of their customers, so there has been no room for criticism per se.

Overall, the user feedback for Proton VPN has been another significant factor in its categorization as one of the top dogs.

Does Proton VPN Work in China?

China stands tall as a checkpoint region of the world to VPN providers for a good number of reasons. In this case, we’ll consider it from two angles — for China and in China.

Proton VPN does not have any servers in China. To that effect, you can’t use the VPN to access content restricted to China. So it is not considered a good VPN for China. The Chinese government works hard to make sure they keep tabs on the online activities of the people. Despite that, they won’t allow Chinese access sites abroad. Cyber freedom is in shambles in China, but that doesn’t take anything away from Proton VPN; it remains one of the best.

The good news is, Proton VPN claims they’re working on countermeasures to circumvent the government’s censorship.

Pros and Cons

Pros

1. Top-tier security mechanisms: The combination of military-grade encryption and entirely secure protocols just makes it impossible for you to go wrong on security with Proton VPN.

2. Strict no-log policy: The VPN company claims that they do not keep data logs and timestamps of their customers’ online activities.

3. Headquartered in Switzerland: The country has stringent privacy laws that add more credibility to Proton VPN’s no-log claim.

4. Wide range of server coverage: Global reach is another strength because it has servers in all seven continents.

5. Adequate customer support: Unlike some other premium VPNs that deliver swift responses to user complaints through live chats and chatbots, Proton VPN resorts to emails strictly. Even though it’s more stressful, the high-side is that they’ll attend to you as soon as you get done with the formality.

5. Leak protection: Proton VPN integrates a DNS leak protection that boycotts public transmission tunnels to evade spying eyes that may want to steal your data.

6. Decent unblocking ability: The Plus and Visionary plans of this VPN service can conveniently unblock geo-restricted content on platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, CrunchyRoll, and YouTube.

7. Good torrenting service: Torrenting is even available on the Basic subscription plan. While you torrent with Proton VPN, the only thing you have to worry about is what to download.

8. Ease of installation and use: The setup procedure is straightforward. A VPN newbie won’t have trouble navigating through the VPN interface.

Cons

1. Inability to access China: Proton VPN is so close to perfection, but its inability to bypass the “Great Firewall of China” makes a red flag for some users.

2. Averagely fast servers: Not slow, but definitely not the fastest in the business. It’ll be fair to say the servers are a good curve above average; still good enough.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt, Proton VPN is one of the elites. Even though the China flaw has some weight, you can’t ignore the height of privacy and security detail invested in this VPN service. It ticks almost all the boxes and is consistent with growing its already-made good name in the VPN market today. I would recommend Proton VPN as a strong choice.

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