logo
Is Proton VPN's free plan any good? We put it to the test

Is Proton VPN's free plan any good? We put it to the test

Independent17-07-2025
Price
The clue is in the name. Proton VPN's free tier doesn't cost a thing. You get unlimited data (though only on one device). It's the only free VPN provider we've tested without a data cap.
The catch? You're limited to roughly one of 2,300 servers in five countries (the US, Netherlands, Japan, Romania and Poland), and you can't choose which one to connect to. The app automatically assigns you to your nearest or fastest location each time, and it won't work with any streaming platforms.
If you want more, you can upgrade to Proton VPN Plus, which starts from £3.59 per month, and unlocks streaming support and features like Secure Core routing and higher speeds.
Privacy and features
Proton is one of the most privacy-focused organisations, and it extends that mission its free services. It's based in Switzerland, a country with some of the world's strictest data protection laws, and well outside any intelligence-sharing alliances like Five Eyes. The service has a strict no-logs policy, meaning it doesn't track your browsing history, log your IP address or store any session metadata.
Crucially, Proton VPN's apps are all open source and independently audited. That level of transparency is rare, especially for a free VPN. In 2024, Proton completed its third infrastructure audit, where external experts reviewed its entire system and confirmed it wasn't storing logs, not even temporarily.
The free tier includes bank-level AES-256 encryption and support for the same secure protocols as paid users, including WireGuard, OpenVPN and Proton's stealth protocol. The kill switch is included (but not enabled by default), and the Always-on VPN feature automatically reconnects you if the connection drops.
While you don't get split-tunnelling, Proton's Secure Core routing, a feature that sends your traffic through two servers for extra protection or its built-in ad, tracker and malware blocker NetShield, all of which are only available on the paid tier, you still get all the essentials for secure browsing. Annoyingly, despite having five servers on the free tier, you can't choose which one you connect to.
Speed and performance
Proton VPN's free tier isn't as fast as the paid tier, and that's largely down to congestion. Free users have to share servers that are heavily loaded, especially during peak times, which leads to slower performance compared to Proton's premium servers.
That said, speeds were generally decent during testing. On a 67Mbps home broadband connection, download speeds typically hovered between 45Mbps and 55Mbps, which was enough for web browsing, messaging and HD YouTube streaming without buffering. Pages took slightly longer to load, but the connection was stable enough for everyday use.
You can't manually choose which server or country you connect to on the free plan. The app automatically assigns you to the nearest of one of five available countries, and if the connection is too slow, the only option is to hit 'Change server', which reassigns you to another new server, most likely in the same country as before. There's also a cooldown period, so you can't keep hitting 'Change server' over and over again until you get the country you want, an annoying (though understandable) limitation. We were basically always connected to the Netherlands, though occasionally got the US.
User experience
Proton VPN's apps are really clean and consistent across devices and platforms, but the free experience feels a little pushy.
You're immediately presented with a large 'Quick connect' button and an attractive world map interface, but that's where most of the control ends. You can't choose a country, and hitting 'Change server' just reassigns you to another random free server. You'll need to wait around 90 seconds before doing it again.
The interface is littered with prompts to upgrade. Features like Secure Core, NetShield and split tunnelling are all visible, but clicking them leads to a paywall. On mobile and desktop, the tabs basically double up as mini adverts, pushing you to upgrade. Even in the settings menu, toggling some options will trigger a 'Get Proton VPN Plus' pop-up. While it's not quite ad-supported in the traditional sense, the upgrade buttons are hard to ignore.
Still, once connected, the experience is smooth and we were never interrupted by intrusive ads or pop-ups when browsing. On Android, free users also get features like DNS leak protection and a pause toggle, but these aren't available on iOS.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Garmin lifts 2025 results forecast on strong product lineup
Garmin lifts 2025 results forecast on strong product lineup

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

Garmin lifts 2025 results forecast on strong product lineup

July 30 (Reuters) - Garmin raised its annual results forecast on Wednesday, banking on strong demand for its GPS-enabled fitness devices and smartwatches. Shares of the company jumped about 5.5% in premarket trading. The fitness device maker is benefiting from a strong product lineup, including flagship smartwatches and a range of cycling and indoor training equipment. The raised forecast marks a recovery from the previous quarter when the Swiss company, which has manufacturing operations in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Poland, China and the U.S., missed profit estimates amid tariff-led uncertainty. Garmin's high-end wearables cater to professional and niche markets, including defense and sports. The company now expects full-year revenue of about $7.1 billion, compared with $6.80 billion earlier. Garmin, which competes with Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Samsung ( opens new tab in the wearables market, posted second-quarter revenue of $1.81 billion, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.70 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Revenue from its auto original equipment manufacturer segment rose 16% to $170.1 million from a year ago. The company posted quarterly per share profit of $2.17 on an adjusted basis, beating estimates of $1.89.

There are no secrets on the internet. Just ask the women who entrusted their data to Tea
There are no secrets on the internet. Just ask the women who entrusted their data to Tea

The Guardian

time3 hours ago

  • The Guardian

There are no secrets on the internet. Just ask the women who entrusted their data to Tea

Help me out with a question I've been pondering, will you? I'm trying to figure out if there is a single adult on Earth whose personal information isn't for sale somewhere on the darker corners of the internet. Data breaches are a regular occurrence now. We give companies our information; they promise to keep it safe and then they sell it to dodgy third parties or lose it in hacking attacks. There is a website called where you can check if your email addresses have been part of a data breach. My personal email is in 15 of them. The latest data breach to hit the headlines is particularly nasty. A popular women-only dating-safety app called Tea lets users compare notes about men to see if they are dating the same person or if anyone has red flags to share. It's a bit like an app version of the popular 'Are we dating the same guy?' Facebook groups. Last Friday, the company behind Tea confirmed it had been breached. Women have to submit a selfie (to 'prove' their gender) in order to use the app; an estimated 72,000 images, including 13,000 verification photos and photos of government IDs, have been leaked online. More than 1m private messages have also been leaked. This isn't just a run-of-the-mill data breach – it's revenge. It seems users of 4chan, a message board popular with rightwing and misogynistic trolls, were upset by the app and called for a 'hack and leak' campaign. 404 Media reported that the database of stolen images has now been posted on 4chan and X. Someone has reportedly even created a site where men can rate women's selfies exposed in the leaked data. There are obviously numerous ethical issues with apps such as Tea, or the Facebook groups that allow people to share unverified and potentially defamatory information about men. But there is a reason these digital whisper networks exist: social media companies and dating sites do very little to protect women. According to one survey, 31% of women reported being sexually assaulted or raped by someone they had met through an online dating site. Tea was supposed to be a rare safe space – but now I suspect a lawsuit is brewing. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Major ‘sex toy leak' reveals shoppers who bought them and even ‘personal emails' as company scrambles to fix bug
Major ‘sex toy leak' reveals shoppers who bought them and even ‘personal emails' as company scrambles to fix bug

The Sun

time3 hours ago

  • The Sun

Major ‘sex toy leak' reveals shoppers who bought them and even ‘personal emails' as company scrambles to fix bug

SHOPPERS have had their cheeky purchases leaked, and possibly their accounts hacked, following the breach of a popular sex toy app. Lovense, which makes internet-connected sex toys, reportedly left user emails exposed for months without fixing the cybersecurity flaw. 2 In a blog post, security researcher BobDaHacker writes that they discovered a flaw that allowed anyone to 'turn any username into their email address,' which could then be used to take over someone's account. All it took to expose someone's email address, according to the researcher, was to mute someone's account. BobDaHacker told Lovense about the vulnerability in March. However, they claim the company waited months before fixing it, and still hasn't fully addressed the issue. The Lovense platform is connected to the company's sex toy products, which can be controlled from afar via the app. The app is also used to "find like-minded thrill seekers", according to the company, and came under fire in 2017 for a "minor bug" that recorded users' sex sessions. BobDaHacker says they have developed a script that can convert someone's username into an email address in less than a second. 'This is especially bad for cam models who share their usernames publicly but obviously don't want their personal emails exposed,' BobDaHacker writes in their post. A user's email address, combined with an authentication token generated by Lovense and captured by a hacker, is enough to take over a user's account. The account takeover bug was fixed in April, according to Lovense. Save money over summer on TV, games and even FOOD with app tricks Although BobDaHacker disputes this, and says that a fix for the email leak issue would take 14 months to roll out. 'We also evaluated a faster, one-month fix," Lovense said, according to BobDaHacker. "However, it would require forcing all users to upgrade immediately, which would disrupt support for legacy versions." Other security researchers reported the same account takeover bug to Lovense in 2023, according to BobDaHacker. But The Verge noted that the company appears to have closed the bug without actually fixing it. In a statement to Bleeping Computer, Lovense says it has submitted an app update 'addressing the latest vulnerabilities' to app stores. 'The full update is expected to be pushed to all users within the next week,' Lovense says. 'Once all users have updated to the new version and we disable older versions, this issue will be completely resolved.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store