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Proton VPN is a
VPN service A virtual private network (VPN) service is a proxy server marketed to help users bypass Internet censorship such as geo-blocking and users who want to protect their communications against data profiling or MitM attacks on hostile networks. ...
launched in 2017 and operated by the Swiss company
Proton AG Proton AG is a Switzerland, Swiss technology company offering privacy-focused online services and software. It is majority owned by the non-profit Proton Foundation. Products In May 2022, Proton updated the visuals, user interface, and log ...
, the company behind the email service Proton Mail. According to its official website, Proton VPN and Proton Mail share the same management team, offices, and technical resources, and are operated from Proton's headquarters in Plan-les-Ouates,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. On June 17, 2024 the company announced that it will be transitioning to a non-profit structure under the Proton Foundation.


Features

As of 12th June 2025, Proton VPN has a total of 13,656 servers, sited in 122 different nations. Although Proton VPN owns and operates a portion of their servers, the bulk majority are owned and operated by ASNs such as M247 and Datacamp Limited. Its service is available for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
MacOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
,
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
, Android,
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
, and
ChromeOS ChromeOS, sometimes styled as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is an operating system designed and developed by Google. It is derived from the open-source operating system and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user ...
and also has a
command-line A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user-friendly alternativ ...
tool for
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
and can be implemented using the IPsec protocol. Proton VPN can also be installed on a
wireless router A wireless router or Wi-Fi router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the m ...
. Proton VPN utilizes
OpenVPN OpenVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) system that implements techniques to create secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities. It implements both client and server appl ...
(UDP/TCP),
IKEv2 In computing, Internet Key Exchange (IKE, versioned as IKEv1 and IKEv2) is the protocol used to set up a security association (SA) in the IPsec protocol suite. IKE builds upon the Oakley protocol and ISAKMP.The Internet Key Exchange (IKE), RFC 2 ...
, and WireGuard (UDP/TCP) protocols with
AES-256 The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...
encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...
. On October 11, 2022, Proton VPN released their Stealth Protocol for Android, iOS and MacOS clients, designed to disguise VPN traffic as HTTPS traffic. In August 2024, Proton VPN announced that it had also added the Stealth protocol to its Windows client. Proton VPN has a no-logs policy that was independently audited by Securitum, a European security auditing company. In January 2020, Proton VPN released its
source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...
on all platforms and had SEC Consult conduct an independent security audit. In March 2025,
Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...
integrated Proton VPN into its desktop app, offering the free tier of Proton VPN to all Vivaldi users.


Reception

In a January 2023 review by ''
TechRadar ''TechRadar'' is an online technology publication owned by Future plc. It has editorial teams in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia that provide news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2008 and expanded t ...
'', Proton VPN received 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. A May 2023 ''
PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Mag ...
'' review gave Proton VPN a 5-star rating. Proton VPN was awarded their Editor's Choice Award in 2022 and 2023. In October 2023 technology website ''
Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...
'' rated Proton VPN as the "best overall" for streaming, gaming,
privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
and security. In January 2024 a comparative review of 10 different VPNs by German technology magazine '' CHIP'' rated Proton VPN as their test winner.


See also

* VPN Services * Comparison of virtual private network services *
Secure communication Secure communication is when two entities are communicating and do not want a third party to listen in. For this to be the case, the entities need to communicate in a way that is unsusceptible to eavesdropping or interception. Secure communication ...


References


External links

* {{VPN Internet privacy Virtual private network services Free and open-source Android software Proton AG