ProtonVPN Review 2020

Based in	Switzerland [UNSAFE]
Price	$4.00/mo
Servers	632 (44 Countries)
Logs	Keeps Connection Logs
Multi Login	10 Devices
Refund	30 Days
Recommended	Yes
Website	ProtonVPN.com

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My Rating Criteria

Here is a list of 9 factors that I have used to carry out my testing and review of ProtonVPN:

1. Jurisdiction – Where is ProtonVPN headquartered?
2. Security – Is ProtonVPN safe?
3. Leaks – Does ProtonVPN leak IP, DNS & WebRTC?
4. Servers – Does ProtonVPN work in China?
5. Speed – Is ProtonVPN fast?
6. Streaming – Does ProtonVPN work with Netflix?
7. Compatibility – Which devices can I use ProtonVPN with?
8. Pricing – Is ProtonVPN free?
9. Trustworthiness – Is ProtonVPN trustworthy?

Jurisdiction – Where is ProtonVPN headquartered?

ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland, which is not a direct part of the 5 eyes, however, it is still a cooperative member. Although mostly a safe jurisdiction, Switzerland does have to comply with any data sharing intelligence requests. In this scenario, using ProtonVPN can actually be a risky business for your online privacy.

Security – Is ProtonVPN safe?

Well considering that ProtonVPN offers 256-bit military-grade encryption along with 4096-bit RSA key exchange, ProtonVPN is actually safe. If we talk about protocols, ProtonVPN offers OpenVPN along with IKEv2/IPSec protocols. This combination is enough to secure you against pretty much most hacking attempts. Aside from encryption and protocols, let’s go through some of the other features that ProtonVPN comes with.

Secure Core

Now you might be thinking, what is a secure core? Well, it’s basically an additional security feature that ProtonVPN offers. This feature basically works as a double-hop server that routes your traffic through Sweden, Iceland, and Switzerland for added privacy and anonymity.

Since this feature of ProtonVPN scrambles your data through multiple server locations, it would become near impossible for any ISP to track you down. That being said, the secure core feature is only included in their  “Plus” or “Visionary” subscription plans.

Does ProtonVPN have a Kill Switch?

As a matter of fact, ProtonVPN does have a built-in Kill Switch feature. This feature works as a safety measure to protect your online identity in case of an abrupt disconnection. Essentially, it prevents your IP address from being exposed to your local ISP. I’ve extensively played around with this feature and found it to work very well.

Tor over VPN

ProtonVPN also offers Tor-over-VPN functionality. In fact, it offers built-in support for Tor. I’ve tested this feature to access Onion sites and didn’t encounter any issues accessing the dark web. However, I wasn’t too impressed by the overall speed.

ProtonMail

ProtonMail is a secure emailing app that’s bundled with their premium VPN packages. ProtonMail allows users to send and receive emails via encryption. The servers of ProtonMail are hosted in Switzerland, which is a country know for its privacy-friendly laws. It is a widely used email service and has gained rapid popularity after the recent email leaks scandals.

Logging Policy – Does ProtonVPN Keep Logs?

ProtonVPN essentially offers a no-logs policy. If you go through their privacy policy, you’ll see that they claim to not keep logs of:

• Log users’ traffic or the content of any communications
• Discriminate against devices, protocols, or applications
• Throttle your Internet connection

However, if you dig a bit deeper into the privacy policy, you’ll see that it does store some connection logs. For instance, ProtonVPN mentions that it monitors timestamps.

In addition to timestamps, ProtonVPN also logs the following information:

• Username
• Email address
• Billing information
• Cookies

Luckily, despite collecting connection logs, ProtonVPN deletes all your data once you unsubscribe or delete your account. It also overwrites all connection timestamps every time users log in.

Leaks – Does ProtonVPN leak IP, DNS & WebRTC?

ProtonVPN offers excellent leak protection. I’ve performed multiple tests and found it to not leak IP, DNS, and WebRTC. For all of my testing, I connected to their Japan server. Here are the test results:

IP Leak Test

As you can see from the screenshot below, my original IP address is not visible anywhere. This is a clear sign that my IP is not leaking.

DNS Leak Test

For the DNS leak test, I again connected to the Japanese server. As you can see, all of my requests are being handled by a Japanese DNS server.

WebRTC Leak Test

Aside from not leaking my IP or DNS information, ProtonVPN also passed my WebRTC leak with zero issues.

Virus Test

Last but not least, I also checked for viruses in the ProtonVPN app. Luckily, I did not find any hidden virus or trojan. Here is the screenshot of the scan result:

Servers – Does ProtonVPN work in China?

Despite offering 630+ servers in 44 countries, ProtonVPN failed to access Chinese blocked content. That’s because it doesn’t offer any actual servers in China. Instead, it only offers servers in Hong Kong.

If we talk about the servers included in the free version, ProtonVPN only offers 3 server locations in the US, Japan, and the Netherlands which is a bit disappointing.

ProtonVPN also offers specialized p2p servers that are good for securely downloading torrents. You can select any of ProtonVPN’s Basic, Plus, and Visionary plans to avail of the P2P functionality.

Does ProtonVPN free allow Torrenting?

Although the paid version of ProtonVPN offers excellent P2P compatibility, the free version of ProtonVPN doesn’t have support for torrenting. You’ll have to subscribe to one of their paid plans to start using the ProtonVPN torrenting feature.

Speed – Is ProtonVPN fast?

ProtonVPN is quite fast. While writing the ProtonVPN speed test blog, I was impressed with the end results. Here’s a brief table with all the speed test results compiled for your convenience.

Streaming – Does ProtonVPN work with Netflix?

Yes, ProtonVPN works with Netflix. In our tests, we were able to unblock US Netflix with ProtonVPN but didn’t have the same luck when trying to unblock other Netflix regional libraries.

However, the free version of ProtonVPN doesn’t support Netflix because it is only the paid (Plus) servers of ProtonVPN that unblock Netflix:

Other Streaming Services

As for other streaming services, I actually managed to unblock both BBC iPlayer and Hulu without any issues. However, speed was again a bit of an issue while streaming.

Compatibility – Which devices can I use ProtonVPN with?

When it comes to compatibility, this VPN offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices. But that’s it. This VPN has no apps for Smart TVs, routers, and gaming consoles, meaning you will have to manually set up the VPN on other devices.

You can find out how to set up ProtonVPN for Kodi here. Furthermore, you can see ProtonVPN setup instructions for Roku.

ProtonVPN Windows

The user interface of the ProtonVPN’s Windows app is quite clean. Everything can be conveniently found where it’s supposed to be. I like the fact that its app displays session stats with Up and Down speeds at the bottom of the app.

ProtonVPN macOS

Similar to the Windows app, its macOS app is also quite well designed. But instead of showing connection stats down at the bottom, the macOS app of ProtonVPN shows all the stats at the top left corner. Overall, it is super easy to use.

ProtonVPN iOS

The iOS app of ProtonVPN is also pretty well built. I like how easy it is to switch different server locations. In addition, the iOS app also boasts decent customization without any lags or glitches.

ProtonVPN Android

Last but not least, I also played around with ProtonVPN’s Android app and found it to be pretty well designed. Compared to its iOS app, the Android app does show a bit more information.

If you experience any connectivity issues, you can see the discussion regarding ProtonVPN not working in our separate blog.

Pricing – Is ProtonVPN free?

Aside from three paid ProtonVPN pricing plans, ProtonVPN also comes with a free plan. In addition, ProtonVPN also offers a free trial that allows you to test premium features for 7-days without requiring credit card details.

• Free
• $4/mo (Basic – Yearly Plan) Save $12
• $8/mo (Plus – Yearly Plan) Save $24
• $24/mo (Visionary – Yearly Plan) Save $72

All of these plans except for the free one are year plans. These are named as Basic, Plus, Visionary. All of the plans that I mentioned come with a 30-days money-back guarantee, which you can avail by canceling your ProtonVPN account within 30 days after purchasing it.

What differentiates these plans is the number of simultaneous connections, ProtonMail subscription, Tor Servers, and a few other features.

As far as payment methods, ProtonVPN only accepts either PayPal or Credit Card / Debit Card. This can be a bit disappointing for folks looking to purchase through Bitcoins.

Trustworthiness – Is ProtonVPN trustworthy?

Judging by the 3.3/5 star ProtonVPN Trustpilot rating, ProtonVPN is pretty trustworthy.

Most people seem to have pretty positive reviews about the service. In fact, 40% of users have rated the service as excellent.

But aside from Trustpilot reviews, let us now see what users have to say about ProtonVPN on Reddit:

ProtonVPN Review Reddit

ProtonVPN mostly has pretty positive reviews on Reddit, especially ever since it announced that its now open source and audited. Here are a few user comments praising ProtonVPN for the bold step forward:

Customer Support

As for customer support, ProtonVPN doesn’t offer a live chat option. The only way you can contact their support team is via Ticketing System or Contact Form. That being said, their customer support team is very knowledgeable and professional.

You can shoot them an email at either [email protected] or [email protected] to solve any issue you might have with the service. In addition to contacting their support team, you can also get quick help through ProtonVPN’s Support Center or FAQs section.

In case you’re not satisfied with ProtonVPN, here’s a quick comparison between PureVPN and ProtonVPN:

ProtonVPN Alternatives