Proton VPN
protonvpn.com8.7scored on 79% of the methodology
provably between 6.88 and 8.88
See the full derivation of this score , every rule, delta, and citation.
Score by dimension
| Dimension | Score | Derivation |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy | 10.0Documented61% assessed | derivation |
| Security | 10.0Documented78% assessed | derivation |
| Transparency | 7.3Documented83% assessed | derivation |
| Server authenticity | , No evidence | derivation |
| Server locations | 10.0Vendor-claimed | derivation |
| Streaming | 2.5Vendor-claimed≤6.5 | derivation |
| Speed | , No evidence | derivation |
| Device compatibility | 8.8Documented | derivation |
| Usability | , No evidence | derivation |
| Torrenting | 6.9Documented | derivation |
| Additional features | 9.7Documented | derivation |
A dash is a dimension we hold no evidence on; it is excluded from the weighted mean rather than counted as zero. “≤” marks a ceiling: a cap applied because the input is vendor-claimed or measured by others, so the score cannot reach the top of the scale. “assessed” is the share of the dimension's rules that had evidence to act on.
Key facts, and where they come from
Jurisdiction
- Registered in
- Switzerland
“This means we keep no session usage logs of what you do online, and we do not log metadata that can compromise your privacy. We don’t log which websites you visit We don’t log your traffic or the content of any communications We don’t log your IP address We don’t log your session lengths We don’t log or track any location-based information”
“Proton services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss corporation whose primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.”
- Mandatory data retention
- No
Under Swiss law Proton VPN states it is not obligated to save connection logs.
- Transparency reportTransparency Report & Warrant Canary (last updated January 6, 2026)protonvpn.comretrieved 2026-07-10unverified
“Under Swiss law, Proton VPN is not obligated to save connection logs, and we adhere to a strict no-logs VPN policy. Therefore, we are unable to comply with requests for user connection logs, even if they are legally binding.”
- Compelled logging possible
- No
Provider asserts no logging requirements under the current Swiss legal framework.
- Transparency reportTransparency Report & Warrant Canary (last updated January 6, 2026)protonvpn.comretrieved 2026-07-10unverified
“Under Swiss law, Proton VPN is not obligated to save connection logs, and we adhere to a strict no-logs VPN policy. Therefore, we are unable to comply with requests for user connection logs, even if they are legally binding.”
Ownership
- Legal entity
- Proton AG
“Proton services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss corporation whose primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.”
“All Proton VPN servers are encrypted and we do not log VPN session data.”
- Parent company
- Proton Foundation
Proton AG's primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation, Geneva.
“Proton services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss corporation whose primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.”
- Beneficial owner disclosed
- Yes
“Proton services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss corporation whose primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.”
- Owns VPN review sites
- None found
Proton AG's disclosed products are Mail, Calendar, VPN, Pass, Drive and related privacy tools; no VPN review or comparison sites found under the parent.
“Proton services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss corporation whose primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.”
Logging
Read from the privacy policy, last updated 2025-07-30.
| Category | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Browsing history | Not collected |
| DNS queries | Not collectedSecuritum no-logs audit found no logging of DNS queries on the server infrastructure. |
| Originating IP | Not collected |
| Connection timestamps | Not collectedAudit found no user-identifiable connection metadata; provider cannot identify who connected to a server at a given time. |
| Session duration | Not collected |
“This means we keep no session usage logs of what you do online, and we do not log metadata that can compromise your privacy. We don’t log which websites you visit We don’t log your traffic or the content of any communications We don’t log your IP address We don’t log your session lengths We don’t log or track any location-based information”
“All Proton VPN servers are encrypted and we do not log VPN session data.”
“The technical evidence reviewed during the engagement did not indicate that the examined Proton VPN server infrastructure logs users’ browsing activity, DNS queries, destination services, network traffic contents or user-identifiable connection metadata. Securitum also did not identify persistent records that would allow Proton to associate a specific user with activity performed through a reviewed VPN server.”
- Transparency reportTransparency Report & Warrant Canary (last updated January 6, 2026)protonvpn.comretrieved 2026-07-10unverified
“Under Swiss law, Proton VPN is not obligated to save connection logs, and we adhere to a strict no-logs VPN policy. Therefore, we are unable to comply with requests for user connection logs, even if they are legally binding.”
Independent audits
- SecuritumNo-logs verificationFull report, public
Conducted 2026-01-01, published 2026-06-16.
“The technical evidence reviewed during the engagement did not indicate that the examined Proton VPN server infrastructure logs users’ browsing activity, DNS queries, destination services, network traffic contents or user-identifiable connection metadata. Securitum also did not identify persistent records that would allow Proton to associate a specific user with activity performed through a reviewed VPN server.”
Pricing
- Refund window
- 30 days
“30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, or Proton credits. Once you’ve created an account, you can purchase Proton credits using cash, bank transfers, or Bitcoin.”
- Free tier
- Yes
“30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, or Proton credits. Once you’ve created an account, you can purchase Proton credits using cash, bank transfers, or Bitcoin.”
- Accepts cash
- Yes
“30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, or Proton credits. Once you’ve created an account, you can purchase Proton credits using cash, bank transfers, or Bitcoin.”
- Accepts crypto
- Yes
“30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, or Proton credits. Once you’ve created an account, you can purchase Proton credits using cash, bank transfers, or Bitcoin.”
What we have not verified
This review is scored on 79% of the methodology. The rest is not evidence against Proton VPN, it is simply work we have not done. It is listed here so the headline is read for what it is.
No evidence yet
Server authenticity, Speed, Usability. These dimensions are excluded from the weighted mean rather than scored as zero.
Scored on partial evidence
- Privacy, 61% of its rules had evidence to act on.
- Security, 78% of its rules had evidence to act on.
- Transparency, 83% of its rules had evidence to act on.
Reading a score
- Measured
- We produced this number ourselves and can reproduce it.
- Documented
- Read out of a primary document: a privacy policy, an audit report, or source code.
- Vendor-claimed
- Asserted by the provider. We have not independently verified it, and the score is capped accordingly.
- No evidence
- We found nothing to score. The dimension is excluded from the weighted mean rather than counted as zero.