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  1. Home
  2. VPN
  3. Compare
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Privacy
    1. Registration
    2. IP And DNS Leaks
    3. Kill Switch Robustness
    4. Man-In-The-Middle Attacks
  5. Performance
    1. Download Speed
    2. Upload Speed
    3. Latency
  6. Features
    1. Downloads
    2. Platform Support
    3. Protocols
    4. Simultaneous Devices
    5. Destinations
    6. Split Tunneling
    7. Headless Setup
  7. Comments

Proton VPN vs Proton VPN Free

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Proton VPN
Proton VPN Free

Tested using Methodology v0.9

Updated Apr 04, 2025 03:26 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.9

Updated Apr 10, 2025 05:11 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Proton VPN Picture
Proton VPN Free Picture
Email Required
Yes
Torrent (P2P)
Yes
Data Limit
N/A
Email Required
Yes
Torrent (P2P)
No
Data Limit
N/A
  1. Recommended in 1 article:
  2. VPNs

Variants

  • Proton VPN (Plus)
  • Proton VPN (Free)

Review

See Proton VPN review

See Proton VPN Free review

0
0

Our Verdict

Proton VPN

Proton VPN Free

Full comparison details regarding individual product score sets can be found in the section below

Check Price

Plus
Proton VPN
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Free
Proton VPN
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Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Torrent 

8.0
5.5

Torrent (P2P) 
 

Yes
No

Full Comparison

Privacy

Registration 
 

6.4
6.5

Payment Options  

Proton VPN Payment Options
Proton VPN Free Payment Options

Email Required 
 

Yes
Yes

Password Required 
 

Yes
Yes

Cryptocurrency 
 

Yes
No Purchase Required

Cash 
 

Yes
No Purchase Required

Show text

IP And DNS Leaks 
 

9.0
9.0

IPLEAK.net Screenshot  

Proton VPN IPLEAK.net Screenshot
Proton VPN Free IPLEAK.net Screenshot

Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot  

Proton VPN Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot
Proton VPN Free Wireshark IP And DNS Leak Screenshot

Leak Detected 
 

No
No

In-Browser IP 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

In-Browser DNS 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

System DNS 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

System Traffic 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

Kill Switch Robustness 
 

2.0
2.0

Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot  

Proton VPN Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot
Proton VPN Free Wireshark Kill Switch Screenshot

Leak Detected 
 

Yes
Yes

During VPN Software Crash 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

During Loss Of Internet 
 

No Leak Detected
No Leak Detected

During System Reboot 
 

Leak Detected
Leak Detected

Show text

Man-In-The-Middle Attacks 
 

8.5
8.5

Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot  

Proton VPN Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot
Proton VPN Free Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Screenshot

TLS Interruption Risk 
 

No Evidence
No Evidence

Proper BGP Implementation 
 

No
No

Show text

Performance

Download Speed 
 

9.1
7.9

Download Speed Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Without VPN 
 

495 Mbps
457 Mbps

With VPN 
 

385 Mbps
201 Mbps

Speed Difference 
 

-109.5 Mbps
-255.2 Mbps

Show text

Upload Speed 
 

8.7
7.4

Upload Speed Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Without VPN 
 

494 Mbps
431 Mbps

With VPN 
 

233 Mbps
108 Mbps

Speed Difference 
 

-260.9 Mbps
-323.2 Mbps

Show text

Latency 
 

5.6
5.3

Download Latency Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Upload Latency Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Download Latency Without VPN 
 

147 ms
146 ms

Download Latency With VPN 
 

313 ms
324 ms

Download Latency Difference 
 

166 ms
178 ms

Upload Latency Without VPN 
 

151 ms
146 ms

Upload Latency With VPN 
 

251 ms
287 ms

Upload Latency Difference 
 

99 ms
140 ms

Combined Latency Consistency 
 

±48 ms
±46 ms

Show text

Features

Downloads 
 

9.5
6.7

Torrent Test Picture  

Proton VPN Torrent Test Picture
Proton VPN Free Torrent Test Picture

Torrent (P2P) 
 

Yes
No

Data Limit 
 

N/A
N/A

Show text

Platform Support 
 

9.3
9.3

Windows 
 

Yes
Yes

macOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Linux 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

Protocols 
 

Protocol Results Table  

Proton VPN Protocol Results Table
Proton VPN Free Protocol Results Table

WireGuard 
 

Yes
Yes

OpenVPN Over UDP 
 

Yes
Yes

OpenVPN Over TCP 
 

Yes
Yes

IPSec With L2TP 
 

No
No

IPSec With IKEv2 
 

Yes
Yes

Proprietary Protocol(s) 
 

Stealth
Stealth

Show text

Simultaneous Devices 
 

9.1
4.6

Tested Simultaneous Connections 
 

10
1

Simultaneous Locations 
 

Yes
Yes

Advertised Max Simultaneous Connections 
 

10
1

Destinations 
 

9.6
4.0

VPN Destination Selection Example  

Proton VPN VPN Destination Selection Example
Proton VPN Free VPN Destination Selection Example

Countries 
 

117
1

Countries With Multiple Cities 
 

15
0

Server Choice 
 

Yes
No

Show text

Split Tunneling 
 

8.5
3.0

VPN Disabled For App Screenshot  

Proton VPN VPN Disabled For App Screenshot
Proton VPN Free VPN Disabled For App Screenshot

VPN Enabled For App Screenshot  

Proton VPN VPN Enabled For App Screenshot
Proton VPN Free VPN Enabled For App Screenshot

Disabling Of VPN For Specific Apps 
 

Yes
No

Enabling Of VPN For Specific Apps 
 

Yes
No

Splitting Based On Address 
 

No
No

Ping Local Address - Same Subnet 
 

Yes
No

Ping Local Address - Different Subnet 
 

Yes
No

Show text

Headless Setup 
 

10
10

Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot  

Proton VPN Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot
Proton VPN Free Headless WireGuard Connection Screenshot

Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot  

Proton VPN Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot
Proton VPN Free Headless OpenVPN Connection Screenshot

Headless WireGuard Connection 
 

Yes
Yes

Headless OpenVPN Connection 
 

Yes
Yes

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Plus
Proton VPN
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Free
Proton VPN
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Back to Top

Proton VPN

Proton VPN Free

Comments

  1. Comparison

Proton VPN vs Proton VPN Free: Main Discussion

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