CNET's review calls Proton VPN's free plan one of the few worth trusting, while its paid plan costs less than most rivals but slows connections more.
A VPN is an app that hides your internet activity by routing it through another server. Most free ones come with a catch. CNET's review of Proton VPN says this one does not. It calls the free plan a rare exception that does not cut corners on privacy, though the paid plan and its speeds come with trade-offs.
CNET's reviewer says that when a VPN does not charge money, you often pay another way. Some free VPNs show ads, and others sell your data or install malware. Proton VPN, the review says, puts only manageable limits on how you connect and does not compromise on privacy. Its apps are also open-source, so technical experts can inspect the code for flaws.
Rivals fare worse in the review. PrivadoVPN has not been audited, and EventVPN's free tier is full of ads. Windscribe's free option is more respectable but caps use at 15GB of data, which is tight for streaming.
Proton's VPN-only plan costs $10 a month, $54 for the first year, or $84 for the first two years. The one- and two-year plans renew at $84 a year. Prices rise at renewal, but the review says Proton's increase is smaller than most competitors' increases.
In CNET's 2026 testing, Proton cut download speeds by 40.8% on average. That compares with 33.5% for Surfshark, 27.2% for NordVPN and 20.8% for ExpressVPN, the fastest tested. Nearby servers were fast. Faraway ones were less predictable.
The reviewer still never saw obvious problems such as buffering video. Average speeds never fell below 290 Mbps on Wi-Fi or 409 Mbps on Ethernet. Results varied by device, though. On a Mac over Ethernet, speeds were roughly cut in half. The review calls Proton a weaker pick for competitive online gaming and for people with slow connections.
The review recommends Proton for people who want strong privacy and transparency but also care about streaming and travel. It praises the streaming unblocking and the large list of server locations. A discreet app icon option can disguise the app as a calculator or weather app, which may help where VPNs are frowned upon.
The Mac app felt slightly clunky compared with other platforms. The company told CNET that some apps, including the Mac one, will get overhauls in the near future. No date was given.
Start with Proton's free plan for travel or streaming, and expect slower speeds on faraway servers if you later pay.
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