Is Proton VPN Safe and Legit? What 5 Audits and 458 Court Orders Show
Yes, for most people. The audits, court orders, stored data, Swiss law and real downsides, checked against Proton’s own reports.
Quick Answer
Yes. Proton VPN is safe and legit for most people. Securitum has audited its no-logs policy 5 years in a row, and Proton reports 458 Swiss court orders since 2017 with no user data to hand over. Its apps are open source, and Plus costs $2.49 a month on 2 years with 30 days to test it.
A VPN sees the traffic your ISP used to see. Pick one that keeps logs, and you’ve only moved your risk to a company you can’t check. Proton VPN lets you check: here’s what its reports show, what it still stores, and where it falls short.
Our Pick: Proton VPN Plus
Proton VPN Plus is our pick for privacy. Hosting a game or a server? It forwards one random port, so PureVPN is the pick for that job.
Proton VPN Plus
- 5 no-logs audits in a row by Securitum
- Kill switch, NetShield, Stealth and Secure Core
- $2.49 a month on 2 years ($59.76), 10 devices
- 30-day money-back guarantee
2-year plan·$2.49/mo $9.99/mo
PureVPN
- Port forwarding add-on: all ports or up to 15 chosen ports
- Fourth consecutive no-log assessment by an external auditor
- $3.48 a month with the plan on 27 months ($93.96)
- 31-day money-back guarantee
5-year plan·$1.69/mo $12.95/mo
+ Port Forwarding add-on: $1.99/mo, selected separately at checkout
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Is Proton VPN Safe From Hackers, Your ISP and Police?
“Safe” depends on who you’re worried about. Here’s what Proton VPN does against each one.
| Safe from | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hackers on public Wi-Fi | Protected | Proton VPN encrypts your traffic with protocols such as WireGuard and Stealth, using AES-256 or ChaCha20. Anyone intercepting it can’t read it. See is hotel Wi-Fi safe. |
| Your ISP or network owner | Activity hidden | They can see that you’re connected to a VPN, but not the sites you visit. Proton VPN also handles your DNS on its own servers. See does a VPN hide search history. |
| Police and court orders | No VPN logs to give | Proton reports 458 Swiss orders since 2017 and could not identify a user in any of them. Details are in the table below. |
| Websites and trackers | Partly | Sites see the VPN server’s IP, not yours. Accounts you log in to and cookies can still identify you, so a VPN doesn’t make you anonymous. NetShield blocks many trackers. |
| Malware and phishing sites | Partly | NetShield blocks known malicious sites at the DNS level. It can’t catch a file you choose to run, so keep your device’s security updates on. |
| Proton itself | Audited | Any VPN could log what you do, which is why the no-logs audits below matter more than the promise. |
Proton VPN’s No-Logs Policy: 5 Audits and 458 Court Orders
Proton has hired Securitum, a European security firm, to audit its no-logs policy every year since 2022. Proton’s audit post links all 5 reports, including 2026, and anyone can read them.
Auditors spend several days on site, reading server configurations and interviewing staff. They check for:
- Logs of browsing activity, DNS queries or session times
- Inspection of your network traffic
- Any record linking a user to a VPN server
- Whether all servers, regions and plans follow the same rules
- Alerts if someone changes a logging setting
The 2026 report found no sign of those logs on the servers it reviewed. An audit covers those servers at that time, so the yearly repeat is what gives it weight.
Proton VPN Court Orders by Year
A court order is a stronger test than an audit. In every order below, Swiss authorities asked Proton who was connected to a server at a given time. Proton’s transparency report says it couldn’t answer, because it doesn’t keep those logs.
| Year | Binding orders | Denied |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (through June) | 47 | 47 |
| 2025 | 59 | 59 |
| 2024 | 53 | 53 |
| 2023 | 60 | 60 |
| 2022 | 80 | 80 |
| 2021 | 121 | 121 |
| 2020 | 37 | 37 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 458 | 458 |
These are Proton’s own figures, published July 14, 2026. The audits separately check that those logs don’t exist.
Has Proton VPN Been Hacked?
Proton hasn’t reported a breach of its VPN servers or user data, and neither Business Insider (April 2026) nor VPN.com (October 2026) found one. Proton’s VPN privacy policy says every server uses full-disk encryption and holds no logs or user data, so a seized server should have little to give.
What Proton VPN Stores About You
“No logs” covers what you do on the VPN. Your account is separate. This table combines Proton VPN’s no-logs page and Proton’s privacy policy.
| Data | Stored? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Sites you visit and your traffic | No | Not logged, on any plan |
| Your IP, session length and location on the VPN | No | Proton’s support page lists all three as not logged |
| DNS queries | No | They go through the VPN tunnel to Proton’s servers, and the audit found no DNS logs |
| Email address | Only if you add one | An account needs no personal information. An outside email is optional, for recovery and notices |
| Card details | Partly | Your name and the last 4 digits. A payment company handles the rest. Proton also takes Bitcoin and cash |
| Account login IPs | Not by default | No permanent IP logs by default. IPs may be kept for a time to fight abuse and fraud, and permanently if you break the terms, such as by spamming |
Does Swiss Law Protect Proton VPN Users?
Today, yes, in the ways that matter most for a VPN. Three points explain it, and one could change it.
- No logging duty. Under the current Swiss rules, Proton says its VPN can’t be forced to keep connection logs.
- Foreign requests need Swiss approval. Proton says it acts only on orders approved by the Swiss courts, and that the Swiss Criminal Code bars it from honoring foreign requests without that approval.
- Proton Mail isn’t the VPN. Email can require IP disclosure in a Swiss criminal investigation. That’s what the 2021 climate activist case was about: Proton’s statement covers its email service, and says the VPN is treated differently.
- The rules could change. A Swiss draft would have made services with 5,000 or more users identify customers and keep metadata for 6 months. In August 2025, heise reported that Proton was moving much of its physical infrastructure abroad, while saying it wasn’t leaving Switzerland. By December 2025, TechRadar reported that the government had gone back to rework the draft. We found no final text on November 7, 2026.
Proton’s account data sits on servers in Switzerland, Germany or Norway, according to its VPN privacy policy.
Is Proton VPN Legit? Who’s Behind It
Yes. Proton names its company, its location and its owners.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who runs it? | Proton AG, based in Switzerland. It’s the company behind Proton Mail, and Proton says over 100 million people use its services |
| Who owns it? | Proton says it’s primarily owned by a nonprofit |
| Who started it? | Scientists who met at CERN, including CEO Andy Yen |
| How does it make money? | From paying subscribers. Proton says it has no ads or tracking of any kind |
| Can you check its code? | Yes. All its apps are open source on GitHub, and it runs a bug bounty for security researchers |
| Are the apps audited? | Yes. Proton says Securitum’s latest audit of its apps found no significant security issues |
Is Proton VPN’s Free Plan Safe?
Yes. The same no-logs policy covers it, and there are no ads. What you give up is reach: 1 device, medium speed and 10 countries, with P2P, streaming, NetShield and Secure Core on paid plans. Compare them in Proton VPN free vs paid, or read are free VPNs safe for how others differ.
Proton VPN Downsides, and What to Do About Them
None of these changes the safety verdict for most people, but each can matter for a specific job.
| Downside | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| One random forwarded port | Port forwarding works on P2P servers with a single random port. That’s fine for torrents, but not for games or servers that need fixed ports. | Use PureVPN’s add-on. See VPN port forwarding. |
| Shared IPs can trigger blocks | Proton has no personal dedicated IP outside its business plans, and many people share each IP. Google and Reddit sometimes challenge or block them. | Switch server. See Google unusual traffic and the best dedicated IP VPNs. |
| An Android 16 bug can show your IP | Proton says Android 16 can send one closing message outside the tunnel when an app ends a QUIC connection. It affects all VPN apps, and Google has marked it won’t fix. | Install only apps you trust. Proton’s page has a technical fix using ADB. |
| Kill switch reports on Linux | A December 2025 forum thread reports the kill switch failing on some Linux network interfaces. We haven’t seen Proton confirm it. | On Linux, run a leak test on your own setup. |
| Streaming isn’t guaranteed | Proton lists streaming on paid plans, but services change their blocks, and no VPN can promise every one. | Try yours during the refund window. See the best VPN for streaming. |
Is Proton VPN Safe for Your Device and Apps?
| Use | What to know |
|---|---|
| Downloading the app | Safe from official sources: Proton’s site, Google Play, the App Store, and F-Droid or GitHub on Android. Check the publisher, and skip MOD APKs. |
| iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac and Linux | The same no-logs policy applies on every device, and one plan covers 10 at once. Also see the best VPNs for Android, the best VPNs for PC and iPhone VPNs. |
| The browser extension | It covers only that browser, not your other apps. Use the full app for whole-device protection. See VPN Chrome extensions. |
| Torrenting | Use Proton’s P2P servers and turn on the kill switch first. See qBittorrent with Proton VPN and is torrenting safe with a VPN. |
| Gaming and Roblox | Your traffic is protected the same way, and Moderate NAT can help with Strict NAT. Each game’s own rules still apply. See VPN NAT type and the best VPN for Roblox. |
| Online banking | Your connection is encrypted. Pick a server in your own country, since a bank may question a login from abroad. |
| Leaving it on all the time | That’s fine, and it’s what the kill switch is for. See always-on VPNs and VPN kill switches. |
Is Proton VPN Worth It? Plus Costs $2.49 a Month
For audited privacy on 10 devices, yes. The 2-year plan saves 75% against the regular $9.99 a month.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN Plus, 2 years | $2.49 a month ($59.76) | Audited no-logs, 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, NetShield, P2P and streaming |
| PureVPN with Port Forwarding, 2 years | $3.48 a month ($93.96 for 27 months) | All ports or up to 15 chosen ports, for games and home servers |
US prices before tax, read at checkout on November 6, 2026, during Black Friday offers. Seasonal deals, when running, show on the cards above; PureVPN’s 5-year deal there is for the plan alone. After the first term, plans renew at each VPN’s regular rate. Refunds don’t cover renewals, crypto, Google Play or App Store payments on PureVPN, or cash and bank transfer on Proton VPN.
Get Proton VPN Plus From $2.49 a MonthHow to Use Proton VPN Safely in 4 Steps
- Choose your plan. Plus on 2 years costs least per month and covers 10 devices.
- Install from an official source. Use Proton’s site, Google Play or the App Store, and check that the publisher is Proton. Android users can also use F-Droid or Proton’s GitHub page.
- Turn on the kill switch and NetShield. The kill switch blocks your traffic if the VPN drops, so your IP stays hidden. NetShield blocks ads, trackers and known malicious sites.
- Check for leaks. Connect, then run a leak test. You should see the VPN server’s IP, not your own. Test the apps you care about during your refund window.
For step 4, use our WebRTC leak test.
Related Guides
Sources (checked November 7, 2026):
- • Proton VPN: no-logs audits (updated June 16, 2026), transparency report (July 14, 2026), VPN privacy policy (July 30, 2025), no-logs page, trust page, Android 16 issue
- • Proton: privacy policy (May 12, 2026), 2021 statement on the climate activist case
- • Swiss draft: heise online (August 16, 2025), TechRadar (December 11, 2025)
- • Incident history: Business Insider (April 30, 2026), VPN.com (October 19, 2026). Linux kill switch: Privacy Guides forum (December 14, 2025)
- • Prices and PureVPN’s audit wording: each VPN’s order page and PureVPN’s Trust Center