Proton VPN
No-logs VPN with a free tier, open-source apps and multi-hop Secure Core routing.
- Swiss CompanyThe operating company is headquartered and legally incorporated in Switzerland.
- Swiss OwnedThe ultimate controlling owner is Swiss (Swiss persons, companies, foundations or public bodies).
- Swiss Data OptionSwiss hosting is available as an option or for part of the service, but is not the default for everything.
- Free PlanA permanently free plan is available (not just a trial).
protonvpn.com
Overview
Proton VPN is a VPN service with apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Chromebook, browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and apps for Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV. Secure Core routes traffic through a first server in Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden before it exits in another country. The free plan has no data limit but is restricted to one device, medium speed and servers in a limited number of countries.
Proton describes Proton VPN as a no-logs service. The auditing firm Securitum has reviewed the no-logs policy annually since 2022, with the fifth audit published in 2026. Business plans add VPN gateways, SAML single sign-on and SCIM provisioning. Paid plan prices on the pricing page vary with the billing term and introductory discounts.
Account data is stored on Proton servers in Switzerland, Germany or Norway, while VPN exit servers are spread worldwide. The contracting entity is Proton AG under Swiss law. Proton’s CEO has said the company would move out of Switzerland if the proposed revision of the Swiss surveillance ordinance, which would extend identification and data-retention duties to VPN providers, came into force in its consulted form.
Why it may be a Swiss alternative
Proton VPN is operated by Proton AG, which is headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. Swiss-headquartered, Swiss-owned company; product developed (wholly or largely) in Switzerland.
Swiss hosting is available for part of the service or as an option — check the hosting details below before relying on it.
May replace
Foreign products with overlapping functionality. An alternative is not necessarily a one-to-one replacement.
Swiss footprint
Five independent questions. A Swiss company is not automatically Swiss-hosted — and vice versa. How the footprint is assessed
Swiss native. Swiss-headquartered, Swiss-owned company; product developed (wholly or largely) in Switzerland.
- HeadquartersIs the operating company headquartered in Switzerland?
- Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva (GE), SwitzerlandVerified[1]
- Legal jurisdiction
- OwnershipIs the company ultimately Swiss-owned?
- Yes — Proton Foundation (Fondation Proton) · SwitzerlandVendor claim[4]
Proton states that the non-profit Proton Foundation is the primary shareholder of Proton AG; since June 2024 it has been the largest voting shareholder, endowed with shares donated by co-founders Andy Yen and Jason Stockman and first employee Dingchao Lu. The foundation is registered in Plan-les-Ouates (Fondation Proton, CHE-418.863.304). Employees hold most of the remaining shares; smaller stakes are held by the Geneva non-profit FONGIT and by Proton users. Proton says it has no venture capital investors. Exact percentages are not published.
- DevelopmentIs the product developed in Switzerland?
- PartlyInferred[2]
Developed by Proton AG, headquartered near Geneva. Proton's privacy policy also lists subsidiaries in North Macedonia and Taiwan as processors, and Proton runs an R&D office in Vilnius. Proton does not publish how development work is split between locations.
- HostingIs customer data hosted in Switzerland?
- Partly — Switzerland, Germany and NorwayVendor claim[1]
Hosting here refers to account data and core systems, not VPN exit servers, which are located in more than 140 countries by design. Proton's VPN privacy policy states that account data is stored encrypted on Proton servers located exclusively in Switzerland, Germany or Norway, without a per-country breakdown. Secure Core entry servers, which Proton says it owns and operates, are in Switzerland, Iceland and Sweden. Since July 2025 Proton has been moving the majority of its physical infrastructure out of Switzerland, citing the proposed revision of the Swiss surveillance ordinance (VÜPF/OSCPT).
- InfrastructureIs the hosting infrastructure operated by a Swiss-owned provider?
- Yes — Proton AG (Proton-owned servers in third-party data centres) · SwitzerlandVendor claim[7]
Proton says it owns its server hardware. According to a watson.ch report (August 2026) it rents secured space from data-centre operators it does not name, rather than running its own data centres in Switzerland, Germany or Norway.
Features & platforms
- Platforms
- Deployment
- Made for
- Interface languages
- Launched
- 2017
Privacy & security
- Encryption in transit
- Yes
- Multi-factor authentication
- Yes
- Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)
- Yes
- SCIM provisioning
- Yes
- Not verified
- End-to-end encryption, Encryption at rest, Public API and Data export
- Certifications
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Freemium
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Unknown / not verified
- Enterprise plan
- Yes
- Billing in CHF
- Yes
Prices checked 15 Oct 2026. Always confirm on the vendor’s site. Pricing page ↗
Open source
- Open source
- PartlyVerified[13]
The Windows, macOS/iOS and Android apps are published under GPL-3.0; the server-side systems are not published.
- Licence
- GPL-3.0 · OSI-approved licence
- Source code
- github.com/ProtonVPN
- GitHub
- 35 public repositories
- last commit
Statistics from GitHub, fetched 15 Oct 2026.
Company
Company based in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva that develops encrypted email, calendar, cloud storage, password manager, VPN and AI assistant services. Its primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation.
More from Proton
- Lumo — AI Assistants
- Proton Calendar — Calendars
- Proton Drive — Cloud Storage
- Proton Mail — Email
- Proton Pass — Password Managers
Sources & verification
Every claim on this page is marked as verified, vendor claim or inferred. Unknown means we could not confirm it — not that the answer is “no”.
- Verified Confirmed by an independent or official source such as the commercial register.
- Vendor claim Stated by the vendor in its own documentation, website or legal terms.
- Inferred Derived by the editors from indirect evidence — see the note.
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Proton AG
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