Best Proton VPN Alternatives: Try These 5 VPNs Instead

Proton VPN is regarded as one of the safest providers out there. It’s a Swiss-based VPN known for impenetrable security and a certified no-logging policy, which grants 100% privacy and anonymity when browsing the internet.

In addition, Proton VPN is pretty good for streaming, torrenting, and protecting multiple devices at the same time thanks to its 10 simultaneous connections. Saying that this provider is perfect would be a lie, though, as many people look for the best alternative to Proton VPN.

If you’re one of them and you can’t “click” with this provider, you’re at the right place. Today, we discuss the best alternatives to Proton VPN and present you with our top 5 alternative VPNs. They’re not only alternatives but also better and even cheaper overall, so you’ll want to check them out!

Why Do People Look for Alternatives to Proton VPN?

As said, we’re talking about a high-quality provider that isn’t afraid of flexing its muscles. It improved a lot over the years, giving you not only security and privacy but also the ability to unblock some Netflix catalogs, download torrents anonymously, and enjoy 117+ server locations.

The reason to look for the best Proton VPN alternatives lies in numerous factors, though. For example, compared to the best VPN providers, this one has average speeds and isn’t going to blow you away with performance, despite WireGuard support.

Proton VPN also doesn’t have the best customer service. For example, free users, or anyone who visits the website, will have to rely on email support. If you pay for the VPN, you’ll get access to 24/7 customer support, which still isn’t the most responsive in this price segment.

Finally, people look for alternatives to Proton VPN because of its pricing. Sure, it has a 100% free VPN with unlimited bandwidth but it’s not as great due to many limitations in terms of streaming, P2P, performance, and server locations (it has only 5 of them).

Its paid plans, on the other hand, are priced fairly but you don’t get any free months, as is the case with its rivals. Also, the 2-year plan, which, at least, offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, costs a lot more than CyberGhost, Surfshark, and PIA.

Therefore, if you don’t want to pay for it, you should take a look at the Proton VPN alternatives below.

Best Proton VPN Alternatives: Our Top 5 for 2025

Since the Swiss provider is paid by default, our top 5 alternatives are going to be premium VPNs as well. No free provider is going to be better than Proton VPN but the ones we chose are, and they’re cheaper too, so you get to kill two flies with one hit.

1. NordVPN

We recommend NordVPN as the best Proton VPN alternative if you want a no-compromise experience at a slightly cheaper price. NordVPN is known for its huge server network of 7,300+ servers in more than 118 countries, offering a similarly sized server fleet.

One of the most important features is the presence of specialty servers. Therefore, you get P2P, obfuscated, Onion over VPN, and Double VPN servers where the latter double your encryption to provide you with safe and secure internet browsing on all devices.

NordVPN built its reputation on cutting-edge technology, which became prevalent with the inception of its NordLynx protocol based on WireGuard. Thanks to it, it’s significantly faster than Proton VPN, making it a better option for streaming in 4K or P2P activities.

NordVPN also has something called Threat Protection Pro. There, you’ll find antivirus, malware protection, and a reliable ad-blocker that also blocks trackers. Its no-logging policy received several audits from PwC and Deloitte, and overall, this provider is safer and more secure than Proton VPN. You can see why we consider it an interesting alternative.

Device compatibility is superior too because NordVPN offers native clients for almost all systems. With 10 simultaneous connections, Proton VPN is on par here, but as always, NordVPN’s going to beat it with live chat support that’s available 24/7 on the site.

Price-wise, NordVPN is ever so slightly cheaper. Instead of nearly $4/mo for a 2-year plan with Proton VPN, NordVPN offers its 2-year plan for less than $3.5/mo, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee for ALL plans, which makes it far more affordable for those on a budget.

Try NordVPN Today

Read our extensive NordVPN review to get a better picture of this provider.

---

2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is obviously far better than Proton VPN, hence it’s a great alternative. It boasts 3,000+ servers in 105 countries and 160+ locations globally, almost on par with the Swiss rival. Being one of our favorite providers, we can confidently say it’s also very fast.

It offers the proprietary Lightway VPN protocol which outperforms WireGuard and makes ExpressVPN blazing-fast for streaming, torrenting, and browsing in general. Additionally, compared to Proton VPN, we can say that ExpressVPN is even more secure.

It offers a no-logging policy audited by multiple third-party firms and its British Virgin Islands jurisdiction ensures an even greater level of privacy. Needless to say, this provider will also be great for watching Netflix abroad, as all of its 3,000 or so servers are streaming and P2P-friendly.

But what about its device support? Well, ExpressVPN supports iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and other non-typical systems and devices. However, it does offer 8 simultaneous connections which are inferior to the 10 of Proton VPN and NordVPN; not by much, though.

On the flip side, its device support is much better, as it supports routers, gaming consoles, and Fire TV Stick. In this regard, it is one of the best VPNs to use on a router. It has 24/7 live chat support too! And might we add, it’s surely among the best in the business due to how fast and helpful it is.

Finally, let us talk about its pricing. ExpressVPN isn’t our first thought when talking about cheap VPNs. Its longest 2-year plan comes with a 61% discount plus 4 free months, which dramatically lowers its price. Moreover, you also get a 30-day money-back guarantee.

This makes ExpressVPN very affordable, and despite not being cheaper than Proton VPN, it is still a much better solution and alternative.

Try ExpressVPN Today

Still in doubt about ExpressVPN? Read our full ExpressVPN review to help you decide.

---

3. CyberGhost

Another Proton VPN alternative we always recommend is CyberGhost. This provider is almost as awesome as NordVPN in terms of sheer performance and feature-richness. Its server list is humongous as well and you get around 12,000+ servers in 100 countries.

Dedicated servers are included, with P2P and streaming servers on the list. We found the addition of NoSpy servers great, as these servers are independently operated by CyberGhost in Romania, which adds a lot in terms of privacy and security.

Much like Proton VPN, CyberGhost lacks nothing in this regard. Aside from 256-bit AES encryption, it has an audited no-logging policy with transparency reports that it publishes every 3 months. WireGuard support in CyberGhost is a bit better given its faster speeds and more stable performance.

Other notable features include an ad-blocker, a kill switch, and IPv6/DNS leak protection. With CyberGhost, you’ll find extraordinary device compatibility, which makes it usable even on your gaming console, Apple TV, and Android TV, although with 7 simultaneous connections.

And unlike Proton VPN which dropped the ball with its support, CyberGhost has live chat support in English, German, and French. This alone blows Proton VPN out of the water, especially if we consider that CyberGhost is way cheaper!

Yes, this provider is THE cheapest one on this list of the best alternatives to Proton VPN and among the most affordable on the market. We recommend its 2-year plan with a sub-three-dollar monthly price and a 45-day money-back guarantee for all long-term plans.

Believe me – this is also a far better option than Proton VPN which is also wallet-friendly, what more can you ask for?

Try CyberGhost Today

You can learn more about this affordable service in our CyberGhost VPN review.

---

4. Surfshark VPN

Surfshark is another great alternative to Proton VPN. It’s a VPN with 3,200 servers in 100 countries, offering many crucial locations, similar to its competitor. In addition, the provider offers unlimited simultaneous connections, making it among the most valuable VPNs in 2025.

We like Surfshark because of its stellar performance, albeit, it’s a bit slower than Proton VPN. On the flip side, the provider can unblock 30+ Netflix catalogs and comes with Dedicated IP servers, which you won’t get in Proton VPN. Another perk is its MultiHop feature.

It’ll route your traffic through two servers of your choice, doubling your encryption. Surfshark comes with WireGuard support and the inclusion of an ad blocker is more than welcome. Compared to Proton VPN, it also gives you many Static IP servers along with something called IP Rotator.

This feature rotates your IP periodically to ensure total anonymity. Even better, Surfshark offers a geo-spoofing function, which you won’t find in pretty much any other VPN. As a great Proton VPN alternative, Surfshark includes an antivirus that can clean up your PC from malignancies.

On top of that, the VPN is fully P2P-optimized for safe and secure torrenting. Security-wise, it packs AES-256 encryption, a solid kill switch, and even RAM-only servers. Private DNS is here too, with an audited no-logging policy to make things as best as possible.

Now, Surfshark is much cheaper than Proton VPN as well. Its 2-year plans are especially attractive, as they’re around $2 or so a month, which is way less than the $4/mo you’ll pay for Proton VPN. Bear in mind that a 30-day refund policy is here for each plan, so again, the VPN is totally risk-free.

Visit Surfshark Now

If you’re interested in a detailed analysis of this service, take a glance at our Surfshark VPN review.

---

5. Private Internet Access

The last pick for today is Private Internet Access. As one of the widely adopted Proton VPN competitors, this VPN offers over 30,000 servers in almost 100 countries. Compared to its rival, it’s also better for compatibility, as it offers unlimited simultaneous connections.

Private Internet Access is famous for its affordable plans. It’s as “expensive” as CyberGhost, so we’re looking at a 2-year plan at around $2/mo with either 2 or 4 months. At this price, PIA includes WireGuard to boost the performance and unlimited bandwidth in all plans.

It’s great for streaming, plus, there’s overarching P2P support on all servers. PIA’s apps can be clunkier on Windows and macOS but they’re feature-rich. MultiHop is there, as well as Shadowsocks, whose obfuscation actually works in China. Proton VPN doesn’t, for example.

Another perk is excellent privacy, which stems from PIA’s zero-log policy and multiple attempts from the court to extract user-related data from the VPN. None were successful. PIA doesn’t hold punches in compatibility, as it provides apps for all major platforms.

One more thing – Private Internet Access offers a breadth of dedicated IP addresses, which you can pair with an antivirus to extend its capabilities. Both add-ons are optional but some of the cheapest on the market. We encourage you to glance at our PIA VPN test for more info.

Test Private Internet Access Now

You’ll see why it’s so great, and consequently one of our recommended Proton VPN replacements.

---

Conclusion

To digress, Proton VPN is, without a doubt, an awesome VPN that many users will find more than decent. With top-grade security, Secure Core servers, bank-grade encryption, and streaming capabilities, we doubt anyone will deem this provider bad.

However, the best Proton VPN alternatives like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Surfshark, and PIA are still far better choices for the price. Let’s be honest – Proton VPN is all but cheap and if it were more affordable, it could be a much better provider overall.

If you want a cheaper, yet better service, NordVPN, CyberGhost, and Surfshark are your best picks, as they cost way less than Proton VPN, yet, they offer much more to be excited about. ExpressVPN is also excellent and costs only a notch above Proton VPN’s equivalent.

Finally, we’ll mention again NordVPN as our favorite alternative in 2025. This provider offers a zero-compromise experience that you won’t get with Proton VPN. In the end, it’s up to you to choose, so read the article once again if you need to and take your pick.

---

FAQ

Let’s top it all up by answering a few more unaddressed questions.

🪙 Is Proton VPN good?

Yes, it’s overall, a really good VPN. However, it’s not perfect and has numerous flaws that some users won’t be able to swallow. In that case, users can check our 5 best alternatives and pick one. They have one thing in common – they’re all better than Proton VPN.

🆓 Are there free Proton VPN alternatives?

Well, there certainly are but only if we’re talking about the free version of this provider. If you don’t like it for some reason, other safe options include Hide.me and PrivadoVPN. We think Hide.me is particularly great because it’s a no-log service with stellar speeds and unlimited bandwidth.

PrivadoVPN is limited to 10 GB a month, which is a bit underwhelming, but it works with Netflix and allows P2P, unlike Proton VPN’s free version, so it compensates for the limit.

💯 What is the best Proton VPN alternative?

For us, it’s definitely NordVPN. But if you’re on a budget and you don’t want to pay more, consider using CyberGhost instead. It’s basically 50% cheaper than Proton VPN but offers more servers, better speeds, stronger security, and more responsive customer service.