- You can tell a lot about a VPN company,
not only by the copy on the website
but also to a lesser degree
by the way that they brand them themselves.
So instead of focusing on cute bears
or I don't even know what this character is supposed to be
ProtonVPN and the rest of the Proton products
are laser-focused on privacy.
Here's the problem,
I don't think that traditional VPNs are great privacy tools.
Then again, I would argue that ProtonVPN
isn't entirely a virtual private network.
(gentle tune)
Welcome to All Things Secured.
My name's Josh and today I'm gonna give you an overview
of the ProtonVPN software,
both the free and the premium product.
But more importantly, I wanna explain
what it is about the product and the company itself
that gives me more confidence in their ability
to deliver on the promise of privacy and security.
See, I've been using VPNs for more than a decade now
and I can tell you that a lot of what I see
is simply a combination of clever marketing
and consumer confusion about how virtual private networks
and even more broadly the internet works.
Because to be honest,
a VPN wasn't initially designed to be a privacy tool.
Strictly speaking a VPN is a way to create
a secure encrypted connection
between two points on a public network.
And that's exactly what most commercial VPNs
including the free version of ProtonVPN do.
As you can see here, the free version of ProtonVPN gives me
the ability to create an encrypted connection
between servers in the United States,
the Netherlands, and in Japan.
These are free so you'll notice
most of these servers have a high load
and that's indicated by that yellow or red circle
you see here on the left.
This means that there's a lot of people
connected to that server
and it will likely be a slow connection.
Any other servers or advanced features
such as Secure Core or NetShield,
which I'll explain in a moment,
those require an upgrade to the premium service.
However, if you simply wanna evade censorship
or hide your IP address,
the free version of ProtonVPN allows you to do just that.
You will be able to stream geoblock content,
stuff like Netflix or Disney+
and your internet speeds will likely be pretty slow.
But that's what you get with any type of free product,
especially free VPNs.
One thing I don't like is that when upgrading,
Proton gives you an unnecessarily confusing list
of packages to choose from.
The Basic package simply unlocks the faster servers,
allows peer-to-peer file sharing,
and offers to simultaneous connections.
The Visionary package on the other hand
gives you this whole ProtonMail account
which is a secure email
that I personally use and really like,
but you can get a separate ProtonMail account
for much, much cheaper.
I mean, they even have a free version available.
So honestly,
I don't see why most people would want a Visionary account.
So what I'm gonna be focusing on here
is what they currently call the Plus account.
This can be purchased at a discount
if you spring for one or two years.
And although it's not very clear on the sales page,
their terms and conditions state that they offer
a 30 day money back guarantee.
Now, let me quickly show you
how the premium version compares to the free
now that I've upgraded, but stay with me because
I'm going to explain what it is
about the ProtonVPN Plus version
that deviates from what most commercial VPNs offer.
Right off the bat you'll see that
all the advanced features have been unlocked
which I promise I'll explain soon.
Likewise, you'll notice that I have access
to every available server in their network
which currently includes
I think over a thousand servers in 55 different countries.
There are other VPN companies that boast
a lot more server options.
But the truth is, is that as long as my connection is fast
with low server load
my connection is fast with low server load
and servers in 55 countries covers
more than what you'll probably need.
And one quick note on a feature
I wish was different with ProtonVPN,
right now on my Mac computer
I don't have the ability to change connection protocols
which it's weird to me
since pretty much every other VPN software
can do that on a Mac so I know it's possible.
Now I can do it on other platforms including my iPhone
but protocols are limited to only IKEv2 and OpenVPN.
Don't get me wrong,
both of these are strong encryption protocols
but you won't find the newer WireGuard protocol
which is being adopted by most other VPN companies
due to the fact that it has lightweight code, faster speeds,
and a stable connection.
Now, at the beginning of this review
I hinted at the idea that ProtonVPN offers privacy
because it doesn't always act like a VPN.
What do I mean by that?
There are two key features that ProtonVPN offers here
that build on this idea of a relay network.
Meaning that your data is passed through multiple servers
before reaching its final destination.
This makes it much harder although not impossible
for somebody to track your data across the internet.
The first is what Proton calls Secure Core.
Secure Core offers greater privacy
than a regular VPN connection by first routing your traffic
through one of their protected data centers in Switzerland,
Iceland, or Sweden.
Your connection is then routed from there
through any other country you want
providing that extra layer of privacy.
It's very similar to what other VPN companies call
a double-hop VPN
except with the slightly greater level of security.
But as I say with any VPN review I do
on this All Things Secure channel,
security and privacy are a product of trust
and there's always risk when you're trusting
a centralized network provider, even ProtonVPN.
The difference with Proton that I find intriguing is that
besides providing independent audits and no logs policies,
which every single VPN services now claiming,
they're one of the only commercial VPNs
that I'm aware of at least that publishes the code
of all of their apps as open source for scrutiny.
This means that you or a security researcher
can literally log on to GitHub
and look through the code of each platform app
to make sure it's as secure as they say it is.
Now, when you combine that with the fact that
both their CEO and CTO have PhDs
and attended Harvard and Stanford,
they've done a pretty good job of instilling confidence
in their people and their commitment to privacy.
They're not hiding behind some veil of anonymity
that most of these VPN companies tend to do.
But let's say that you're super paranoid
and even the idea of giving your data
to a relatively trustworthy company like Proton
is just too much for you.
Well, that's where the second privacy feature called
Tor Over VPN comes into play.
I've already discussed the differences between Tor and VPN
in another video that I recommend you watch next.
But the key takeaway is that
they each offer different services that
when combined build an even better privacy tool.
You can look for these Tor servers
that have the onion icon on the left here.
Or as I prefer to do ProtonVPN gives me
the ability to create different profiles.
You can see here that I've created one for watching Disney+
that connects me to the fastest U.S. server.
And then I've created a Tor connection
that I can easily activate.
When activated, I'm now using ProtonVPN
to establish an encrypted connection to a server in France
that then routes me through
all the Tor network of random nodes all around the world,
those that even Proton doesn't know about.
It's a slower connection,
but it overcomes that hurdle of a centralized network
when you absolutely need it.
And unlike regular Tor,
which for most people only protects data
that's sent through a specific Tor browser,
this ProtonVPN Tor connection privatizes
all of the data your device sends through the internet.
Let me finish with a rapid fire pros and cons list
in case you're still on the fence about ProtonVPN.
First on the pro side,
they give you I have simultaneous connections
with the Plus plan,
which is really standard across the industry.
They have a VPN kill switch, DNS leak protection,
open source apps, live chat support,
and a very transparent company structure
which is somewhat unique in the industry.
I also consider it a benefit that they've built
a great secure email product
that compliments the VPN service.
You can even sign up for a free ProtonMail email
and use that as an anonymous way
to create your ProtonVPN account.
On the con side,
they don't offer the WireGuard protocol as an option.
They haven't developed apps for Chromebooks,
smart TVs, or media streaming devices
and they don't have other advanced features
such as split tunneling,
which only encrypts select data on your device.
Overall though and I don't say this very often,
if privacy is a concern for you
and you have to trust a centralized entity
to provide this privacy and security,
I really liked Proton both the company and the product
and there's no good reason not to try them
since they have free versions
of both their VPN and mail service.
Use the link in the description below
to download the software and try it today.
And if this video has been helpful to you
as you've been researching your decision of
whether or not to use ProtonVPN,
please hit that like button
'cause it allows me to create even more content
to help you keep all things secured.