{"slug": "proton-vpn", "name": "Proton VPN", "category": "networking", "category_name": "Networking and VPN", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 8, "warners": 2, "score": 2.458, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2025-12-13", "latest": "2026-10-14", "why": "For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://protonvpn.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Proton VPN"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801371939, "item_id": 50085746, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085746", "by": "ornornor", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either.", "excerpt": "AFAIK on iOS all browsers are safari anyway. Apple doesn\u2019t allow you to use anything but safari\u2019s engine (WebKit) for browsers so chrome, Firefox, etc all run WebKit on that platform. Might as well use safari as it\u2019s better integrated. And it supports uBlock origin (lite). With that and NextDNS, I have no ads anywhere. For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either. Now on desktop, use Firefo", "context": "", "use_case": "avoid YouTube ads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 793120096, "item_id": 49570006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49570006", "by": "RamRodification", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but Proton VPN? That's what I switched to", "excerpt": "I'm not the person you are responding to, but Proton VPN? That's what I switched to after it turned out one of the two Mullvad founders took my money and gave it to a local lunatic politician.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN / DNS replacement", "switched_from": "Mullvad", "story": "Shutting down our public encrypted DNS"}, {"id": 770307122, "item_id": 48144195, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48144195", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-05-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ideally a trustworthy VPN like Mullvad, IVPN, or Proton", "excerpt": "VPNs are not snake oil. They transfer the trust of your internet activity from a place of low-trust, your ISP, to a place of high-trust, ideally a trustworthy VPN like Mullvad, IVPN, or Proton. Among other benefits. If you don't like your ISP creating a profile of you and selling it to target ads to you, you should use a VPN. >Should I use a VPN? Yes, almost certainly. A VPN has many advantages, including: 1. Hiding ", "context": "", "use_case": "privacy VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mullvad exit IPs are surprisingly identifying"}, {"id": 761937952, "item_id": 47621122, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47621122", "by": "dddw", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "been using their vpn (paid) for years", "excerpt": "I like proton, been using their vpn (paid) for years. Still don't feel comfortable putting all my eggs in one basket. Also the cryptoAG scandal dented the swiss reliability and security reputation a tad.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Proton Workspace: An encrypted suite for team collaboration"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 779636208, "item_id": 48727263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48727263", "by": "emmettbt", "date": "2026-06-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "their \"open source\" claim is deceptive as it is only their client that is open source.", "excerpt": "proton is nice but their \"open source\" claim is deceptive as it is only their client that is open source.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Mullvad Alternatives?"}, {"id": 752761152, "item_id": 47047572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047572", "by": "jazz9k", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I've never been able to use the VPN due to connectivity issues.", "excerpt": "I pay for a Proton mail account, which includes VPN access. I've never been able to use the VPN due to connectivity issues.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "We've become aware of legal proceedings in Spain that affect Proton VPN"}]}], "who": [{"by": "h4kunamata", "context": "homelab hobbyist", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46772767", "date": "2026-01-26"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["vpn", "avoid youtube ads", "vpn / dns replacement", "privacy vpn", "vpn provider", "vpn for container"], "compared": [{"slug": "mullvad", "name": "Mullvad", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ansible", "name": "Ansible", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "wireguard", "name": "WireGuard", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "qbittorrent", "name": "qBittorrent", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "radarr", "name": "Radarr", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "docker", "name": "Docker", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "proxmox", "name": "Proxmox", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085112", "title": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49568579", "title": "Shutting down our public encrypted DNS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48725218", "title": "Ask HN: Mullvad Alternatives?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48143880", "title": "Mullvad exit IPs are surprisingly identifying", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47620867", "title": "Proton Workspace: An encrypted suite for team collaboration", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47553910", "title": "From Proxmox to FreeBSD and Sylve in Our Office Lab", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"warn": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801371939, "item_id": 50085746, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085746", "by": "ornornor", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either.", "excerpt": "AFAIK on iOS all browsers are safari anyway. Apple doesn\u2019t allow you to use anything but safari\u2019s engine (WebKit) for browsers so chrome, Firefox, etc all run WebKit on that platform. Might as well use safari as it\u2019s better integrated. And it supports uBlock origin (lite). With that and NextDNS, I have no ads anywhere. For the YouTube app, I use proton\u2019s Albania vpn and no ads there either. Now on desktop, use Firefo", "context": "", "use_case": "avoid YouTube ads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 793120096, "item_id": 49570006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49570006", "by": "RamRodification", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but Proton VPN? That's what I switched to", "excerpt": "I'm not the person you are responding to, but Proton VPN? That's what I switched to after it turned out one of the two Mullvad founders took my money and gave it to a local lunatic politician.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN / DNS replacement", "switched_from": "Mullvad", "story": "Shutting down our public encrypted DNS"}, {"id": 779636208, "item_id": 48727263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48727263", "by": "emmettbt", "date": "2026-06-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "their \"open source\" claim is deceptive as it is only their client that is open source.", "excerpt": "proton is nice but their \"open source\" claim is deceptive as it is only their client that is open source.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Mullvad Alternatives?"}, {"id": 770307122, "item_id": 48144195, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48144195", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-05-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ideally a trustworthy VPN like Mullvad, IVPN, or Proton", "excerpt": "VPNs are not snake oil. They transfer the trust of your internet activity from a place of low-trust, your ISP, to a place of high-trust, ideally a trustworthy VPN like Mullvad, IVPN, or Proton. Among other benefits. If you don't like your ISP creating a profile of you and selling it to target ads to you, you should use a VPN. >Should I use a VPN? Yes, almost certainly. A VPN has many advantages, including: 1. Hiding ", "context": "", "use_case": "privacy VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mullvad exit IPs are surprisingly identifying"}, {"id": 761937952, "item_id": 47621122, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47621122", "by": "dddw", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "been using their vpn (paid) for years", "excerpt": "I like proton, been using their vpn (paid) for years. Still don't feel comfortable putting all my eggs in one basket. Also the cryptoAG scandal dented the swiss reliability and security reputation a tad.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "Proton Workspace: An encrypted suite for team collaboration"}, {"id": 761297801, "item_id": 47581112, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581112", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-03-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "WireGuard VPN via Proton VPN", "excerpt": ">A lot of our week is made up of the same kinds of small tasks: provision a VM, tweak storage settings, pass through a device, replicate a dataset, share a file, test an image, throw the machine away, do it again. None of that is exciting. All I read is that they are still doing ClickOPS over DevSecOps!! At no moment I heard automation, if you aren't using automation in 2026, your future in IT is cooked. I run Proxmo", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN provider", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Proxmox to FreeBSD and Sylve in Our Office Lab"}, {"id": 752761152, "item_id": 47047572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047572", "by": "jazz9k", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I've never been able to use the VPN due to connectivity issues.", "excerpt": "I pay for a Proton mail account, which includes VPN access. I've never been able to use the VPN due to connectivity issues.", "context": "", "use_case": "VPN", "switched_from": "", "story": "We've become aware of legal proceedings in Spain that affect Proton VPN"}, {"id": 748364281, "item_id": 46772767, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46772767", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-01-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "3) Wireguard VPN + Proton VPN", "excerpt": "AI can be good under the right circumstances but only if reviewed 100% of the time by a human. Homelab is my hobby where I run Proxmox, Debian VM, DNS, K8s, etc, all managed via Ansible. For what it is worth, I hate docker :) I wanted to setup a private tracker torrent that should include: 1) Jackett: For the authentication 2) Radarr: The inhouse browser 3) qBitorrent: which receives the torrent files automatically f", "context": "homelab hobbyist", "use_case": "VPN for container", "switched_from": "", "story": "After two years of vibecoding, I'm back to writing by hand"}, {"id": 740168802, "item_id": 46260550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46260550", "by": "drewfax", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Proton moved its Indian server to Singapore and used virtual networking tricks to continue offering an Indian IP address.", "excerpt": "I use Mullvad through Tailscale\u2019s exit\u2011node integration, and it\u2019s awesome. They are the only provider I trust these days. To highlight virtual routing: it\u2019s useful in scenarios where a country blocks VPNs but you still need an IP from that country to browse local websites. In such cases, virtual routing comes in handy. For example, when India required all VPN servers in the country to log user traffic, Proton moved i", "context": "", "use_case": "virtual server locations", "switched_from": "", "story": "VPN location claims don't match real traffic exits"}]}