

Speeds were mostly in line with what we expected based on the physical distance between our physical location and those of the servers we tested. Our regular internet speeds averaged 366.25 megabits per second during the test, while the average overall speeds we measured through Proton VPN's servers came out to 303.71Mbps. We tested Proton VPN's speeds over the course of three days from Ohio to the provider's VPN servers in New York, the UK, Australia, France, Germany and Singapore while connected via the OpenVPN protocol. Proton VPN's speeds now rank third among our picks for best VPN, behind NordVPN's 13% speed loss and just ahead of Surfshark's 19% speed loss.

But you can typically expect to lose about 50% of your regular internet speed when you connect to a VPN, so when we measured a 17% speed loss this time around, we were still satisfied with the results. Granted, that represents a decline from our summer 2020 tests, where we registered a mere 9% speed loss. Proton VPN's overall speed remains impressive, losing only 17% of its speed in our latest round of tests. Read more: How We Test VPNs Speed: Third-fastest VPN we've tested

But Proton is also a solid choice for casual VPN users who only need general privacy on public Wi-Fi or just want to unblock streaming content online. It features open-source apps, full-disk encryption, Secure Core servers and Tor over VPN. Proton VPN is an excellent choice for techie VPN users who like to inspect the source code of the apps they use, as well as for anyone whose location or occupation requires an extra layer of security from their VPN. In a few short years, Proton VPN has quickly developed a reputation for being a VPN with a strong commitment to privacy, security and transparency. Proton AG, the Swiss-based internet privacy company behind Proton Mail and other products like Proton Calendar and Proton Drive launched Proton VPN in 2017.
