One device on Free, ten on Plus
Proton VPN Free is a proper plan, not a trial: no data limits and no credit card. It's capped at one device at a time and medium speed, and it connects to servers in 10 countries that Proton picks at random, so you can't choose where you appear.
VPN Plus lifts those limits:
- 10 devices at once and Proton's highest speed
- 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, with streaming and P2P
- Secure Core, which adds an extra hop to your connection
- NetShield, which blocks ads, trackers and malware
- VPN Accelerator, which Proton says can raise speeds by up to 400%
- Priority support and live chat
Every plan, the free one included, gets what Proton lists as the basics: no logs, no ads and secure protocols, from a Swiss company whose apps are 100% open source. VPN Plus also brings the free plans of Proton Mail, Drive and Pass, plus limited access to Proton Calendar.
Two official prices for the same plan
Prices as listed on Proton's VPN deals page and pricing page on 4 October 2026, in US dollars. The pricing page had the 12-month VPN Plus plan at $4.49 a month, or $53.88.
Two official prices for one product is a good reason to keep our guide on how to tell if a sale price is genuine handy before you trust any headline figure.
Where Proton undercuts its own pricing page
Start with the deals page. On 4 October it beat the pricing page by $12 on the 24-month VPN Plus plan and by $6 on the 12-month one, for exactly the same product.
Students should check Proton's student page before anything else. It lists 70% off a 12-month VPN Plus plan for anyone in full-time education, from high school and sixth form to university, and for apprentices, with enrollment checked through Student Beans. That worked out to $35.88 for the year on 4 October.
A few more ways to keep the bill down:
- Stay on Proton Free if one device and a random server country are enough.
- Start on VPN Plus and move to Unlimited later, since Proton applies prorated credit when you switch plans.
- If you might want a refund, pay by card or PayPal. Proton doesn't refund payments made in cash or by bank transfer.
- Cancel from your account dashboard before the renewal date if $83.88 a year is more than you want to pay.
Buy the 24-month Plus plan unless one device is enough
Proton Free is the right call if you protect one laptop or phone and don't mind Proton choosing your server country. Nothing on this page beats free for that job.
Everyone else should buy VPN Plus on the 24-month term through the deals page. It covers 10 devices and adds streaming, P2P and Secure Core, and at $2.99 a month it matches the student deal's monthly rate without any verification, though the student deal only asks for 12 months. Buy Proton Unlimited only if you'd otherwise pay for Mail Plus, Drive Plus or Pass Plus, because for the VPN alone it costs $5 a month more on the 24-month term.
Skip the 2-year plan if you can't picture still using a VPN two years from now. The 12-month deal costs a dollar a month more and halves the commitment. Whichever you pick, the deals page is where the real Proton VPN coupon lives.
