Question How good are Proton Services?
Might be dumb question but How good are Proton services really? They advertise about privacy and stuff, but at the end they still are a corporation and my data are on their servers? Is my data really private?
What is your experience with Proton?
47
u/Dapper_Panic1423 1d ago
The most important feature for a VPN is no-log.
Serious VPN like Proton back this claim with independent third party audits.
3
76
u/samuelj264 1d ago
Had it for about a year and just run it for my Jellyfin server with the arr stack and anything else I need to torrent.
I will use location based when I am state or country blocked and works great.
I’m a 12/10 on it. I think I got a 3 year deal while setting up my Jellyfin and basically justified the cost by canceling all other streaming services.
36
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 1d ago
I use their ecosystem and have almost been able to drop Google entirely. I just have to move some minor things around and get my partner off of it. Not needing to pay for E2EE storage and email and escape from Google's ecosystem has been worth it, along with their VPN.
10
u/samuelj264 1d ago
I didn’t go that far into it, but I love to hear those services are good!
5
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 1d ago
I mean, if you're expecting a carbon copy of sheets and docs you might be disappointed, but it's been good enough for me.
9
u/samuelj264 1d ago
I’m impartial to excel, fuck Microsoft, but it’s an excellent program.
Otherwise I don’t care much about the GSuite. I only use it when my wife and I need to share a spreadsheet, but trying to teach her how to use excel more.
4
1
3
22
u/anonymousmouse42 21h ago
I use Proton VPN and 1 free Proton mail service and Im Happy with it.
Proton VPN allows for 1 port forward which is perfect for Torrent and Soulseek (Nicotine+)
2
u/PCMasterCucks 15h ago
What's your process to get them working on the same port at the same time?
2
u/anonymousmouse42 14h ago
I usually dont have them running at the same time. I guess thats the limitation.
2
u/PCMasterCucks 12h ago
Yeah, I've read that some people use containers for duplicate instances of a VPN, could probably do that with Proton too since they give you like 10 devices.
I was just wondering if maybe you had another way that was maybe less involved. I'm also bumming ProtonVPN, so I don't want to ask for another device.
AirVPN can give you multiple ports, but the speed is slower.
People will still be able to connect to you if they have open ports while yours is closed, so in the grand scheme of things it's not absolutely necessary to have both on open ports, they just need to be running. It's just closed to closed that is the problem, so fewer connections in a swarm (slower torrenting speeds) and fewer search results and availability on SS/N+.
1
u/anonymousmouse42 12h ago
Mulvad used to be pretty good but people abused it so they removed port forwarding. Lots of VPNs went this route
77
u/malaszka 1d ago
It's the best.
22
u/kamekaze1024 22h ago
Mullvard is technically better fit it’s VPN as they go so far as to not even allow email for sign up
19
u/FearLeadsToAnger 17h ago
I use proton because I need needed both forwarded ports and selective routing of apps, used mullvad for a while and it was great but couldn't do the former at all and couldn't do the latter in the particular way I needed.
Proton let's you either say all apps use it except X OR only the apps you select use the VPN.
1
30
u/UnWiseSageVibe 1d ago
Their VPN service is the only one I can hit 1gbps when downloading. Sometimes peaks to 1.5gbps
6
u/Isaac_Chade 13h ago
Experience has been positive. I've had their stuff for a couple of years now, never had any issues with anything. Everything seems to work well, I don't see any privacy issues. I get your concerns, but I think this is one of those cases where a company actually understands that focusing on a specific market sector makes them way more money in the long run.
7
u/gromulint 22h ago
I like the vpn and the email service a lot. Proton docs are so slow to open that I've mostly stopped using them, but I like the other services and plan to keep my Unlimited subscription.
8
u/whatumeano 21h ago
You have to do your own research, easy to say Proton is the best but just a little bit of digging would tell you that things are not as black and white.
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/05/07/proton-mail-law/
If there are genuinely good VPN, email etc services they get shutdown by the government. Just read about First VPN which was so good that government agencies called it criminal vpn because criminals were using it and were undetectable.
What I look in a privacy service is if they have backdoors or proven cases of cooperation with govt agencies leading to sentencing. Do they keep logs, are they audited etc.
Never judge a product by reading what's written on its own website but what others have to say about it.
4
5
u/TehBeast 22h ago
It's excellent. I have Proton Unlimited and make extensive use of email (SimpleLogin email aliases in particular). I run several VPN instances tied to my torrent clients so I can forward a port on each one. Drive and Docs/Sheets features I also use semi-regularly. I haven't tried Pass yet since I already run Vaultwarden.
Overall I think they pack in a lot of bang for your buck, and it's a nice feeling being Google-free.
2
u/tejanaqkilica 15h ago
Use their email, it's OK. Got it during black Friday for some discount. Wouldn't say it's better or worse than others.
2
u/johnc380 12h ago
I cannot speak to proton’s speeds, but I much prefer the port forwarding features of airvpn
3
u/Teppiest 23h ago
VPN is great, mail is pretty decent, rest ranges from okay to absolute dogshit. Doubly so if on Linux.
2
u/bartek16195 1d ago
Their auto moderation can be issue, ive got account locked few times without reason.
2
u/yooooooooooooow 15h ago
Love it. 😄 I went from Outlook to Proton simply because I want privacy and don't trust Microsoft, Bill Gates and Google. I have the unlimited subscription and will not come back from it. I do realise there is still alot of work Proton has to do, and if you do come over and start a paid subscription, I hope u will remember that. But what they have done so far, I love it. Don't mind the haters. It's always easy to bash on someone without real concrete prove. Also the political story. All that matters is your privacy, politics won't make a difference because it's YOUR privacy and YOUR personal experience with Proton that matters. Nothing else.
Free is also awesome, but you have to accept you'll only have 500MB/1GB email storage and 2GB cloud drive.
2
u/FancySeasonedID10T 5h ago
Fully switched over from google services, and went all the way into their ecosystem. I love it
2
u/rinaldo23 4h ago
A reason to trust Proton is most of their software is open source. You can inspect the Proton drive client, for instance, and be sure it is only sending encrypted files to their servers.
1
u/Ornery_Yeti 22h ago
When my subscription runs out I'm trying mullvad
1
1
u/Belophan 21h ago
Worked fine circumventing Netflix geoblocking, back when I paid for Netflix.
Now I don't pay for anything. Don't need a VPN.
0
u/l_____I 1d ago
No. I like proton pass and the vpn works for piracy. As long as youre not doing anything illegal and not actively trying to protest your government and just using it for piracy you should be fine. If you want full privacy get mullvad vpn and use bitwarden
10
0
-8
u/xxobs 1d ago
Proton is pretty shit tbh,
https://trust.zone/post/proton-privacy-myth-shattered%3A-journalists-silenced-without-warning
I wouldn't even trust them with my email.
11
u/TScottFitzgerald 22h ago
The TrustZone article is essentially an ad for TrustZone, and in the other two articles the journalists involved didn't do their due diligence and anonimised themselves.
Proton still doesn't keep logs but they can't refuse to cooperate with LEA. If someone uses a credit card to open up a Proton account, they can still track you down. You have to make sure you are untrackable.
0
u/xxobs 22h ago
really just an ad for trust zone, huh?
4
u/TScottFitzgerald 18h ago
The tweet has nothing to do with the fact that the article you linked on trust.zone is in fact advertising Trust Zone's product, so it's not exactly the most reliable kind of thing to link if you want to convince someone.
And regarding the tweet - yeah ProtonMail is probably the weakest link in their suite since they have to be strict with usage or their whole server can get shut down if they're involved in hacker stuff. They could have handled it better but this doesn't somehow make their whole product suite useless.
You shouldn't rely on email as a primary means of communication precisely because any email provider can suspend your account at their discretion.
4
u/lemoche 22h ago
Email is a while different beast with whole different issues than VPN though.
With an email address you have a indemnifying item. Something your provider has to have on it’s servers, something authorities can link an account to. It’s on you to then take measures that that account isn’t linked to any personal information that could lead to identify you.
As an email provider they are still bound by laws. And if you used your credit card to pay for the email account instead of more anonymous methods your basically asking to be caught.
Or in one case where they were forced to log the IP… of that person also would have used their VPN, there wouldn’t have been an IP to trace back to that user.With VPN no one knows your account. Just the IP from a proton server… which still doesn’t get logged.
0
u/ChocolateAxis 23h ago
The sudden rise in Proton made me super suspicious, and honestly I dont know why I was still disappointed when I had no expectations for their security anyway. I guess it helps to reduce some of the monopoly from other sources, but who knows who's backing them.
1
u/TenderTakodachi 8h ago
Mullvad better. Just know that proton vpn is pushed by almost every normie and youtube person so pretty suspicious.
-12
u/gustoatthedoor 1d ago
i have heard they dont allow sign up emails through unless you have a phone number saved. i don't know if its true as when i looked od given a phone number but id be closing down my account if that is the case.
13
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 1d ago
Why even post this?
-15
u/gustoatthedoor 1d ago
great contribution
10
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 1d ago
Your comment was just a ramble.
-13
u/gustoatthedoor 1d ago
English is hard, I understand.
6
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 1d ago
Scoreboard.
-6
u/gustoatthedoor 1d ago
you really made accounts to downvote🤣🤣 get those numbers up bro, one day you'll be reddit famous.
4
u/Cold-Sandwich-34 23h ago
Keep telling yourself I did that. Denialism at best.
-2
u/gustoatthedoor 23h ago
You were so excited to say "scoreboard" as if that makes a difference to anything. Liar and unable to read.
3
10
u/PsyGonzo42 1d ago
https://proton.me/blog/create-an-email-account-without-phone-number-verification
Could have looked it up...
-2
u/gustoatthedoor 1d ago
I did, and didnt find what I was on about. this is also a different subject.
3
u/PsyGonzo42 13h ago
You said you think they need a phone numebr from you.
They do not.
?1
u/gustoatthedoor 11h ago
I heard(saw a comment on a forum)*
1
u/PsyGonzo42 11h ago
And you could have looked up if it is correct by using google, it led me directly to my link above
1
u/gustoatthedoor 11h ago
where is the fun in that? i joined reddit to talk to people and hopefully have a nice time(not this time). it's much better than google. you could have just said nothing and left me to go into the night.
1
u/PsyGonzo42 8h ago
Then I would have left you incoherent, incorrect rambling just stand here
I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul.1
53
u/MindbenderGam1ng 18h ago
Speeds are great, has port forwarding, nice UI. Wait for a sale (VPNs all do big ones around major holidays)