# Proton VPN Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/proton-vpn/ 49 people recommended Proton VPN in Hacker News comments, 8 had mixed feelings and 31 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 12 months, in 46 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend it as a trusted, easy-to-set-up VPN with a no-logs record tested in court, port forwarding, and a free tier. Critics report sites blocking it and a single-country routing default. Summary written by Claude from 58 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 53 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Trusted no-logs record (6 comments in the sample): "one of the three or so VPNs that you don't have to trust because they've been tested in court not to have VPN logs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297912)) "Mullvad, IVPN and Proton VPN are all trusted so choosing depends on your priorities" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48985829)) "to a place of high-trust, ideally a trustworthy VPN like Mullvad, IVPN, or Proton." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48144195)) - Port forwarding for torrents (3 comments in the sample): "ProtonVPN with bitcoin which you get from a monero swap is a good idea for complete privacy if you want port forwarding." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47567763)) "Proton VPN has port forwarding that lets you seed torrents." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46370867)) "a VPN provider that lets you forward ports like Proton" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46049334)) - Easy setup on many devices (2 comments in the sample): "Proton VPN with 'killswitch' turned on, and I've been able to use Android Auto." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49198259)) "My pixel 9 pro battery seems the same with proton VPN (wirrguard) on or off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46344201)) - Free tier with EU servers (2 comments in the sample): "ProtonVPN provides free vpn service which does include EU servers access as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581057)) "I still trust protonvpn (which has free access as well) more than Psiphon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46547784)) ## What people warn about - Sites block the VPN (4 comments in the sample): "So far so good other than this post, but I notice I can't access my own freshdesk help desk while on proton vpn." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46737281)) "Often their VPN will prevent even their own sevices from working and I have to reconnect manually to make it work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030756)) "PIA VPN and Proton VPN also get blocked everywhere, from Reddit to captchas on Google Search" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46261158)) - Political controversy about company (3 comments in the sample): "Their VPN was good, but I dont support nazies and their toadies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47267981)) "Proton has been actively campaigning against police and government in a terror prone region." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46740753)) "given Proton CEO's support of the US administration (specifically for Vance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48584174)) ## Other VPN services people recommend - [Mullvad VPN](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mullvad-vpn/): 188 recommend, 39 mixed, 130 criticize - [iCloud Private Relay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud-private-relay/): 15 recommend, 7 mixed, 19 criticize - [Cloudflare WARP](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cloudflare-warp/): 12 recommend, 4 mixed, 10 criticize - [Firefox VPN](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-built-in-vpn/): 12 recommend, 3 mixed, 22 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://protonvpn.com/) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Proton VPN", https://hackerapproved.com/p/proton-vpn/ (49 recommend, 8 mixed, 31 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.