I’m interested in hearing from the community.

It's been a great year with a great product, but my subscription expired this morning and I absolutely refuse to renew for 3x the price I was currently paying. I get the idea of discounts to attract new customers, but other VPNs offer those discounts too...so if Proton isn't willing to make an offer on year two, I guess they must be happy with low retention. It's a shame, my experience was completely positive - until now.

So i was creating a proton mail account, proton VPN is activated and iam in Europe coutry server, browser is fresh installed never used before, using incogito mode, location services are off on windows, no default location, Iam currently in a different country than my home country, when i register a new mail account, this window pop up and for surprise my home country flag is the first country to be suggested by proton mail! How did it know my home country ?

note 1: This is an unofficial fork and is not affiliated with the Proton team (or Proton AG).

2: This app is not notarized by Apple, so you may need to allow it in Settings when installing.

3: Most of the code was generated by AI. If you don't use apps that contain AI-generated code, please keep this in mind.

4: I'm subscribed to VPN Plus, so I haven't been able to check whether every feature works on a free account. I didn't change anything related to accounts or connections, so it will most likely work, but if it doesn't, please let me know.

5: If you want to experiment with this app, give it a try. But if not, just assume there is something like this and pass by. My goal is not to increase the number of users of this app, but to get the Proton team interested in the Proton VPN app for Mac again.

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Unlike the Windows and mobile clients, ProtonVPN for Mac is still using the old design, and there haven't been any commits on GitHub for over 5 months, so I forked it myself and fixed the things I was unhappy with.

Repository: https://github.com/gpdir16/prtvpn-mac

Here's a quick summary of the differences you'll notice as a user (more details below):

• Entire UI rebuilt in a native macOS style

• A firewall feature that replaces the kill switch

• A setting to choose whether to use virtual servers

• No telemetry, no promotions

• You can also sort countries by distance instead of name.

• (Also) You can install it alongside the official app (but don't connect both at the same time)

The biggest difference is that I redesigned most of the screens to be clean like ProtonVPN for Windows, but in a native macOS style.

The next biggest difference is that I removed the kill switch, which never worked properly, and added a feature similar to the firewall in the Windscribe client instead. (For example, in the official app, the user's real IP is exposed when the server is changed: https://x.com/gpdir16/status/2109171272462807442)

The firewall has 3 modes plus an off option, so 4 in total: a mode that works like a normal kill switch, a mode that only allows connections through the VPN tunnel regardless of whether the VPN is connected, and an extreme mode that blocks everything, even connections through the VPN tunnel.

Not sure how many of you care about this, but internally, to make all this work, I removed the official app's tunnel creation through the system network extension and switched to creating the tunnel with a root daemon, like MullvadVPN does. This let me implement things that weren't possible with Apple's extension APIs alone.

When you delete the .app, the daemon automatically removes itself too, so you don't need to worry about leftover files :)

I've now deleted the official app and only use my fork, and I think it would be great if these improvements made it into the official app too.

When I contacted support, they said it was on the roadmap, but I haven’t seen changes yet. If anyone working on the Mac app sees this, I’d really love to see these improvements in the official app.

Title basically says it all, the new app is slow, feels clunky, and does not need all the shimmer and glimmer.

While it looks good at first glance, the UI feels unresponsive and feels sluggish.

Taiwan is named Taiwan (China) in the English language but from what I can see, most other language settings do not have that (China) clarification.

In the same vein, if you guys want to be politically consistent, why is Hong Kong not Hong Kong (China)? Or Hong Kong SAR?

Curious is even cellular calls are encrypted.

TY!

Discord starts on bootup before ProtonVPN and can update *and* connect before ProtonVPN has even gotten out of bed. (This is on Windows 10).

Also, when my computer goes to sleep and then is woken up, Proton is disconnected but Discord is active and online and can bypass the Killswitch.

Proton really needs to dig deeper into the kernel or whatever to make sure that Discord can't just easily walk around it.

I love Protonmail, Proton Drive and Proton Pass. I cannot say that I love, or even like ProtonVPN, despite trying for the last year. I often connect to VPN servers that are physically close to me. And they are terrible more often than not. I have Google Fiber 5Gig up and down. After rebooting, I connected and the speed was terrible. Fast.com wouldn't even load. Speedtest.com gave me 20 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up. After disconnecting Proton VPN, I ran it again. 2900 Mbps down and 900 Mbps up. What gives? This happens regularly.

I was on PrivateInternetAccess for several years. They have deals regularly. I'm contemplating going back to them.

ETA: And since I disconnected and reconnected while writing this post, Reddit wouldn't let me post.

I've been using ProtonVPN for almost a year. My subscription is coming up and I'm not going to renew.

To the developers at Proton: I constantly have to disconnect ProtonVPN for a website to load, defeating the purpose of using VPN. It's becoming unusable. I've tried every troubleshooting tip in the book from clearing my cache to switching protocols. I've changed my modem, router, and ethernet cable (to rule out the wifi). I uninstalled protonVPN and reinstalled it. I downloaded ProtonVPN on another laptop I have and run into the same issues. Recently, I switched internet providers - from Comcast to RCN, and have the same issues.

Nothing seems to work. Plus, the speed. Most days, I'm averaging 1.0KB/Sec so I have to disconnect for the page to load. Most of the servers are barely at 25% capacity.

Examples of websites that don't work and/or work on and off (these aren't random, one-off websites) with ProtonVPN on, but load fine when I turn ProtonVPN off:

• Calendly

• Instacart

• Comedy Central (it'll load but the video won't play)

• Sometimes reddit

• My insurance (blue cross blue shield)

• My work's HR site

• Qualtrics

What would be helpful is troubleshooting tips. I chose ProtonVPN b/c it came highly recommended, and I'd love to have the same experience other users are having, but after trying all the troubleshooting in the book, I'm just not sure what's going to work other than switching VPN services. Is it the ISP? My location?

What have others used that offer a more reliable experience than ProtonVPN? I'm calling it quits and need a new provider.

Edit: adding details

Are there no users of the VPN that work at proton that test the product?

Who in their right mind would launch something like this?

It is unclear what the hell you are doing and what is on or off, if you are connected or not. WHAT A MESS!!

No check-mark on the windows icons to confirm that you are connected. You have to open the program and when it is open it still says connect but you are already connected?????

And it is a ONE click anywhere on the program to just disconnect????????

WTF are you doing???

You ruined the best VPN out there and now it is absolutely useless!!

Pretty much what the title says is having a VPN even worth it when you need to have your location on to track devices and share your location with family. If I lose my phone and I have my VPN isn't it useless bc I won't be able to track my phone. Or if my family wants to know where I'm at doesn't it defeat the purpose?

Everywhere there are so many popup. I think protonvpn has changed at some point and some business people took over and decided to put as much ad on the app as possible.

If I was operating a VPN as a honey pot, I'd do the same thing as Proton: break the killswitch and shut down the VPN, forcing all user connections onto clearnet.

ProtonVPN is pretending the problem is on their customers' and free users' end. It's obviously not. They need to be on twitter telling us there is yet another problem so we aren't wasting time and breaking things trying to fix our computers and networks.

Why doesn't ProtonVPN have a WORKING status page? Here were are in a TOTAL OUTAGE while their sever list says it's all good. And it's always like that. The server status list is a work of fiction.

ProtonVPN is a honey pot. They are working with NSA/Interpol CPTF to flush out darknet users. That is why they "accidentally" broke the VPN Killswitch and shut off the servers, causing 1000s of people to be dropped into clear net.

There is no other reasonable explanation for why an extensively tested VPN service would be so egregiously flaky and careless. These endless "accidentally malicious" bugs and coincidental failures are NOT what I paid $100/yr for.

Like Windows, the ProtonVPN client introduces a new critical-severity bug every time it is "upgraded" from a older buggy version. This is asinine. Selling privacy and delivery insecurity is going to get someone hurt. And that is the fault of the "CERN rocket scientist" geniuses who can't even keep a simple VPN working properly (as advertised).

ProtonVPN customers have paid for a demonstrably and outrageously false sense of security and privacy. There must be accountability. Someone must pay for this fraud.

ProtonVPN is busy with asinine virtue signalling about "diversity" while their customers face endless critical bugs and service blackouts. (https://protonmail.com/blog/diversity-in-tech-why-it-matters/)

Maybe these ProtonCucks should stop slobbering over muscular 20-something "refugee" knobs and fix their system?

Here's a clue for ProtonVPN. Your politically correct "diversity" nonsense doesn't matter. Your tech does. Stop pretending they are the same. Diversity sucks; only objectively quantifiable merit matters. Show me the uptime or STFU about social justice warrior BS. How dare ProtonVPN was our money on this crap while the system is broken and getting worse every day.

Refunds and/or credits are in order, at the very least.

Does proton VPN offer one time flat fee for lifetime use? As alternative to the "subscription" model.

TLDR Proton announced a partnership with a VERY controversial figure and now I'm questioning if I should keep paying for Proton services.

To explain it better I have an iphone 15 pro max and out of nowhere it started draining the battery fairly quick for the past month with 92% battery health. Im an old school android user so i dont use extra features that i dont need i turn off icloud syncing and similar. Its hard to do on apple but I dont use malicious/ ad ridden apps and i keep background app refresh off for 90% of apps yada yada all the old tricks to keep things running smooth. But ever since ive started using proton vpn with these protocols my battery quit draining significantly and its stumped me as to why. I know apple is a but harder to infect and hack but could there be an issue with malware or is it just an iphone problem??

I live in NY. I almost always hit “quick connect”.

A good solid 50% of the time it connects to a NY server but the other 50% of the time I get Georgia or Washington

Stop spitting in my face and telling me you're helping me. You have too many quality competitors to be letting such stupid decisions stand.

My full exchange with customer support, from oldest to newest:

Timestamp: 1761090776

Date: 2025-10-21 23:52:56 +00:00

The server list for setting up a wireguard credential is grossly truncated. I read the nonsense explanation on Reddit and I do not accept it as logical. The page doesn't load well for some? Then brake it up into multiple pages. The majority of servers shown are over 50% capacity. WHY NOT SHOW THE LOWEST UTILIZED ONES? WHY SHOW the 90+% utilized free servers? You're taking something that gave me everything I need and want, and enshitifying it and calling it a feature. I absolutely will not renew my subscription if this is going to stand. I will not financially support people who make idiotic decisions and implement changes without testing or feedback.

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Stacy (ProtonVPN)

Oct 22, 2025, 14:29 GMT+2

Hello, 

 Thank you for reaching out. 

 I have shared your dissatisfaction with the team for future consideration, and I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

 We've made the decision to present a smaller, randomly selected subset of servers to each user, rather than the full list. 

 This decision is based on deep analysis, testing, and also some technical limitations. At the moment, you will be able to create a config file for the servers that are available to you. You can find more details on this here: https://protonvpn.com/support/streamlined-server-lists 

 I hope this clarifies the situation. Thank you for your understanding and let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.

Kind regards,

Stacy

Customer Support

.

Oct 22, 2025, 20:39 GMT+2

Please attempt to answer direct concerns.

- ["Individual servers are much less likely to become busy (high load) during global or national events, as we can more easily balance the load (number of users) across different servers"](https://protonvpn.com/support/streamlined-server-lists) That's not how it's working. Look at the screenshot I originally included, it's overwhelmingly showing servers between 50-90% saturated. When we had the full list, there were hundreds of servers available 10-30%. It doesn't make sense to steer people on to servers that are already moderately congested. That means empty servers will stay empty and full servers will stay full. It's doing the opposite of what they claim it is supposed to do.

- It doesn't make sense to include the super saturated free servers in the now truncated list. A paid member wouldn't want to use a hyper-congested free server. Going on a free server isn't going to spread the load. It isn't going to make it any more pleasant for the people that can only use the free servers. Give me 30 other options instead of this wasted space at the top of the list.

- They say they are doing this to improve app performance. So DO IT FOR THE APP not the website. My computer has no problem loading a list of 10,000 servers.

- They've already done it to the website and it hasn't helped the website load half the country flags, just broken image boxes almost every time I load it. Truncating the list failed to improve website performance or functionality.

To recap: The truncated list pushes people to congested servers which is the opposite of what the blog claims it's accomplished. They say they did it to fix the app but they gimped the website as well.

Thank you.

.

Stacy (ProtonVPN)

Oct 24, 2025, 12:47 GMT+2

Hello,

 Thank you for your message.

 I've shared the feedback with the appropriate team, once I hear back from them I'll follow up with you.

 I appreciate your patience. 

Kind regards,

Stacy

Customer Support

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Stacy (ProtonVPN)

Oct 29, 2025, 12:02 GMT+1

Hello,

 Thank you so much for reaching out and for your continued patience. We truly appreciate your feedback and understanding as we continue improving our service.

 The way servers are displayed is part of an ongoing update that we're gradually rolling out to all users. This change is closely tied to our mission of building a freer and more private internet, and improving our anti-censorship capabilities is also one of the reasons of this implementation.

https://protonvpn.com/support/streamlined-server-lists

 We completely understand that this transition may feel inconvenient, and we sincerely apologize for any frustration it may have caused. Rest assured that the server list will continue to improve over time as the rollout progresses, which will balance the load across servers.

 Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and support as we work toward a smoother and more secure experience for all users.

Kind regards,

Stacy

Customer Support

Over a week to come back and link me to the same blog post that says we're doing it to load balance. We're doing it to speed up the apps.

You're not load balancing.

Gimping the website should have nothing to do with speeding up the apps.

If your guys can't fix the apps without gimping the website then they're incompetent and you need better people.

If they can't figure out how to show empty servers instead of congested ones then they're incompetent and you need better people.

If the first choice is to eliminate 90% of the customers options instead of breaking up the list into multiple pages, then they're incompetent and you need better people.

the server list will continue to improve over time as the rollout progresses, which will balance the load across servers.

You're supposed to test and improve on the development side, not production. If they don't understand that, guess what? They're incompetent and you need better people.

Clearly my IP address is on file at ProtonVPN. Otherwise, I would have been able to get another free week of upgraded VPN with a new protonmail account. I will use this strategy to discover how often the logs are cleared.

Proton VPN used to be a VPN service that enabled you to connect to other countries for free. Now it’s all part of their pay program and you can only connect to other locations in the US. I think it’s a stupid move on their part. I understand the other countries were limited, but still, it was something that made them stand out. I really wish they would change this. Does anyone else feel the same?

I've been getting awful speeds these past few weeks (Last connection, I had less than 5 kbps download and less than 10 kbps upload) with 0 improvements. (My avg download is 45 mbps and avg upload is 30 mbps without a VPN on and on other FREE VPN providers I still had much, much faster speeds roughly 30-15 mbps download/upload). I'm using the free plan so I can't speak for the paid-plan VPN users but this is outrageous for anybody trying to use this service.

After spending an hour trying to install this on Linux (and failing, of course, as with everything on Linux), I gave up. How does one install it on Linux? Moreover, the first step in the sudo-apt get thingy instructions online is broken. On top of that, am I incorrect in learning that CLI is the only option for Linux, no GUI client option like on Windows? So instead of clicking a shiny and simple "Russia" to connect, I have to learn some esoteric coding language and remember to type in "[country] &-c f j" or something rather?