Proton VPN vs Speedify (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Proton VPN: it is first in our ranking of VPNs, and they share a 2.8 GPA.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Proton VPN grades higher on the free plan. Speedify grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Proton VPN
Open-source Swiss VPN with a free plan that has no data cap
Speedify
Bonds Wi-Fi, cellular and Ethernet into one encrypted connection
Which one is for you
Pick Proton VPN if
- Fits if you want a free VPN on one device with no data cap
- Works for Proton Mail users who want the VPN on the same bill, at $119.88 a year for Unlimited
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: one device, medium speed, and Proton picks the country from 10
- Skip it if you want ad blocking, streaming or P2P for free, as all three are paid features
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $9.99 a month
- Watch out: the $3.49 a month is the first 24 months only; VPN Plus then renews at $83.88 a year
- Tight if you have more than 10 devices, the VPN Plus limit
Pick Speedify if
- Fits if you stream or take calls over mobile data and want several links to back each other up
- Works for small teams who want a dashboard and API
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, with only 5 GB a month
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $14.99 for one person
- Not for you if you hate long commitments: the $4.99 price is a 3-year plan
- Watch out: one Individual account works on 5 devices at once, and Router plans and dedicated servers cost extra
- Watch out: dedicated servers start at $75 a month billed yearly
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAProton VPNGood | 2.8GPASpeedifyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CVPN Plus bills $83.76 for the first 24 months, about $3.49 a month over two years, just above the cheaper quarter of VPNs, which tops out at $3.33. It then renews at $83.88 a year, above the middle. Monthly is $9.99, and Proton Unlimited adds Mail, Drive and Pass for $119.88 a year. | C$4.99 a month needs 3 years paid up front ($179.99). A year is $89.99 ($7.49 a month) and monthly is $14.99, which sits in the dearest tenth. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree for good with no card, no ads and no data limit, so one person could live on it. The limits are one device, medium speed, and servers in 10 countries picked for you. | C5 GB of data a month on any platform. It's a cap a regular user will hit, and then it's the paid plan. |
| Features | BSecure Core routing through Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden, the Stealth protocol, NetShield blocking, port forwarding, a kill switch and open-source apps with published audits, on 10 devices with Plus. It covers the whole job. | BChannel bonding, automatic priority for livestreams, encryption, premium servers in 50+ locations, plus teams features and an API. Nothing core is missing for the job it does. |
| Ease of use | B4.65 from about 120,000 App Store ratings, just under the 4.7 an A needs. On the free plan there's no card and nothing to set up. | BNo store rating on record. It's an app you install and connect, though bonding several links takes some setup. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a browser extension. There's no integration list or API on record, so it stops at B. | AWindows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and OpenWrt routers, with OBS, Streamlabs, StreamYard, Twitch and Zoom listed, and a CLI and API on Teams. |
| Best for | a free VPN with no data cap | bonding Wi-Fi and mobile data into one connection |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Proton VPN and Speedify. How we grade
Price against what you get
Proton VPN starts at $6.99 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Speedify starts at $4.99 a month and scores 3.3.
Speedify scores higher and starts $2 a month lower. Of the other VPNs on the chart, 2 score higher than Proton VPN for less, and none scores higher than Speedify for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Proton VPN is open source, according to its own site.
- Proton VPN also covers ad and tracker blocking.
At a glance
| Proton VPN | Speedify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $83.88 per year at renewal (VPN Plus), after a first year for $53.88 | $4.99 per month on the Individual 3-year plan, billed $179.99 every 3 years |
| Free plan | Proton Free: 1 device, servers in 10 countries chosen at random, medium speed and no data limit. No credit card needed. | The first 5 GB of Speedify data each month is free, per the download page. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Proton AG | Connectify, Inc. |
| Price read from | protonvpn.com | speedify.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Proton VPN
- The free plan covers one device and picks the server country for you from 10 countries.
- The headline $3.49 a month is the first 24 months of VPN Plus; it then renews at $83.88 a year, and the 1-year plan's $53.88 also covers only the first year.
- Ad and malware blocking, streaming and P2P are paid features; VPN Plus covers 10 devices.
Speedify
- The free allowance is 5 GB a month, so regular use needs a paid plan.
- Each account works on up to 5 devices at once; the Family plan has 5 accounts.
- Dedicated Server add-ons start at $75 a month billed yearly ($120 billed monthly); self-hosted servers start at $25 a month billed yearly ($40 monthly).
- Router plans are priced by monthly prioritized data, from 100GB at $129 a year to 3TB at $450 a year, and are not listed in the plan table above.
Key features
Proton VPN
- Free plan without a data cap
- Proton Free has no data or artificial speed limits, but connects one device to servers in 10 countries that you cannot choose.
- Secure Core
- Routes traffic through Proton's own servers in hardened data centers in Switzerland, Iceland or Sweden before it leaves the network.
- Stealth protocol
- An obfuscation protocol based on WireGuard tunneled over TLS, meant to get past firewalls and VPN blocking.
- NetShield
- DNS filtering on paid plans that blocks ads, trackers and domains known for malware.
- Open-source, audited apps
- All apps are open source, and Proton publishes the results of the independent audits it commissions.
- Port forwarding and kill switch
- Port forwarding for P2P, plus a kill switch and always-on VPN in every app.
Speedify
- Channel bonding
- Combines Wi-Fi, cellular, Ethernet, tethered phones and satellite into a single connection so traffic keeps flowing if one link drops.
- Streaming priority
- Livestreams on the major platforms are given priority automatically, and the vendor lists support for OBS, Streamlabs, StreamYard and others.
- Encrypted traffic
- Traffic is encrypted, and the vendor says this also stops an ISP from telling browsing from streaming or gaming.
- Premium servers
- Paid plans include extra servers in more than 50 locations. Dedicated and self-hosted servers are optional add-ons.
- Wide platform coverage
- Apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and iPadOS, Android and OpenWrt routers, with Router plans that cover a whole network.
Plans
Proton VPN
Proton Free$0
One device, servers in 10 randomly selected countries, medium speed, no data limit and no ads.
VPN Plus, 1 month$9.99
per month
10 devices, 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries, streaming, P2P and the NetShield blocker, billed monthly.
VPN Plus, 1 year$83.88
per year at renewal, after a first year for $53.88
The same features as monthly. The first year costs $53.88 ($4.49 a month), then it renews at $83.88 a year.
VPN Plus, 2 years$83.88
per year at renewal, after a first term of 24 months
The first 24 months cost $83.76 ($3.49 a month), shown against $9.99 a month, then it renews every 12 months at $83.88.
Proton Unlimited, 1 year$119.88
per year
VPN Plus plus premium Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive (500 GB) and Pass. Also sold monthly at $12.99.
Proton Unlimited, 2 years$119.88
per year at renewal, after a first term of 24 months
The first 24 months cost $191.76 ($7.99 a month), then it renews every 12 months at $119.88.
Speedify
Free$0
5 GB of Speedify data each month on any platform; paid plans remove the cap.
Individual, monthly$14.99
per month
One account on up to 5 devices at once, unlimited data and premium servers in 50+ locations.
Individual, 1 year$89.99
per year, renewing every year
The same Individual plan billed yearly, which the store shows as $7.49 a month.
Individual, 3 years$179.99
every 3 years, renewing every 3 years
The same Individual plan billed every 3 years, which the store shows as $4.99 a month. The store advertises 40% off the first term during its current sale.
Family, 3 years$270
every 3 years, renewing every 3 years
5 accounts, each on up to 5 devices, with unlimited data; shown as $7.50 a month. Also sold yearly at $135 and monthly at $22.50.
Teams, 1 year$89.99
per seat / year, billed annually ($14.99 per seat billed monthly)
Each seat on up to 5 devices, with central account management, an analytics dashboard, and CLI and API access.
Ways to pay less
Proton VPN
- Other savings
VPN Plus 2-year plan: first 24 months for $83.76
The 2-year VPN Plus plan bills $83.76 for the first 24 months ($3.49 a month), then renews at $83.88 every 12 months.
- Other savings
VPN Plus 1-year plan: first year for $53.88
The 1-year VPN Plus plan bills $53.88 for the first year ($4.49 a month) before renewing at $83.88.
- Other savings
Proton Unlimited 2-year plan: first 24 months for $191.76
The 2-year Proton Unlimited plan bills $191.76 for the first 24 months ($7.99 a month), then renews at $119.88 every 12 months.
Speedify
- Annual discount
Longer terms cost less per month
Individual is $14.99 a month, $89.99 for a year ($7.49 a month) and $179.99 for 3 years ($4.99 a month).
- Other savings
Black Friday: 40% off the first term
The store advertises 40% off the first term of 1-year and 3-year Individual and Family plans, applied automatically, ending Friday, November 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Proton VPN or Speedify?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Speedify is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month, against $6.99 a month when paid by the year for Proton VPN. Proton VPN starts at $83.88 per year at renewal (VPN Plus), after a first year for $53.88, and Speedify starts at $4.99 per month on the Individual 3-year plan, billed $179.99 every 3 years.
Which has a free plan, Proton VPN or Speedify?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Proton VPN and Speedify have a free plan.
Which platforms do Proton VPN and Speedify run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Proton VPN lists a browser extension. Both list macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.